Airlines will now have to provide automatic refunds to travelers if their flights are canceled or significantly altered under new U.S. Department of Transportation rules.
The final regulations released Wednesday outline the circumstances where passengers are entitled to refunds for all travel to, from and within the U.S. The goal is to make it easier for people to get money back and to make refund policies more consistent from one airline to the next.
According to the department, complaints related to airlines and ticket agents rejecting or delaying refunds made up 87% of all air-travel service complaints at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
High court hears new abortion ban
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices voiced doubt Wednesday about a strict Idaho law that would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion even for a woman who arrives at a hospital suffering from a serious, but not life-threatening, medical emergency.
Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth B. Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, said such cases are rare and tragic. They are not elective abortions, she said, but pregnancies that have turned into medical emergencies.
Prelogar urged the high court to rule that federal emergency care law applies nationwide and sometimes requires hospitals and their doctors to perform an abortion — regardless of any state restrictions on the procedure — if a pregnant patient’s health or life is at risk.
The justices sounded closely split, but Prelogar’s argument appeared to gain traction with some conservatives.
Columbia gives protestors time
NEW YORK — Columbia University extended a deadline overnight for student protesters to clear their campus antiwar tent encampment, giving them another 48 hours to pull up stakes and leave, school officials said Wednesday.
The agreement comes just under a week after university officials called the NYPD to break up a prior iteration of the encampment, arresting 100 protesters.
“We are making important progress with representatives of the student encampment on the West lawn,” a university spokesperson said early Wednesday. “In light of this constructive dialogue, the university will continue conversations for the next 48 hours. We will report back on progress.”
Protesters have committed to complying with FDNY safety regulations.
