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Japan raises alarm over China’s military, its Russia ties and Taiwan tensions in new defense paper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan stepped up its alarm over China’s assertiveness in the region, its growing military ties to Russia and its claims on Taiwan in an annual defense paper released Friday that is the first under Tokyo’s new security strategy calling for a major military buildup.The current security environment is the worst since the end of World War II, according to the 2023 edition of Japan’s defense white paper approved by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet. It is the first under the National Security Strategy the government adopted in December, stating the need to bolster strike capability with long-range missiles like Tomahawks, a controversial plan seen as a break from Japan’s self-defense-only postwar principle.China, Russia and North Korea contribute to “the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II,” according to the 510-page report. It says China’s external stance and military activities have become a “serious concern for...

Bolivia is the latest South American nation to use China’s yuan for trade in challenge to the dollar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia is now using the yuan to pay for imports and exports, becoming the latest country in South America to regularly use the Chinese currency in a small but growing challenge to the hegemony of the U.S. dollar for international financial transactions in the region.Between May and July of this year, Bolivia conducted financial operations amounting to 278 million Chinese yuan ($38.7 million), which accounts for 10% of its foreign trade during that period, Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said on Thursday.“We’re already using the yuan. It’s a reality and a good start,” Montenegro said during a news conference. “Banana, zinc, and wood manufacturing exporters are conducting transactions in yuan, as well as importers of vehicles and capital goods.” These electronic transactions are carried out through the state-owned Banco Unión.“The amount being used in yuan is still relatively small, but it will increase over time,” Montenegro said.With these transactions, B...

US Senate votes to expand radiation-exposure compensation, from Guam to original A-bomb test site

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Senate has endorsed a major expansion of a compensation program for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing and the mining of uranium during the Cold War, with a vote Thursday on a massive defense spending bill.Advancing on a 86-11 Senate vote, the provisions would extend health care coverage and compensation to so-called downwinders exposed to radiation during weapons testing to several new regions stretching from Guam to the New Mexico site where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945.The Senate-backed plan also would extend compensation to more former uranium industry workers. The proposed changes to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act are not yet included in a House-approved defense bill, amid negotiations toward final legislation.The hit summer film “Oppenheimer” about the top-secret Manhattan Project and the dawn of the nuclear age during World War II has brought new attention to a decades-long effort...

Liberals win pair of seats in Ontario provincial byelections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

The Ontario Liberals won a pair of provincial byelections Thursday, including snagging a previously Progressive Conservative seat.The party has no leader at the moment, though five people are vying for the title, and has severely diminished resources following two successive electoral routs, but it finished the evening with its highest seat count since 2018.Liberal candidate Andrea Hazell won the riding of Scarborough-Guildwood, which former cabinet minister Mitzie Hunter held for 10 years until she resigned in May to run in the mayoral byelection.The Progressive Conservatives ran local councillor Gary Crawford as a candidate, but he finished more than 1,000 votes behind Hazell.In the Ottawa-area riding of Kanata-Carleton, Karen McCrimmon — the former Liberal MP for the riding — won the seat for the Liberals over Progressive Conservative candidate Sean Webster.Kanata-Carleton has been without a representative since Merrilee Fullerton abruptly resigned her post as ministe...

Mortgage scam victims still waiting for justice

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

CHICAGO — It's a story WGN Investigates has been following for years. Mark Diamond is facing federal charges accused of scamming elderly homeowners and leaving families on the verge of losing their most valuable assets.  "This was devastating to generations. This is generational wealth being robbed," said Rev. Robin Hood, who witnessed the impact of the scheme on his own family. In April, Diamond's co-defendant Cynthia Wallace struck a plea deal indicating she will cooperate with federal authorities. In this WGN-TV Cover Story, reporter Gaynor Hall and photojournalist Vince Tagle talk with families who are still waiting for justice.For more information on fraud prevention and education resources for homeowners visit: https://homeowner-education.law.northwestern.edu/

Austin Energy helps small businesses, nonprofits and houses of worship save energy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin Energy is helping small businesses, nonprofits and houses of worship save energy and money this summer with rebates and discounts on improvements, according to a news release from Austin Energy.These promotions highlight Austin Energy's assistance in upgrading appliances and equipment, installing energy-efficient lighting and smart thermostats, replacing insulation and windows, and more, according to Austin Energy.Qualifying small businesses get a 30% bonus over the agency's standard commercial rebates, the release said. Those incentives help lower the upfront cost of improvements that can help save on utility bills, as well as maintenance costs down the road, according to Austin Energy.HVAC tune-upsBusinesses, nonprofits and houses of worship can earn rebates when an Austin Energy participating contractor performs an HVAC system tune-up.Customers can get back from $228 to $715 per unit serviced, plus rebates on auxiliary equipment.Regular tune-ups help keep ...

Heavy thunderstorms prompt overnight flood watch in Twin Cities

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

Brace yourselves for potentially severe thunderstorms and flash flooding late Thursday and early Friday.A flood watch is in effect until 4 a.m. for portions of east-central Minnesota along with west-central Wisconsin, the National Weather Service says.The watch includes the Twin Cities metro area.Heavy thunderstorms that were exhibiting “training” characteristics were setting up north of the Twin Cities on Thursday evening.Such training thunderstorms across eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin have the potential to produce 3 to 5 inches of rainovernight.According to the NWS, the east-to-west line will slowly sag south through the evening while continuing to back-build to the west, leading to the possibility of flash flooding.Excessive runoff may result in flooding of creeks, streams, urban areas and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.Related ArticlesLocal News | Dangerous heat for Twin Cities and beyond on Thursday, with severe storms also possible ...

Jurors begin deliberations in federal lawsuit over 29-year-old’s fatal shooting by St. Paul officers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

An attorney for Cordale Handy’s mother asked jurors in a civil case Thursday to find that two St. Paul police officers used excessive force and wrongfully caused his death when they shot the 29-year-old in 2017. The city’s attorney requested the opposite from jurors.Jurors began deliberations Thursday in the federal lawsuit filed by Kimberly Handy-Jones and are scheduled to resume on Monday.After a 2017 investigation, no criminal charges were filed against officers Mikko Norman and Nathaniel Younce, who reported Handy pointed a gun at Norman. The trial, which began Monday, is a rare occasion of a lawsuit against the city of St. Paul in a shooting by an officer being heard by a jury.Cordale Handy (Courtesy of Kimberly Handy-Jones)On March 15, 2017, about 2:20 a.m., Norman and Younce responded to a 911 call in St. Paul’s Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. They encountered Handy outside. He was on the ground when the officers said Handy pointed a gun at Norman.“...

Raise the Age changes proposed by District Attorney

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Under Raise the Age legislation, offenders between the ages of sixteen and seventeen are not charged as adults. A string of 33 cases from May to July of 2023 have caught the attention of the District Attorney’s Office for allowing troubled teens back on the streets.District Attorney David Soares and his staff are looking to make changes to Raise the Age starting with local legislature. In response to Tuesday’s Lexington Avenue investigation, Soares disagrees with the outcome. Albany police arrest 4 after drug investigation “Those individuals get to go back home and have breakfast with their families. The system is broken," stated Soares. Especially in a case where guns and drugs were involved for a seventeen and two sixteen-year-olds.When it comes to changing the system, the Albany County Legislature does not want the pendulum to swing too far in the opposite direction. Legislator Wanda Willingham sharing a story from Rikers Island, a jail in New York City, ...

Kiszla: Buffs bolt back to the future before the Pac-12 crumbles into ocean. “My job just got harder … and better,” CU basketball coach Tad Boyle says.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:54:13 GMT

CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders is behind the wheel of a $200,000 Maybach, with athletic director Rick George merely along for the ride, as the Buffs speed down the road back to the Big 12 Conference, where the cows and paychecks are bigger.“This move,” George insisted Thursday, when the Buffs bolted the Pac-12 before it crumbled and fell into the Pacific Ocean, “was not just based on money or finances.”Well, I’m not here to call George a liar. But nobody forsakes CU alums basking by their swimming pools in sunny California and loads up the family van with young Buffs for road trips to Waco, Texas and Ames, Iowa. That simply doesn’t happen if it’s not all about the Benjamins.And the family van? No longer hip.“In today’s world, with NIL (name, image and likeness) money,” chuckled Colorado basketball coach Tad Boyle, “nobody’s driving a van anymore.”I’m so old I remember when Colorado ditched the corn dogs at truck stops of the Big 12 for a chance to rub elbows with rocket scientists a...