American Airlines fined US$50M over mishandling of disabled passengers and wheelchairs

American Airlines fined US$50M over mishandling of disabled passengers and wheelchairsThe U.S. government fined American Airlines $50 million for failing to provide wheelchair assistance to passengers with disabilities and damaging thousands of wheelchairs over a five-year period.

SailGP Canada 2025 Season

The Canada SailGP Team has been acquired by Canadian biotech entrepreneur Dr Greg Bailey, SailGP can confirm.

The news follows months of speculation about the team’s future and secures Canada’s place on the 2024/25 Season start line.

The Canada SailGP Team has been acquired by Canadian biotech entrepreneur Dr Greg Bailey, SailGP can confirm.

The news follows months of speculation about the team’s future and secures Canada’s place on the 2024/25 Season start line.SailGP managing director Andrew Thompson described the sale as ‘another milestone’ for the league.

“SailGP continues to attract interest from a range of different investors and ownership groups. In many ways, this transaction validates the business model - a professional sports team has acquired new ownership and in doing so, retains position in the league; to my knowledge that’s not happened in sailing before.”

Season opening SailGP Dubai event to feature newbies Mubadala Brazil and Red Bull Italy teams

Season opening SailGP Dubai event to feature newbies Mubadala Brazil and Red Bull Italy teams

For the opening SailGP event of the season, the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by P&O Marinas, 23-24 November 2024, the global racing championship will comprise of eleven F50 race teams.

Racing for the first time will be the new Italy SailGP Team – Red Bull Italy SailGP Team – Led by SailGP legend Jimmy Spithill as CEO.

Proposed Red Bull Italy SailGP Team:

• Ruggero Tita – Double Olympic Gold Medalist and team driver
• Giulia Fava – Two-time World bronze medalist and strategist
• Andrea Tesei – World Champion and flight controlle
• Kyle Langford – Three-time SailGP Champion
• Alex Sinclair – Former Australia teammate and grinder
• Grinders Matteo Gelon and Enrico Voltolini

• Also expected to race in Dubia will be the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team

  If they make it to the start line this will be their  for the first time, led by double Olympic Gold Medalist Martine Grael, the first woman to ever drive for a SailGP team.

  The Brazil team is . . . driver Martine Grael and grinders Marco Grael and Mateus Isaac , former Kiwi flight controller Andy Maloney, former France wing trimmer Leigh McMillan and strategist Richard Mason.

  Teams racing in the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix 2024:

  Spain,
  New Zealand,
  Australia,
  ROCKWOOL Denmark,
  Emirates GBR,
  United States,
  Switzerland,
  Canada,
  Germany
  And the two new teams, Mubadala Brazil and Red Bull Italy.

“Staying Canadian”

“Staying Canadian”

Canadian Party of Quebec heads to Stanstead

By William Crooks

Local Journalism Initiative

The Canadian Party of Quebec (CaPQ) is set to hold an event titled “Staying Canadian” at the Stanstead Legion Branch #005 on Nov. 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. Hosted at 15 Rue Maple, the event aims to provide a platform for discussing the party’s vision and plans regarding Canadian unity and Quebec’s future. Organizers hope to encourage community engagement and dialogue.

Tara Robertson, who initiated the event, emphasized her independent role in bringing the CaPQ to Stanstead. “I’m not part of the party; I just wanted them to come here and share what they’re about,” she explained in a recent short interview.

Her interest in the party grew after attending earlier events in Montreal and Bromont this year. “I liked their presentation and what they stand for, particularly their agenda on staying Canadian,” Robertson said. She voiced concerns about Quebec’s political future, referencing the Parti Québécois’s push for another referendum on sovereignty. “This is the only party addressing it before a referendum and holding the federal government accountable for protecting us as Canadians,” she added.

Robertson encourages local residents to take advantage of the opportunity to engage with the party’s representatives in person. “They have a real interesting agenda. I highly recommend you come, have a listen, and ask all the questions you want,” she urged.

With a focus on in-person attendance, the event promises to be an engaging discussion about the province’s future and its place in Canada. For more information, contact info@particanadienquebec.ca or visit www.canadianpartyquebec.ca.

1787 Continental Congress

By Diana HubbellASSOCIATE EDITOR, PLACESAs we enter what feels like the 800th year of this American election season, I can’t help but find myself thinking back to the guys who started it all. We’ve spent a lot of energy and legislative manpower attempting to decipher and interpret the language the Founding Fathers used—and how they intended it to apply to technologies and concepts that didn’t exist in their era.And while there’s no denying that many of these men were ahead of their time in some ways, I question our tendency to put them on pedestals, be they literal marble ones or Tony Award–winning Broadway shows. Great thinkers they may have been, but they were also just people.What’s more, they may have been a little drunk.On September 14, 1787, just days before signing the Constitution, George Washington and his pals wracked up a bar tab at Philadelphia’s City Tavern worth the equivalent of $15,600 today. For 55 guests, the damage included 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 bottles of claret, 12 bottles of whiskey, seven large bowls of punch, eight bottles of cider, 22 bottles of porter, and 12 bottles of beer.A number of participants in the 1787 Continental Congress drank rather heavily. Photo: Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoOne can only speculate that this must have been a larger than usual celebration, especially since the bar bill includes a number of broken glasses. But the total still stands at two bottles of wine per person, plus beer, whiskey, and several glasses of punch—enough to knock most people today flat.Brian Abrams, author of Party Like a President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery, and Mischief From the Oval Office, says it’s important to remember that consumption habits were generally different during the late 18th century. It was still common at the time to start the day with a small beer (usually around 3 percent ABV). “John Adams would drink a tanker of his cider every morning with his breakfast,” Abrams says.Part of that was a coping mechanism for the physical and mental hardships of a rather difficult period in history. “As far as why all these old guys were drinking all the time, people's bodies were riddled with all sorts of incurable diseases,” Abrams says. “Everyone's walking around with whooping cough or typhoid, or they have splinters with tetanus in them, or bullets lodged in their bodies. These were not things that doctors could cure, so people just drank.”Some of the Founding Fathers drank and ate more extravagantly than others. “[Jefferson] allocated more than $16,500 to wine during his first two terms, and $50 a day for food,” Abrams says. According to an economist Abrams consulted at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that works out to the equivalent of $300,000 to $350,000 for wine.Although Jefferson’s Republican Party had a populist reputation in contrast to his Federalist counterparts, that didn’t stop him from drinking and dining like a French monarch. “[His cellar] was stocked with partridges, wild ducks, venison, squab, goose, pâté, rabbit, squirrel, crabs, and oysters,” Abrams says. Dinners were often eight courses, albeit with less stuffy table settings than was customary for the upper crust at the time.“It was a friendly atmosphere,” Abrams says. “It was about ideas and discussions. It gave off a vibe where he didn't seem stiff like those Federalists. But the truth is, they were all…I guess today we would call them all one-percenters.”Appropriately, then, some of the Founding Fathers looked down upon the drinking habits of the lower classes. At the time, rum and whiskey distilling was on the rise.In a letter in 1790, then treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton described spirits as “pernicious luxuries” and wrote, “The consumption of ardent spirits particularly, no doubt very much on account of their cheapness, is carried to an extreme, which is truly to be regretted, as well in regard to the health and the morals, as to the [economy] of the community.”Both to make a dent in the fledgling nation’s lingering Revolutionary War debts and curb the drinking habits of its population, Hamilton suggested slapping a tax on domestically distilling spirits. It provoked immediate outrage in 1791 in western Pennsylvania, where many farmers straight-up refused to pay it.George Washington sent a militia to quell the Whiskey Rebellion. Photo: MET/BOT / Alamy Stock PhotoBy 1794, hundreds of “whiskey rebels” were starting violent protests, including burning down a house. The Whiskey Rebellion, as it became known, got so out of hand that George Washington himself had to take a militia of over 12,000 men down to Pennsylvania to quell it.Just three years later though, Washington himself got into the whiskey business. In 1799, his distillery at Mount Vernon produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey. And while it’s unlikely he was the biggest boozer at his now infamous pre-Constitutional bender, we know he liked a tipple.As Abrams writes in his book, “Washington and [French major-general François-Jean de] Chastellux bonded over booze,” helping to strengthen the alliance despite linguistic and cultural barriers. By the end of the Revolutionary War, Washington, who previously had mostly stuck to American beer and rum, had developed a taste for fine French wines.Certainly, no one would advise drinking the quantities of liquor that were socially acceptable to consume in Washington’s time. But if you’re curious, you could always try a version of their poison of choice. According to Abrams, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association said Washington’s home-distilled firewater had a “pretty sharp taste”—not encouraging.George Washington had his own whiskey distillery. Photo: B Christopher / Alamy Stock PhotoMore promising is the cocktail that he carried while wandering in the woods. “He kept a canteen of this brandy-flavored beverage while he surveyed the Allegheny Mountains in September of 1784,” Abrams says. Sweet, tart, and very strong, it would have kept our nation’s first president both fortified and a little buzzed as he traipsed through the wilderness.Given that the messy, conflict-riddled business of making this government in the first place drove the Continental Congress to drink, it feels appropriate to have a glass of something stiff on Election Day (just, you know, not so many that you trash a Philadelphia tavern).If you’re feeling a bit anxious and exhausted by our democratic process, here are two easy things you can do right now: First, go register to vote if you haven’t already. Second, go make Martha Washington’s spiced, spiked sour cherry “bounce.” It needs to mellow for a full two weeks, meaning you’ll have a jar of liquid courage in your refrigerator when November 5 comes.

Rafael Nadal’s last 2024 Davis Cup Finals

 The 2024 Davis Cup Final 8 kicks off today in Malaga, Spain, running through Nov. 24. Often considered the men’s World Cup of the tennis world, this year’s competition marks the final tournament for 22-time Grand Slam singles champion Rafael Nadal. Retiring on his home turf, Nadal will be teaming up with fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz with hopes of winning one last trophy for their country. Spain hasn’t won the Davis Cup since 2019. But Nadal and Alcaraz aren’t the only major tennis stars on the court this week. Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek are competing for the U.S., and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner leads Italy’s team.

The Davis Cup Final 8 will follow a knockout-style tournament format in the quarterfinals this week. The semis begin on Friday. The final will be held on Sunday, Nov. 24. Are you ready to tune in to the 2024 Davis Cup — and potentially Rafael Nadal’s last match? Here’s what you need to know and how to watch the Davis Cup tennis tournament this week.

Fix iPhone 14 Plus' for free - Quality Control

New Apple repair program will fix iPhone 14 Plus' rear camera issue for freeApple has determined that "a very small percentage" of iPhone 14 Plus models are having rear camera issues, and it has launched a service program to repair them for free. If your phone isn't showing a preview when you use its rear camera, then you may be eligible to get your phone fixed at no cost — you can also contact Apple to get a refund if you'd already paid for a repair. The affected devices were manufactured between April 10, 2023 and April 28, 2024, around half a year after the model started shipping in 2022. You can check your device's serial number on the official repair program page to know if your device is included. To get it fixed, you can bring your phone to an Apple Authorized Service Provider or to an Apple retail store after making an appointment. You can also contact Apple Support if you want to mail your device to a repair center. The program covers repairs for all eligible phones for three years after the original date of purchase, so you may want to keep it in mind in case your unit starts exhibiting the issue in the future. Apple says it may "restrict or limit repair" to the unit's original region of purchase, though, so you'll have to check with the company if you bought your iPhone while traveling outside your country.

New record set in Vendée Globe

New record set in Vendée Globe

Nicolas Lunven, the skipper of the IMOCA Holcim-PRB, broke the outright solo monohull 24-hour record on the second day of the 2024-25 Vendée Globe. Opting for a more westerly route than the fleet, he covered 546.60 nautical miles in 24 hours (pending official ratification).

Lunven’s pace would surpass the same record set by Thomas Ruyant during the 2024 Retour à la Base event (539.58 nm/ 22.48 knot avg.).

This boat also holds the outright monohull 24-hour record, with skipper Kevin Escoffier and crew covering 640.48 nm in the 5th leg of The Ocean Race 2022-23, with an average speed of 26.68 knots.

Race updates – Tracker – Ranking – Facebook

The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite race round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. On November 10, 40 skippers started the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, holds the record for the 24,300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.

Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction

Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction

Champlain College receives $300,000 grant to support bilingual education shift

Champlain College receives $300,000 grant to support bilingual education shift By William Crooks Local Journalism Initiative Champlain College Lennoxville has been awarded nearly $300,000 under the Entente Canada-Québec (ECQ) agreement to support its implementation of Quebec’s Law 14, a new policy requiring CEGEP students to complete additional French-language courses as part of their programs. This mandate has created fresh challenges for the college, where administrators, teachers, and students are working to adapt to the bilingual course structure. The project proposal, spearheaded by Champlain College pedagogical counsellors Daniela Fernandes and Jordan Glass, was developed in partnership with Professor Sunny Lau of Bishop’s University. According to Glass, “the grant will provide crucial support for our teaching staff, helping them manage the new language requirements while ensuring students from diverse linguistic backgrounds don’t fall behind.” Navigating Law 14’s impact Law 14, known also as Bill 96, which came into effect in recent years, mandates that all students attending CEGEPs in Quebec, regardless of their linguistic background, complete a set of core courses in French. For Champlain College, which traditionally offers English-language programs, this requirement means a substantial shift. As Fernandes explained, “Previously, all general courses were conducted in English. Now, each program will have at least two courses taught in French.” The law also adds an administrative layer to the college’s curriculum design. Students who are recognized as “rights holders” – typically anglophone students – are allowed to complete their core courses in English, but are still required to take five courses in French. This includes two basic French courses and three additional courses that vary by program. Non-rights holders, who include recent immigrants and Indigenous students, must also complete five French-language courses, but their curriculum will focus more heavily on French literature to prepare them for Quebec’s mandatory French exit exam. “The addition of the French exit exam is a particularly heavy burden for non-rights holders,” Glass noted. “This exam is challenging even for francophone students, so you can imagine the pressure it puts on allophones and others for whom French isn’t their primary language.” This challenge is compounded for students who come from immigrant backgrounds or Indigenous communities, whose first language may be neither English nor French.

How to follow the Vendée Globe

How to follow the Vendée Globe Next Sunday, that is the 10th of November, the 40 skippers of the Vendée Globe will start the 10th edition of the legendary solo non stop round the world race. From 8 a.m. (local time France, +1hr UTC), the boats will cast off from the race pontoon one by one, every three minutes. The first to leave the dock will be Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance), one of the favourites for the event. The sailors will then pass down the famous Les Sables d'Olonne channel, a symbolic passage which is always the public's last chance to bid farewell to the skippers and for the solo racers themselves to share this special, emotional moment with the tens of thousands of well wishers who always line the channel. After three weeks of celebrations in the race Village this, as always, is the final interaction before the start gun to send the fleet on its way around the world. The race itself starts at 1302hrs (local time).

Meet the Vendée Globe Racing Fleet

Meet the Vendée Globe Racing Fleet The Vendée Globe is arguably the pinnacle of solo ocean racing. On November 10, 40 skippers will set out from Les Sables d’Olonne, France, with the aim of sailing nonstop, unassisted around the world. Many will not make it. In recent years, the race has had an attrition rate between 20 and 30%, with everything from sinking to electrical failures ending campaigns. While the podium always reflects the best of the best, in a race this tough, for most skippers just getting to the finish line is the ultimate goal, and no matter where you look in the fleet, inspirational stories of grit and passion abound. Winning the race is one thing, winning the hearts of spectators is another. The fleet of IMOCA 60s is dominated by the French, but in total, this year’s 40 skippers will include 11 nationalities, among them Japan, China, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, and Hungary. Conrad Coleman will sail under the joint flags of the United States and New Zealand and will be the only American in the fleet. The fleet will also include six female skippers and two para-athletes. In recent years, American offshore racing has really started to come into its own, as seen in particular with 11th Hour Ocean Racing’s victory in The Ocean Race, and Cole Brauer’s record-setting solo circumnavigation in the Global Solo Challenge. If this has put you in the mood to follow the Vendée Globe, but you’re not sure exactly where to start, here are some unsung campaigns to get excited about.

New foils and motors for SailGP

New foils and motors for SailGP When the fifth season of SailGP gets underway in November, modification for the F50s include two sets of new foils plus an electric motor for light winds. . After testing has occurred over the past 18 months at venues around the world, high-speed T-Foils will be added to the fleet of F50s in January 2025, in time for the second event being held in New Zealand. The T-Foils will replace the existing L-Foils that have been used since SailGP’s inception in 2019. Constructed from machined titanium and carbon, the high-speed T-Foils have thinner sections than the current L-Foils, reducing the drag at high speed. “The T-Foils will enable teams to have more control at high speed and better performance,” said SailGP CEO Russell Coutts . “One of the big surprises has been the increased performance when sailing upwind, approximately 5.5 km/h faster.” Coutts said the foils would also level the playing field for new teams joining the league – and create a learning curve for even the most experienced crews: “With the change impacting the entire fleet, no team will have more experience using these foils, which will likely level the playing field. Fans may be set for a new pecking order and some surprise results next season, which should make for a great spectacle.” SailGP has had a long-term ambition to introduce T-Foils, which have been specifically designed to improve performance, control and safety of the F50s at high speeds. They are also less prone to damage when subjected to high negative loads in a nose-dive which has been an issue with the original foils. Safety was also a key consideration in the upgrade. In addition to providing more control and performance, the outer tips of the T-Foils – which protrude outside the hulls – have been designed to break off in the event of a high-impact boat on boat collision. Further testing and refinement of the T-Foils will be carried out ahead of Auckland, before final adoption across the fleet. In addition to the high-speed T-Foils, SailGP is also in the process of producing new light-wind foils, designed to ensure the F50s are able to get up onto the foils at almost 3 km/h less wind than currently feasible. Ahead of testing in Dubai, which is where SailGP’s opening event of its 2024/2025 will take place, Coutts said, “I expect the light-wind foils to have an even bigger impact on our racing and the competition as a whole. It will provide faster-paced, more entertaining racing for the athletes and fans in lighter winds and provide greater certainty of racing within the targeted broadcast window – irrespective of conditions.” A New York Times report also noted how all boats this season will be equipped with a drop-down electric motor that can be deployed in light-air situations to enable foiling, or to help boats get back onto their foils if they fall off, for example during a maneuver. Falling off the foils has been problematic at some events with light winds where boats have trouble achieving the necessary speed through the water — about 16 knots – under wind power alone. Without this speed, F50s drag their hulls through the water, which slows the boat. While SailGP is still completing the details for how this will be integrated into racing, the motors represent a step change. “It’s a new innovation for sailing that hasn’t really existed before,” said said Andy Thompson, SailGP Mmanaging Director . “I think it will ruffle some feathers for sure, but we’ll implement it in the right way.”

Trump Media Outsourced Jobs to Mexico

Even as Trump Pushes “America First”

by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Former President Donald Trump’s social media company outsourced jobs to workers in Mexico even as Trump publicly railed against outsourcing on the campaign trail and threatened heavy tariffs on companies that send jobs south of the border.

The firm’s use of workers in Mexico was confirmed by a spokesperson for Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social platform. The workers were hired through another entity to code and perform other technical duties, according to a person with knowledge of Trump Media. The reliance on foreign labor was met with outrage among the company's own staff, who accused its leadership of betraying their “America First” ideals, the person said.

The outsourcing to Mexico helped prompt a recent whistleblower letter from staff to Trump Media’s board that has been roiling the company.

That complaint, reported by ProPublica last month, calls for the board to fire CEO Devin Nunes, a former Republican congressman. The letter alleges he has “severely” mismanaged the company. It also asserts the company is hiring “America Last” — with Nunes imposing a directive to hire only foreign contractors at the expense of “American workers who are deeply committed to our mission.”

“This approach not only contradicts the America First principles we stand for but also raises concerns about the quality, dedication, and alignment of our workforce with our core values,” the complaint reads.

A Trump Media spokesperson said the company uses “two individual workers” in Mexico. “Presenting the fact that [Trump Media] works with precisely two specialist contractors in Mexico as some sort of sensational scandal is just the latest in a long line of defamatory conspiracy theories invented by the serial fabricators at ProPublica,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson declined to answer other questions about the company’s Mexican contractors, including how much they’ve been paid, how many have been used over time and how their hiring squares with Trump’s promises to punish firms that send jobs outside of the U.S. The Trump campaign did not respond to questions.

For a company of its prominence, Trump Media has a tiny permanent staff, employing just a few dozen people as of the end of last year, only a portion of whom work on the Truth Social technology.

Trump Media’s hiring of Mexican coders also prompted frustration within the staff, the person with knowledge of the company said, because they were perceived by staff to not have the technical expertise to do the work.

On its homepage, Truth Social bills itself as “Proudly made in the United States of America. 🇺🇸”

Both as president and in his campaign for a second term, Trump has criticized companies that send jobs abroad, particularly to Mexico. If elected, he has pledged to “stop outsourcing” and “punish” companies that send jobs abroad.

For example, Trump recently threatened agricultural machinery giant John Deere with tariffs if it went through with plans to move some of its manufacturing to Mexico.

“I’m just notifying John Deere right now, if you do that, we’re putting a 200 percent tariff on everything you want to sell into the United States,” Trump said.

He has made a similar threat against automakers building cars in Mexico, demanding they hire American workers and manufacture domestically.

“I'm not going to let them build a factory right across the border,” Trump promised, “and sell millions of cars into the United States and destroy Detroit further."

Trump owns nearly 60% of the social media company, a stake worth around $3.5 billion at the stock’s Friday closing price — more than half of the former president’s net worth.

The results of the election are widely seen as a major factor in the future value of the company. As the Nov. 5 election draws closer, Trump Media’s stock price has fluctuated wildly even as little or nothing has changed in the company’s actual business, which generates scant revenue. The stock closed Friday down 40% from its recent peak on Tuesday. Despite that drop, it has still nearly doubled since the beginning of October.

One Trump Media board member, Eric Swider, offered a defense of relying on foreign labor in a statement to ProPublica from his lawyer.

“President Trump maintains an America First policy, which includes prioritizing American workers. Trump Media, however, is a global multi-media company. For a global multi-media company to utilize subcontractors, which in turn may utilize coders located in a foreign country, is a practice common to the industry,” the statement said. “Such global multi-media companies like Trump Media would have no right to control the employment decisions of its subcontractors, which may employ workers in a multitude of different countries in addition to the United States.”

Swider, a businessman based in Puerto Rico, serves on the board alongside better known figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Linda McMahon, the former Trump cabinet member who is now co-chair of his transition team.

The outsourcing to Mexico is not the only instance of Trump Media relying on foreign workers. ProPublica previously reported that the company used a foreign firm to source labor in the Balkans.

Nunes, for his part, is quoted in a new book about Truth Social, “Disappearing the President,” boasting about his ability to keep costs down at Trump Media, though he didn’t mention outsourcing.

“Nobody grew as fast as we did. I don't think there's any other example even close to us out there, especially with as little money as we spent,” Nunes said. “Don't forget that. We built this for a fraction of what these other companies were built for.”

Do you have any information about Trump Media that we should know? Robert Faturechi can be reached by email at robert.faturechi@propublica.org and by Signal or WhatsApp at 213-271-7217. Justin Elliott can be reached by email at justin@propublica.org or by Signal or WhatsApp at 774-826-6240.

Mica Rosenberg contributed reporting.

Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports

Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris, paper reports