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Cyclone slams Malawi, Mozambique as death toll rises

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

By Vitus-Gregory Gondwe and Wanjohi Kabukuru | Associated PressBLANTYRE, Malawi — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 56 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed.Local police said 51 people in Malawi, including 36 in Chilobwe in the financial hub of Blantyre in the center of the country have died, with several others missing or injured. Authorities in Mozambique reported that five people were killed in the country since Saturday.The deaths in Malawi include five members of a single family who died in Blantyre’s Ndirande township after Freddy’s destructive winds and heavy rains demolished their house, according to a police report. A three-year-old child who was “trapped in the debris” is also among the victims, with her parents among those reported missing, authorities also said.“We suspect that ...

Tom Cruise shaded at Oscars with Scientology joke and Nicole Kidman being there instead of him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

Even though Steven Spielberg said that Tom Cruise “saved Hollywood’s ass” last year by delivering top-flight, in-theater entertainment with “Top Gun: Maverick,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences didn’t seem so inclined to show its reverence Sunday.At its Oscars ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel cracked some jokes about Cruise’s famous intensity and ties to the controversial, cult-like Church of Scientology, while announcing that the actor wasn’t even going to make it to the show. It’s not known why Cruise didn’t attend the ceremony. He had every right to be there as the star and one of the producers for “Top Gun,” which was nominated for best picture.HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: (L-R) Idris Elba and Nicole Kidman speak onstage during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Curiously, the Academy invit...

Jimmy Garoppolo leaves 49ers for Raiders in free agency, per report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

The franchise that coined the motto “Just win, baby!” is hiring the quarterback who trademarked his “Feels great, baby!” celebration cry.Jimmy Garoppolo, after 5 1/2 years with the 49ers, is joining the Las Vegas Raiders, the NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo first reported Monday as free agency talks began.Garoppolo, 31, went 42-19 as the 49ers’ starter since arriving in a Halloween 2017 trade with the New England Patriots. That includes his 2-1 playoff showings in the 2019 and ’21 seasons. His tenure effectively ended three months ago, when he broke his left foot and did not return for the franchise’s playoff run that ended with a NFC Championship Game loss at Philadelphia.Signings can not become official until Wednesday at 1 p.m.In going to the Raiders, Garoppolo succeeds long-time starter Derek Carr, who signed last week with the New Orleans Saints. The Raiders-Garoppolo pairing reunites him with coach Josh McDaniels, who was the Patriot...

En Vogue, TLC, Shaggy bring Hot Summer Night Tour to Bay Area, SoCal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

The forecast is definitely calling for some “Hot Summer Nights.”But this is the kind of temperature change that music fans will applaud, as the amazing TLC and Grammy-winner Shaggy headline the Hot Summer Nights Tour 2023.They’ll be joined by Oakland’s own En Vogue — no less than one of the greatest R&B-soul vocal troupes of all time — as well as popular artist Sean Kingston.The trek kicks off June 1 in Alabama and includes two stops in the Golden State.Bay Area fans can take part in the good times on July 9 at Concord Pavilion. The tour also boasts a July 8 date at FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine.Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. March 17, livenation.com. There is also a Citi presale that runs from 10 a.m. March 14 to 10 p.m. March 16, citientertainment.com.The shows will likely feature a bevy of big hits, such as TLC’s “No Scrubs,” “Unpretty,” “Creep” and, of course, “Waterfalls”; En Vogue’s “Hold O...

Biden approves Alaska oil project despite activists’ outrage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

By Matthew Daly and Chris Megerian | Associated PressWASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Monday it is approving the huge Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope, a major climate move by President Joe Biden that drew quick condemnation from environmentalists who said it flies in the face of the Democratic president’s pledges.The announcement came a day after the administration, in a move in the other direction toward conservation, said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.The Willow approval by the Bureau of Land Management would allow three drill sites, which would include up to 199 total wells. Two other drill sites proposed for the project would be denied. Project developer ConocoPhillips has said it considers the three-site option workable, “the right decision for Alaska and our nation” in the words of company chairman and CEO Ryan Lance.Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinqu...

49ers free agency: Big move for Javon Hargrave; Broncos nab McGlinchey

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, one of the NFL’s top free agents, is coming to fortify the 49ers’ defensive line, at a steep cost.Hargrave agreed to terms on a four-year, $84 million deal with $40 million guaranteed, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter when the NFL’s free agency window opened Monday morning.The 49ers, through a team spokesman, are declining comment on free agency deals until Wednesday, which is when they first can become official with the start of the new league year.The 49ers poached Hargrave from the Philadelphia Eagles, who beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game before falling in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.As Phase 1 of the 49ers’ offseason makeover began Monday morning, they addressed their No. 1 priority in restocking their defensive line, for new coordinator Steve Wilks, who replaced DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans coach).As news broke about Hargrave’s addition, ESPN reported that r...

Michael Cohen to testify before grand jury in Trump probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

By Michael R. Sisak | Associated PressNEW YORK — Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is expected to testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments he arranged and made on the former president’s behalf.Cohen arrived at the courthouse accompanied by his lawyer shortly in advance of his closed-door testimony, which comes at a critical time as the Manhattan district attorney’s office approaches a decision whether to seek charges against Trump.A Trump loyalist turned adversary, Cohen is likely to provide critical details about whatever involvement the Republican presidential candidate may have had in the payments made during the 2016 campaign to two women who alleged affairs or sexual encounters with him.“My goal is to tell the truth,” Cohen told reporters outside the courthouse, dismissing a suggestion that he might be motivated by a desire to see Trump behind bars.“This is not revenge,” he said. ...

Rain forecast for Bay Area as atmospheric river moves in

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- The latest in a series of atmospheric rivers arriving in the Bay Area Monday evening is expected to bring significant rainfall, according to the National Weather Service. Scattered showers are possible throughout the day Monday with heavy rain expected to arrive overnight, according to KRON4 Meteorologist John Shrable. Bay Area storm updates: Storm damage already impacting traffic Along with what the NWS calls a "moderate to high potential for rain," the atmospheric river is expected to raise the possibility of flooding and road closures. Bay Area rain forecast this week"We are once again bracing for the impacts of an atmospheric river that is unfortunately coming at a time when our ground is already thoroughly saturated and our rivers, creeks and streams are already sitting at high levels," said KRON4 Meteorologist Kyla Grogan. "The result will be a very dangerous early morning on Tuesday as these heavier rains hit their crescendo bringing high runoff rate...

Pentagon Analyst Kept Intel Job After Joining Jan. 6 Mob, Planned to Kidnap Jewish Leaders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

In 2018, a newly hired software engineer at a defense and intelligence contractor in the Washington, D.C., suburbs was assigned to a team led by a senior developer named Hatchet Speed.At first, the new engineer, Richard Ngo, got along well with Speed. They sometimes went out to lunch together and socialized away from the office. “Speed was my mentor at Novetta as the software lead,” Ngo later said in court testimony. “We worked together every day.”But after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Ngo noticed that Speed, a longtime Navy reservist who had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as an intelligence analyst and held other sensitive cyber and intelligence posts in connection with Naval Special Warfare units, seemed to be changing. Ngo had always known that Speed was a gun enthusiast, but after the Capitol riot, he became more openly anti-government than he had ever been before. “He was just frustrated with just how everything was going,” Ngo testified, adding th...

California budget deficit could delay new child care funding

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:15:42 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Every weekday, Patricia Moran has up to a dozen children in her San Jose home day care center, mostly from low-income families — and sometimes the kids are as young as 2 weeks old because their parents can’t afford to take more time off from work.In between helping the children make bubbles, serving them meals at a big table with small chairs and teaching them “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in English and Spanish, Moran said she is fielding phone calls from other parents — sometimes up to four per day — who are desperate to find care for their young children. That’s why Moran was surprised when Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is just starting his second term in office, proposed to delay funding for 20,000 additional slots for subsidized child care for low-income families in order to help balance the state budget. Even more perplexing was Newsom’s reasoning for the delay: The child care spots that were already funded were not yet being use...