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Heckling to be heard: Why Bay Area protesters have increasingly become government disruptors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

Mention government shutdowns and most people think about standoffs in Congress. But in the Bay Area, which has long been synonymous with protest, a different kind of government shutdown has become increasingly common — from the streets to school board meetings, protesters are becoming civic disruptors.Perhaps the most high-profile example came last Monday when 700 people at a mostly Jewish-led sit-in took over Oakland’s Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building, calling for a ceasefire of violence in Gaza. Days earlier, Pro-Palestinian protesters had delayed a ship, believed to be carrying military supplies, for nine hours at the Port of Oakland.Last Thursday, roughly 200 demonstrators demanding a Gaza ceasefire shut down rush hour traffic on the Bay Bridge, some of them throwing the keys to their cars into the water below.That same week, during a global trade summit in San Francisco, protesters tried to shut down meetings and stop delegates at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation c...

San Jose man sentenced to 15 years in prison for sending meth to Minnesota

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

(BCN) -- A San Jose man was given 15 years in prison time for trafficking meth from California to the city of Austin in Minnesota, federal prosecutors said.Michael Anthony Ortiz, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He was sentenced on Oct. 18, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said in a statement Monday.Between the fall of 2021 and the summer of 2022, Ortiz sent packages of high purity meth from California to his contacts in Austin who would distribute the illegal drugs in the city, prosecutors said.After his prison time, Ortiz is required to undergo five years of supervised release, the District Attorney's Office said.Four of his contacts, who also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, have also been sentenced to prison, prosecutors said.Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc.

Stock market today: Wall Street opens higher, led by travel-related companies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, led by big gains in travel-related companies as energy prices drop. Cruise companies and airlines were among the biggest gainers in the early going Wednesday. The market is on track to post a modest gain in this holiday-shortened week ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. Thursday. The S&P 500 was up 0.6%, the Dow was up 143 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1%. Crude oil prices sank more than 4% after OPEC said it would postpone its latest conference to next week. Treasury prices were relatively steady. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Wednesday in cautious trading after Wall Street’s rally ran out of momentum.Benchmarks rose in Paris, Frankfurt and Tokyo but fell in London and Shanghai. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices edged lower.Trading was tapering off ahead of holidays in the U.S. and Japan on Thursday, with ...

Major Iranian-backed militant group vows to expand conflict if U.S. airstrikes continue

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major Iranian-backed militant group in Iraq warned Wednesday it may strike additional U.S. targets after U.S. warplanes killed multiple militants in response to the first use of short-range ballistic missiles against U.S. forces at Al-Asad Air Base earlier this week. U.S. fighter jets struck a Kataib Hezbollah operations center and a Kataib Hezbollah command and control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday, two defense officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide additional sensitive details of the attacks. There were Kataib Hezbollah personnel at both sites at the time of the strikes, but the officials said they could not yet confirm whether anyone there was killed.Militia officials in Iraq said the attack had killed eight Kataib Hezbollah members.The U.S. airstrikes followed an initial retaliatory strike by an AC-130 gunship that was in the air when the Iranian-backed militants fired two short-range ballistic missil...

Portuguese hacker in Football Leaks scandal handed 6-month suspended sentence by French court

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A Portuguese hacker whose bombshell revelations on the “FootballLeaks” website rocked European soccer was convicted Wednesday by a Paris court and given a suspended prison sentence of six months.Rui Pinto accepted the sentence proposed by the public prosecutor for hacking into Paris Saint-Germain executives, French media reported. He was also ordered to pay one euro in damages to PSG, which had sued as a civil party, as well as 4,000 euros ($4,360) in legal costs.The 35-year-old Pinto reportedly expressed his desire to cooperate with justice authorities in Europe and France’s financial prosecutor.The Paris court ruling followed Pinto’s conviction in September by a Lisbon court of nine crimes. In that case, he was given a suspended prison sentence of four years.Pinto’s disclosures embarrassed star players, top clubs and influential agents between 2015-18 and helped drive official investigations across Europe.The website published information about the transfe...

Britain’s Conservative government pushes tax cuts in hopes of bolstering electoral chances

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government sought to regain the political initiative Wednesday with a series of tax cuts for businesses and individuals that it hopes will bolster its chances in a national election next year that opinion polls suggest it will lose.Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said the British economy “had turned a corner,” allowing him to offer what he termed the biggest set of tax cuts since the 1980s.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government is desperately searching for an economic feelgood factor to boost Conservative election fortunes. But with public finances still stretched by historical standards, economic growth muted at best and inflation still more than double the Bank of England’s target rate of 2%, experts have warned that the government hasn’t got much room for further big giveaways in the run-up to the next election.The most high-profile measure in Hunt’s autumn budget statement was a cut to national insurance — a tax that employees p...

No Haaland, so Euro 2024 could give Ronaldo, Kane & Mbappe the advantage in the race for Ballon d’Or

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — There will be a notable absentee from next year’s European Championship. Erling Haaland. While Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Romelu Lukaku have the chance to extend their goal-scoring records and legacies at Euro 2024, Haaland will likely be on vacation after Norway’s failure to qualify for the tournament held in June and July. That might be welcome news for Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, allowing his star striker the chance to rest after a long season. But it robs Haaland of the chance to compete for one of the biggest international prizes, having also missed out on last year’s World Cup. It could also impact his ambitions of winning the Ballon d’Or award next year and being confirmed the world’s No. 1 soccer player. International trophies are a key factor in determining who wins the sport’s biggest individual prize. Take away Lionel Messi’s World Cup triumph with Argentina last year and the B...

Police seek help from public in locating 30-year-old reported missing from Pembroke Pines

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

The Pembroke Pines Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating 30-year-old April Davis. Davis was last seen on Sunday leaving the Egrets Walk community, and her current whereabouts remain unknown. https://twitter.com/PPinesPD/status/1727164489433330029Authorities are urging anyone with information about her disappearance to contact Detective Sammarco at 954-431-2200.

Fluorescent vomit and a racism row: Is this Europe’s clean energy future?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

An international conference this week was meant to be a European showcase for “clean hydrogen,” touted as an emissions-free fuel of the future.Instead, European Hydrogen Week descended into a bitter standoff between top EU officials, industry chiefs and environmental activists critical of the lucrative sector, who repeatedly disrupted the event in increasingly dramatic — and colorful — ways.After one protester rushed the stage on Tuesday, she appeared to fall ill. Then suddenly, clutching her stomach, the woman vomited fluorescent green fluid into a bag and onto the floor. “I’m sick,” the besuited activist shouted, “I’m sick of greenwashing!”It was a far cry from the soaring rhetoric accompanying the event’s launch on Monday. Speaking from the same stage that would soon be splattered with incandescent vomit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed hydrogen for “its potential to power heavy industries,...

Tom Brady is not impressed with today’s NFL, says there’s ‘a lot of mediocrity’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:50:10 GMT

(CNN) — Tom Brady may have called time on his football career, but that hasn’t stopped him from keeping a close eye on the NFL this season. And the legendary quarterback isn’t particularly impressed with what he’s been seeing.Speaking on a recent episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady was in a damning mood as he lamented the current standard of play in the NFL.“I think there’s a lot of mediocrity in today’s NFL. I don’t see the excellence that I saw in the past,” he said.Asked why he felt that way, Brady added: “I think the coaching isn’t as good as it was. I don’t think the development of young players is as good as it was. I don’t think the schemes are as good as they were.“I think the rules have allowed a lot of bad habits to get into the actual performance of the game. So I just think the product, in my opinion, is less than what it’s been.”Brady, who retired from the NFL in February after a 23-year career with th...