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US sails warship through Taiwan Strait after China’s drills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The United States Navy has sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait in its first known transit since China carried out an encirclement exercise around self-ruled Taiwan. The U.S. 7th Fleet said the transit through the strait by the USS Milius on Sunday was routine. The cruisers “transited through a corridor in the Strait that is beyond the territorial sea of any coastal State,” the statement said.Last week China concluded large-scale air and sea drills in the strait in retaliation for Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5 in California. China said Wednesday that the exercises simulating an encirclement of Taiwan were intended as a “serious warning” to pro-independence politicians on the self-governing island and their foreign supporters. China protested the transit Monday, saying the U.S. transit was a “public hype” and that the Eastern Theater Command was ready at any time to “resolutely safeguard the...

Texas freight train collision injures 2, no hazmat onboard

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

A train collision and subsequent derailment injured two rail employees in Texas Sunday night, according to a company official.A Union Pacific freight train collided with an unoccupied train that was parked on a siding around 7 p.m. in Chico, Texas, Union Pacific spokesperson Kristen South, said in an email to The Associated Press.A locomotive engineer and conductor were being treated for injuries after the southbound train derailed following the accident near County Road 1540. No one else was on board the freight train, South said.One patient was transported to a hospital by helicopter and the other was transported by ambulance to Wise Health System in Decatur, Texas, the Wise County Emergency Operations Center said in a statement.Three locomotives and about 15 grain cars derailed, but the train was not carrying any hazardous materials, South said. Asked about the speed of the train when the accident occurred, South said Union Pacific was investigating the cause of the accident and ...

US, allies conduct more drills in face of N. Korean threat

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States, South Korea and Japan will conduct a joint missile defense exercise Monday in waters near the Korean Peninsula as they expand military training to counter the growing threats of North Korea’s nuclear-capable missiles, the South Korean navy said. Last week, North Korea conducted one of its most provocative weapons demonstrations in years by flight-testing for the first time an intercontinental ballistic missile powered by solid propellants, as it pursues a weapon that’s more responsive, harder to detect and could directly target the continental United States. North Korea’s unprecedented run of weapons tests has so far involved more than 100 missiles of various ranges fired into the sea since the start of 2022 as the country attempts to build a viable nuclear arsenal that could threaten its rival neighbors and the United States.The exercises Monday may trigger a belligerent response from North Korea, which condemns the United St...

Progressives focus on local-level wins to counter setbacks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — For many progressives, the past decade has been littered with disappointments. But recent down-ballot victories are providing hope of reshaping the Democratic Party from the bottom up, rather than from Washington. In Chicago earlier this month, a former teacher’s union organizer unexpectedly won the mayor’s race. In St. Louis, progressives secured a majority on the municipal board. The next opportunities could lie in Philadelphia and Houston, which also hold mayoral elections this year.The focus on lower-level contests already has helped progressives gain power and influence policy at a local level, organizers say, shaping issues such as the minimum wage. It also may help the movement find future stars, with today’s city and county officials becoming tomorrow’s breakout members of Congress and only moving further up the political ladder.“Progressives have taken a look at how to be strategic and how to build power,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Fli...

Russia’s UN council presidency is most contentious in memory

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — First the Russians gave the U.N. spotlight to the commissioner of children’s rights accused with President Vladimir Putin of war crimes for deporting Ukrainian children to Russia, sparking a walkout by the U.S. and several others. Then Russia went after the West by claiming it is violating international laws in arming Ukraine, drawing blistering retorts that Ukraine has every right to defend itself against Putin’s invading army. So far, the Russian presidency of the U.N. Security Council has been the most contentious in the memory of longtime U.N. diplomats and officials. And it’s just at the midway point.More fireworks are to come later in the month when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presides over the premier event of the presidency — an open council meeting on defending the principles of the U.N. Charter. Russia is widely accused of violating the charter by invading Ukraine and flouting its underpinning principles of respecting sovereignty and ...

GOP leader McConnell returning to Senate after head injury

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will be back at work in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion.The longtime Kentucky senator, 81, has been recovering at home since he was released from a rehabilitation facility March 25. He fell after attending an event earlier that month, injuring his head and fracturing a rib. He visited his office Friday, the first time since his injury, and is expected to be working a full schedule in the Senate this week.“I am looking forward to returning to the Senate on Monday,” McConnell tweeted on Thursday. “We’ve got important business to tackle and big fights to win for Kentuckians and the American people.”McConnell returns to the Senate ahead of a busy stretch in which Congress will have to find a way to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and negotiate additional aid for the Ukraine war, among other policy matters. And he comes back as several ot...

2 bodies lifted from sea after Japan army helicopter crash

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s military recovered two bodies of the 10 crew members on an army helicopter that sunk to the bottom of the sea after presumably crashing off a southern Japanese island 11 days ago.On Monday, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force confirmed the deaths of two male crew members recovered by special divers from the 100-meter (330-foot) -deep seabed where they were found with the wreckage and three other crew members. The other five crew members on board at the time of the crash are still missing. The UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter disappeared April 6 soon after taking off from an army base on Miyako Island for a reconnaissance mission in Japan’s southern islands.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday expressed his “deepest regret” over the deaths Monday and pledged to do the utmost for the recovery of the rest of the crew members “so that those who devoted their lives for the defense of the country can go back to their families as soon as possible, while we pursue our ef...

Asian shares mixed over economic growth, rate worries

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian markets were trading mixed Monday as worries continued about economic growth, even as some hopes were perked by a recent rise in U.S. bank issues.Traders are also focused on upcoming earnings reports from global companies. Worries continue about inflationary pressures, and how that might affect moves by the Federal Reserve and the world’s other central banks on interest rates.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% in morning trading to 28,475.31. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 7,373.60, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% to 2,565.97. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2% to 20,488.00. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.9% to 3,368.53. “Markets suffer from more heat than light as hyper-sensitivity of Fed policy projections to U.S. data continues to infuse out-sized volatility,” said Tan Boon Heng at Mizuho Bank. China’s central bank kept the one-year medium-term lending facility rate unchang...

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves: Denver leads by 29 points after three quarters of Game 1

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

Playoff basketball is here. For the first time in franchise history, the Nuggets are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Timberwolves at Ball Arena in Denver.Fourth-quarter updatesJamal Murray’s feeling it (10:50 p.m.): That cold start? Murray’s beginning to look like the playoff Murray of old. Two 3-pointers this quarter. Denver leads 95-63. — Joe NguyenThird-quarter analysis — Nuggets 87, Timberwolves 58Sean Keeler, sports columnist: Shutdown defense? Locking guys up? Getting in guys’ faces so they lose their cool, then laughing and pointing to the scoreboard when they flip out? (See Murray, Jamal.) From Bruce Brown to Christian Braun, this team’s growing up so much in just one playoff game. Man, does April ’22 feel like a lot longer than 12 months ago.Matt Schubert, deputy sports editor: That might be the best defensive quarter of the season from the Nuggets. Jeff Green with ...

2 arrested in connection with attempted murder in Van Nuys

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:18:54 GMT

Two suspects are charged with attempted murder after they were allegedly captured on surveillance footage shooting a man on Friday in Van Nuys, authorities announced. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the shooting in the 15200 block of Vanowen Street around 8:20 a.m after an employee at a nearby business discovered a man on the sidewalk suffering from a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Surveillance footage obtained by police from the scene showed a part of the shooting and the suspects involved. While police were investigating an unrelated incident in the Hartland Street and Kester Avenue area on Saturday, they spotted two people who matched the description of the suspects captured in the video footage. The suspects, 39-year-old Javier Rosario of Van Nuys and 33-year-old Jennifer Yui of West Covina, were arrested and charged with attempted murder. “Both suspects were taken into custody, and (a) subsequent investigation resulted in the recovery ...