Nation and world news in brief for September 19
Teamsters will not endorse Trump or Harris
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said on Wednesday that the union will not endorse any U.S. presidential candidate despite polling that showed a majority of members backed Republican candidate Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris.
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The 1.3 million-member union — which represents truck drivers and a wide range of other workers ranging from airline pilots to zookeepers — had released a national electronic poll of its members Wednesday that showed rank-and-file members preferred the former president over Vice President Harris by 59.6% to 34%.
The Teamsters have endorsed every Democratic candidate for president since 2000 but have on occasion endorsed Republicans, including President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1988. It is the first time since 1996 the union is not making an endorsement.
Most major unions have endorsed Harris, including the United Auto Workers union. The AFL-CIO, which represents 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, endorsed Harris in July.
Trial date set for man accused of torturing, raping and murdering Black women
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TNS) — An Excelsior Springs man will stand trial late next year on multiple charges, including rape, kidnapping and murder in a case involving Black women who later were reported missing, according to court documents
Clay County Judge David P. Chamberlain ordered 41-year-old Timothy M. Haslett Jr. to appear at 9 a.m. Dec. 1, 2025, for a jury trial expected to last around two weeks.
Haslett was arrested in October 2022 after a young woman said she escaped a torture chamber in the basement of his Excelsior Springs home.
The malnourished woman, wearing a collar locked around her neck, ran to a neighbor’s house and said she had been restrained in a man’s basement. She told police she was held as his “Sex Slave,” according to court documents.
The woman told police that Haslett kept two other women captive in a chamber in the basement who did not “make it,” court documents said.
Haslett was charged with first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
Boeing furloughs thousands as it hunkers down for extended strike
(Reuters) — Boeing said on Wednesday it will temporarily furlough tens of thousands of employees after about 30,000 machinists went on strike on Friday, halting production of its 737 MAX and other airplanes.
“We are initiating temporary furloughs over the coming days that will impact a large number of US-based executives, managers and employees,” CEO Kelly Ortberg said in an email to employees. “We are planning for selected employees to take one week of furlough every four weeks on a rolling basis for the duration of the strike.”
Ortberg also said he and other Boeing leaders “will take a commensurate pay reduction for the duration of the strike.”
Long Island Trump rally: Bogus explosive report amid tight security
NEW YORK (TNS) — A report of explosives outside Donald Trump’s planned rally on Long Island was bogus, officials said Wednesday.
Hours before Trump, 78, was scheduled to arrive at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, social media rumors spread about explosives being found in a car outside the arena.
“No. Ridiculous. Zero validity,” said Christopher Boyle, spokesperson for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the rumors spread after a civilian who “may have been training a bomb detection dog…falsely reported explosives being found.” The man was detained and interrogated by police at the scene. He was not involved with the event or securing the alleged explosives.
Security was on high alert for the rally on Long Island, Trump’s first in the area since 2017. Ryder vowed that the stadium would be “the safest place in the country.”
Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sexual assault charge
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge on Wednesday, nearly five months after the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul’s earlier sex crimes conviction in New York was overturned.
Weinstein, 72, who is recovering from emergency heart surgery, entered his plea to committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree at a hearing before Justice Curtis Farber in a New York state court in Manhattan.
Weinstein still faces two other criminal counts from an earlier indictment where he also pleaded not guilty, including another first-degree criminal sexual act charge and a third-degree rape charge.
