Letters: Masking up | Gun violence

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Letters: Masking up | Gun violence Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor.Masks should remainat health care sitesRe: “Patients’ health risked by lifting mask mandates” (Page A6, May).Kudos to Dr. Aboelata for her commentary. I can attest to the devastating impact the decision to remove masks from health care has had on high-risk patients.It’s not just hospitalized patients now at risk. Every time immunocompromised patients need a medical visit, a lab test, an X-ray or any other in-person service, we must weigh whether it’s worth it to contract COVID. As a Kaiser patient, I know they have not offered any accommodations for high-risk patients to safely continue accessing care. One-way masking is far less effective in light of current highly contagious variants. We are exposed to COVID not just by unmasked providers, but also by maskless patients with whom we share crowded waiting rooms and check-in lines. We are reluctantly foregoing vital diagnostic and preven...

House GOP alleges millions in foreign payments to Biden family

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

House GOP alleges millions in foreign payments to Biden family By Annie Grayer, Alana Treene, Jeremy Herb and Sara Murray | CNNHouse Oversight Chairman James Comer laid out new details to support allegations that members of Joe Biden’s family including his son Hunter received millions of dollars in payments from foreign entities in China and Romania including when Biden was vice president, according to a memo obtained by CNN.New bank records cited in the memo were obtained by the committee through a subpoena and include payments made to companies tied to Hunter Biden. Republicans also alleged that Hunter Biden used his familial connections to help facilitate a meeting in 2016 between a Serbian running for United Nations Secretary-General and then-national security adviser to the vice president Colin Kahl.The foreign payments raise questions about Hunter Biden’s business activities while his father was vice president, but the committee does not suggest any illegality about the payments from foreign sources. The bank records by themse...

Man in custody after slashing BART rider with 'cleaver-style knife': police

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Man in custody after slashing BART rider with 'cleaver-style knife': police (KRON) -- A San Francisco man is in custody after he stabbed a man with a "cleaver-style knife" on a BART train Wednesday afternoon, the BART Police Department said. The suspect was arrested at the West Oakland station at approximately 1 p.m. The alleged stabbing happened on an Antioch-bound yellow line train. Why aren’t people riding BART? Hint: It’s not remote work. The suspect, identified as 24-year-old Charles Johnson from San Francisco, tried to flee the train with the victim's backpack after it stopped at the West Oakland station but was arrested, police said. Officers recovered the knife and the backpack. The victim was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Johnson will be booked into Santa Rita Jail.

Delaware judge refuses to dismiss Facebook shareholder suit over user data privacy breaches

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Delaware judge refuses to dismiss Facebook shareholder suit over user data privacy breaches DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit alleging that Facebook officers and directors violated both the law and their fiduciary duties in failing for years to protect the privacy of user data.Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster rejected arguments that the complaint should be dismissed because the plaintiffs did not first demand that Facebook’s board take legal action before filing litigation themselves. Under Delaware law, shareholders must make such a demand or demonstrate that doing so would be futile because a majority of directors were self-interested, lacked independence or faced a substantial likelihood of liability.Laster agreed with the plaintiffs that demand would be futile because there is reasonable doubt that a majority of the relevant Facebook board members, many with close personal and business ties to Mark Zuckerberg, would be willing to confront the CEO and founder of the company now known as Meta Platforms Inc., o...

Benev Capital: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Benev Capital: Q1 Earnings Snapshot VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Benev Capital Inc. (BEVFF) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $4.9 million.The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said it had net income of 4 cents per share.The royalty acquisition company posted revenue of $9.1 million in the period.In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, the company’s shares hit $2.26. A year ago, they were trading at $2.16._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BEVFF at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BEVFFSource

Denison Mine: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Denison Mine: Q1 Earnings Snapshot TORONTO (AP) — TORONTO (AP) — Denison Mine Corp. (DNN) on Wednesday reported a loss of $1.8 million in its first quarter.The Toronto-based company said it had a loss of less than 1 cent on a per-share basis.The uranium mining company posted revenue of $801,700 in the period. Its adjusted revenue was $802,000._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on DNN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/DNNSource

Astros hang on after Ohtani’s 2-run homer in 9th inning, beat Angels 5-4

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Astros hang on after Ohtani’s 2-run homer in 9th inning, beat Angels 5-4 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Cristian Javier struck out 11 over six strong innings of three-hit ball, and the Houston Astros overcame Shohei Ohtani’s two-run homer in the ninth inning for a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.Ohtani made things interesting with a two-run shot off Houston closer Ryan Pressly in the ninth, golfing a curveball below the zone into the right-field stands for his eighth homer following Mike Trout’s leadoff single.Anthony Rendon and Hunter Renfroe then delivered singles, but Pressly retired three straight Angels to complete his sixth save.Jeremy Peña had a two-run single during Houston’s four-run fourth inning, and Yordan Alvarez homered as the Astros took two of three at Angel Stadium.Houston got back-to-back outstanding starts from Framber Valdez and Javier (3-1), who allowed three runs and struck out 23 over 14 combined innings. Javier, who got a whopping 24 swing-and-misses while hitting a season-high for strikeouts, issued just one wa...

‘Affront to democracy,’ Mississippi resident says of appointing judges where most are elected

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

‘Affront to democracy,’ Mississippi resident says of appointing judges where most are elected JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three residents of Mississippi’s capital city testified Wednesday that their rights as citizens are undermined by a new state law that would create a court inside Jackson with judges who are appointed because the state constitution requires most judges to be elected.“It is an affront to democracy,” Ann Saunders said.She and the other two residents — Sabreen Sharrief and Dorothy Triplett — are the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Mississippi Center for Justice, the ACLU of Mississippi and the MacArthur Justice Center.The lawsuit is one of two that challenge laws Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed April 21. The laws will expand state policing in the capital city of Jackson, establish a court with an appointed judge and authorize four appointed judges to work alongside the four elected circuit court judges in Hinds County, which is home to Jackson.Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas conducted a hearing Wednesday to co...

Top jewelry pieces fall short of target prices at Christie’s auction derided by Jewish groups

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Top jewelry pieces fall short of target prices at Christie’s auction derided by Jewish groups GENEVA (AP) — A ruby ring and a diamond necklace fetched less than their pre-sale estimates at a Christie’s auction Wednesday of a vast jewelry collection of a late Austrian heiress that was bought with riches from a retail empire dating back to the Nazi era in Germany. Jewish groups criticized the auction.The auction house defended the sale of some 700 pieces of jewelry. saying proceeds are going to charitable causes, including a Vienna art museum and medical research. The collection belonged to Heidi Horten, whose German husband built a retail empire starting in the 1930s. She died last year. Advocacy groups defending the rights of Holocaust survivors and victims had urged Christie’s not to go through with the sale.The nearly 26-carat “Sunrise Ruby” — which Horten bought for the equivalent of about $30 million in 2015 — went Wednesday for just over 13 million Swiss francs (about $14.6 million), including fees and the “buyer’s premium.” The pre-sale estimate was f...

Adams, Thomas homer, Nationals beat Giants 11-6 behind Gray

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 15:03:16 GMT

Adams, Thomas homer, Nationals beat Giants 11-6 behind Gray SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Riley Adams and Lane Thomas homered, Josiah Gray pitched seven strong innings and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 11-6 on Wednesday in the rubber match of a three-game series.Ildemaro Vargas went 3 for 5 with three RBIs, finishing a home run shy of the cycle.“We had good at-bats all day,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “It was a good day. Good way to end the road trip and get back home with a day off.”Michael Conforto and LaMonte Wade Jr. homered for San Francisco.The Nationals roughed up Giants left-hander Sean Manaea for eight runs (four earned) in 2 2/3 innings. Manaea (1-2) walked three and struck out four.“I made a lot of mistakes today and they made me pay for that,” he said. “All my stuff just (stunk). That’s really what it comes down to.”Gray (3-5) allowed two runs and five hits, walking four and striking out three. The right-hander has permitted three runs or fewer in seven consecutive starts.“(The run support) puts ...