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Most say pair debt limit increase with deficit cuts, but few following debate closely: AP-NORC poll

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — About two-thirds of U.S. adults say they are highly concerned about the impact on the national economy if the U.S. debt limit is not increased and the government defaults on its loans, according to a new poll, even as few say they have a solid understanding of the ongoing debt limit negotiations.The poll shows about 6 in 10 say they want any increase in the debt limit to be coupled with agreed-upon terms for reducing the federal budget deficit. At the same time, Americans are more likely to disapprove than approve of how President Joe Biden and congressional negotiators on both sides of the aisle are handling negotiations. Still, slightly more approve of Biden’s handling of the situation than of congressional Republicans. The new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 27% say they approve of Biden and 26% say the same about congressional Democrats, while 22% approve of congressional Republicans. Close to half disapprove o...

Tom Skilling Reports: Temps in the 80s next week and a Review of the Meteorological Summer 2023 Outlook. More...

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

The NEXUS Climate Newsletter published the following piece Thursday, covering a North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) study is warning of potential electrical grid issues in parts of the country this summer if the weather's as hot as predicted.In summarizing the NERC study, however, the publication UTILITY NEWS makes the point, "Resources should be adequate to meet normal summer peak demand, but adds 'If summer temperatures spike and become more widespread, the U.S. West, Midwest, Texas and Southeast United States, New England and Ontario may experience resource shortfalls,' NERC concluded".HERE'S THE THURSDAY NEXUS REPORT ON THE GRID RELIABILITY STUDY:"The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is warning that much of the US is at risk for power outages if the summer is as hot as scientists are forecasting. This marks the agency’s most expansive warning yet as the coming heat could limit the western US from transferring electricity within the region, fur...

Kiszla: The King is dead! Long live the Joker! Nuggets turn narrative of Western Conference finals on its head.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

The King is dead. Long live the Joker.On a spring night in Colorado when human triple-double machine Nikola Jokic was large and in charge, while a muffed dunk reminded LeBron James what a drag it can be to grow old, the young guns from Denver out-lasted the Slowtime Lakers,108-103, to take control of the Western Conference finals.And maybe, just maybe, the Nuggets changed the narrative. While James will forever be the king, there’s a new sheriff in the West.The Lakers are yesterday’s news. Can we stop all the yada, yada, yada about the team ESPN fawns over? Denver is sick and tired of being nothing more than a prop on the national stage.“Whatever we can use for motivation,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said late Thursday.“Our guys, to be honest, they might not admit this, but you win Game 1 …  and all everybody talked about was the Lakers. Let’s be honest. That was the national narrative: Hey, the Lakers are fine. They’re down 1-0, but...

The Global Security Initiative: China’s Proposal for Safeguarding World Peace and Security

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

Currently, changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, and humanity is faced with a deficit of governance, trust, development and peace. In a world of change and disorder on the security front, President Xi Jinping put forward the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in April 2022. The GSI, serving the common well-being of humanity, advocates a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over the alliance and win-win over zero-sum. The GSI has provided China’s proposal for addressing the peace deficit and international security challenges.The GSI is underpinned by “six commitments”, namely, staying committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; staying committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; staying committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; staying committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; sta...

Lebanon: After Harfouch's success against corruption the defamatory campaign against him continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

Omar Harfouch, the founder of the "Third Republic of Lebanon", is the subject of a harsh campaign of defamation and spreading false news against him through media platforms financed by corrupt officials in Lebanon, after having succeeded in bringing the case of the governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, to its terms, and the issuance of an indictment and an international arrest warrant by the French Financial Prosecutor's Office against the governor.Not to mention a plot organized against him by PM Najib Mikati - who is prosecuted for money laundering organized in Lebanon by the prosecutor's office of the Principality of Monaco - which aimed to liquidate him physically in an indirect way.For its part, the European Union is preparing a report on the inhuman persecution taking place in Lebanon against those who fight corruption, including Omar Harfouch, and is preparing a conference in Brussels on this subject next September.And before that, Omar Harfouch will tour European pa...

Police drone video captures foot chase with suspect in Seal Beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

Infrared video from a police drone captured a foot chase between police and a suspected thief Wednesday morning in Seal Beach.  The incident happened at around 1 a.m. when officers with the Seal Beach Police Department were called about a man checking the handles of car doors. Authorities said with the help of the drone, they were able to find the man hiding on the beach. When he attempted to flee on foot, the drone tracked him and led officers to his location. Authorities in Seal Beach say that between the two drones the department has, they’ve used them more than 50 times in the last year in different kinds of cases.  As for the suspect who was checking the handles of car doors in the area, he was ultimately arrested for a probation violation. 

Knife-wielding man arrested in supermarket assault in San Bernardino County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

A knife-wielding man was arrested after assaulting someone in a San Bernardino County supermarket on Wednesday.Authorities received reports of an altercation at a Food 4 Less on the 20100 block of Bear Valley Road in Apple Valley around 1 p.m.Employees told San Bernardino County deputies the suspect, David Manuel Iagulli, 42, had engaged in an altercation with another person at the store.When employees asked Iagulli to leave, he became argumentative. He pulled out a knife before threatening and punching the victim, a 45-year-old man, several times, authorities said.He fled the grocery store before authorities arrived at the scene. The victim did not require hospitalization.Deputies later tracked down Iagulli in a nearby neighborhood where he was taken into custody. He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the High Desert Detention Center. Felon arrested, allegedly kidnapped, tortured women in Moreno Valley home It's unclear what caused the altercation and w...

7.7 magnitude earthquake in far Pacific creates small tsunami threat for Vanuatu, other islands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A 7.7 magnitude earthquake Friday in the far Pacific posed a tsunami threat for Vanuatu.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said waves up to 1 meter (3 feet) above tides were possible for Vanuatu, much lower than the initial forecast.New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency said it was still assessing the potential for a tsunami.The PTWC said waves up to .3 meters (1 foot) were possible for Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Guam and other Pacific islands.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake near the Loyalty Islands was 37 kilometers (23 miles) deep. The epicenter is southwest of Fiji, north of New Zealand and east of Australia where the Coral Sea meets the Pacific.Source

Why Ukraine’s spring offensive still hasn’t begun — with summer just weeks away

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, Western allies have shipped billions of dollars worth of weapons systems and ammunition to Ukraine with an urgency to get the supplies to Kyiv in time for an anticipated spring counteroffensive. Now summer is just weeks away. While Russia and Ukraine are focused on an intense battle for Bakhmut, the Ukrainian spring offensive has yet to begin. Last week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it’s been delayed because his country lacks enough Western weapons to succeed without suffering too many casualties. Weather and training are playing a role too, officials and defense experts say. Officials insist the counteroffensive is coming. Preliminary moves by Ukraine to set the conditions it wants for an attack have already begun, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.A look at the factors delaying the counteroffensive and the preparations both sides are making in anticipation of it starting soon.WEATHERA ...

Police investigate shootings across DC, Maryland

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:47:21 GMT

Police in the District and Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland have started multiple shooting investigations.The latest shooting occurred at the Wheaton Metro Station just before 6 p.m.Metro Transit Police, in coordination with the Montgomery County Police Department, said an 18-year-old male was shot after a dispute moved from the station escalator to the platform. Shiera Goff, the director of public information from Montgomery County police, said the fight may have sparked the gunfire.“The victim was part of that confrontation,” Goff told reporters at a press conference.Joint investigations for MTP and MCPD limited Metrorail service along the Red Line between Forest Glen and Glenmont.Roughly 20 minutes before, at around 5:40 p.m., police in Prince George’s County said a teenage girl was hospitalized after a shooting in Riverdale, Maryland.That shooting in the 6800 block of Riverdale Road struck a young female outside an apartment complex par...