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Gunmen attack Indonesian troops deployed to rescue NZ pilot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — Separatist gunmen attacked Indonesian army troops who were deployed to rescue a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua province, leaving at least six dead and about 30 missing, officials said Sunday. Initial information from army reports said there were about 36 soldiers at a post in the hilly district of Nduga, when attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, opened fire on Saturday. At least six died and 21 others fled into the jungle, according to the military reports seen by journalists. A military spokesman confirmed only one dead. Nine soldiers were reportedly being held by the rebels.Papua military spokesperson Col. Herman Taryaman said the soldiers were part of a group that was searching for Phillip Mark Mehrtens, a New Zealand pilot for the Indonesian aviation company Susi Air who was abducted by the rebels in February.He said authorities were searching for about 30 ...

Georgia plant fire extinguished, shelter-in-place lifted

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

Emergency crews extinguished a fire at a Georgia chemical plant shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday, allowing officials to lift a shelter-in-place order issued in the afternoon when the fire broke out for the second time in the day.The fire at the Pinova plant in Brunswick, Georgia, began Saturday morning and had been extinguished, but the Glynn County Board of Commissioners said the fire rekindled around 3 p.m.A shelter-in-place order was issued for a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from the plant at 3:25 p.m. and about an hour later was expanded to a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius because of shifting winds, the board said in updates posed on Facebook.Thick plumes of black smoke rose into the air before the fire was extinguished at the Pinova facility, which makes rosin and polyterpene resin.Brunswick Mayor Cosby Johnson declared a state of emergency and a shelter-in-place order for the whole city of Brunswick at 6 p.m. Saturday, he said.“Because we did not know the extent to which we could c...

Saudi prince gives 4% Aramco stake to public investment firm

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince announced Sunday the transfer of a 4% stake of the oil giant Saudi Aramco to a subsidiary of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, further boosting its coffers as the kingdom tries to expand its economy beyond oil. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s decision, announced by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, sends the stake to the Saudi Arabian Investment Co., known as Sanabil Investments. Sanabil is under the sovereign wealth fund known as the Public Investment Fund. “The transfer will also solidify PIF’s strong financial position and credit rating,” the statement about the deal said. It gave no possible investment targets for either Sanabil or the PIF.Saudi Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., acknowledged the shares going to Sanabil. It said the Saudi government remains the oil firm’s biggest shareholder, with over 90% of its stock. “This is a private transfer between the state and ...

Climate envoy Kerry: No rolling back clean energy transition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — So much has been invested in clean energy that there can be no rolling back of moves to end carbon emissions, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said Sunday. Kerry noted that if countries deliver on promises to phase out polluting fossil fuels, the world can limit average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), better than the worst case scenarios. “We’re in a very different place than where we were a year ago, let alone two and three years ago,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press. “But we’re not doing everything we said we’d do,” he said, after attending a meeting of energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations. “A lot of countries need to step up including ours to reduce emissions faster, deploy renewables faster, bring new technologies online faster all of that has to happen.”Kerry said the G-7 talks in northeastern Japan’s Sapporo were “really constructive” in yielding a show o...

How views of Pierre Trudeau led RCMP to provide first close security for an ex-PM

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

OTTAWA — With threats against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spiking in recent years, newly released historical records reveal the security concerns the RCMP had when his father was getting ready to leave office.Pierre Trudeau retired in 1984 after serving as prime minister for two stints adding up to 15 years. He had been first elected in 1968.As Trudeau prepared to retire, records show that security officials did not see any current threats against him — but that they believed his track record could invite future ones.And the documents show that those potential threats led the RCMP to recommend heightened security for a former prime minister for the first time.“It is fair to say that Prime Minister Trudeau’s years in office were often marked by controversy,” reads a threat assessment labelled “secret,” dated April 25, 1984.“His perceived aloof personality, provocative political style and stance on several domestic and international issues elicite...

Literary pick for week of April 16

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

“Rebirth,” an evening of medical storytelling with the Nocturnists and the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Art of Medicine, celebrating Earth Day, April 22, 2023 at The Parkway Theater in Minneapolis. The Nocturnists is an award-winning non-profit medical storytelling organization working to humanize health care. (University of Minnesota Center for the Art of Medicine)Can medicine and art be friends? Of course. To prove it there’s going to be an Evening of Medical Storytelling by health care workers at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Parkway Theater, 4814 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis. This Earth Day celebration is presented by The Nocturnists and the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Art of Medicine (CFAM).The Nocturnists is an award-winning, not-for-profit medical storytelling organization working to humanize health care, transform medical culture, and improve clinician wellbeing. It was founded in 2016 by internal medicine physician Emi...

Literary calendar for week of April 16

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

Minnesotan Rachel Gold launches her new novel, “Curious Minds” April 20, 2023, at Next Chapter Booksellers in St. Paul. (Courtesy of Next Chapter Booksellers)RACHEL GOLD: Minnesota author, teacher at the Loft Literary Center, former reporter for a regional LGBTQ newspaper and corporate marketing specialist introduces her new novel, “Curious Minds,” about a group of LGBTQ college students who get in trouble as they search for a retired professor’s hidden, valuable coin collection. Clues come from decoding classic lesbian and sapphic books but in six years nobody has found the treasure. Gold’s debut novel, “Being Emily,” was the first young adult novel to tell the story of a transgender girl from her perspective. In conversation with La Gr. 6 p.m. Thursday, April 20, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S Snelling Ave., St. Paul.MYSTERY NIGHT:  Tom Combs, former emergency physician at level one trauma hospitals and a helicopter rescue flight phy...

Minnetronix brings engineering to students at St. Paul high school

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

One week before classes began for St. Paul Central High School’s spring semester, work-based learning coordinator Emily Punyko found out she would be teaching an honors engineering essentials course — despite having little exposure to the subject matter.“I wasn’t actually able to do any sort of recruitment or planning ahead of time,” Punyko said.Weeks into the class, all of the seniors attending stopped showing up. Juniors stepped up as leaders, she said, but she knew she wanted more for the class. Her solution came from Minnetronix Medical.Punyko first learned about Minnetronix, a St. Paul-based medical device engineering firm, at a career day event in October hosted by the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. In the fall, Central began partnering with the company to provide students real-world experience and mentorship through the company’s Leading, Engaging, Accelerating Professionals, or LEAP.Developed about two years ago, LEAP is a team of engineers in the first decade of their ...

Why a $2.2 billion state funding increase isn’t enough for some school leaders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

Minnesota school leaders cheered last month when top DFL lawmakers announced plans to increase biennial spending on education by $2.2 billion in their next budget.But the mood among superintendents and school board members has soured in the weeks since as they’ve calculated the potential costs of a range of progressive policy changes intended to benefit school employees.“A lot of folks had high hopes that with the united government in place, we’d get some things done at the Legislature this year,” Stillwater Superintendent Michael Funk told his board late last month as the Legislature’s omnibus education bills were being published. “Unfortunately, I think this is potentially one of the most damaging sessions I’ve seen since I’ve been a superintendent.”The Minnesota School Boards Association last week urged members to speak out against a House provision that would force districts to negotiate class sizes and staffing ratios with teachers unions. The group warned it would “bankrupt sc...

Other voices: Democrats find their Eden for 2024 national convention

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:43:04 GMT

The state of Illinois recently lost three Fortune 500 companies, and its population has declined by more than 100,000 residents in the past two years. Meanwhile, its largest city is a poster child for rampant crime and a failing public education system.How fitting — and deliciously ironic — that Chicago was selected last week to host the 2024 Democratic national convention.The symbolism is rich. Illinois is a one-party state dominated by public-employee unions. Property taxes are among the highest in the nation. The state’s government pension system is a monument to red ink, running almost $140 billion in the hole. According to the Tax Foundation, Illinois ranks 36th in the country for its business tax climate, worst in the region.State Democrats have one answer for most issues: higher taxes and more regulation. Politicians in Springfield are contemplating a new “wealth” tax and a revamp of the state’s income tax system that will separate citizens...