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A showdown over deep sea mining is taking place in the Pacific Ocean

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

Todd Woody | Bloomberg News (TNS)Activists from Greenpeace International have boarded a ship that is conducting deep sea mining research in the Pacific Ocean, vowing to occupy the vessel until it abandons the expedition.It’s the latest collision between a nascent industry intent on mining the seabed for minerals potentially worth trillions of dollars, and environmentalists and scientists who warn that doing so would irreparably harm biodiverse deep sea ecosystems.The confrontation unfolding on the high seas comes as the expedition’s backer, The Metals Company (TMC), prepares to apply to become the first venture licensed to conduct deep sea mining in international waters. TMC has said it will submit its application after a July 2024 meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the United Nations-affiliated organization that regulates deep sea mining.The fate of that application remains unclear, as the ISA’s 168 member nations (plus the European Union) have yet to adopt regula...

Palo Alto police say a pair of armed catalytic converter thieves are at large

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

PALO ALTO — Police say a man had a gun pointed at him in Palo Alto early Tuesday morning when he confronted a pair of catalytic converter thieves.The incident occurred around 3:57 a.m. in the 1500 block of Louisa Court. Police say a woman heard a vehicle pull up to her home, and then heard a sawing noise. She alerted her father, who went outside after he suspected people were trying to steal catalytic converters.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Santa Cruz bridge crash, dramatic leap leaves two injured Crime and Public Safety | Woman arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run, child endangerment after deadly San Jose crash Crime and Public Safety | Mother who waited to report her San Jose toddler was dead from fentanyl is apprehended Crime and Public Safety | Man convicted in San Jose ‘thrill kill’ released, touching off polarized reactions Crime and Public Safety | Police say a San Jose couple ...

Oakland is getting a new baseball team — the minor league Oakland B’s

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

By JANIE McCAULEY | AP Baseball WriterOAKLAND — They will call themselves the Oakland B’s, short for Ballers.The minor league B’s will carry on the city’s green-and-gold color scheme. Otherwise, they don’t plan to be anything like the A’s, whose heartbroken fans they hope to support through the team’s painful departure for Las Vegas.The B’s promise to never leave town.The expansion independent club announced plans Tuesday to begin play in the Pioneer League come May of 2024, with their first home games set for July at Laney College. The intent is to keep baseball alive in Oakland for years to come.Major League Baseball team owners unanimously approved the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas earlier this month. The A’s will play at the Oakland Coliseum through the end of their lease next year and could be gone by 2025.The Ballers expect to fill at least some of that void. Entrepreneurs and co-founders Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman are putting the team in the hands of former big league mana...

Day of Central Valley street takeovers ends with fight at McDonald’s, police say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

A series of rowdy gatherings Sunday in the Central Valley cities of Delano and McFarland ended with a brawl inside a McDonald’s and a struggle between officers and suspects, the police said.The McFarland Police Department said it is investigating the use of force during the arrest of two people in the McDonald’s parking lot.The police press release gave this account of the events:1/ Officers from the California Highway Patrol and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office responded at 3:23 p.m. to Lake Woollomes, a reservoir amid agricultural fields east of Delano. Hundreds of vehicles had gathered there, and reckless driving was reported.2/ After being ousted from the Lake Woollomes area, the group moved to the Walmart in Delano. When city police officers arrived, some members of the crowd threw glass bottles and vandalized police cars, the report said.Related ArticlesCalifornia News | 20-year-old California driver doing donuts at intersection dies in crash, sher...

Heisman Watch: Oregon’s Nix leads while UW’s Penix loses ground as race enters final weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

Welcome to our weekly look at the Pac-12’s leading Heisman Trophy candidates via an assessment of the top players in the conference. Consider this one Heisman voter’s view of the regional landscape. The rankings are based on individual performance, value to the team and quality of competition.Heisman Trophy voting began Monday and, unfortunately, an outsized portion of the 900-plus voters might cast their ballots before conference title games this weekend.One reason for the early voting: The No. 2 betting favorite isn’t competing.LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels has produced a stellar season — he leads the country with 40 touchdown passes —  but the Tigers didn’t qualify for the SEC championship.Any voters committed to Daniels might not wait to assess Oregon quarterback Bo Nix and Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. in their showdown Friday night in Las Vegas.Don’t forget: Five of the Heisman’s six voting regions are based in the Eastern and Ce...

Sister of accused Bob Lee killer arrested for DUI, hit-and-run in SF

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Khazar Momeni, sister of the accused killer of Cash App founder Bob Lee, was arrested Monday in San Francisco for suspicion of DUI following a hit and run, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed. According to SFPD, officers responded Monday at 11:08 a.m. to Geary Street and Larkin Street on a report of a vehicle collision. At the scene, officers located the involved driver and witnesses. During the course of an investigation, officers developed probable cause to determine the driver, identified as 38-year-old Khazar Momeni of San Francisco, was driving under the influence.Khazar, who also goes by Khazar Elyassnia, is the sister of Nima Momeni who was charged with murder in connection to the fatal stabbing of Lee back in April. Walnut Creek man gets two-year sentence for installing cameras in Starbucks restroom Lee was found bleeding from stab wounds in the early hours of the morning on April 4 in San Francisco's Rincon Hill neighborhood. The tech ent...

Project to study influence of psychedelics announced by UC Berkeley, Harvard

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

(BCN) -- University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University announced this month that the two institutions received funding to begin research into how psychedelics have influenced art, literature and society. The initiative, called "Psychedelics in Society and Culture," will focus on the historical significance of psychedelics and will provide faculty and student researchers with grants of up to $100,000 to study related issues. The UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics (BCSP) and the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry as well as Harvard's Mahindra Humanities Center will lead the initiative. Sister of accused Bob Lee killer arrested for DUI, hit-and-run in SF "The UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics was founded to deepen our understanding of psychedelics," said Imran Khan, executive director of BCSP. "We can't fulfill this mission without studying psychedelics from multiple angles, whether that's scientific, journalistic, or humanis...

Elevator plummets at a platinum mine in South Africa, killing 11 workers and injuring 75

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — An elevator suddenly dropped around 200 meters (656 feet) while carrying workers to the surface in a platinum mine in South Africa, killing 11 and injuring 75 — 14 of them critically, the mine operator said Tuesday.It happened Monday evening at the end of the workers’ shift at a mine in the northern city of Rustenburg. All the injured workers were hospitalized.Mine operator Impala Platinum Holdings CEO Nico Muller said in a statement it was “the darkest day in the history of Implats.” He said an investigation had begun into what caused the elevator to drop and the mine had suspended all operations on Tuesday.Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe said there would be a government investigation into the tragedy. He visited the mine and was briefed, the government said.All 86 workers killed or injured were in the elevator, Implats spokesperson Johan Theron said. Some of the injured had “serious compact fractures,” he said. Theron said the elev...

3 young Palestinian men were shot in Vermont. Their families thought the US would be safer.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Far away from the war in Gaza, three students were enjoying another visit to Vermont, celebrating Thanksgiving and a pair of family birthdays. But the place their Palestinian families thought would be safe was anything but.Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all age 20, were out for a walk while visiting one of the victims’ relatives when a white man with a handgun shot them, police said. Awartani’s uncle, Rich Price, was hosting the young men. His sister lives in the occupied West Bank, and he says people often ask him if he’s worried about her and his nephews and niece. “And the reality is, as difficult as their life is, they are surrounded by an incredible sense of community,” Price said. “And tragic irony is not even the right phrase, but to have them come stay with me for Thanksgiving and have something like this happen speaks to the level of civic vitriol, speaks to the level of hatred that exists in some corners of this...

Finland will close its border with Russia over migrant concerns

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:55 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland said Tuesday it will close its last remaining border crossing with Russia amid concerns that Moscow is using migrants as part of “hybrid warfare” to destabilize the Nordic country following its entry into NATO.Finland already had shut seven of the eight checkpoints on its 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia this month following a surge in arrivals of migrants from the Middle East and Africa. Helsinki has accused Moscow of ushering them toward the frontier — through thick forests in the south to the rugged Arctic landscape in the north.Since August, a trickle of asylum-seekers have arrived at the normally heavily controlled border, which makes up a significant part of NATO’s northeastern flank and acts as the European Union’s external border in the north. This month, Finnish authorities say about 900 crossed from Russia, an unusual increase.“The government has decided to close all the crossing points on the entire eastern border,” Prime Ministe...