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China’s foreign minister says Xi-Biden meeting in San Francisco would not be ‘smooth-sailing’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister considers that the road to an expected meeting between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden would not be “smooth-sailing” and that both sides must work together to achieve results, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.Wang Yi met with Biden, as well as secretary of state Antony Blinken and national security advisor Jake Sullivan, during a three-day visit to Washington. Both sides agreed to work toward a bilateral meeting at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in San Francisco in November.In an statement released by China’s foreign ministry summarizing the discussions with members of the “U.S. strategic community,” Wang said that the road to the bilateral meeting would not be “smooth sailing” and that they could not rely on “autopilot” to make it happen.Wang’s three-day visit to Washington came at a time when tensions between the two countries remain high, including over U.S. export controls on ad...

Israeli settler shoots and kills Palestinian harvester as violence surges in the West Bank

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Jewish settler shot dead a Palestinian man harvesting olives near the West Bank city of Nablus, the man’s uncle said Sunday. This brings the number of Palestinians reported killed by settlers to seven since Hamas’s bloody incursion into Israel three weeks ago.Tayseer Mahmoud said his nephew, Bilal Saleh, was working in the grove in the village of Sawiya with his wife and their four children on Saturday when a group of settlers attacked them. Saleh, concerned about the safety of his children, tried to leave the area, but a settler shot him in the chest, Mahmoud said.Mahmoud said he didn’t witness the confrontation but was close by and reached the scene within minutes of the shooting. Saleh died before he could be taken for medical care, he said.Settler leader Yossi Dagan said in a video posted on the social media p(platform Facebook Saturday that the shooter was accompanied by family members and fired in self-defense after they were “attacked with rocks by do...

Thousands loot UN aid warehouses in Gaza as desperation grows and Israel widens ground offensive

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of people broke into aid warehouses in Gaza to take flour and basic hygiene products, a U.N. agency said Sunday, in a mark of growing desperation and the breakdown of public order three weeks into the war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.Tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in the war, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel. The widening ground offensive came as Israel pounded the territory from air, land and sea.The bombardment — described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war — knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to much of Gaza early Sunday.The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza. ...

Nicholas Firkus murder trial jurors didn’t get to hear from his 2nd wife. She says he lied to her about finances, too.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

Rachel Brattin believed her husband was lying to her, but it wasn’t until she looked in his sock drawer that she realized how big of a secret he was keeping.Hidden in the drawer was a document saying they were behind on their property taxes and their Mounds View home was in danger of foreclosure. Her husband at the time, Nicholas Firkus, was in charge of their finances.Brattin knew Firkus’ previous home had been foreclosed on years earlier and then there’d been a tragedy that ended with the death of his first wife.Now, she had questions. “I wasn’t sure how mad he would be that I knew,” she said recently of finding the paperwork about their home. “I didn’t know how desperate he would feel. I just wasn’t sure and I wasn’t willing to risk the safety of my kids to find out.”She woke the three children she had with Firkus, buckled them into their carseats and drove away while Firkus slept.In the years that followed, prosec...

Chasing the music: Widely praised as Frankie Valli in CDT’s ‘Jersey Boys,’ St. Paul native Will Dusek is an actor to watch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

As the lights go down on “Jersey Boys” at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Frankie Valli rips off his bow tie and whips it around his head.Backstage, actor Will Dusek transforms from the famous Four Seasons falsetto back into himself. Putting his costume away is almost automatic by this point, he said, so he’s thinking: Gotta go get gas. Gotta walk the dog, as a favor to his grandma, with whom he lives. Gotta run to the grocery store. Gotta eat something. He’s ravenous.“After the show, I always need to get something in my system,” he said. “My nightly ritual is to eat my fridge and then stay awake for two hours because you’re just wired after the show.”Actor Will Dusek sings as Four Seasons legend Frankie Valli during a 2023 performance of “Jersey Boys” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Dusek, 23, said it takes plenty of practice and lengthy vocal warm-ups to emulate Valli’s famous high-pitched voice. (Photo courtesy Dan Norman / Chanhassen Dinner Theatres)Dusek, 23, g...

Noah Feldman: Israel-Hamas war tests left’s views on cancel culture

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

Most people seem to think that free speech means saying whatever you want without consequences. But that’s never been true — at least, legally speaking. The First Amendment stops the government from punishing you for your opinions. Beyond that, you’re on your own.Some institutions, like universities, promise their members they won’t be punished for free expression. But for-profit employers rarely promise to protect employees’ speech, for market-oriented reasons. Because companies care about what customers and clients think, they typically reserve the authority to make workers comply with their preferred speech policies.So-called “cancel culture” offers a clear example of how what you say can have consequences. Those canceled in recent years mostly found they had little recourse other than abjectly apologizing and hoping the cancellation would have a sell-by date. Consequences ranged from getting fired to losing work to simply being criticize...

Word Game: Oct. 29, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — DETRITUS (DETRITUS: dih-TRY-tus: Debris, flotsam, wreckage, etc.)Average mark 43 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 56 or more words in DETRITUS?TODAY’S WORD — DETRITUS deist diet dire dirt dries driest dues duet dust duster dustier duties edit etui test tide tied tier tire titer tried tries trite true truest trust rest ride rise rite rude rudest rued ruse rust rutted ides used user utter side sire site sitter stet stir stride strut stud sued suer suet suit suite surd sureTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar ...

Bridge: Oct. 29, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

Many players use the “Law of Total Tricks” to make competitive decisions. The Law states that the total number of trumps each side has in its best trump suit equals the total number of tricks available. Today’s North-South have nine spades, East-West have 10 diamonds. So, 19 tricks should be won at spade and diamond contracts.In a team match, both East-West pairs saved at five diamonds over North-South’s four spades. At one table, South assessed the total number of trumps accurately: He doubled five diamonds, reasoning that if he could win 11 tricks at spades, he would be plus 500 on defense, a decent result. Nor was he sure of making five spades. As it happened, North-South were only plus 100.At the other table, South doubted that he would get rich against five diamonds doubled; he tried for plus 650 at five spades.West led a diamond, and East won and returned a diamond. South ruffed in dummy and took the A-K of trumps. When West discarded, South drew the mi...

Ask Amy: My wife’s family is horrible to me, and she pretends it’s not happening

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

Dear Amy: I can’t stand my wife’s family. Things were great in the early years but became progressively worse over time.Related ArticlesAdvice | Ask Amy: My husband has very definite views about our child’s schooling. Is he correct? Advice | Ask Amy: Should I just let the new boyfriend be a surprise at our holiday dinner? Advice | Ask Amy: I want the money my husband lent our friend. How do I get it? Advice | Ask Amy: I’m insulted that he ‘fixed’ my photo with Photoshop Advice | Ask Amy: She wants to be the cool grandma, and I’m not OK with her plan Out of the blue my father-in-law insisted on being called “Sir” – after a decade of me calling him by his first name.He worked hard and came from nothing but acts like no one else but him can have a successful life or career. He is always passive-aggressive toward me.My sister-in-law intentionally invaded my personal ...

Thousands break into UN aid warehouses in Gaza in a sign of growing desperation as war escalates

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:37 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of people broke into aid warehouses in Gaza to take food and “basic survival items,” a U.N. agency said Sunday, in a mark of growing desperation and the breakdown of public order three weeks into the war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.Tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in the war, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel. The widening ground offensive came as Israel pounded the territory from air, land and sea.The bombardment — described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war — knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to many people in Gaza early Sunday, according to local telecoms companies, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.The ...