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WHO fires scientist who led COVID search over sex misconduct

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says it has fired the scientist who led a high-profile delegation from the U.N. health agency to China two years ago to jointly look into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, citing sexual misconduct.Peter Ben Embarek, who led the WHO side of a joint team with scientists in China, was dismissed last year, the health agency said. WHO says it has stepped up efforts to root out sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment in recent months after a string of cases and incidents were reported in the press. “Peter Ben Embarek was dismissed following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process,” said spokeswoman Marcia Poole said in an email. “The findings concern allegations relating to 2015 and 2017 that were first received by the WHO investigations team in 2018.”She said other allegations could not be fully investigated as the “victim(s) did not wish to engage with the investigation process.”Ben Embarek did...

Hate passwords? Google is sidelining them

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

AN FRANCISCO (AP) — Good news for all the password-haters out there: Google has taken a big step toward making them an afterthought by adding “passkeys” as a more straightforward and secure way to log into its services.Here's what you need to know:WHAT ARE PASSKEYS?Passkeys offer a safer alternative to passwords and texted confirmation codes. Users won’t ever see them directly; instead, an online service like Gmail will use them to communicate directly with a trusted device such as your phone or computer to log you in.All you'll have to do is verify your identity on the device using a PIN unlock code, biometrics such as your fingerprint or a face scan or a more sophisticated physical security dongle.Google designed its passkeys to work with a variety of devices, so you can use them on iPhones, Macs and Windows computers as well as Google’s own Android phones.WHY ARE PASSKEYS NECESSARY?Thanks to clever hackers and human fallibility, passwords are just too easy to steal or defeat. And...

Risk of severe storms today, tomorrow and Saturday

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Today marks 'day 1' of an active weather pattern settling in over Central Texas.Our Thursday starts with warm and humid conditions under mainly cloudy skies. By late afternoon, a broken line of storms will fire up along the dry line out west and attempt to push east into our area. There is uncertainty as to how well these storms will hold together, but as of now, we expect isolated strong storms over the Hill Country that likely fall apart before moving into Austin.If storms are to develop and hold together long enough to reach our area, large hail and damaging winds will be the primary concerns.SEVERE: Slight risk (2 out of 5) for widely scattered severe storms includes all of Central Texas Thursday afternoon/eveningSEVERE: Slight risk (2 out of 5) in the Hill Country & marginal risk (1 out of 5) for Austin-metro & eastern counties Friday afternoon & eveningSEVERE: Marginal risk (1 out of 5) for severe storms in the Hill Country Saturday afternoon/eveni...

98.3 TRY Social Dilemma: Is It Acceptable To Take Shampoo/Soap From a Hotel Room?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Today's 98.3 TRY Social Dilemma came from Dennis and it's about what he calls "acceptable" stealing. Here's his email: Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Hi Jaime. I was recently staying at a hotel on business. I loved the shampoo and soap they had out, so I specifically called down to get more of it up to my room, and then packed it away to bring it home with me. I think this is acceptable stealing. I'm sure the hotel knows that's what's going to happen so I didn't think it was a big deal at all. However, when I got home, my wife read me the riot act and said it was just plain stealing...not "acceptable" stealing. I disagree with her. What do you think? Is it okay to take the soap and shampoos from hotel rooms? Or is that stealing. Oh and I guess I should mention that I wrapped them up in a washcloth from the hotel too. Didn't think they would miss it. So did I steal, or is this no big deal? Help me w...

Schenectady man who stole seven snow blowers sentenced

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

HALFMOON, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Schenectady man was sentenced to 2-6 years in jail on Wednesday after pleading guilty to third-degree grand larceny. Bryan Pallone, 35, was accused of stealing seven snow blowers in the span of a month and was arrested in January. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! On November 16, 2022, troopers received a report from the Halfmoon Home Depot claiming five snow blowers had been stolen in the early morning hours of November 12, 2022. Police say that on December 12, 2022, two additional snow blowers were reported stolen from the Halfmoon Lowes. Police say an investigation led to Pallone's arrest, who had 20 outstanding warrants.According to the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office, Pallone pleaded guilty on April 13.

Saratoga Springs man sentenced for drug possession

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

WILTON, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Saratoga Springs man was sentenced on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to possessing drugs. Corey Saxton, 37, was initially arrested in July 2022. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Saxton was with two others when he was arrested. At the time, Saxton was an active parolee, and allegedly ran from police, leading to a foot chase. He was arraigned in the Town of Malta Court and was sent to the Saratoga County Jail with no bail. According to the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office, he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance on February 23.Saxton was sentenced to three and a half years in jail.

Ask Amy: Aunt wants to step in where Dad won’t tread

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

Dear Amy: My brother has been married twice.He and his first wife had two children. During the divorce, he tried to gain custody of the children, but she was awarded custody, and he stayed in contact with his two children for a while. But then things turned for the worst when she accused my brother of child abuse. She also physically threatened him.He decided not to have any contact with her or his children. He told the family that we shouldn’t contact them or their mother.He had another child in his second marriage, which ended when their child was in elementary school. He hasn’t seen that child in years.In typical fashion, nobody in our family wanted to talk about it.When one of my nephews was graduating from high school, he contacted me to ask me why their father wasn’t coming to graduation.It was heartbreaking to hear the sadness in his voice, but I abided by my brother’s wishes not to connect them.We are now older, and his children are young adults.I don’t see...

Dozens arrested in Germany in European probe of Italian organized crime

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

German police arrested dozens of people across the country on Wednesday (3 May) in an investigation of the Italian Ndrangheta organized crime group, German public prosecutors and state police said.The crackdown was part of a co-ordinated probe by investigators in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain as well as Europol and Eurojust, they said.Among those arrested were four people in Bavaria, 15 in North Rhine-Westphalia, and 10 in the southwestern German state of Rhineland Palatinate, and police seized potential evidence at dozens of locations including homes and offices.The suspects are accused of money laundering, criminal tax evasion, fraud and smuggling of drugs, the prosecutor's offices of Duesseldorf, Koblenz, Saarbruecken and Munich said in a joint statement with state police in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate and Saarland.

After 42 years, Marin private high school slated to close

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

The Marin School, a private high school in San Rafael, is set to close at the end of the school year, officials said.The news, which surprised parents and staff, came last week after what was described by school leaders as a “hail Mary pass” to a major donor that failed to rescue the college prep school out of an unanticipated financial pit.The crisis started in early April, at the end of the enrollment period for 2023-24, when, despite a healthy number of applicants, the number of students who enrolled dipped to 63. That was down from 85 students in 2021-22 and 77 this school year.“We have had a really precipitous drop in enrollment over the last two years,” Amy Jonak, chair of the school’s board of trustees, said Monday. “It dropped 25% over the last two years.”Jonak said the school had expected to have adequate enrollment for next year based on the “really robust group of applicants” earlier in the year.“But you don’t know what you’re going to get until you get it,” she said.Pare...

Sausalito floating homes and other landmarks serve as setting for new Apple TV+ show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:30:42 GMT

Sausalito is the backdrop of a new Apple TV+ series starring Jennifer Garner.The show, based the bestselling novel “The Last Thing He Told Me” by Laura Dave, started on April 14 and features iconic locations such as Liberty Dock and the Marin Headlands.“I’m always interested in highlighting a community that’s on the edge of the world in some way,” said Dave, who lives in Los Angeles. “I sort of fell in love with it. It was such a beautiful community and the people had such a sense of community there.”The story centers on Hannah, a newly married woman played by Garner, who lives on a floating home in Sausalito with her husband Owen and his 16-year-old daughter Bailey. When Owen disappears, the pair have to bridge their tenuous relationship to solve the mystery of his disappearance.Sausalito’s characteristics as an insulated coastal community buttressed its choice as a location in the story. Dave said the floating home neighborhood appeared to require “something different of its inhab...