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7 dead, storms unleash 70+ crocodiles in southern China

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

Associated PressBEIJING — Rainstorms battering southern China have killed at least seven people and allowed dozens of crocodiles to escape from a farm.Nearby residents were advised to stay at home after more than 70 crocodiles escaped in Maoming, a city near the coast in western Guangdong province, according to Chinese media reports.An emergency official was quoted as saying that 69 adult crocodiles and six juveniles had escaped. Some have been captured, but the operation was difficult because of the depth of a lake they are in, the media reports said.No injuries have been reported.Further west, seven people died and three are missing after multiple landslides in the city of Yulin in the Guangxi region, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Monday. Heavy rain on Sunday and Monday triggered the landslides.The rain caused flash floods in Hong Kong last week, killing two people. Parts of the city were flooded again following a heavy downpour Monday. Puddles of water and debris ...

Feds charge Aryan Brotherhood with murdering member of ‘San Quentin Six’ in brutal prison stabbing

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

FRESNO — Federal prosecutors here have secured a RICO indictment against the two California prisoners who are allegedly responsible for the August 2015 fatal stabbing of a member of the “San Quentin Six” at a Sacramento prison, according to recently unsealed court records.Jayson “Beaver” Weaver, 46, and Waylon Pitchford, 45, face charges of murdering Hugo “Yogi” Pinell on Aug. 12, 2015 for the notorious prison gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood. Pitchford and Beaver have been transferred from their state prison cells to the Fresno jail, where a total of 11 alleged Aryan Brotherhood members and associates are being held with pending racketeering charges.With this indictment, and a related federal prosecution in Sacramento, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Eastern California has now linked the Aryan Brotherhood to 11 killings and several other alleged murder plots that were unfulfilled. Pitchford and Weaver also face charges of conspiring ...

Housing highrise might replace a well-known store near UC Berkeley

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

BERKELEY — A housing highrise with more than 100 residences might be developed on a prime Berkeley site as part of a project that could replace a well-known store near the university.The tower, which will include some affordable units, is slated to be developed at 2530 Bancroft Way on a site that’s across the street from UC Berkeley, documents on file with city planners show.Housing tower with 110 residences located at 2530 Bancroft Way in Berkeley, concept.(Trachtenberg Architects) (Trachtenberg Architects)The proposed project would consist of 110 units and is being developed by Landmark Properties, the city documents show.Georgia-based Landmark has developed residential communities in roughly 30 states around the country, according to information on the company’s website.Related ArticlesHousing | Fraud-tied San Jose site is bought through foreclosure Housing | Google, local leaders say huge downtown San Jose village will be built ...

49ers mailbag: Nick Bosa’s ramp-up, offensive line concerns and looking ahead to L.A.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers’ next tour stop is Sunday at Los Angeles, where they’ve won their past four regular-season visits. Before fans converge on Levi’s South and unleash “Let’s Go Niners!” chants like they did during the Week 1 closeout in Pittsburgh, they submitted questions for our Week 2 mailbag:Why were Christian McCaffrey and Nick Bosa still playing in garbage time? -@Giants_NinersA 20-point lead in the fourth quarter sure seemed like enough of a cushion to sit your MVPs. But not all fourth-quarter leads are safe, and that isn’t a dig at Kyle Shanahan’s playoff history. He often refers to the 2021 opener in Detroit, when a 24-point fourth-quarter lead was jeopardized by two Lions touchdowns in the final two minutes of a heart-stopping 41-33 win.Will Aiyuk and CMC carry my fantasy team again? -@nickc_182Let’s answer that with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s response Tuesday about Brandon Aiyuk’s big game: “Some of his exploits had to do with our desire to ...

Berkeley PD launches 'Drive Safer, Drive Longer' classes for aging drivers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

(KRON) -- Berkeley Police Department’s Traffic Bureau has introduced a new program for aging drivers, the department announced Tuesday. The "Drive Safer, Drive Longer" class for aging drivers, according to the BPD, is designed in an effort to “keep everyone on the road safe.” The classes will have a one-hour-long educational portion. The September 14 class will be held at the South Berkeley Senior Center at 10:00 a.m. The following class will be held at the North Berkeley Senior Center on September 20 at 10:00 a.m. Caltrans to alternate partial, full closure of Highway 12 later this month in Santa Rosa Interested parties can RSVP by calling (510) 981-5984. Information on future classes or further questions can be directed to Shellie Hill-Williams at [email protected], according to Berkeley PD.

San Francisco tech company laying off 17% of its staff

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Online e-commerce platform Wish will be laying off 152 employees from its headquarters in San Francisco, according to a filing on the California Employment Development Department website from its parent company, ContextLogic Inc. The layoffs will go into effect at the end of the month, according to the filing, which was received by the EDD on Monday.Wish is an e-commerce platform that facilitates transactions between sellers and buyers that was founded in 2010, according to its investor relations page. The company describes itself as "one of the largest global ecommerce platforms," and says that it connects "millions of value-conscious consumers to thousands of merchants around the world." Apple set to unveil the iPhone 15. Here’s what to expect "Wish combines technology and data science capabilities and an innovative discovery-based mobile shopping experience to create a highly-visual, entertaining, and personalized shopping experience for its users," its ...

San Francisco area gains nearly quarter-million people after correction of errors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

(AP) -- Some of the most high-profile urban areas in the U.S. gained population on Tuesday. But it's not because of a sudden flood of moving trucks into San Francisco, Atlanta and New Orleans.Rather, the U.S. Census Bureau corrected errors made in the population and housing counts of urban areas that were officially released in December, according to a Federal Register notice published Tuesday.The San Francisco-Oakland urban area's population was corrected to 3.5 million residents from 3.2 million. The addition of nearly a quarter million residents, as well as more than 100,000 homes, came from the San Rafael-Novato, California, urban area, which had been counted separately by accident when it actually should have been deleted and merged with the San Francisco-Oakland urban area.The Atlanta urban area had its population adjusted to 5.1 million residents from 4.9 million residents. An additional 100,853 residents living in more than 37,000 homes had been mistakenly assigned to the Ga...

NY Philharmonic gets $40 million gift that endows Gustavo Dudamel’s job as music director

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Incoming music director Gustavo Dudamel will conduct the New York Philharmonic at its spring gala on April 24, the orchestra said Tuesday as it announced a $40 million gift from co-chairman Oscar L. Tang and wife Agnes Hsu-Tang that will endow his position.Dudamel was hired in February to become the Philharmonic’s music director for the 2026-27 season. He conducted the orchestra last May in three performances of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony but was not scheduled to lead it in the 2023-24 season, which opens Sept. 27. The program of Dudamel’s concert was not announced.As part of the gift, the music director will become The Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Music and Artistic Director Chair starting with the 2025-26 season, when Dudamel becomes music director designate. The 42-year-old Dudamel has been music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009, a tenure that will end after 17 seasons when he starts in New York. He quit as music director...

5 former officers charged in death of Tyre Nichols are now also facing federal civil rights charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

MEMPHIS (AP) — 5 former officers charged in death of Tyre Nichols are now also facing federal civil rights charges.Source

France’s Foreign Ministry says French elected official has been arrested in military-run Niger

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:50 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that a French official has been arrested in military-run Niger, and called for the junta to immediately release him.Military officers in Niger deposed elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July and later ordered French officials to leave the country — an order that France has refused to heed, saying that Niger’s junta is not the country’s legitimate authority.The ministry said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that Stephane Jullien, counsellor for French citizens abroad — a non-diplomatic, elected post — , was arrested last Friday, and called for his “immediate release.” French President Emmanuel Macron has said that France’s ambassador would stay at his post in Niger despite being asked to leave, Addressing ambassadors in August, Macron dismissed concerns that standing up to the junta could be dangerous. The arrest of a French official was sure to further raise tensions between France and Niger.The Foreign Mi...