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The most valuable airline miles might surprise you

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

By Meghan Coyle | NerdWalletGetting the most value out of travel rewards matters to a lot of frequent flyers.According to a 2023 NerdWallet survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted online by The Harris Poll, 35% of travel rewards credit cardholders say they try to get the best possible value when redeeming their earned points/miles for travel.For the last four years, if you wanted to collect the most valuable airline miles among U.S. carriers, you’d probably collect Southwest Rapid Rewards points. According to NerdWallet’s valuations, Southwest Airlines points have hovered around 1.5 cents per point since 2019 (when we started collecting the data). That means travelers can usually redeem 10,000 Southwest points for a $150 award flight.Let’s put that in perspective. In 2020, Southwest Rapid Rewards points were worth a whopping 1.6 cents, while every other major U.S. airline’s points were worth only 1 to 1.1 cents. Southwest Rapid Rewards members could book more flights (or mor...

Targeted auto strikes may spread to other states and cities as noon deadline set by union nears

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

The nation’s biggest automakers – and car buyers everywhere — will learn Friday whether the United Auto Workers union will escalate its strike over a demand for higher wages, a shorter work week and other benefits.UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to announce whether the union will expand a weeklong strike that has so far been limited to three plants – one each at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.Fain said earlier this week he would call on workers at more plants to strike unless there was significant progress in contract negotiations with the carmakers. Bargaining continued Thursday, although neither side reported any breakthroughs, and they remained far apart on wage increases.The strike so far involves fewer than 13,000 of the union’s 146,000 members. The companies have laid off a few thousand more, saying some factories are running short on parts because of the strike.Still, the impact is not yet being felt on car lots around the country – it will probably take a few...

Norway can extradite man wanted by Rwanda for his alleged role in the African nation’s 1994 genocide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A man arrested in Norway who is wanted by Rwanda for his alleged role in the African nation’s 1994 genocide can be extradited, Norwegian police said Friday.The man in his 40s, who was not identified, was arrested in the Norwegian capital of Oslo nearly a year ago based on an extradition request by Kigali.Oslo District Court ruled Sept. 19 that the man can legally be extradited to Rwanda, police said. It is now up to the Scandinavian country’s justice ministry to decide whether he be deported, which is considered a formality.Thea Elise Kjæraas, a spokeswoman for Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service, known by its Norwegian acronym KRIPOS, said it had carried out “a number of investigations to clarify whether the conditions for extradition have been met.”“We note that the district court shares KRIPOS’ assessment that the conditions for extradition have been met,” Kjæraas said.An estimated 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda’s genocide, whic...

ATS signs deal to buy water purification company Avidity Science for $265 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

CAMBRIDGE, Ont. — ATS Corp. has signed a deal to buy Avidity Science LLC, a designer and manufacturer of automated water purification solutions for biomedical and life science applications, for $265 million.Based in Waterford, Wisc., Avidity has customers including pharmaceutical, biopharma, health care, government and academic research facilities. Avidity employs about 380 people across six facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, China and Japan.ATS says the deal will help boost its life sciences business and aligns with other acquisitions it has made.The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth of this year.ATS says it plans to fund the deal with cash and by drawing on its revolving credit facility.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2023.Companies in this story: (TSX:ATS)The Canadian Press

Amazon Prime Video will soon come with ads, or a $2.99 monthly charge to dodge them

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon Prime Video will include advertising during shows and movies starting early next year, joining other streaming services that have added different tiers of subscriptions. Members of Amazon Prime can pay $2.99 per month in the U.S. to keep their service ad-free, the company said Friday. Amazon said limited advertisements will be aired during shows and movies starting early next year so that it can “continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.”Ads in Prime Video content will start in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Canada in early 2024, followed by France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Australia later in the year. The Associated Press

The US East Coast is under a tropical storm warning with landfall forecast in North Carolina

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — A storm moving closer to the U.S. East Coast will deliver tropical storm conditions to North Carolina on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.The storm was off the coast of South Carolina and North Carolina early Friday with top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). A storm surge watch was in effect, with surges between 3 and 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters) forecast for parts of North Carolina, the center reported.As of Friday morning, the storm was located about 330 miles (530 kilometers) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and about 325 miles (525 kilometers) south Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and moving north around 14 mph (22 kph), the center said.Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 centimeters), with localized amounts up to 7 inches (17.7 centimeters), was expected across eastern North Carolina and into southeast Virginia through Saturday, the center said.Though the system had reached tropical storm strength, it was yet to be given a name and the center wa...

EU hits Intel with $400 million antitrust fine in long-running computer chip case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

LONDON (AP) — European Union antitrust enforcers slapped Intel on Friday with a fresh $400 million fine in a long-running legal fight that the chipmaker appeared to have won last year.The European Commission imposed the 376.4 million-euro fine after a court threw out an original 1.06 billion-euro penalty issued in 2009 over allegations that the Santa Clara, California-based company used illegal sales tactics to shut out smaller rival AMD.The commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust watchdog, accused Intel of abusing its dominant position in the global market for x86 microprocessors with a strategy to exclude rivals by using rebates and sales restrictions.The EU’s General Court last year annulled the original decision, saying that the commission’s analysis of the rebates didn’t meet legal standards. However, the court confirmed that the sales restrictions amounted to an abuse of Intel’s dominant market position. It couldn’t decide how the total fin...

Bar fight leads to double shooting at Scarborough plaza; Man in custody

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

Two men are in hospital after a bar fight led to a shooting at a Scarborough plaza early Friday morning.Officers responded to a plaza parking lot on Birchmount Road near Vauxhall Drive, south of Ellesmere Road, around 1:25 a.m.Police say a fight at a bar resulted in two men being shot. Both were rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.One of the men shot was taken into custody and a firearm was recovered.Police said there was also damage to some vehicles in the area.No other suspect information has been made available.The investigation is ongoing.SHOOTING Birchmount Rd/Ellendale Dr (1:23am)– altercation at a bar led to two males shot– both taken to hospital via emergency run, one of them under arrest– firearm seized– damage to vehicles, no other victims found/came forward#GO2211906 ^vk— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) September 22, 2023 

Bus carrying high school students to band camp crashes, killing 2 in New York

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (AP) — A charter bus carrying high school students to a band camp veered off a New York highway and tumbled down an embankment Thursday, killing two adults and seriously injuring several others, officials said.The bus was one of six in a caravan taking the marching band, color guard and dancers from Farmingdale High School on Long Island on a beloved annual trip to a camp in Greeley, in northeastern Pennsylvania.It was only about 30 minutes from its destination when the wreck happened a little after 1 p.m. on Interstate 84 in the town of Wawayanda, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of New York City.A tire failure may have been to blame for the bus going off the road, Gov. Kathy Hochul said.The two adults who died were the high school's band director, Gina Pellettiere, 43, of Massapequa, and a retired teacher Beatrice Ferrari, 77, of Farmingdale. Five of the 44 passengers on board were hospitalized in critical condition, according to state police.Farmingdale s...

Friday Forecast: Temps in upper 70s with mostly cloudy conditions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:48:41 GMT

CHICAGO — Mainly cloudy Friday with a 30 percent chance of rain and cooler lakeside. Winds: SE 5-10. High: 78/74. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Mostly cloudy tonight. Winds: SE 5-10. Low: 60.Saturday Forecast: Mostly sunny, isolated shower, cooler lakeside. Winds: ESE 5-10 G15. High: 79/75.Full forecast details and more at the WGN Weather Center blog