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US tensions with China are fraying long-cultivated academic ties. Will the chill hurt US interests?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the 1980s, Fu Xiangdong was a young Chinese virology student who came to the United States to study biochemistry. More than three decades later, he had a prestigious professorship in California and was conducting promising research on Parkinson’s disease.But now Fu is doing his research at a Chinese university. His American career was derailed as U.S.-China relations unraveled, putting his collaborations with a Chinese university under scrutiny. He ended up resigning.Fu’s story mirrors the rise and fall of U.S.-China academic engagement. Beginning in 1978, such cooperation expanded for decades, largely insulated from the fluctuations in relations between the two countries. Today, it’s in decline, with Washington viewing Beijing as a strategic rival and there are growing fears about Chinese spying. The number of Chinese students in the United States is down, and U.S.-Chinese research collaboration is shrinking. Academics are shying away from potential China...

About 300 Indian travelers are sequestered in a French airport in a human trafficking probe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

VATRY, France (AP) — About 300 Indian citizens heading to Central America were sequestered in a French airport for a third day Saturday after a dramatic police operation prompted by a tip that those aboard might be victims of human trafficking, authorities said.Those aboard included children and families. The local civil protection agency told regional broadcaster France-3 that the youngest passenger is a toddler of 21 months, and that among the children are 13 unaccompanied minors.Local authorities hung white tarps across the soaring bay windows of the small Vatry Airport in Champagne country to ensure privacy for the passengers inside. An unmarked plane near the terminal appeared to be the aircraft grounded since Thursday. Other flights were canceled or rerouted as the airport was transformed into the hub of a vast trafficking investigation.The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight — en route from Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua —...

Israel strikes 2 homes and kills more than 90 Palestinians as troops expand south Gaza offensive

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — More than 90 Palestinians, including dozens from an extended family, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes, rescuers and hospital officials said Saturday, a day after the U.N. chief warned again that nowhere is safe in Gaza and that Israel’s ongoing offensive is creating “massive obstacles” to the distribution of humanitarian aid.Also Saturday, the Israeli military said troops arrested hundreds of alleged militants in Gaza over the past week and transferred more than 200 of them to Israel for further interrogation, providing rare details on a controversial policy of mass roundups of Palestinian men. The army said more than 700 people with alleged ties to the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have so far been sent to Israeli lockups.Israel declared war after Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war to destroy Hamas and...

Setting physical and mental goals for the new year?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

It's that time of year where we reflect on our choices and see how we can level up in the new year. Naturopathic doctor Dr. Laura Wollman from the Wellness Club joins WGN Weekend Morning News to share tips.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

How rich was the family in 'Home Alone:' NYT talks to experts

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

CHICAGO -- One question begs to be asked when watching the movie 'Home Alone' as a Chicagoan, how rich were the Mccalisters to be able to afford the glorious mansion in Winnetka.The New York Times talked to experts with the Federal Reserve who compared the home to similar ones in Chicago in the early 1990s estimating the Mccaslisters income to afford that home was at least $305,000 a year that would put the in the top %1 od households in the U.S.Adjusted for inflation, the family would need to make at least $700,000 to afford the same house today.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Weekend Gardening with Tim Joyce: Environmentally conscious Christmas trees

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

WGN's Plant Daddy Tim Joyce is back with a holiday edition of Weekend Gardening. Check it out for more on gardening health benefits, how to make environmentally conscious choices with Christmas trees and more.Love the WGN Morning News? We love you, too. And you can have all the hijinks delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign up and subscribe to our WGN Morning News newsletter.

Oversized Santas take over Northwest Hills neighborhood

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Residents living on Gnarl Drive in Northwest Hills have dubbed their street "Santa Clause Lane" and it's for good reason.Anyone driving down the road will be greeted with multiple oversize inflatable Santas as well as other fun Christmas decorations. Kayla Christie said a neighbor living down the street from her came up with the idea, and from there, the rest was history. Christie said she bought multiple inflatable Santas and handed them out to some of the neighbors as well. "We really dub it "Santa Claus Lane" now," Christie said. "Next year we will probably have a sign up that says "Santa Claus Lane." More and more of the neighbors, as they started coming up, really enjoyed seeing it and wanted to participate. It is just really fun and delightful."Ainsley Christie said she hopes to see this tradition continue for years to come. "I think it is really fun," Ainsley said. "I think it is funny that we are all kind of matching. Most of the time no one really drives do...

Austin Police arrest suspect in shooting at Barton Square Mall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin Police arrested a man Thursday who they believe is connected to the Saturday, Dec. 16 shooting at the Barton Creek Square Mall that left one person injured. APD officers arrested Vincent Gutierrez, 19, on two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. He has been booked into the Travis County jail.Around 5 p.m. on Dec. 16, police responded to shots fired at the Barton Creek Mall, where they found one man with a non-life-threatening gun wound. Police believe that four men, two in each group, met at the mall to sell merchandise that was being purchased from social media. After the two groups met, a physical fight began and led to the shooting. The victim did not know Gutierrez, APD said. Police said that the suspects left the scene after the shooting. Even though Austin Police believe this was an isolated incident, officers are patrolling the area more frequently than before the shooting, they said. APP asks anyone with informati...

Texas receives $1.8 million to reduce vehicle collisions with endangered ocelots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is giving $1.8 million to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Texas to build underpasses in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge around 70 miles east of McAllen, to reduce vehicle collisions with the endangered ocelot, a medium-sized spotted wildcat. The cat’s habitat is intersected by a roadway and has been closed since 2013 due to a high number of collisions. There are fewer than 100 ocelots left in Texas. This project will allow the road to open again, according to an FHWA press release.  MORE: Texas Parks and Wildlife exploring protection options for ocelots The funding comes from a new program in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) that helps fund projects building wildlife crossing, fencing and acquiring tracking and mapping tools around the U.S. There is a total of $350 million available over the next five years. Laguna Atascosa is one of the first 19 ...

Joe Soucheray: This weather is just heavenly and I know it can’t last

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:55 GMT

Christmas Eve day happens to be the third day of spring for members of the Royal Order of the 21sters, those of us who are comfortably delusional with the insistence that once the days began getting longer at 9:27 p.m. Dec. 21, the misery of winter was behind us. We see light at the end of the tunnel. Some of us are jogging in shorts.And aren’t the running paths and streets and sidewalks glorious? Of course they are. We could just as easily be fighting icy ruts and slippery going and the wet glop that moves young mothers to sigh as they constantly change snowsuits and place the mittens and boots to dry near the radiator, promoting the malodorous smell of wet dogs.It was about this time of year in 1991, following the Halloween Blizzard, that I was driving on Grand Avenue one night when my wheels jumped out of the rutted paths and I was suddenly sailing horizontally down the street. I don’t miss that.We went to a preschooler’s Christmas program the other night and everybody seemed che...