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Poll: Dems, GOP agree on futility of war in Afghanistan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

By Linley Sanders and Rebecca Santana | Associated PressWASHINGTON — At a time when Americans are deeply divided along party lines, a new poll shows considerable agreement on at least one issue: The United States’ two-decade-long war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting.The poll from the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research comes two years after the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban returned to power. The war was started to go after the masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Taliban who allowed them to use Afghan territory. It ended in frantic scenes of Afghans and Americans desperately trying to get on one of the last flights out of Kabul.Polls suggest the withdrawal, seen by many as chaotic and ill-planned, may have been a turning point for President Joe Biden’s approval ratings, which started a downward slide around that time...

Once hailed as a drought fix, California moves to restrict synthetic turf over health concerns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

By SHREYA AGRAWAL | CalMattersGov. Gavin Newsom last week passed on a chance to limit the use of the so-called “forever chemicals” in legions of plastic products when he vetoed a bill that would have banned them in synthetic lawns.His veto of an environmental bill that overwhelmingly passed the Legislature underscores California’s convoluted guidance on the plastic turf that some homeowners, schools and businesses use in place of grass in a state accustomed to drought.Less than a decade ago then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law prohibiting cities and counties from banning synthetic grass. At the time, the state was in the middle of a crippling drought and fake lawns were thought to be helpful in saving water.But this year Democrats in the Legislature went in a different direction, proposing bills that would discourage synthetic turf. They’re worried about health risks created by the chemicals present in these lawns, including perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as...

What killed 3 million honey bees in Southern California? Beekeepers fear the answer has larger ramifications

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

Caleb Lunetta | (TNS) The San Diego Union-TribuneThe beekeepers had never seen anything like it before.On the evening of Sept. 20, Dominic Peck and Paul Gunn, co-owners of the San Diego Bee Sanctuary, drove out to their hives in rural Valley Center assuming they were going to find an active, honey-making apiary as usual.Instead they found a mass graveyard.“There were just piles and piles of dead bees,” Peck said.Over the next two days, Peck and Gunn would watch as roughly 80 percent of their 64 hives — each with a single queen protected by 50,000 to 100,000 bees — were decimated by a mysterious plague.Each year, beekeepers around the country report losing more than 30 percent of their colonies in the winter and spring due to a number of issues — bad weather, destroyed habitats or pesticides. Those numbers have only been increasing in recent years.But it remains a mystery as to what caused the mass die-off at the San Diego Bee Sancturary.“It’s an accepted thin...

Gaza carnage spreads anger across the Mideast

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

By Samy Magdy and Joseph Krauss | Associated PressCAIRO — Within hours after a blast was said to have killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital, protesters hurled stones at Palestinian security forces in the occupied West Bank and at riot police in neighboring Jordan, venting fury at their leaders for failing to stop the carnage.A summit planned in Jordan on Wednesday between U.S. President Joe Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was canceled after Abbas withdrew in protest.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had spent much of the past week meeting with Arab leaders to try to ease tensions, but those efforts are now in doubt following the hospital blast. The raw nerve of decades of Palestinian suffering, left exposed by U.S.-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states, is throbbing once again, threatening broader unrest.“This war, which has entered a dangerous phase, will plun...

Big-screen ‘Barbie’ movie night coming to Oracle Park

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

Maybe you’ve already seen “Barbie,” but you haven’t seen it like this: Under the stars and on the biggest screen in San Francisco.Oracle Park is welcoming “Barbie” fans to a special movie night on Oct. 27, the Friday before Halloween, where they can view the blockbuster comedy on a screen that is said to be 45% bigger than the biggest screen in the city.The timing means that guests could preview their Halloween Barbie, Ken, Weird Barbie or Allan costumes before they go trick-or-treating a few nights later. The ballpark setting will allow them to watch the movie from seats in the stadium stands or on the field — and it wouldn’t be rude if they wanted to sing or dance along to “Dance the Night,” “Pink” or the “I’m Just Ken” dream ballet.Oracle Park has hosted public movie nights in the past, including a  5,000-person sing-along for the 2019 Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”“...

Daly City store owner charged with shooting teen robber

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

(KRON) -- A Daly City store owner is facing attempted murder charges filed by prosecutors who say he shot a robber in the neck while the robber was trying to make a getaway from the store.Rocky David Eid, 51, of Daly City, appeared in a San Mateo County courtroom on Wednesday for the first day of his preliminary hearing. Eid is the owner of Sun Valley Dairy Market on Schwerin Street.The incident happened on June 20 at 12:30 p.m. while Eid was working behind the market's front counter. "Two young men walked in with fanny packs and ski masks," the District Attorney's Office wrote. One of the robbers told Eid, don't move or "I'll smoke you." A robber ripped a Rolex watch from Eid's wrist before the duo ran out of the store. The store owner then grabbed a semi-automatic handgun from under the counter, walked out of the store, and fired eight shots at the "two fleeing robbers," the DA's Office wrote. One of the robbers, a 19-year-old San Francisco man, was struck by bullets in the neck a...

Ways to keep safe from sneaker waves

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

(KRON) – For the next few days, we will see record heat. For many people that means finding ways to cool down. Beaches are always a great option, but it's dangerous due to high tides and strong waves.The string tides can be sneaker waves, which are deadly swells that can suddenly surge dozens of feet higher up the ocean without warning. Beachgoers encountering sneaker waves can be knocked down and dragged into the cold, turbulent ocean. Smaller sneaker waves can still be dangerous. 4.1 magnitude earthquake shakes Northern California Here are tips for beachgoers to be safe around sneaker waves.Never turn your back on the oceanStand back from waves Don't swim in if you see someone in trouble, call 911 If caught in a rip tide, float or tread water, swim parallel to shore to get out of the riptideObserve wave activity from a distance The National Weather Service Bay Area said waves will break between 17-22 feet. The largest waves will pound Bay Area beaches that face west an...

Georgia sheriff to release body camera video of traffic stop in which deputy killed exonerated man

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

WOODBINE, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia sheriff planned to release video Wednesday of a traffic stop in which a deputy fatally shot a Black man who had previously been wrongfully imprisoned for 16 years.Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor’s office said in a statement that it planned to post body camera and dash camera video online at 4 p.m. showing the stop that left 53-year-old Leonard Cure dead.Cure’s mother and siblings arrived at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s local office with their attorney, civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, to view the video before its public release. The family deserves answers, Crump told reporters earlier at a news conference outside the Camden County courthouse.“I don’t feel, no matter what happened, that he should have been killed,” Mary Cure said as she grasped a large, framed portrait of her slain son. “That’s the bottom line. His life should not have been taken.”Cure was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery in 2004 and spe...

See inside the $50m penthouse that will crown the Waldorf Astoria Miami

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

(CNN) — The developers behind Miami’s glittering Waldorf Astoria supertall have unveiled the first look at the 1,049-foot tower’s $50 million penthouse, one of the most expensive units to come to market in the city.The six-bedroom, nine-bathroom property — which spans some 13,000 square feet — will sit at the top of the nine stacked cubes that make up the vertiginous building, situated on a waterfront stretch in downtown Miami. It’s currently slated to be completed in 2027 by architect Carlos Ott and the firm Sieger Suarez.Renderings of the penthouse’s interior — designed by the firm BAMO — showcase a modern, airy unit with wraparound windows, enclosed balconies, recessed lighting and luxe marble finishes. Rooms include a private gym, spa, library and theater.Courtesy ARX CreativeCourtesy ARX CreativeCourtesy ARX CreativeAnd, when it’s completed, the penthouse will stand out in Miami’s (currently) unobstructed sky. Though a number of skyscrapers are being built or have bee...

An AI firm harvested billions of photos without consent. Britain is powerless to act

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 01:11:10 GMT

LONDON — Britain’s top privacy regulator has no power to sanction an American-based AI firm which harvested vast numbers of personal photos for its facial recognition software without users’ consent, a judge has ruled.The New York Times reported in 2020 that Clearview AI had harvested billions of social media images without users’ consent. After the privacy scandal engulfed the company, it withdrew from the U.K. and several other European markets.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) took action against Clearview last year, alleging it had unlawfully collected the data of British subjects for behavior-monitoring purposes. The firm was slapped with a £7.5 million fine and also ordered to delete the data of U.K. residents from its trove of more than 20 billion facial images.But it’s unclear whether Clearview ever deleted the data. Lawyers have pointed out that the company was under no obligation to purge Brits’ pictures from its database until the appeal was determined — a...