wolfy casino review DETROIT (AP) — Starting in September of 2027, all new passenger vehicles in the U.S. will have to sound a warning if rear-seat passengers don’t buckle up. Related Articles National News | TikTok asks the Supreme Court for an emergency order to block a US ban unless it’s sold National News | Luigi Mangione’s high-powered attorney is married to Diddy’s top lawyer National News | Survivors seek a reckoning as FBI investigates child sex abuse in little-known Christian sect National News | They died in police custody. Their deaths are attributed to a disputed but ‘very real’ phenomenon called excited delirium. National News | Federal Reserve is likely to slow its rate cuts with inflation pressures still elevated The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it finalized the rule, which also requires enhanced warnings when front seat belts aren’t fastened. The agency estimates that the new rule will save 50 lives per year and prevent 500 injuries when fully in effect, according to a statement. The new rule will apply to passenger cars, trucks, buses except for school buses, and multipurpose vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds. Before the rule, seat belt warnings were required only for the driver’s seat. Under the new rule, outboard front-seat passengers also must get a warning if they don’t fasten their belts. Front-center seats will not get a warning because NHTSA found that it wouldn’t be cost effective. The agency said most vehicles already have warnings for the outboard passenger seats. The rule also lengthens the duration of audio and visual warnings for the driver’s seat. The front-seat rules are effective starting Sept. 1 of 2026. Rear passengers consistently use seat belts at a lower rate than front passengers, the agency says. In 2022, front belt use was just under 92%, while rear use dropped to about 82%. About half of automobile passengers who died in crashes two years ago weren’t wearing belts, according to NHTSA data. The seat belt rule is the second significant regulation to come from NHTSA in the past two months. In November the agency bolstered its five-star auto safety ratings to include driver assistance technologies and pedestrian protection. Safety advocates want the Department of Transportation, which includes NHTSA, to finish several more rules before the end of the Biden administration, because President-elect Donald Trump has said he’s against new government regulations. Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, urged the department to approve automatic emergency braking for heavy trucks and technology to prevent impaired driving.

Ten years of Labor rule in Victoria has changed the state. or signup to continue reading Under premiers Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan, Victoria has embarked on a decade-long infrastructure agenda and raft of Australian-leading social reforms. But no state had more COVID-19 lockdowns, net debt is climbing and the government has faced a series of scandals, as well as criticism over its lack of transparency and accountability. The Andrews government ministry was sworn in after Labor ended four years of Liberal rule under Denis Napthine and Ted Baillieu on November 29, 2014. The 2014 state election was effectively a referendum on Melbourne's East West Link project. Mr Andrews had pledged to rip up the contract to build the contentious toll road if Labor was victorious and ordered the suspension of all work in his first weeks as premier. The state's auditor-general later the total cost of cancelling the project topped $1.1 billion. To soften the blow, Labor promised to build the Metro Tunnel and remove 50 level rail crossings. While over budget, the Metro Tunnel is due to open to fanfare in 2025 and the level crossing removal program has been expanded and hailed as one of Labor's greatest achievements. Socially, Victoria enacted laws to ban anti-abortion protesters harassing women outside clinics and became the first state to pass voluntary assisted dying laws in 2017. But it wasn't long until the government was in turmoil. Minister Adem Somyurek stood down after being accused of bullying, Steve Herbert quit cabinet for using his taxpayer-funded driver to chauffeur his two dogs and former speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella were exposed rorting an allowance for country members. The biggest scandal of the lot was "red shirts rorts". A found 21 past and present Labor MPs breached parliamentary guidelines by wrongly approving $388,000 in taxpayer funds be spent on campaign staff before the 2014 election. The money was repaid by the party and no charges were laid by police. Nonetheless, Labor swept to a second term with a huge majority in what was known as the "Danslide". Bushfires, a global pandemic and a high-profile corruption probe knocked Labor's second term off course. After setting up a into the state's "broken" mental health system, Victoria was plunged into one of its worst bushfire seasons in memory. The 2019-20 black summer bushfires burned more than 1.5 million hectares of Victorian land, killing five people and razing more than 400 homes. But the scale of the devastation paled in comparison to what came next. Mr Andrews declared a state of emergency in March 2020 as COVID locked down the entire country. As Victoria was cautiously reopening, cases leaked out of the state hotel quarantine system, sparking a second COVID-19 lockdown for Melbourne that ultimately ran for 112 days. The premier, ministers, bureaucrats and agency officials fronted a into hotel quarantine breaches, but none said they could recall whose idea it was to use private security. In June 2020, Mr Andrews sacked Mr Somyurek from his cabinet - following his return to the frontbench in 2018 - after Channel Nine aired allegations of branch stacking and a recording of him using offensive language about a ministerial colleague. He was the first of four ministers to depart in the fallout. A subsequent by the corruption watchdog and ombudsman exposed misuse of taxpayer resources but again did not recommend any criminal charges. In the middle of the separate crises, Mr Andrews spent 111 days off work after fracturing his spine and breaking several ribs in a fall. He and other MPs also became the target of fierce, and at times violent, opposition to pandemic-specific laws passed in late 2021 following Melbourne's sixth and final lockdown. The COVID-fuelled community anger and division did not dent Labor electorally as Mr Andrews steered it to another thumping win. Cancelling the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional Victoria was among Daniel Andrews' final acts as premier. He called a snap press conference in July 2023 to pull the pin on the event, citing estimated costs blowing out from $2.6 billion to between $6 billion to $7 billion. In September 2023, just days after handing down a landmark , Mr Andrews announced his retirement from politics, paving the way for heir apparent Ms Allan to replace him. Both Mr Andrews and Ms Allan forced backbench MPs Will Fowles and Darren Cheeseman out of the Labor party room over past instances of alleged misconduct, reducing its numbers in the lower house. Mr Fowles was investigated by police but not charged, while Mr Cheeseman has not publicly addressed complaints of inappropriate behaviour towards female staff. Ms Allan's first 12 months in the top job were dogged by a parliamentary inquiry and journalists probing the decision to cancel the Games. She confirmed lawyers were hired to provide advice on Victoria withdrawing on June 14 2023, a full month before the Games decision was announced. The premier denied misleading Victorian parliament on June 13, when as the then responsible minister she told a budget estimates hearing the state was making "tremendous progress" on delivering the Games and gave no indication of budgetary concerns. The auditor-general later that abandoning the event cost the state more than $589 million, including a $380 million settlement. Ms Allan has since backflipped on several controversial policies backed by her old boss, including plans to set up a supervised injecting room in Melbourne's CBD and raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. The long-serving Bendigo East MP has instead staked her premiership on housing, repeatedly describing herself as a builder not a blocker. For all the controversy surrounding construction of the Suburban Rail Loop, a proposed 90km rail line orbiting Melbourne, a planned statue of Mr Andrews might be the government's most contentious build. State premiers who spent more than 3000 days in the top job are immortalised in bronze statues outside government offices in central Melbourne, under a rule introduced by former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett. The process to install one for Mr Andrews is under way. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . AdvertisementNick Timoney issues defiant message to critics after leading Ulster to vital victory over ConnachtTopline TikTok asked the Supreme Court to take up its case challenging the federal government’s ban on the app Monday, as the popular social media company faces a last-minute scramble to preserve access to the app before the law—which bans TikTok unless it’s sold to a new company—takes effect next month, after a lower court upheld the law . Key Facts What To Watch For TikTok asked the Supreme Court to rule on its request to pause the law by Jan. 6, before the law is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 19. If there’s no ruling by Jan. 6, TikTok requested the Supreme Court issue an order that temporarily blocks the law to ensure the law won’t take effect while the court is deliberating. Crucial Quote “If Americans, duly informed of the alleged risks of ‘covert’ content manipulation, choose to continue viewing content on TikTok with their eyes wide open, the First Amendment entrusts them with making that choice, free from the Government’s censorship,” TikTok argued in its filing at the Supreme Court, claiming if the law is upheld, “Congress will have free rein to ban any American from speaking simply by identifying some risk that the speech is influenced by a foreign entity.” What Happens If Tiktok Ban Takes Effect? If the TikTok ban is allowed to take effect—either on Jan. 19 or later—it would mean Apple and Google would no longer host TikTok in their app stores, so users would not be able to download TikTok or update the app. The law also prohibits internet service providers from enabling TikTok’s “distribution, maintenance, or updating,” which would likely affect companies like Oracle, which hosts TikTok’s U.S. user data. TikTok has argued that provision of the law would mean companies could no longer “provid[e] the services that enable the TikTok platform to function, effectively shutting down TikTok in the United States.” The legislation does allow TikTok to keep operating if it separates itself from ByteDance, though TikTok has not yet announced any plans to do so and claimed ByteDance divesting from TikTok is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally.” Can Trump Stop The Tiktok Ban? President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration is reportedly interested in “halting” the TikTok ban, but Trump has not yet announced any concrete commitment to doing so or suggested how he could oppose a ban. “We’ll take a look at TikTok,” Trump said at a press conference Monday, adding he has a “warm spot in my heart for TikTok” given his popularity with youth on the app. CNN reports Trump then met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday after his press conference, but there are no reports on what the two discussed. It’s still unclear how Trump could oppose a ban, though legal experts have suggested the most viable way would be to negotiate a solution with TikTok that allows Trump to say the company is in compliance with the law, whether it has fully separated itself from ByteDance or not. James Lewis, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told NPR that China may be more willing to approve a sale of TikTok to an American owner if Trump backs off his threat of high tariffs on Chinese imports in exchange. Surprising Fact If the ban were to take effect and prohibit U.S. internet service providers from hosting TikTok’s user data, that could mean all of that personal data would be moved to China . Forbes reported in 2023 that’s what happened when the app shut down operations in India, with an unnamed TikTok employee saying, they “don’t think [Indians are] Key Background The TikTok ban was signed into law with bipartisan support after the app had long raised concerns among lawmakers, who banned the app from government devices before moving to outlaw it in the U.S. entirely. TikTok has consistently denied any wrongdoing or links to the Chinese government, though Forbes has reported on numerous concerns involving the app, including including TikTok spying on journalists , tracking “sensitive” words , promoting Chinese propaganda criticizing U.S. politicians and mishandling user data . The D.C. Circuit upheld the law in December after TikTok and individual creators on the app sued to overturn the ban, with a panel of judges backing the government’s assessment that banning it was necessary for national security. The judges were not sympathetic to TikTok’s First Amendment claims, arguing that the government wasn’t censoring any content on the app since it can all stay up if ByteDance just divests from TikTok and the law’s “divest-or-be-banned” approach is actually the least restrictive way to deal with the government’s security concerns. The appeals court then ruled Friday that TikTok’s request to temporarily block the law while the company goes to the Supreme Court was “unwarranted,” noting the company still has time to go to the high court before the law takes effect and striking down TikTok’s claims that pausing the ban is necessary to preserve the company’s First Amendment rights, since the court already ruled that the law does not violate those rights. Further Reading

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Is he a hero? A killer? Both? About the same time the #FreeLuigi memes featuring the mustachioed plumber from “Super Mario Brothers” mushroomed online, commenters shared memes showing Tony Soprano pronouncing Luigi Mangione , the man charged with murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan , a hero. There were posts lionizing Mangione’s physique and appearance, the ones speculating about who could play him on “Saturday Night Live,” and the ones denouncing and even threatening people at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s for spotting him and calling police. It was all too much for Pennsylvania's governor, a rising Democrat who was nearly the vice presidential nominee this year. Josh Shapiro — dealing with a case somewhere else that happened to land in his lap — decried what he saw as growing support for “vigilante justice.” People are also reading... The curious case of Brian Thompson and Luigi Mangione captivated and polarized a media-saturated nation. It also offers a glimpse into how, in a connected world, so many different aspects of modern American life can be surreally linked — from public violence to politics, from health care to humor (or attempts at it) . It summons a question, too: How can so many people consider someone a hero when the rules that govern American society — the laws — are treating him as the complete opposite? Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, on Monday at the police station in Altoona, Pa. Writings found in Mangione's possession hinted at a vague hatred of corporate greed and an expression of anger toward “parasitic” health insurance companies. Bullets recovered from the crime scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” reflecting words used by insurance industry critics, written on them. A number of online posts combine an apparent disdain for health insurers — with no mention of the loss of life. “He took action against private health insurance corporations is what he did. he was a brave italian martyr. in this house, luigi mangione is a hero, end of story!” one anonymous person said in a post on X that has nearly 2 million views. On Monday, Shapiro took issue with comments like those. It was an extraordinary moment that he tumbled into simply because Mangione was apprehended in Pennsylvania. Shapiro's comments — pointed, impassioned and, inevitably, political — yanked the conversation unfolding on so many people's phone screens into real life. “We do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint,” the governor said. “In a civil society, we are all less safe when ideologues engage in vigilante justice.” But to hear some of his fellow citizens tell it, that's not the case at all. Like Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, D.B. Cooper and other notorious names from the American past, Mangione is being cast as someone to admire. Luigi Nicholas Mangione is escorted into Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday in Hollidaysburg, Pa. Regina Bateson, an assistant political science professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has studied vigilantism, the term to which Shapiro alluded. She doesn’t see this case as a good fit for the word, she says, because the victim wasn’t linked to any specific crime or offense. As she sees it, it's more akin to domestic terrorism. But Bateson views the threats against election workers , prosecutors and judges ticking up — plus the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump this past summer — as possible signs that personal grievances or political agendas could erupt. “Americans are voicing more support for — or at least understanding of — political violence,” she said. Shapiro praised the police and the people of Blair County, who abided by a 9/11-era dictum of seeing something and saying something. The commenters have Mangione wrong, the governor said: “Hear me on this: He is no hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning." A person demonstrates Monday near the McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police earlier in the day arrested Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, in the Dec. 4 killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO in Manhattan. Even shy of supporting violence, there are many instances of people who vent over how health insurers deny claims. Tim Anderson's wife, Mary, dealt with UnitedHealthcare coverage denials before she died from Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2022. “The business model for insurance is don’t pay,” Anderson, 67, of Centerville, Ohio, told The Associated Press . The discourse around the killing and Mangione is more than just memes. Conversations about the interconnectedness of various parts of American life are unfolding online as well. One Reddit user said he was banned for three days for supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted after testifying he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot two people in 2020 during protests. “Do you think people are getting banned for supporting Luigi?” the poster wondered. The comments cover a lot of ground. They include people saying the UnitedHealthcare slaying isn't a “right or left issue" and wondering what it would take to get knocked off the platform. “You probably just have to cross the line over into promoting violence,” one commenter wrote. “Not just laughing about how you don’t care about this guy.” Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday in Hollidaysburg, Pa. Memes and online posts in support of the 26-year-old man, who's charged with killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO, have mushroomed online. 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