
PLA forces encircle Taiwan as Chinese live-fire drills begin
CNN
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is no longer in Taiwan, but on Thursday China made good on its promise that the island will pay a price for hosting the highest-ranking US official to visit in 25 years.
The Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command said it conducted long-range, live-fire training in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Earlier in the day, Chinese state media said that exercises to simulate an air and sea "blockade" around Taiwan had started Wednesday, but offered little solid evidence to back up the claim.

Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid outrage over immigration agents’ tactics
Immigration agents carrying out a sweeping operation in Minnesota can’t deploy certain crowd-control measures against peaceful protesters or arrest them, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order follows widespread outrage over a fatal shooting, reports of US citizens getting detained and Minnesotans getting asked for documents for no clear reason.

The smell of wet grass from the recent atmospheric river rains, mud and gasoline wafts through the warm Southern California air as Alec Derpetrossian works the chainsaw with a foreman, Randy Magaña, who helps him guide where to put the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning how to adequately use the large tool.











