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Thai prime minister says visa-free policy for Chinese visitors to be made permanent in March

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand and China will soon implement visa-free entry for each other’s citizens, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Tuesday.Chinese nationals will be granted visa-free entry on a permanent basis beginning March 1, Srettha said after his Cabinet’s weekly meeting. Chinese visitors have been allowed visa-free entry since September last year, but the privilege was due to expire on Feb. 29.Thailand’s visa-exemption policy aims to give a boost to the country’s tourism industry, which was badly damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. The country received about 40 million visitors in 2019, and the government estimated they spent 1.9 trillion baht ($53.2 billion) — an amount that plummeted by more than 99% by 2021, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.China is a major source of tourists to Thailand, with almost 11 million visitors in 2019, accounting for 27.6% of all arrivals that year before the pandemic devastated the tourist market.Last year, Thail...

Plane catches fire on runway at Japan’s Haneda airport after collision

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

A passenger plane collided with a Japanese coast guard aircraft and burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday, officials said.NHK TV reported that all occupants of Japan Airlines flight JAL-516, believed to total 379 people, got out safely before the plane was entirely engulfed in flames. The Japanese coast guard said the pilot of its plane had escaped. NHK reported that the five other crewmembers had been found dead.Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area around the wing then caught fire. Footage an hour later showed the plane fully on fire.NHK TV said the plane was an Airbus A-350 that had flown from Shin Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo, to Haneda.Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the passenger plane and its flight MA-722, a Bombardier Dash-8.Swede Anton Deibe, 17, who was a passenger on the Japan Airl...

Stock market today: World markets are mixed on the first trading day of 2024

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

European benchmarks were higher Tuesday after Asian markets mostly fell on the first trading day of 2024. U.S. futures were higher and oil prices gained more than $1. Hong Kong’s benchmark fell more than 1% and Shanghai also declined after data showed more signs of weakness in the Chinese manufacturing and property sectors. The future contract for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%.Germany’s DAX gained 1% to 16,927.63. In Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.6% higher to 7,587.62. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up less than 0.1% to 7,734.75. Investors were awaiting the release of euro-zone manufacturing statistics later in the day.The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong sank 1.6% to 16,784.00 and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.4% to 2,962.28. Investors were selling property developers like debt-laden China Evergrande, which fell 6%, and LongFor Group Holding, which lost 6.9%. Sino-Ocean Holding declined 4.6%. The December survey of the official pu...

Russian ballistic missiles strike Ukraine’s largest cities, killing at least 4 and injuring over 100

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s two largest cities came under attack from Russian hypersonic ballistic missiles on Tuesday morning, killing at least four people and injuring almost 100, officials said, as the war approached its two-year milestone and the Kremlin’s forces stepped up their winter bombardment of urban areas.Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel that four civilians were killed and 92 injured in the capital, Kyiv, and in northeastern Kharkiv as hypersonic Kinzhal missiles that can fly at 10 times the speed of sound slammed into city blocks.Russia fired almost 100 missiles of various types, Zelenskyy said on X, formerly Twitter. He claimed that at least 70 missiles were shot down, almost all of them in the Kyiv area, and said Western-supplied air defense systems such as Patriots and NASAMS had saved hundreds of lives.Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had launched missile and drone strikes on military industrial facilities in and aro...

One killed, another sent to hospital in Southwest suburb apartment fire

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

HICKORY HILLS, Ill. — An early morning fire Tuesday resulted in one fatality and sent another person to the hospital in the Southwest suburbs.The Roberts Park Fire Department says it was around 2 a.m. when they were alerted to smoke coming from a three-story apartment building that sits near the corner of 87th St. and 80th Ct. in Hickory Hills.When crews arrived, they found two people inside the apartment's kitchen area. One of the victims did not survive the fire. The other is at a local hospital recovering. That person's condition is unknown at this time.The Roberts Park Fire Department confirmed the fire was contained to one apartment, but multiple other people have been displaced because of it, in addition to the two victims. Plane burns on runway at Tokyo airport after collision Fire crews did say there were working smoke detectors throughout the building but could not tell if any were in the unit that caught fire.As of now, the cause of the fire is not known.

Plane burns on runway at Tokyo airport after collision

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — A passenger plane burst into flames on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Tuesday, with news reports saying it hit another aircraft after landing.NHK TV reported that all occupants of Japan Airlines flight JAL-516, believed to total 379 people, got out safely before the plane was entirely engulfed in flames. The Japanese coast guard, which operated the other plane, said its pilot had escaped but five crewmembers are missing.A Japan Airlines plane is on fire on the runway of Haneda airport on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. (Kyodo News via AP)Local TV video showed a large eruption of fire and smoke from the side of the Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area around the wing then caught fire. Footage an hour later showed the plane fully on fire.NHK TV said the plane was an Airbus A-350 that had flown from Shin Chitose airport, near the city of Sapporo, to Haneda.Coast Guard spokesperson Yoshinori Yanagishima confirmed the collision between the...

Single $842.4 million Powerball ticket sold in Michigan

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS/NEXSTAR) - Michigan is now home to the fifth largest Powerball jackpot.The winning numbers in the New Year's Day drawing were 12, 21, 42, 44, 49 and the Powerball was 1. The Power Play multiplier was 3X. Two tickets, from Florida and Texas, won $2 million. Four tickets, sold in California, Connecticut, Florida and Maryland, won $1 million prizes. 42 tickets won $50,000 prizes, and seven tickets won $150,000 prizes. The jackpot has a cash value of $425.2 million.The winning ticket was sold at the Food Castle in Grand Blanc, Michigan, according to the Michigan Lottery.Last-minute ticket sales pushed the jackpot to $842.4 million, making it the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and tenth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won. It is also the first time a Powerball jackpot has been won on New Year’s Day since the game’s start in 1992.Here are the 10 largest Powerball jackpots:$2.04 billion: Nov. 7, 2022; California$1.765 billion: Oct. 11, 2023; California$1.586 billion...

Buda enters Stage 3 drought restrictions

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

BUDA, Texas (KXAN) – The City of Buda officially entered Stage 3 drought restrictions Monday. According to the city's water conservation page, the rain that fell in December was not enough to keep the region out of extreme drought conditions. Exceptional drought declared by Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District The city said water customers must follow these rules during Stage 3:Irrigation with hose-end and automatic sprinkler systems:Once per week on designated day; allowed between 7-11 a.m. and 7-11 p.m. Odd-numbered residential: WednesdayEven-numbered residential: ThursdayCommercial, mixed use and multi-family: TuesdaySchool and City athletic fields: Tuesday and FridayIrrigation with handheld bucket, handheld hose, soaker hose, or drip irrigation system:Restricted to the outdoor watering once-per-week scheduleProhibited between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.Irrigation of vegetable gardensAllowed on any dayProhibited between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.Irrigation to protec...

Austin group gives those without shelter supplies and a voice

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A local non-profit said a Monday event it threw for 200 people who need shelter in Austin will result in a survey being sent to a national organization in Washington. House the Homeless gave its 31st annual HUGSS party at the First Baptist Austin church downtown Monday afternoon. As part of the event, HtH said it asked those attending to fill out a survey about housing affordability and job options. What happened to Austin's $515 million homelessness fundraising initiative That results of that survey will be sent on Tuesday with the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, HtH said."(W)e will be sending them to the National Coalition of the Homeless to implement into theCongress for congressional representation and try to make some changes to help this ever-growing problem and find solutions.The questions this year are mostly about living wage and a way to make a wage so that you can be sustained where you are. We have someone that has worked for years o...

Marshall Avenue Flats to feature 98 units of affordable housing near Marshall and Snelling

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:42:24 GMT

With a major boost from the city of St. Paul and other partners, PAK Properties and the HBG Group are moving closer toward starting work on a new six-story, 98-unit affordable rental housing development at Marshall Avenue and Fry Street.Among the planned features of the $33.4 million project are a handful of three-bedroom, family-size apartments targeted to the very poor, a rarity for private, for-profit developers.Located just off Snelling Avenue, the Marshall Avenue Flats project at 1606 Marshall Ave. will be constructed on an empty parking lot adjoining the old Richards Gordon Elementary School building, with 24 units of new underground parking. The former school building is now an office building.“This is another project we’ve been working on for a long time to get to the finish line,” said Nicolle Goodman, director of St. Paul Planning and Economic Development.With apartment sizes ranging from one to three bedrooms, 64 units will be targeted to households earn...