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Wisconsin’s Democratic governor sues Republican Legislature over blocking ‘basic functions’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday sued the Republican-controlled Legislature, arguing that it is obstructing basic government functions, including signing off on pay raises for university employees that were previously approved.Evers is asking the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case directly, bypassing lower courts.In addition to not approving the pay raises for about 35,000 University of Wisconsin employees, Evers argues that the Legislature is blocking state conservation programs, updates to the state’s commercial building standards and ethics standards for licensed professionals.The Legislature included a 6% pay raise for UW employees over two years in the state budget it passed earlier this year that Evers signed. But pay raises also must then be approved by a committee of legislative leaders. That panel on Oct. 17 approved pay raises for state workers, but not UW employees because Republican Assembly Speaker Robin...

Tropical Storm Pilar dumps heavy rains on Central America leaving at least 2 dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Tropical Storm Pilar lashed Central America on Tuesday with heavy rains that have been blamed for two deaths in El Salvador as the storm meanders off the Pacific coast.The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Tuesday that Pilar was located about 175 miles (280 kilometers) south-southwest of San Salvador with winds of 50 mph (85 kph) and was moving east-northeast at 3 mph (6 kph).The storm was expected to maintain that general track Tuesday, stall for a day or more just off the coast and then abruptly turn around and head back out to sea Thursday without making landfall, the center said.The storm was forecast to dump five to 10 inches (12-24 centimeters) of rain from El Salvador to Costa Rica with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) in some areas.A 24-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman were swept away by swollen streams Sunday in the province of La Union, according to Fermín Pérez, the assistant director of El Salvador’s civil defense office....

US consumers feeling slightly less confident in October for 3rd straight month

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers are feeling increasingly less confident these days as fears of an oncoming recession remain elevated.The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 102.6 from 104.3 in September.The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The index measuring Americans short-term outlook for income, business and job market declined again, to 75.6 in October from 76.4 in September. Readings below 80 for future expectations historically signal a recession within a year.Consumers’ view of current conditions also fell this month, to 143.1 from 146.2 in September.Consumer spending accounts for around 70% of U.S. economic activity, so economists pay close attention to the mood of consumers to gauge how it may affect the broader economy.Matt Ott, The Associated Press

Senior Chinese official visits Myanmar for border security talks as fighting rages in frontier area

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A high-ranking official from China has made a visit to military-ruled Myanmar to discuss security along the countries’ shared border, Myanmar state media reported Tuesday. The visit by Chinese State Council member and Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong comes as fighting rages along Myanmar’s northeastern frontier, where an alliance of ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the military government.The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that Wang met the Home Affairs minister, Lt. Gen. Yar Pyae, on Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw. It said they discussed “peace and tranquility” in border areas, and the promotion of law enforcement and security cooperation.Wang’s visit came three days after the Arakan Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, calling themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, launched a coordinated offensive to seize military targets in the northern ...

Powerful 6.6-earthquake strikes off the coast of Chile and is felt in neighboring Argentina

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile on Tuesday morning and was felt in several provinces of neighboring Argentina, but there were no immediate reports of damage and authorities said there was no tsunami risk.The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 9:33 a.m. local time (12:33 p.m. GMT), and its epicenter was 42 kilometers (26 miles) southwest of Huasco, a city in Chile’s Atacama region. The quake had a depth of 35 kilometers (22 miles).Chile’s national emergency office did not report any damages or injuries, and the Chilean navy dismissed the possibility of a tsunami.The quake was felt in several provinces in neighboring Argentina, including western Mendoza and San Juan provinces, which border Chile, as well as central Cordoba province, according to local media reports.Chile is located in the so-called “Ring of Fire” in the Pacific and experiences frequent earthquakes. In 2010, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake and subseq...

UN chief visits tallest mountains in Nepal and expresses alarm over their melting glaciers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The U.N. chief said Tuesday after touring the highest peaks in Nepal that the world should end the fossil fuel age to curb what he says is a devastating level of melting of glaciers in the Himalayan mountains due to global warming.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed Nepal’s parliament after flying past Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, on Monday and touring the base camp of Mount Annapurna, the world’s 10th highest, on Tuesday.“Glaciers are melting at records. I was a witness,” Guterres said in his address. “The effect is devastating. Swollen lakes bursting, rivers and seas rising, cultures threatened. And mountainsides exposed, inflaming the risk of rock slides, landslides and avalanche.”Guterres visited towns including Pokhara where where trekkers begin journeys in the Mount Annapurna region, and met with local groups to discuss environmental issues, including protecting the Himalayan glaciers that provide fresh water to over a bi...

A record 6.9 million people have been displaced in Congo’s growing conflict, the U.N. says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

GOMA, Congo (AP) — A record 6.9 million people have been displaced by conflict across Congo, the United Nations migration agency said, making it one of the world’s largest displacement and humanitarian crises.The decadeslong conflict has been the primary reason for displacement, the International Organization for Migration said Monday in a report based on data from Congo’s 26 provinces.At least 80% of the displaced people live in eastern Congo’s provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Ituri and Tanganyika, which have long been overrun by dozens of armed groups seeking a share of the region’s gold and other resources. Some groups reportedly have been backed by Congo’s neighbors. Some groups are trying to protect their communities.“The most recent escalation of the conflict has uprooted more people in less time like rarely seen before,” said IOM’s chief of mission in Congo, Fabien Sambussy.More than two-thirds of those displaced, nearly 4.8 million people, live with host fami...

CEO of massive rail project says hurdles abound — and express trains may be solution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

MONTREAL — Martin Imbleau, head of Via Rail’s new high-frequency rail project, says getting in and out of big cities quickly will be one of the thorniest challenges to itsambitious goalof a three-and-a-half-hour trip between Toronto and Montreal.The sheaf of tracks in and around the Greater Toronto Area is largely owned by regional transport authority Metrolinx and Canadian National Railway Co., with little room for more lines in a dense downtown.In Quebec, the planned route from its capital along the shore of the St. Lawrence River to Montreal would likely mean entering that city from the north, raising the question of whether a pricey new tunnel would need to be bored to reach the heart of the city.While stops in Ottawa, Peterborough, Ont., and Trois Rivières, Que., are mandated, Imbleau says there could also be express trains that whizz through those cities without halting.The federal government has selected three consortiums to submit proposals by next fall for the roughly 1,000...

Day 7: Defense could take over Tuesday in APD officer's murder trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

Editor's note: The video above is KXAN's coverage of day 6 (Monday, Oct. 30, 2023) in Christopher Taylor's trial. AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Prosecutors have told a judge they are nearly finished presenting their case against Austin Police Officer Christopher Taylor, who is on trial for murder in the death of Mike Ramos. Taylor's attorneys are expected to take over as early as Tuesday. Prosecutors expect to wrap mid-week in APD officer’s murder trial Taylor shot and killed Ramos, 42, during an incident with police back in April 2020 at a south Austin apartment complex parking lot. Taylor is on administrative leave with APD.KXAN's Grace Reader will be in court Tuesday providing live updates of the trial on X.Day 7: The state could finish presenting its case as early as today in the trial of APD Officer Christopher Taylor. A reminder that Taylor's attorneys reserved opening statements. If they chose to give them, that would come next. Thread for today 🔽— Grace Reader (@GraceReaderTV...

From TakeAction MN to the St. Paul Firefighters, political action committees aim to pick winners for city council, school board

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:31 GMT

In no uncertain terms, the candidate screening questionnaire from TakeAction Minnesota seeks allegiance, and not just to the progressive organizing group’s principles and priorities such as rent control and police divestment, but to the institution itself.“How will you relate to us in an ongoing way so that we can govern together?” asks a question on the survey recently issued to candidates for the St. Paul City Council. “How do you imagine yourself being in an accountable relationship with us and the greater movement of people’s organizations in Minnesota?”Another question asks, “What makes you excited and/or nervous about a relationship with us? What are you hoping to get out of a relationship with us?”Some candidates for city council have balked at what they perceive to be a purity test for a progressive agenda. Still, six prominent candidates have won the TakeAction endorsement, including two who are already seated on the city coun...