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Japan’s prime minister tours Philippine patrol ship and boosts alliances amid maritime tensions

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Japan’s prime minister boarded a Philippine patrol ship on Saturday in a symbolic show of support as Tokyo shores up regional alliances to counter China’s assertiveness in maritime disputes with its neighbors. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to the Japanese-built BRP Teresa Magbanua, which was docked at the Manila harbor, capped his two-day visit to Manila. He held talks with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday to strengthen defense ties amid their countries’ shared concern over China’s behavior. “I truly hope that this will lead to regional peace and prosperity as well as a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Keshida told top Philippine government and coast guard officials aboard the Magbanua, one of the two biggest patrol ships of Manila’s underfunded coast guard.Japan has provided a dozen patrol ships to the Philippines in recent years, including the 97-meter (318-foot) -long Magbanua. Manila’s coast guard largely uses the ships for sover...

Biden spent weeks of auto strike talks building ties to UAW leader that have yet to fully pay off

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden called the head of the United Auto Workers union to congratulate him this past week on getting a new contract with General Motors and to wish him a happy 55th birthday — a sign of how the relationship had evolved since their first get-to-know-you meeting in the Oval Office on July 19.UAW President Shawn Fain launched the strike against GM, Ford and Chrysler-owner Stellantis with a willingness to force political leaders to choose between backing unions or corporations. Biden had long straddled this line. He proclaimed in speeches that unions built the middle class, but he also heralded his credentials as a former senator from the “corporate capital of the world,” also known as Delaware.The White House was determined to build trust with Fain and look past his occasional slights of Biden. That approach, which included Biden meeting with workers on the picket line in Michigan, helped to resolve the nearly 45-day set of strikes and produc...

3 men found shot dead in Brighton Park overnight: CPD

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

CHICAGO -- Three men were found shot dead in the Brighton Park neighborhood overnight. Police responded to fired shots near the 3100 block of West 39th Place where they found a red dodge SUV occupied by two men who were unresponsive. One victim who seemed to be between the ages of 20 to 30 was found with a gunshot wound to the head and pronounced dead on the scene. Another victim was found with multiple gunshot wound to the body and was pronounced dead on the scene. 10-year-old hospitalized after South Side shooting A third victim, a 19-year-old, was found near the vehicle with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. He was also pronounced dead on the scene. Investigators went through the vehicle and alley looking for evidence, relatives of the victims came to the scene and told officers two of the young men were best friends who had known each other since childhood. Identities of the victims have not been released yet and circumstances that led up to the shooting are still uncl...

Clouds and fog to start, sun to finish

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Fog had visibility reduced to less than a mile at many locations in Central Texas before sunrise. The fog should be gone between 10:00 and 11:00.Southeast to south winds continue to bring in moisture from the Gulf. The low clouds and fog will give way to a partly cloudy sky early this afternoon. A mostly sunny sky will be forecast during the late-afternoon on this final day of Central Daylight Time.Look for a repeat of the morning clouds and fog Sunday with clearing to a partly cloudy afternoon sky.Highs both days will warm above normal to the upper 70s to low 80s.Today's normal high is 75°The Horns entertain Kansas State at 11 a.m. at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will start with a mostly to partly cloudy sky with continued clearing into the afternoon. Kickoff temperature will be around 70° to 72°.Big one for Texas as both teams are 4 and 1 in the Big XIIAre you ready for that extra hour of sleep? This is the weekend clocks are set back one hour as Central S...

Food drive honors fallen St. Louis County Police Officer Blake Snyder

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

ST. LOUIS - Today, a food drive is being held to commemorate the memory of fallen St. Louis County Police Officer Blake Snyder, who lost his life in the line of duty in 2016. Yesterday marked what would have been his birthday. The nonprofit organization "Mustache March for PD" is currently accepting donations of canned goods and non-perishable items. You are welcome to drop off food items at Alton Physical Therapy, which is situated on College Ave. in Alton, between 9 pm and noon today. 

Those promotions promising a “free” iPhone? It isn’t free.

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

There’s no such thing as a free iPhone.But phone carriers would like you to believe otherwise. Over the last few weeks, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have blitzed their websites, billboards and stores with ads proclaiming that you can “get the iPhone 15 Pro, on us.”To get this $1,000 iPhone for $0, the carriers say, all you have to do is trade in an older phone and sign up for a wireless plan. In reality, the phone freebie promotions can lure smartphone owners into spending more in the long run by requiring them to subscribe to more exorbitant service plans bundled with superfluous features, such as big high-speed data packages and subscriptions to streaming services.I spent several days plugging numbers into the carriers’ websites and chatting with store representatives to get some realistic out-the-door numbers. To test the promotions, I submitted a 3-year-old iPhone 12 as a hypothetical trade-in. (On average, people upgrade to a new phone every three years.)Here were the costs o...

More than 650,000 Coloradans have cast ballots as election approaches — a fraction of possible voters

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

Fewer than 17% of active Colorado voters have cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday’s election as Coloradans weigh preschool funding and Gov. Jared Polis’ plan to blunt property tax increases.Five days before Election Day, 654,449 ballots had been returned as of Friday, according to data from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Unaffiliated voters make up 247,453 of that total, the most of any group. Registered Republicans are second with 209,660, followed by Democrats with 190,639.Nearly all of the votes cast thus far have been through mail ballots, whether returned through the mail or at drop-off sites.The vote total thus far is low. There are 4.4 million registered voters in Colorado, with more than 3.92 million of them considered active, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Off-year elections — when there are no presidential, congressional, gubernatorial or state legislative seats up for grabs — typically have far lower turnout nu...

California voted in 2018 to stop changing the clock. So why are we still doing it?

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

Early Sunday morning, Californians and most everyone else in the U.S. will see their clocks “fall back” an hour as part of a seasonal ritual to make the most of dwindling winter daylight.It has spawned endless grievance over the years, with people showing up too early Sunday morning for church and then cussing up a storm trying to remember how to reset the time in their car. And you’re probably thinking, wait, didn’t we vote to stop doing this?Well, yes, we did. So why are we still doing it?Q How did we get into this Daylight Saving Time clock-resetting thing?A Though clocks date back hundreds of years, there wasn’t much time standardization from place to place. People couldn’t travel quickly, so it didn’t matter, and up through the horse-and-buggy days of the 19th century, there were as many as 144 local times in North America, according to the Department of Transportation.Railroads changed that. To avoid collisions and missed connections, ...

Leigh rallies to beat Westmont, capture BVAL Santa Teresa-Valley title

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

CAMPBELL — The Leigh sideline remained calm, cool and collected.Down seven points with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, there were no signs of panic from the Longhorns, whose playoff aspirations were on the line.Undermanned and playing a physical Westmont team that had all the momentum on its home field, Leigh strung together its two most important offensive drives of the season to win 34-27.Blake Zanger capped both of Leigh’s late possessions with rushing touchdowns as the Longhorns secured a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs and the Blossom Valley Atheltic League Santa Teresa-Valley Division title.CAMPBELL, CA – NOVEMBER 03: Blake Zanger (5) of Leigh runs for a touchdown in the fourth quater against Westmont in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa-Valley Division regular-season game at Westmont High School in Campbell, Calif. on Nov. 3, 2023. (Douglas Zimmerman/Special to the Bay Area News Group) “I’m a little shocked,” Leigh coach Kyle Padia sai...

Editorial: Effort to remove DA Price prompts smart recall rule changes

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:38:06 GMT

Sometimes it takes a highly charged political event to prompt elected officials to do the right thing.Such is the case in Alameda County, where the Board of Supervisors is considering placing on the March ballot a charter change that would revamp the process for recalling elected officials.The move has prompted accusations that it’s driven by an attempt to undermine the recall of the county’s controversial new district attorney, Pamela Price. Whatever the motivation, the recall has highlighted that the recall process under the county charter for petition signature-gathering and subsequent countywide balloting is a mess.It’s unfortunate that the proposed change comes in the middle of the signature-gathering effort for the recall. But, given the timing, it’s uncertain whether the new rules would apply to the current recall effort.That said, the proposed charter change, with a key clarification, deserves support of the Board of Supervisors and voters countywide.To their credit, rather ...