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Blinken set for high-stakes China visit with tensions rising and breakthrough prospects low

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has embarked on a high-stakes diplomatic trip to China to try to cool down escalating tensions between the two powers that have set many around the world on edge. Blinken will be the highest-level American official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office, and the first secretary of state to make the trip in five years. Yet prospects for any significant breakthrough on the most vexing issues facing the planet’s two largest economies are slim, as already ties have grown increasingly fraught in recent years. Animosity and recriminations have steadily escalated over a series of disagreements that have implications for global security and stability.Blinken arrives in Beijing on Sunday for two days of talks. He expects to meet with Qin on Sunday, Wang, and possibly Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, according to U.S. officials. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to Blinken’s trip early at a meeting last yea...

Woman critically injured in city’s west end

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

A woman in her 30s suffered life-threatening injuries after being struck by a car in the west end. Police say the woman was struck in the area of Keele Street and Rogers Road around 5:41 a.m. Saturday. Paramedics say she was transported to a nearby trauma centre with critical injuries. The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene.

Residents and tourists alike excited for the return of the Montreal Grand Prix

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

MONTREAL — One of downtown Montreal’s most famous nightlife streets has been turned over to pedestrians this weekend, but it’s not part of Mayor Valérie Plante’s much-publicized campaign to calm traffic in the city.The Canadian Grand Prix, the unofficial kickoff to Montreal’s summer festival season, is back, and most people on Crescent Street Friday were ogling high-priced cars and checking out booths with Formula One-themed activities. On nearby Ste-Catherine Street, sports cars roared by as drivers unleashed their inner F1 driver.Residents and tourists alike are excited for the return of the race, but some are more enthusiastic than others.Interviewed on Crescent Street, Christophe Philibert and Lauren Cinq-Mars said they appreciate the tourism dollars the event brings to the city, but they wish the surrounding festivities would put more emphasis on electric vehicles. Philibert pointed to the irony of making a downtown street pedestrians-only to celebrate t...

'Red and yellow kill a fellow?': How to actually tell which Texas snakes are venomous

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

TYLER, Texas (KETK) - Everyone's heard a version of the phrase "Red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, friend of Jack,” but this iconic mnemonic device isn't as useful as you think.The rhyme is meant to help distinguish the venomous Texas coral snake, which has red stripes next to yellow stripes, from similar-looking snakes like nonvenomous milk snakes, which have red stripes touching black stripes.While the seemingly ubiquitous rhyme is helpful enough in parts of the United States where we have the Texas coral snake, it's not so helpful in other areas, according to an article from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension on how to identify venomous and nonvenomous snakes.If you're traveling abroad this summer, it's important to know the famous rhyme won't get you far internationally. In places like Mexico, Central America and South America there are coral snakes that actually have red stripes touching white rings and even coral snakes with red rings touching black rings...

LEGOs, playdough and more for local students thanks to grant initiative

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

Students in St. Paul, Eagan and Lakeville are on the receiving end of new books and school supplies focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics thanks to new “Fund My Classroom” grants.The grant initiative, hosted by Western Governors University, awarded 10 educators across the state, including St. Paul’s Jaena Stucynski, Eagan’s Matthew Beniak and Lakeville’s Lynnae Anderson.Matthew Beniak of Eagan’s Pilot Knob STEM Magnet School. (Courtesy of Western Governors University)Beniak, who works as a STEM specialist and magnet coordinator at Eagan’s Pilot Knob STEM Magnet School, was awarded $1,900. Anderson, who is an instructional data support specialist coach at Eastview Elementary School in Lakeville, received $500. Stucynski also received $500 and teaches fifth- through eighth-grade English language arts at the Journey School in St. Paul.According to the university’s news release, teachers nominated specific classroom projects in early spring...

Organizer of Stillwater’s Lumberjack Days Derby issues plea for more participants

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

It takes at least a dozen daredevils willing to race down Stillwater’s Second Street hill in homemade, gravity-powered machines to ensure a spectacular Lumberjack Days Downhill Derby.As of Friday, only seven contestants had registered.“We’re really worried,” said longtime race organizer Joe Widmer. “We do double elimination, so everybody gets more than one race. But seven cars? I think it would be done pretty quick.”Widmer has put out a plea to anyone interested in registering for the race, which will be held at 4 p.m. July 14. The course runs for one block down the Second Street hill near Pioneer Park.“We’re used to cutting it close and having some of our drivers getting around to making their cars at the last minute, but this year seems light,” Widmer said.One longtime racer has retired. Another has moved. Yet another has taken a new job and won’t be competing.“Plus, the car I built, Flote-Bote, was sold to the glue farm for being too slow and won’t be in the rac...

Broncos WRs Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick have rarely shared the field together. They hope that story changes in 2023.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

The middle of the field was easy money for Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton and quarterback Russell Wilson during minicamp on Tuesday. Sutton would hit a slant route before catching a pass from Wilson for a nice gain.While Wilson and Sutton showcased their chemistry, Jeudy made cornerback Riley Moss aware that he’s one of the best route-runners in the game. Jeudy gave the rookie his “welcome to the league” moment by turning him around before cutting back to make a catch.Moss didn’t stand a chance.Wideout Tim Patrick didn’t let a large knee brace slow him down. He glided across the field, catching passes from Wilson, looking a bit like his old self.It’s best to avoid overreacting to offseason programs when players are running around in shorts and nobody is getting hit. But the Broncos’ three-day minicamp at least provided a tiny glimpse of what the offense could look like when their top three wide receivers are healthy.“I love to see those guys on the field together,” first-yea...

Grading the Week: Is Bruce Brown just telling Nuggets fans what they want to hear?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

Welcome to the greatest new addition to the Colorado sports calendar: championship parades through the streets of downtown Denver.For the second year in a row, the Front Range sports year crested in June with an alcohol-fueled celebration of professional sports immortality — which also happened to be the first of its kind for the Denver Nuggets.Much like the Avs’ bash 12 months earlier, it was a day when open-container laws in the streets of Denver were more of a suggestion than actual enforced law.And, outside of a few extremely awful exceptions, it was glorious.Championship celebration — B+If pressed to pinpoint a favorite moment from Thursday’s festivities, there is one clear front-runner for the Grading the Week staff.It came during one of Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s many speeches amid the madness of Civic Center Park.Sporting a slightly off-center baseball cap, thick gold chain, black sunglasses and “Put that in your pipe and smoke it” unlicense...

Opinion: Nation needs cameras in the courtroom during Trump’s trial

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

The country is living through history with the first-ever federal indictment of a former president. A grand jury charged Donald Trump with 37 federal counts, ranging from the willful retention of national defense information to obstruction of justice. Given the unprecedented situation the nation is witnessing, it only reinforces why we must cover it in the right way.At its core, what the federal indictment shows is that a former president thought he was above the law. Recorded conversations between Trump and his lawyers reveal that he knowingly kept classified information and failed to turn it over when asked. The indictment sends a message to the country that no one — even the former president — can escape justice and accountability.What happens next is arguably more important, though. Now that Trump has been arraigned at a federal courthouse in Miami and pleaded not guilty, the federal judge overseeing the case, Aileen Cannon, will begin the trial process in which witnesses will b...

Stanford set to face Wake Forest in MCWS opener, hoping for better results in third straight trip to Omaha

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:02:36 GMT

Stanford’s third consecutive trip to Omaha for the men’s College World Series gets underway today.While the No. 8 seeded Cardinal surely is hoping to improve on its results from the last two trips, its opening opponent Wake Forest is quite the fearsome foe.Wake Forest was the easy choice as the No. 1 team in the country heading into the NCAA Tournament and the Demon Deacons have played like it on their way to Omaha.In winning all regional and super regional games, the Demon Deacons won by a combined score of 75-16 and hit 19 home runs, including nine in a 22-5 win over Alabama to clinch their MCWS spot last Sunday.But it’s not just the offense. Wake will start one of the nation’s best pitchers on Saturday (11 a.m. PT, ESPN) in junior Rhett Lowder, who enters with a 15-0 record and a 1.92 ERA. Expected to be a top-10 pick in next month’s MLB Draft, Lowder can touch 97 miles per hour with his fastball and has an elite changeup.Stanford and coach David Esquer haven’t said who wil...