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Tensions high across SoCal college campuses amid Israel-Hamas war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

Tensions are rising on college campuses in California and across the country as students react to Israel’s war with Hamas. The deadly violence has led some college leaders to warn against discrimination or harassment against any member of the Jewish or Palestinian communities. Hundreds of University of California, Los Angeles students gathered at Bruin Plaza Wednesday night for a solemn vigil for Israel. “I’m really just praying for all of the innocent people caught in the sides of it,” said UCLA student, Cienna Janes. There was a heavy security presence at the event as the longstanding Israeli Palestinian conflict enters a new phase following the deadly terrorist attack in the Jewish state carried out by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group in Gaza.Amid rising tensions, some student groups say they have received threats over their beliefs and academic discourse. Organized by UCLA Students for Justice in Palestine, a lecture called “Emergency Teach-in on the Crisis" wa...

Person fatally shot Wednesday afternoon in East Oakland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

OAKLAND – A person was shot and killed Wednesday in East Oakland, marking the city’s 99th homicide of the year, police said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Cop stabbed Wednesday afternoon at Brentwood City Park Crime and Public Safety | Oakland: Three possible shooting suspects arrested after chase, crash Crime and Public Safety | Police identify Oakland man shot and killed outside local hotel Crime and Public Safety | Man convicted of murder on BART train Crime and Public Safety | South Bay man charged in fatal stabbing, carjacking of 63-year-old Union City woman The shooting happened around 4:45 p.m. in the 200 block of Kerwin Avenue, near Douglas Avenue in the Brookfield Village neighborhood, Oakland police Officer Darryl Rodgers said. Officers arrived to find a person suffering from at least one gunshot wound.The person received emergency medical aid but was pronounced dead at the scene, Ro...

New bill allows virtual vet appointments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – California pet owners will soon have another way to get veterinary care. A new bill just signed into law will allow vets virtual appointments.A sick pet usually means a lengthy trip to the vet's office – including a drive and time spent sitting in a waiting room. This new law will save you from all of that. Repairs to Richmond-San Rafael Bridge could take weeks, officials say “They can be in front of a veterinarian in two minutes. Compare that to the emergency wait that can be hours,” said Jennifer Scarlett, CEO of the San Francisco SPCA. Scarlett says the organization has been in support of expanding veterinarian telemedicine for years. The new bill signed by Gov. Newsom will do just that. It allows vets to see new or existing patients for a wide range of issues.Previously, vets could only see existing patients virtually for an issue after an in-person checkup for the same problem. Scarlett says there is a shortage of vets, but virtual appointments wil...

Repairs to Richmond-San Rafael Bridge could take weeks, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

RICHMOND, Calif. (KRON) -- It could take days and perhaps weeks to repair the damage to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, according to officials. Caltrans officials say the fatal big rig accident at the toll plaza this past Monday destroyed one lane and impacted two others.Only four of the seven lanes are currently open, resulting in snarled traffic at times. The fiery accident Monday night torched the far-right lane, known as lane 7, and seriously impacted the integrity of lanes 5 and 6, according to Caltrans. The CHP is investigating the cause of the crash that killed the big rig driver. SF, Oakland are worst cities to drive in, according to WalletHub Westbound traffic was shut down for hours that night. Now, days later, repairs are still underway with no timeframe for when the three damaged lanes will reopen."Forty thousand drivers pass through the area. It is a priority to get it done," said Vince Jacala, a Caltrans spokesperson.Jacala said a large team continues to assess what...

Russia’s war could cause vodka price surge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine might just make Russians thirsty.Russia’s alcohol-producers lobby has asked Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to increase vodka’s minimum price by 7 percent to cope with rising costs linked to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reports show.The proposal from the Union of Alcohol Producers, reported Thursday by Russian business daily Kommersant, would put floor retail prices for Russians’ favorite tipple at 602 rubles per liter — €5.80 — from 2024.To justify the surge, alcohol-makers cite rising import prices and logistical costs linked to the ruble’s devaluation, as well as a planned increase on an excise tax on vodka.Currently under consideration by the finance ministry, the producers’ plea is likely to be accepted by the authorities, Kommersant reports, citing “two sources in the [alcohol] industry.”Under heavy international sanctions, Russia’s increasingly isolated economy is also grap...

Taiwan is closely watching the Hamas-Israel war for lessons as it faces intimidation from China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan is closely watching the war in the Middle East sparked by the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza for lessons amid what the self-governing island says is a campaign of intimidation and threats by China.Hamas staged a stunning and massive incursion into Israel last weekend, killing hundreds in Israel and dragging dozens into Gaza as hostages. In retaliation, Israel’s increasingly destructive airstrikes in Gaza have flattened entire city blocks. The latest conflict, which has claimed at least 2,400 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate.Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng, said on Thursday that the Hamas-Israel war “blew up so suddenly,” prompting Taiwan to up its ability to forecast possible threats. “We’ve established a working group to study and … reinforce the importance of collecting intelligence,” he said ahead of a meeting of the legislature.China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has cond...

As strikes devastate Gaza, Israel says it’s preparing for possible ground assault

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians in Gaza lined up outside bakeries on Thursday after spending the night in pitch darkness surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods, as Israel launched new airstrikes and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion. International aid groups warned that deaths in Gaza could accelerate as Israel prevents delivery of supplies. The war, which was ignited by a bloody and wide-ranging Hamas attack into Israel, has already claimed at least 2,400 lives on both sides.Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver if decided,” but that the political leadership has not yet ordered one. A ground offensive in Gaza, the first since the 2014 war, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.In Gaza, Palestinians fleeing airstrikes can be seen running through the streets, carrying their belongings and looking for a safe p...

Norway activists press on with their protest against wind farm on land used by herders

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Dozens of activists in Norway on Thursday blocked the entrance to one of the main operators of a wind farm they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer,At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, which is located in central Norway’s Fosen district, about 450 kilometers (280 miles) north of the capital of Oslo. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldn’t come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people.They have demonstrated repeatedly against the wind farm’s continued operation since the Supreme Court of Norway ruled in October 2021 that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami, who have used the land for reindeer for centuries.On Thursday, the activists sat down on the ground outside the building in Oslo of Statkraft, a state-owned company that operates 80 of the wind turbines at Fosen. ”We expect to block all visible entrances, ”acti...

Japanese automaker Toyota and energy company Idemitsu to cooperate on EV battery technology

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top automaker Toyota agreed Thursday to work with Idemitsu, a major Japanese oil company, on technology for mass production of solid-state batteries that promise to be a key component in future electric vehicles.The deal is an important step for Toyota Motor Corp., which has promised to speed up its battery EV offerings and catch up after having fallen behind rivals like Tesla and China’s BYD. Toyota lags partly because of its success in hybrids, like the Prius, that are equipped with both gasoline engines and battery-powered motors.Toyota, with its production finesse, and Idemitsu, which owns technologies in materials, said they are aiming for successful commercialization of all-solid-state batteries in 2027 or 2028, followed by full-scale mass production.“With repeated efforts involving trial and error, we have succeeded in developing a material that is more stable and less prone to crack,” Toyota Chief Executive Koji Sato told reporters in Tokyo, after ...

Russian President Putin arrives in Kyrgyzstan on a rare trip abroad

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:59:39 GMT

President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday on a rare trip abroad for the Russian leader who was indicted earlier this year by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine.Putin was to meet with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov on Thursday. He will take part on Friday in the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, which Kyrgyzstan is hosting. The leaders of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will also attend the summit. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will skip it, as Yerevan’s relationship with Moscow has frayed amid mutual accusations.It is the first time this year that the Russian president has traveled outside Russia and Russian-held territories of Ukraine. Earlier this year, Putin visited the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson, as well as the annexed Crimean Peninsula.In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the deportati...