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Inside the delicate art of maintaining America’s aging nuclear weapons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

KANSAS CITY NATIONAL SECURITY CAMPUS, Mo. (AP) — In an ultra-sterile room at a secure factory in Kansas City, U.S. government technicians refurbish the nation’s nuclear warheads. The job is exacting: Each warhead has thousands of springs, gears and copper contacts that must work in conjunction to set off a nuclear explosion.Eight hundred miles away in New Mexico, workers in a steel-walled vault have an equally delicate task. Wearing radiation monitors, safety goggles and seven layers of gloves, they practice shaping new warhead plutonium cores — by hand. And at nuclear weapons bases across the country, troops as young as 17 keep 50-year-old warheads working until replacements are ready. A hairline scratch on a warhead’s polished black cone could send the bomb off course. The Associated Press was granted rare access to key parts of the highly classified nuclear supply chain and got to watch technicians and engineers tackle the difficult job of maintaining an aging nuclear arsen...

Japan records a trade deficit in August as exports to China, rest of Asia weaken

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s exports fell 0.8% last month from a year earlier, with steep declines in shipments to China and the rest of Asia, its largest regional market. Imports sank nearly 18%, the Japanese Finance Ministry said in preliminary data released Wednesday. That left a trade deficit of 930.5 billion yen ($6.3 billion) in August, for the second straight month of red ink, it said. Exports to Asian markets fell 8.8%, while imports dropped about 13%. A large share of that was an 11% drop in the value of shipments to China, whose economy has slowed in recent months as a hoped-for rebound from disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic fizzled. “We think the weak recovery in China will continue to have a negative impact on exports for a while, but semiconductors seem like they are bottoming out from the down cycle,” Robert Carnell, regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING, said in a report.He said the strong contribution to economic growth in the April-July quarter was expected to we...

Padres working on combined no-hitter after starter Blake Snell removed in 8th inning vs Rockies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Padres left-hander Blake Snell carried a no-hitter though seven innings Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies before being removed from the game.Robert Suarez entered in relief and worked a perfect eighth to keep San Diego’s combined no-hit bid intact.Snell, the big league ERA leader who is making a push for his second Cy Young Award, threw 62 of his 104 pitches for strikes. He struck out 10 and walked four, running his major league-leading total to 96. His season high is 113 pitches and his career high is 122.Snell has never completed eight innings in the majors and San Diego manager Bob Melvin decided seven was enough this time. There was a smattering of boos at Petco Park when Suarez came into a scoreless game. Center fielder Trent Grisham and right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. both made nice running catches in the sixth to keep the no-hitter going, and Grisham made another nice grab in the seventh.Snell is 14-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 31 starts this season. ...

Homeowners face rising insurance rates as climate change makes wildfires, storms more common

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A growing number of Americans are finding it difficult to afford insurance on their homes, a problem only expected to worsen because insurers and lawmakers have underestimated the impact of climate change, a new report says.A report from First Street Foundation released Wednesday says states such as California, Florida and Louisiana, which are prone to wildfires and damaging storms and flooding, are likely to see the most dramatic increases in premiums. But the fire that destroyed the Hawaiian community of Lahaina on Aug. 8, as well as the historic flooding that happened in Vermont and Maine in July, are examples of events that could drive up insurance costs for homeowners in other states.“If you’re not worried, you’re not paying attention,” said California Sen. Bill Dodd, whose district includes the wine-country counties devastated by the LNU Complex fires in 2020.First Street estimates, factoring climate models into the financial risk of properties in its report, t...

Today in History: September 20, Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in tennis ‘battle of the sexes’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

Today in History Today is Wednesday, Sept. 20, the 263rd day of 2023. There are 102 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Sept. 20, 1973, in their so-called “battle of the sexes,” tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston Astrodome. On this date: In 1519, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set out from Spain on five ships to find a western passage to the Spice Islands. (Magellan was killed enroute, but one of his ships eventually circled the world.) In 1881, Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding the assassinated James A. Garfield. In 1946, the first Cannes Film Festival, lasting 16 days, opened in France. In 1962, James Meredith, a Black student, was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Democratic Gov. Ross R. Barnett. In 1964, The Beatles concluded their first full-fledged U.S. tour by performing in a charity concert at the...

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt defends China’s invitation to AI summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

The U.K. will invite China to participate only in limited portions of an artificial intelligence summit planned for later this year amid hesitation from the U.S. and other allies, U.K. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told POLITICO Tech.“We’re not going to invite China to every single part of the summit,” Hunt said, as he defended the decision to include Beijing despite widespread concerns about its use of AI technology for surveillance and suppression. He added that British officials intend “to be very open” about practices that “we don’t consider to be acceptable.”“If you’re trying to create structures that make AI something that overall is a net benefit to humanity, then you can’t just ignore the second-biggest economy in the world,” Hunt said in an interview that will air Wednesday. “That doesn’t mean that you make any kind of compromises with your values but sometimes dialogue can be beneficial.”The summit, announced in June by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is a U.K.-led eff...

Chicago Cubs snap five-game losing streak behind Alexander Canario’s grand slam in 14-1 win over Pittsburgh Pirates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

Somehow, the Chicago Cubs had to find a way to reverse the alarming trend over the last 10 days during their slide down the wild-card standings.Manager David Ross thought the offense just needed something to turn their fortunes.“It really feels like we haven’t gotten that big double in the gap or the three-run homer,” Ross said Tuesday before the series opener with the Pittsburgh Pirates. “It feels like things aren’t going our way and someone will make it turn, one player step up and get a big knock in a big situation and guys will take a deep breath and we’ll get back on this roll that we’ve been on for a pretty good while now before that last road trip.”Dansby Swanson set the tone two batters into the bottom of the first inning Tuesday. He slugged an 0-2 elevated fastball into the center field basket for a two-run home run, one of four the Cubs hit in their 14-1 blowout win at Wrigley Field.The Cubs (79-72) ended their five-game losi...

Orioles win 4th straight, blast Astros, 9-5, behind Austin Hays’ two-homer game: ‘We’re clicking right now’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

No player in the major leagues is more familiar with Camden Yards’ unnatural left field wall than Austin Hays.Playing at a stadium with a different — but also strange — one Tuesday, Hays took advantage of Minute Maid Park’s shorter left field, blasting two home runs and leading the Orioles to a 9-5 victory.Baltimore’s bats combined for 10 hits and four homers for the club’s fourth straight win — a streak that follows its four-game skid last week — to drop the Orioles’ magic number to win the American League East to eight.“I feel like we’re clicking right now,” the left fielder said.Hays’ first homer — a three-run shot in the third to give Baltimore a lead it wouldn’t relinquish — easily cleared the short porch in left field. It wouldn’t have been gone at 14 MLB stadiums, including Camden Yards, which altered its dimensions last season by moving the left field wall back almost 30 fee...

'Coach Prime' rocks sunglasses from San Diego company

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Deion Sanders, also known as "Coach Prime," has taken college football by storm this year as head coach of the University of Colorado Boulder.The polarizing former NFL star is not afraid to let others know what's on his mind both on and off the field.But did you know that Sanders' wardrobe is catching the eye of San Diegans? Sanders' shades are actually from a sunglasses and eyewear store called Blenders in Pacific Beach."This has been the craziest week of my life, hands down," said Chase Fisher, founder and CEO of Blenders, during an interview with FOX 5. "I feel like I've been shot out of a cannon and like landed in this new universe with all of these new opportunities, it's unbelievable." VIDEO: Actor Jason Momoa greets fans at two San Diego stores Prior to Colorado's dramatic win over Colorado State in an intense rivalry game on Saturday, Colorado State head football coach Jay Norvell took a shot at Sanders, saying he (Norvell) talks to adults by taking off his ha...

British Airways to add new London flight from San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:28:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Traveling to Europe will become more convenient as British Airways is adding a second flight between San Diego International Airport (SAN) and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), officials said.Starting April 20, 2024, the new second flight (BA265 and BA264) will arrive in San Diego at 3:25 p.m. and depart for London at 5:15 p.m., SAN said in a news release Tuesday. Since June 2011, British Airways has offered one SAN-LHR nonstop flight per day, according to SAN. Those flights (BA273 and BA272) will be retimed to arrive in San Diego from London at 6:10 p.m. and departing San Diego for London at 8 p.m.BA 264/BA265 will serve passengers on a 272-seat Boeing 777-200 aircraft while BA272/BA273 will operate on a 214-seat Boeing 787-8 aircraft, the San Diego airport said. Water rate hike approved in San Diego “The expansion of British Airways flights between London Heathrow Airport and San Diego International Airport opens up a world of possibilities,” said Kimber...