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Buttigieg vows to reopen I-95 bridge ‘within weeks’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reiterated the government’s determination to respond quickly to revive the collapsed Interstate 95 bridge in Philadelphia, saying it was expected to reopen “within weeks.”“Within weeks they are going to be able to get that done with novel approaches to filling that back in,” Buttigieg said Sunday in an interview with Bloomberg TV.Buttigieg is in Ise-Shima, Japan, for a meeting with Group of Seven counterparts. He also said in the interview that the U.S. must take steps to cut into China’s advantage in batteries used to power electric vehicles, saying building the refining capacity for key materials is “addressable.”In Philadelphia, crews have been working around the clock to tear down portions of the highway that remained standing after a tanker-truck flipped and caught fire on June 11. Buttigieg said the rapid reopening was possible with the use of a form of material made out of recycled glass that can be compressed into bricks and paved...

Blinken has ‘candid’ talks with China on trip to mend ties

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had “candid” talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing, the two countries said, as both looked to project a positive but cautious tone about a visit that’s meant to bring some semblance of normalcy back to a strained relationship.Discussions between the delegations led by Blinken and Foreign Minister Qin Gang lasted 7 1/2 hours — much longer than planned, officials said. In a further signal that the two saw the meeting as a path to closer ties, Qin accepted Blinken’s invitation to visit Washington at “a mutually suitable time,” the State Department said.“The Secretary emphasized the importance of diplomacy and maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation,” a U.S. readout of the meeting said. “The Secretary raised a number of issues of concern,” it said, without identifying them.The U.S. described the talks as “candid, substantive, and constructive.” State-run Ch...

North Korea calls failed spy satellite launch ‘the most serious’ shortcoming, vows 2nd launch

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Top North Korean officials vowed to push for a second attempt to launch a spy satellite as they called their country’s first, and failed, launch last month “the most serious” shortcoming this year and harshly criticized those responsible, state media reported Monday.In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite crashed soon after liftoff, posing a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to acquire a space-based surveillance system to better monitor the United States and South Korea.The failed launch and North Korean efforts to modernize its weapons arsenals were discussed heavily at a three-day ruling party meeting that ended Sunday, with the presence of Kim and other top officials.A lengthy Korean Central News Agency dispatch on the meeting didn’t clearly say who spoke, but said a report to the meeting “bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly conducted the preparations for (the) satellite launch.”The report set fo...

Americans mark Juneteenth with parties, events, quiet reflection on end of slavery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

Detroit (AP) — Americans across the country this weekend celebrated Juneteenth, marking the relatively new national holiday with cookouts, parades and other gatherings as they commemorated the end of slavery after the Civil War. While many have treated the long holiday weekend as a reason for a party, others urged quiet reflection on America’s often violent and oppressive treatment of its Black citizens. And still others have remarked at the strangeness of celebrating a federal holiday marking the end of slavery in the nation while many Americans are trying to stop parts of that history from being taught in public schools. “Is #Juneteenth the only federal holiday that some states have banned the teaching of its history and significance?” Author Michelle Duster asked on Twitter this weekend, referring to measures in Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama prohibiting an Advancement Placement African American studies course or the teaching of certain concepts of race and racism.Monday’s f...

Family suing San Diego cemetery after remains of Juneteenth trailblazer missing from burial plot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Relatives of a late Black businessman who helped popularize Juneteenth in San Diego are suing a cemetery after his remains were reported missing from the family’s burial plot. Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary informed the family that Sidney Cooper’s body and casket were not in the plot where he was supposed to have been buried more than two decades ago. Cemetery staff discovered it was empty as they prepared to bury Cooper’s wife, Thelma, who died in March. Staff said they did not know the whereabouts of Cooper’s remains, their daughter, Lana Cooper-Jones, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.“I was absolutely distraught,” Cooper-Jones said Friday of the moment she learned her father’s body was missing. “It was like losing my father again, as well as my mom.”Greenwood said it was working to rectify the problem. “While the placement of this family’s loved one occurred over 20 years ago under previous ownership and management, we recently...

Longtime AP State Department reporter George Gedda dies at 82

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — George Gedda, a workhorse veteran of The Associated Press whose coverage of the State Department and international relations spanned more than four decades and played a major role in explaining U.S. foreign policy to the American public from Vietnam to Cuba, Afghanistan and Iraq, has died. He was 82.Gedda was also the author of three books, including one on his time as an AP diplomatic correspondent, one on Cuba’s communist revolution, and one on his first love, baseball. He died Sunday while in hospice care in Altamonte Springs, Florida, said Ellen James Martin, his former partner of 14 years. The cause was bladder cancer, she said.Gedda had retired to central Florida in 2007 after a 41-year career at the AP, most of which was in Washington, beginning during Lyndon Johnson’s administration and not ending until George W. Bush was president.During his time in Washington, Gedda covered every secretary of state from Dean Rusk to Condoleezza Rice, carving out a niche f...

Kamau, ‘charismatic and iconic’ African lion at California’s Sacramento Zoo, dies at 16

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Kamau, the African lion who was a star attraction at California’s Sacramento Zoo, has died at age 16, officials said. The zoo said Kamau was euthanized Saturday, a day after the big cat was pulled off an exhibit because of declining health due to his advanced age. The lion was considered elderly with worsening gastrointestinal problems, “and the difficult decision to proceed with humane euthanasia was made when medical treatment options failed to provide sufficient relief from his condition,” the zoo said in a statement.The statement called Kamau one of the zoo’s “most charismatic and iconic animals.”He came to Sacramento from the San Diego Zoo in 2008 and in the years since attracted crowds who hoped to hear his impressive roar. In 2014, the lion sired a litter of cubs. A few years later, his habitat doubled in size, and a glass viewing wall allowed guests to get “nose-to-nose” with both Kamau and his mate, Cleo, the zoo said. Cleo,...

This is the most popular dad joke in the U.S.

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

Some people love dad jokes, some people hate them and some people secretly love them, but pretend to hate them. For Father’s Day, a new study by betting.us revealed the most popular dad jokes in the United States, why fathers use, reuse, and re-reuse popular dad jokes, and how their partners and kids really feel about them.Whether it’s a corny joke, quip, or phrase, dad jokes are pretty common across the U.S. According to the study,  “Hi Hungry, I’m dad” is the most common dad joke used across the country. “I’m not sleeping, I’m just resting my eyes” is the next most common dad saying, followed by “Back in my day” as the third-most common dad-ism, which also happens to be the most popular in California. Many kids have fallen victim to the embarrassment that comes from corny dad jokes, but many dads across the country take pride in making their kids laugh. More than one in three dads say they tell dad jokes because they make their kids laugh while 23% say it’s their fa...

Athletics fall to Phillies, end homestand with fifth straight loss

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

OAKLAND — Getting three pinch-hits in a span of six batters in the late innings was enough to stir up the crowd, but the Athletics wound up losing 3-2 Sunday to the Philadelphia Phillies and being swept in a three-game series.The A’s, 19-55, haven’t won since their 2-1 “reverse boycott” win Tuesday night. This recent losing streak is different than others the A’s have experienced this season, with close losses replacing blowouts that have given Oakland the biggest negative run differential in baseball.After their seventh-straight win Tuesday night, the A’s fell twice to the Tampa Bay Rays, who have the best record in baseball, and dropped nail-biters both Saturday and Sunday against Philadelphia (38-34), the defending National League champions.The A’s trailed from beginning to end as Kyle Schwarber led off the game with an opposite field home run against starter Hogan Harris (2-1). It was Schwarber’s 20th home run of the season.P...

Popular ABC7 TV personality announces she is leaving station and Bay Area

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:02:35 GMT

Popular ABC7 weekend news anchor Liz Kreutz surprised TV viewers on Sunday with the announcement that is she is leaving the station — and the Bay Area as well.“I do have some personal news to share with all of you,” Kreutz said on-air at the end of the morning broadcast. ” This is my last day anchoring the weekend morning news at ABC 7 News.”She dubbed the departure “bittersweet,” but didn’t give any details behind her decision other than to say that she is “leaving the Bay Area for an exciting opportunity.” She added that she looked forward to sharing more about the opportunity “very soon.”“For now, I just want to say what an honor it has been to sit in this chair for the last 3 1/2 years,” she said. “I feel so lucky to have worked with truly some of the best, smartest journalists in the business here at ABC 7.”She also took the time to show her gratitude to those who have helped her dur...