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Ticker: China throttles high tech metal exports; Nokia renews patent lease with Apple

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

China has imposed export curbs on two metals used in computer chips and solar cells, expanding a squabble with Washington over high-tech trade ahead of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing this week.The controls on gallium and germanium are intended to “safeguard national security,” the Commerce Ministry said late Monday. It said exports will require official permission once the rules take effect Aug. 1 but did not say what restrictions might be applied.China is the biggest global source of gallium and germanium, which are produced in small amounts but are needed to make computer chips for mobile phones, cars and other products, as well as solar panels and military technology.Yellen is due to arrive Thursday as part of efforts by the Biden administration to revive relations that have plunged to their lowest level in decades due to disputes about technology, China’s military buildup, human rights and other irritants.Nokia renews patent lease with...

Yankees use Lou Gehrig’s ‘Luckiest Man’ anniversary to honor Sarah Langs, others battling ALS

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

When Aaron Boone worked as a broadcaster at ESPN, he knew he could count on Sarah Langs.The baseball-obsessed researcher always had whatever stat the future Yankees manager needed while on-air. And as the two got to know each other, Boone could tell how deeply she loved the sport he had spent his entire life around.“Her passion and her love for the game was infectious,” Boone said Tuesday while sitting beside Langs, who now works for MLB Network.Langs is battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The Yankees, as part of their annual HOPE Week initiative, hosted the 30-year-old and other women from the organization Her ALS Story. They received a tour of Monument Park and the team’s museum, and Langs joined Boone on the dais for his pregame press conference while the rest of the group watched.Yankees ace Gerrit Cole then presented Langs with a team-signed “Baseball Is The Best” T-shirt. Langs frequently tweets the phrase, and the shirt highlights the...

Massachusetts State Police call for evacuation of Boston POPS event due to weather

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

The Massachusetts State Police is shutting down entry to and calling for evacuation of the Esplanade due to the weather.“URGENT—Due to expected heavy rain and possibility of lightning thru 5 PM we are temporarily suspending entry onto the Esplanade at the security checkpoints,” the agency tweeted at around 2:30 p.m. “This is being done so that if we do have to evacuate venue in case of lightning, fewer visitors will have to be evacuated.”The warning was bolstered by an emergency alert, which was automatically pushed to this reporter’s phone at 3:18 p.m.: “Emergency Alert: Per MSP; Pls evacuate Boston POPS event area and seek shelter due to incoming weather. All entry gates will be closed, will reopen when safe to do so.”The July 4 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and runs until around 11 when fireworks wrap up. Gates open at noon, and officials say they are ready for an all-day affai...

Woman found dead in SUV near San Ysidro mall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

SAN DIEGO — San Diego police are investigating a suspicious death Monday after a woman was found dead inside a vehicle in San Ysidro.Shortly after midnight, a security guard discovered the woman inside an SUV parked at a strip mall located at 4400 Camino De La Plaza, near the Las Americas Premium Outlets, SDPD said.The circumstances that led to the woman's death are still under investigation by SDPD's Homicide Unit. She was described by police as being in her 30s. Three arrested after police standoff in North County Officials said the incident is being investigated as a suspicious death. There was not any suspect information immediately available.The strip mall is located at the last exit before the U.S.-Mexico border.

Joey Chestnut shakes off rain delay and defends title at Nathan’s Fourth of July hot dog contest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

NEW YORK — Eating superstar Joey “Jaws” Chestnut shook off a rain delay and gobbled his way to another win at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, downing 62 franks and buns in 10 minutes.Chestnut out ate runner-up Geoffrey Esper and the rest of an international field of 15 competitive eaters by double digits to clinch his 16th title. Esper, of Oxford, Massachusetts managed to ingest 49 hot dogs and buns.In the women’s contest, defending champion Miki Sudo forced down 39 1/2 hot dogs and buns to collect her ninth Mustard Belt. But before the men could compete, stormy weather moved over New York City’s Coney Island and delayed the competition for two hours.“What a roller coaster, emotionally,” Chestnut said after riding out the rain and wondering whether the famed contest would go on at all. The 39-year-old from Westfield, Indiana first competed for the Nathan’s title in 2005 and hasn’t lost it since 2015. His best finish was in 2021 when he ...

Search continues for two people missing after Quebec landslide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

SAGUENAY, Que. — A search continued Tuesday for two people swept away by landslides in Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region triggered Saturday by a “phenomenal” rainfall that washed away roads and caused flooding.Rescue teams continued to look for a man and woman in their 40s missing in Rivière-Éternité, Que., about 260 kilometres northeast of Quebec City. More than 50 residents of the town were forced to leave their homes after a storm on Saturday dumped 130 millimetres of rain in the space of two hours.During a technical briefing on Tuesday, officials said the “the phenomenal amount” of rain that fell on Saturday in the Parc du Fjord-du-Saguenay triggered seven or eight landslides on the main road that leads to the campground at the provincial park.An engineer with the Transport Department showed an aerial photo of a vehicle where a landslide occurred on Saturday.“What we understand of the event is that there was a first small landslide and peop...

Whitby woman charged with impaired had 5-year-old in car, toddler at home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

Durham Regional Police said a woman suspected of driving while under the influence had her five-year-old child in the car with her at the time of her arrest and a toddler at home alone.Officers received reports of an impaired driver just before 9 a.m. on July 1 in the Columbus Road East and Baldwin Street North area in Whitby, Ont.Police tracked down the vehicle and noticed the driver showed signs of being impaired.Once the driver was pulled over, police located a five-year-old child in the vehicle and determined that the woman had left her two-year-old at home unsupervised.The children were physically unharmed.A 28-year-old woman from Oshawa, Ont. was charged with impaired operation and failing to comply with police.The woman was not identified.

Up to 9 people treated for carbon monoxide poisoning at North York construction site, 1 hospitalized

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

Paramedics say up to nine people were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning following an unknown accident at a construction site in North York on Tuesday afternoon, with one requiring hospitalization.Emergency crews were called to the site at Yonge Street and Cummer Avenue near Finch Avenue East just before 1:30 p.m. .Police say it appears to be ventilation issues with the exhaust from the machinery.The condition of the person taken to hospital is not yet known. The others are being treated and assessed at the scene.The Ministry of Labour is investigating.Police are advising drivers of traffic delays in the area while emergency vehicles are on scene.

Andy Murray gets a win at rainy Wimbledon and a thumbs-up from Roger Federer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — On a day filled with far more rain drops than drop shots at Wimbledon — light, but persistent, showers prevented the completion, or even start, of dozens of matches — Roger Federer and Andy Murray provided the highlights.The retired Federer, who won a men’s-record eight of his 20 Grand Slam titles at the All England Club, was in the front row of the Royal Box, where he sat next to Kate, the Princess of Wales. Federer was saluted with a 1 1/2-minute standing ovation during a pre-match tribute to his career at Centre Court on Tuesday.Hours later, Murray was down below, competing.Murray won two of his three Grand Slam titles and one of his two Olympic gold medals on that rather famous patch of grass and — even if those triumphs were long ago; even if he is now 36 with an artificial hip — the locals fondly remember those good times, especially his 2013 championship that made him the first British man in 77 years to win the event. They hope against hope for an a...

Suspicious powder found at White House when Biden was gone was cocaine, AP sources say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:14:07 GMT

The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered a suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday.Secret Service agents were doing routine rounds on Sunday when they found the white powder in an area accessible to tour groups, not in any particular West Wing office, the officials said.The officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.The complex was evacuated at about 8:45 p.m. Sunday as fire and emergency crews were brought in to do a rapid test, which preliminarily identified cocaine. The White House was soon reopened, and the powder was sent for further testing.Biden and his family left for Camp David on Friday and returned to the White House on Tuesday.The Secret Service said in a statement the White House was clo...