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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits China as part of efforts to soothe strained relations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrived in Beijing on Thursday for meetings with Chinese leaders as part of efforts to revive relations that are strained by disputes about security, technology and other irritants.Yellen planned to focus on stabilizing the global economy and challenging Chinese support of Russia during its invasion of Ukraine, Treasury officials in Washington told reporters ahead of the trip.The secretary was due to meet with Chinese officials, American businesspeople and members of the public, according to Treasury officials. They gave no details, but said Yellen wouldn’t meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.Yellen follows Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Xi last month in the highest-level U.S. visit to Beijing in five years. The two agreed to stabilize relations but failed to agree on improving communications between their militaries.Yellen earlier warned against economic decoupling, or disconnecting U.S. and Chinese industry and markets. Busines...

UAE pledges $15 million to help rebuild occupied West Bank camp hard hit by Israeli offensive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The United Arab Emirates pledged Thursday to give $15 million to help rebuild the Jenin refugee camp after the most intense Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades.The funding promise comes after the two-day offensive destroyed the camp’s narrow roads and alleyways. The operation, meant to crack down on Palestinian militants after a series of recent attacks on Israelis, sent thousands of people fleeing their homes. Twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in the fighting. The UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported that the money would be granted to UNRWA, the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, to rebuild damaged homes and businesses and for the agency’s services. UNRWA has struggled recently to raise the funding it needs to keep its day-to-day operations helping millions of people across the Middle East.Israel’s fierce incursion this week saw bulldozers tearing through streets t...

Glitches in Japan’s unpopular MyNumber digital ID cards draw a flood of complaints

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The minister charged with an overhaul of Japan’s digitized system to assign a number to everyone living in the country has apologized, as doctors protested glitches with health insurance and local governments begged Thursday for clarity on how to handle the problems. The MyNumber, or “MaiNa” for short, system has clearly gone afoul.The government has ordered a total rechecking of MyNumber data, one by one, “mechanically,” as the digital agency put it. The goal is to complete it by the fall, which could be anytime from September to November.Local governments have to deal with much of the checking work. Officials have met with Digital Minister Taro Kono demanding help. Costs for the review have not been announced, but are expected to total trillions of yen (tens of billions of dollars). Under MyNumber, launched in 2016, people get a card with a photo and embedded IC chip. Officials already are talking about issuing totally new cards in 2026, apparently to start afre...

Toronto man arrested after striking police cruiser, 2nd vehicle while fleeing officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

A man is in custody after allegedly crashing into two vehicles, including a police cruiser, while trying to flee from police.York Regional Police say the incident began when officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle around 10:20 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Jane Street and Hullmar Drive, south of Steeles Avenue.Police say the driver took off and struck a York police cruiser before driving southbound on Jane. The driver struck a second vehicle a short time later and then took off on foot.He was located and arrested a short distance away.No officers were injured but an occupant of the second vehicle that was struck sustained minor injuries. The suspect was also taken to hospital with minor injuries.A 24-year-old man from Toronto is now in custody and police say officers recovered a firearm at the scene.Roads were closed in the area for several hours but they have since reopened.

More than 950 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea in first 6 months of 2023, group says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

MADRID (AP) — At least 951 migrants have died while trying to reach Spain by sea in the first six months of 2023, a Spanish migrant rights group said Thursday.Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said the total includes 112 women and 49 children. The organization compiles its figures from families of migrants and rescue statistics. It said in a report issued Thursday that official Spanish figures show fewer boats arrived in the first six months, but that 13 more people died than in the first six months of last year.Spain’s Interior Ministry says 12,192 people arrived by boat in the first six months, 4% fewer than in the same period last year.Caminando Fronteras blamed countries such as Spain and Morocco for a lack of coordination and failing to conduct rescue operations in time.It gave the example of a June 21 incident in which 24 people were rescued and two bodies were retrieved after a boat sank in waters off Morocco’s coast, but 36 migrants disappeared. It said a Moroccan ...

Climate talks chief urges oil producing states to slash emissions

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

The president of this year’s United Nations’ climate talks urged the oil and gas industry Thursday to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by or before 2050 in a speech to oil producing states.Speaking at a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, Sultan al-Jaber urged members to invest heavily in renewables and work toward reducing planet-warming emissions from third parties, such as those released by suppliers or customers.He also encouraged nations to reach net zero methane emissions by 2030. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term and is released into the atmosphere by the oil and gas industry through leaks or flares. Al-Jaber, who’s set to head up the talks known as COP28 in Dubai in December, is the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, one of the world’s largest oil producers, as well as the United Arab Emirates’ renewables firm Masdar. He urged OPEC nations to ̶...

APD: SWAT call in progress in east Austin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An aggravated assault call in east Austin turned into a SWAT situation, according to the Austin Police Department.APD said officers responded to the call in the 7000 block of Decker Lane at 1:09 a.m. for reports of a man shooting his brother. Austin Police said the man shot was in the hospital with life-threatening conditions.APD said a perimeter was set up around the area, but the suspect was not found. Officers then received information the suspect could be at a second location in the 5600 block of Springdale Road, according to police.As of 4:45 a.m., Austin Police said the suspect remained inside at the second location and a SWAT call was in progress.This is a developing story. Check back with KXAN fo more information.

Hotter, drier weather follows today's scattered storms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Relatively-speaking, today will the coolest and wettest day of the next 7... but given the time of year, we'll need to manage expectations.Early morning clouds will partially clear some by early afternoon, only to bubble up again later today with isolated to scattered storms in the mix. While some areas will miss out, others especially east of I-35 may tally 0.5" to 1" of rain.Isolated to scattered storms Thursday afternoon & early eveningAfter today, our weather pattern returns to what it looked like most of last month (unfortunately) as a ridge of high pressure builds over the region. This will kick off a string of 100°+ temps this weekend, expected to continue through the end of next week.High temperatures return to the triple digits this weekendLight amounts of Saharan dust are blowing across the Atlantic into our area. While you may notice a light haze in the sky at times this week, there is no impact expected to air quality.Summer Fan DriveOur Summer Fan D...

Recipes: Simple, satisfying 3-ingredient barbecue sauces

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

Traditional American barbecue sauces have always had an air of mystery. The lengthy ingredient lists. The complex flavors. The secrecy surrounding the recipe. The mythical pitmasters who vow to take their formulas to the grave.So the notion of a barbecue sauce that contains only three ingredients smacks of heresy — even more so when you can assemble it in a matter of minutes. But there are precedents in regional American barbecue. Each of these recipes requires just three ingredients (not counting salt and pepper), and all will take your barbecue far beyond the sweet tomato-based condiment most of us call barbecue sauce.“Vinegar sauce is the original American barbecue sauce,” said John Shelton Reed, author of “On Barbecue.” While a watery mix of cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper may not seem like barbecue sauce to most Americans, North Carolina-style pulled pork just wouldn’t taste right without it.The vinegar counterpoints the fatty pork, while the black and hot...

Jonathan Bernstein: Republicans help Biden by taking credit for his policy wins

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:26:31 GMT

Federal awards to states for expanding broadband access are out, and U.S. senators are rushing to brag about the money their states will receive, including those like Texas Republican John Cornyn and others who opposed the bipartisan infrastructure bill that contained the funding they’re now lauding.Their boasting produced plenty of mockery by Democrats, including President Joe Biden, who called out Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville repeatedly last week.“There’s a guy named Tuberville, senator from Alabama, who announced that he strongly opposed the legislation. Now he’s hailing its passage,” the president said, while also reading Tuberville’s tweet aloud.Biden paused briefly afterward to make the sign of the cross, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd.Look, of course it’s fair game for the president to tweak those who voted against something and then took credit for it. But I’ll defend what these senators are doing.For one thin...