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Biden and Xi will meet Wednesday for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught US-China relations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in California for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught U.S.-Chinese relations in the first engagement between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies in nearly a year.The White House has said for weeks that it anticipated Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but negotiations went down to the eve of the gathering, which kicks off Saturday.White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement the leaders would discuss the “continued importance of maintaining open lines of communication” and how the they “can continue to responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, particularly on transnational challenges that affect the international community.”China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that Xi would attend APEC from Tuesday to Nov. 17 at Biden’s invita...

Blinken says 'far too many' Palestinians have died as Israel wages relentless war on Hamas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that “far too many” Palestinians have died and suffered as Israel wages a relentless war against the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. He urged Israel to minimize harm to civilians and maximize humanitarian assistance that reaches them.Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Blinken said recent Israeli moves to improve dire conditions in Gaza as its military pushes deeper into the strip — including pauses in military operations to allow Palestinians to move from northern to southern Gaza and the creation of a second safe corridor — are positive but they are not nearly enough.“Much more needs to be done to protect civilians and to make sure that humanitarian assistance reaches them," he said. "Far too many Palestinians have been killed, far too many have suffered these past weeks, and we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximize the assistance that gets to them....

Chicago officer charged, relieved of police powers for hitting 8th grader

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

CHICAGO — A Chicago Police Department officer is charged after reportedly hitting an eighth grader while off-duty.Craig Lancaster, 55, is now facing felony aggravated battery charges. MORE INFO: Off-duty CPD officer under investigation after shoving 8th grader The police department said he has been relieved of his police powers.School surveillance video from Gresham Elementary shows the officer striking a 14-year-old boy last May.The video does not show the teen interacting with Lancaster before the incident. Lancaster will make his first court appearance next week.

Travel scams target passengers posting to social media about cancellations

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

DALLAS (NewsNation) — With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, airport holiday travel is going to ramp up. Now, authorities are warning travelers of new fake social media scams, where accounts pretend to be airlines in an attempt to scam customers. The new wave of travel scams is targeting flyers facing cancellations and delays. As ‘panda diplomacy’ ends, will US get giant pandas back? Fake airline accounts are responding to frustrated travelers turning to social media for answers to their delayed or canceled flights, especially those posting on X, formerly known as Twitter. While the traveler is looking for assistance from the airline companies on the platform, fake scammer bots are out there impersonating these accounts and responding as the airline. These accounts look almost identical to the real, verified accounts. They will respond and ask for all your flight information and personal information along with a fee. But this is a trap. Travelers m...

Dean's Reviews: 'The Marvels'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

Check out Dean's Reviews of the new marvel franchise, 'The Marvels.'Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

'It feels like I was right next to him': Son hears fallen firefighter's heartbeat after organ donation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

NEW YORK (WPIX) - Family and friends said New York firefighter Billy Moon had the biggest heart. On Thursday, his widow, two young children and parents got to hear that heart again in the chest of the man who received it.Moon died after falling 20 feet during a training exercise in Brooklyn in December 2022. His wife, Kristina Moon, transferred him to LiveOnNY's Donor Care Unit at NYU Langone Health. Five of Moon's organs were transplanted into recipients.  On Thursday night, Moon's family got to meet 63-year-old Richard Grehl, who received Moon's heart just 10 days after going on the donor list."I'm Rich, in more ways than one. Thank you so much," he said when meeting Moon's widow.Kristina Moon used a stethoscope to hear her husband's heart inside Grehl."He was passionate. The passion comes from the heart, so to hear that heart is still beating is very emotional," she said. Efforts underway to save children harmed by Israel-Hamas War Colin Moon, 9, sobbed after hearin...

What caused a mystery odor in northeast Ohio communities?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

CLEVELAND (WJW) — Residents of some neighborhoods in northeast Ohio have reported a strange odor lingering in several local communities in recent weeks.The fire department in Lakewood, Ohio, told FOX 8 last Wednesday that firefighters had responded to reports of a “lighter fluid” or “charcoal” smell in southern parts of the city. Lakewood fire officials said the odor has since dissipated. Have a $2 bill? How to know if it’s worth thousands Now, officials with the NASA Glenn Research Center say they might have an answer to the mystery odor — and it's more unexpected than residents may have guessed!"NASA Glenn develops new technologies that advance aviation and space exploration. As part of that mission, we routinely run tests in our facilities to simulate flight conditions. Sometimes, during those tests, we use jet fuel, and it can leave a smell," a NASA Glenn spokesperson said in a statement. Henry Winkler makes surprising confession at FOX 8 visit Officials say the tests, ...

Get ready for an even busier holiday travel season

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

(NerdWallet) - If last year’s winter holiday travel season felt costly or chaotic, this year's might seem even more so.That’s because half of Americans (50%) plan to spend money on flights or hotel stays this holiday season, according to a new NerdWallet survey conducted online by The Harris Poll. The survey was based on responses from 2,057 adults collected Sept. 5-7, 2023.That 50% figure is higher than last year when 44% of Americans said they’d planned to spend money on travel.When will crowds be the biggest? Probably the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That was the busiest travel day in 2019, 2021 and 2022, according to a NerdWallet analysis of Transportation Security Administration data showing the number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints over the past four years. Travelers can expect 2023’s winter holiday travel season to follow suit.The busiest travel days this holiday seasonWhile half of Americans will travel for at least one of the winter holidays (and some will travel f...

Austin author highlights lives of first American female astronauts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- "I think a lot of women are looking to us to prove that women do fit into the space program," said Rhea Seddon, a surgeon and the fifth woman to fly to space, said in an interview from the late 1970s with a NASA film crew. Rhea had just been announced as one of six women selected to join NASA's astronaut program. They were the first women to get that chance.In her new book "The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts," author and Bloomberg space reporter Loren Grush, of Austin, highlights the journeys of these women from Earth to the stars."What fascinated me was realizing that any one of them could have been the first American woman to fly," Grush said.It's been nearly fifty years since the women were selected in the late 1970s. After more than a decade of only allowing men to join the program, NASA decided to expand their roster. Thousands of women applied for the job. Six were selected. NASA explores brain training tech for future astronauts l...

Canajoharie contractor accused of grand larceny

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:29 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A contractor from Canajoharie was arrested and is accused of grand larceny. Jeffery Belrose, 55, is charged with third-degree grand larceny. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! On October 16, around 10:50 a.m., police received a complaint from a Fort Plain resident regarding a contractor who was paid for a home improvement project but never completed the work. Police say an investigation found Belrose operated "J's and Sons Construction" and accepted over $3,000 in May to complete roof work.Police say Belrose never started the project and never returned the money. He was arrested and processed by Fonda State Police. He was given an appearance ticket to return to the Minden Town Court on December 14 and was released.