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China opposes Taiwan-US defense and military exchanges

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China warned against continued U.S.-Taiwan cooperation Wednesday, responding to reports that the U.S. military was sending officers to help train Taiwan’s counterparts and that a delegation of defense contractors would visiting the self-ruled island next week. “We resolutely oppose the U.S. having any form of official or military contact with China’s Taiwan region,” Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a weekly press briefing in Beijing. Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary. President Xi Jinping’s government has flown fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan in increasing numbers and fired missiles into the sea in an attempt to intimidate the island.Taiwanese media reported this month that the U.S. had sent 200 military personnel, mostly Marines, to h...

After learning of Kishida attack, safety chief kept eating

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s public safety chief has come under fire for his remark that he enjoyed eel rice so much that he kept eating after his agency informed him of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s narrow escape from a pipe bomb attack two weeks ago.Koichi Tani, chair of the National Public Safety Commission for Kishida’s Cabinet, told a governing party gathering Tuesday that he had the local delicacy in front of him for lunch when the phone rang. “I was told that we can eat delicious unagi (eel) rice bowl there, and I was really looking forward to it,” Tani told party lawmakers. “Just as I was going to dig into it, I got a call from the National Police Agency saying something was thrown at the prime minister in Wakayama,” Tani said. “But I fully savored and finished … my unadon (eel rice bowl),” he said, beaming. Tani was in the Shimanto area in the southwestern prefecture of Kochi during the attack — about 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Wakayama, ...

New Zealand plants tree to mark coronation of King Charles

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins planted a native totara tree Wednesday in Parliament’s grounds to mark the upcoming coronation of Britain’s King Charles III.The ceremony was an early start to a campaign to plant 100,000 native trees around New Zealand. The government has donated 1 million New Zealand dollars ($613,000) to the effort.Hipkins said his office liaised with the British palace over the best way to mark the coronation. “King Charles being an avid environmentalist and a keen gardener, we thought it was appropriate that we recognize his coronation in a way that leaves a lasting legacy that recognizes his passions and his interests,” Hipkins said. New Zealand is a former British colony and under its constitutional arrangements, Charles remains New Zealand’s king and head of state. However, his role is largely ceremonial. King Charles’s coronation May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London will mark the official start of the ...

Belarusians wary of being drawn into war with Ukraine

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — For Ruslan, an engineer in the Belarus capital of Minsk, Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine suddenly seemed closer than ever when a conscription office recently sent him a summons for military training.It’s part of an effort that will see thousands of men in Belarus attend drills amid fears that the staunch Moscow ally could be drawn into the fighting.“They are telling us that Belarus won’t enter the war against Ukraine, but I hear Russian warplanes roar over my house heading to the Machulishchi air base outside Minsk,” the 27-year-old told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He asked not to be fully identified out of concern for his personal safety.“Russian troops are already in Belarus, and I see the country gradually being turned into a military barracks,” he said. “Everybody fears that they won’t allow Belarusians to keep watching the war from a distance for too long.”Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has wel...

As Assad returns to Arab fold, Syrians watch with hope, fear

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrians living on opposite sides of the largely frozen battle lines dividing their country are watching the accelerating normalization of ties between the government of Bashar Assad and Syria’s neighbors through starkly different lenses.In government-held Syria, residents struggling with ballooning inflation, fuel and electricity shortages hope the rapprochement will bring more trade and investment and ease a crippling economic crisis.Meanwhile, in the remaining opposition-held areas of the north, Syrians who once saw Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries as allies in their fight against Assad’s rule feel increasingly isolated and abandoned.Turkey, which has been a main backer of the armed opposition to Assad, has been holding talks with Damascus for months — most recently on Tuesday, when the defense ministers of Turkey, Russia, Iran and Syria met in Moscow.And in recent weeks, regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia — which once backed Syrian rebel groups — has...

Cosmetic to critical: Blue states help trans health coverage

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — For most of her life in New Mexico, Christina Wood felt like she had to hide her identity as a transgender woman. So six years ago she moved to Oregon, where she had readier access to the gender-affirming health care she needed to live as her authentic self. Once there, Wood, 49, was able to receive certain surgeries that helped her transition, but electrolysis, or permanent hair removal, wasn’t fully covered under the state’s Medicaid plan for low-income residents. Paying out-of-pocket ate up nearly half her monthly income, but it was critical for Wood’s mental health. “Having this facial hair or this body hair, it doesn’t make me feel feminine. I still look in the mirror and I see that masculine person,” she said. “It’s stressful. It causes anxiety and PTSD when you’re having to live in this body that you don’t feel like you should be in.” That is likely about to change. Oregon lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that would further expand insurance co...

Nuggets’ Jamal Murray says T-Wolves’ defensive narrative fueled Game 5 eruption

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

Jamal Murray sliced through the guts of Minnesota’s defense before flipping the ball, blindly, in the vague direction of the hoop.After his reverse layup fell on the first possession of the second half, Murray was planted on the baseline, preening at his circus shot and the foul that came along with it.“I mean, I do that sometimes,” he said from the postgame podium after torching the Timberwolves for 35 points in 41 minutes, ousting Minnesota from the playoffs with a gripping Game 5 win. Murray’s passionate, emotional brand of basketball was vital against a T-Wolves team that refused to quit, and on a night when Denver didn’t engage until the second half.Without Murray’s rare ability to perform when the pressure mounts, the Nuggets are probably headed back to Minneapolis for Game 6. Instead, they’ve bought themselves a handful of invaluable rest days before opening on Saturday against Phoenix in Game 1.Like Easter eggs buried throughout the lower bowl, Murray dropped little hi...

Colorado snow totals for April 25-26, 2023

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

The following Colorado snow totals have been reported by the National Weather Service for April 25-26, 2023, as of 12:30 p.m.Crested Butte, CO — 1 inch at 8 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Florissant, CO — 1.5 inches at 6 p.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Mount Crested But, CO — 3.5 inches at 7 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Mount Crested Butte, CO — 1.2 inches at 7 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Pitkin, CO — 2 inches at 7 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Sawpit, CO — 10.5 inches at 10:32 p.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Silverton, CO — 3.7 inches at 7 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Skyway, CO — 1.5 inches at 8 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023St Marys Glacier, CO — 4 inches at 4:58 p.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Steamboat Springs, CO — 3 inches at 7 a.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Vallecito, CO — 5 inches at 6:28 p.m. MDT – 4/25/2023Woodland Park, CO — 5 inches at 8:20 p.m. MDT – 4/25/2023

Denver metro area school and government office closures for April 26, 2023

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

Denver metro area weather closuresOn days with severe weather, school closures and government office closures will be updated throughout the day.A status of “Other” means there is an early closing or some cancellations — check the website by clicking the name in the list.

New EU crypto rules are good news for consumers and fight against money laundering, but their heavy carbon footprint remains a major concern

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:56:52 GMT

The new EU legislative package on crypto-assets that was voted by the European Parliament on 25 April will ensure better protection of consumers and a more effective fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. However, with this rapidly developing market, more action is necessary to offset risks, urge S&Ds. Furthermore, from an ecological point of view, a huge carbon footprint of crypto-assets remains a major concern. They use up as much energy as electric cars. Throughout the process of adopting this legislation, the S&D Group has been pushing for clearer and more stringent rules on the sustainability standards, but these efforts were unfortunately blocked by the conservatives and the liberals, with the support of the far-right in the Parliament. We will continue to strive for environment-friendly cryptocurrencies. Eero Heinäluoma, S&D negotiator on the EU legislation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), said: “The EU is a pioneer in regulating the cry...