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Russian artist gets 7-year sentence for anti-war message

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

By Dasha Litvinova | Associated PressTALLINN, Estonia — A Russian court on Thursday convicted an artist and musician for swapping supermarket price tags with antiwar messages, sentencing her to seven years in prison in one of the highest-profile cases involving the recent crackdown on free speech.Sasha Skochilenko was arrested in her native St. Petersburg in April 2022 and charged with spreading false information about the military after replacing price tags with ones that decried Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“The Russian army bombed an arts schools in Mariupol. Some 400 people were hiding in it from the shelling,” one read. Another said, “Russian conscripts are being sent to Ukraine. Lives of our children are the price of this war.”A customer at the supermarket who found the slogans reported them to authorities.Skochilenko’s arrest came about a month after authorities adopted a law effectively criminalizing any public expression about the war tha...

APEC: Biden touts progress smoothing trade, China relations at San Francisco summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — President Joe Biden affirmed the United States’ role as a “Pacific nation” Thursday, committing to providing stability and economic opportunity across the region and to working cooperatively with rival power China.“You can count on the United States,” Biden told a gathering of corporate executives and world leaders at Moscone Center for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 2023 forum. “We’re delivering on our promises, and we’re doubling down on our progress. And we’ll soon be your strong and steady partner as we continue working together to realize an Asia Pacific region that’s free and open, prosperous and secure, resilient and connected.”The speech — a day after Biden met for four hours on the Peninsula with Chinese President Xi Jinping and later in a news conference called the Chinese leader “a dictator” — was an opportunity for the president to trumpet economic and d...

Phone, internet networks collapse in Gaza for lack of fuel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

By Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffrey and Lee Keath | Associated PressKHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Internet and telephone services collapsed across the Gaza Strip on Thursday for lack of fuel, the main Palestinian provider said, bringing a potentially long-term blackout of communications as Israel signaled its offensive against Hamas could next target the south, where most of the population has taken refuge.Israeli troops for a second day searched Shifa Hospital in the north for traces of Hamas. They displayed what they said were a tunnel entrance and weapons found in a truck inside the compound. But the military has yet to release evidence of a central Hamas command center that Israel has said is concealed beneath the complex. Hamas and staff at the hospital, Gaza’s largest, deny the allegations.The military said it found the body of one of the hostages abducted by Hamas, 65-year-old Yehudit Weiss, in a building adjacent to Shifa, where it said it also found assault rifles and rocket-p...

Where did San Francisco’s homeless people go during APEC? Not very far

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

Less than a block from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that’s brought thousands of diplomats and world leaders to San Francisco, a young man in the throes of drug addiction lay crumpled into a ball as a city worker with broom and dustpan calmly swept the downtown plaza near Fifth and Mission streets.Down a nearby alley, a half-dozen people huddled around a light post and passed butane lighters, some slowly nodding off after inhaling milky white puffs from glass pipes.Around the corner, just across from a heavily guarded entrance to the summit, a man in a dark hoodie slept on the sidewalk, resting his head on a bright orange backpack as foreign emissaries in neatly pressed suits strode past.If you’ve followed much of the news coverage leading up to APEC, you might be led to believe that San Francisco had, at least temporarily, rid its downtown of scenes like this in hopes of putting its best face forward to the world and flipping the unrelenting “doom l...

2 arrested in connection to woman's body found at Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Two suspects have been arrested in connection to a "suspicious" death in Golden Gate Park on Aug. 13, the San Francisco Police Department said in a news release. Around 7:24 p.m. on the third and final night of the Outside Lands Music Festival, a woman's body was found outside festival grounds.The woman was identified as 37-year-old San Francisco resident Kelly Koike. 5-year-old killed after being stabbed by twin brother in Santa Cruz County: sheriff More than three months later, the cause of the woman's death has not been determined, according to SFPD's news release. However, a man and a woman were arrested earlier this month in connection to the body being found near Fulton Street and 22nd Avenue.Alexander Madden, 26, was arrested by SFPD on Nov. 2. He was arrested on a Ramey warrant for unlawful disposal of human remains and conspiracy. Emilia Beckhusen, 33, was also arrested by SFPD on Nov. 4. She had a Ramey warrant against her for unlawful disposal of...

Why was the Bay Bridge blocked? APEC protests explained

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- San Francisco is in a glaring global spotlight this week hosting billionaire CEOs of major corporations, Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Joe Biden, and more presidents for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.Protesters seized the rare opportunity by staging demonstrations on a wide-range of global issues. Some of the protests were peaceful and legal. Thursday morning's traffic-halting protest on the Bay Bridge was illegal, the California Highway Patrol told KRON4. Here is a breakdown of what major protests this week were about:Bay Bridge Protest - Ceasefire In GazaDemonstrators shut down the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge in conjunction with the APEC Summit taking place Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Hundreds of demonstrators shut down the Bay Bridge Thursday morning to demand that President Biden call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as well as end United States military aid to Israel.Some prot...

Contra Costa County DA's office joins other agencies to penalize Martinez refinery

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

(BCN) -- The agencies with various environmental and legal complaints against Martinez Refining Company are teaming up to seek a common penalty against the refinery for issues going back to last year's Thanksgiving weekend release of more than 20 tons of spent catalyst into the community. The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on Thursday jointly announced a common civil enforcement action that also includes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Contra Costa County Health. All the agencies have notices of violation and enforcement referrals against MRC. They're working with the refinery to reach an acceptable penalty for the Thanksgiving night 2022 release, as well as at least three smaller chemical releases the past year. 5-year-old killed after being stabbed by twin brother in Santa Cruz County: sheriff "The goal of this joint effort with the air district is to achieve a resolution that ensures environme...

California regulators approve PG&E to raise rates in 2024

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

The California Public Utilities Commission voted on Thursday to approve a plan that will allow the state's biggest utility provider, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, to raise rates for its customers next year in order to pay for projects that seek to lower the risk of the company's equipment from starting wildfires. PG&E serves millions of customers across Northern and Central California, and the vote will allow it to raise rates for its electricity and natural gas customers. Dozens of members of the public dialed in and appeared in person to comment at the CPUC's hearings on the proposed rates, with many of them emphasizing the additional economic hardship and citing the company's role in several deadly fires. Elon Musk no longer listed as speaker at APEC The commission acknowledged the public's concerns but voted unanimously to approve the changes. They also emphasized state programs that could help lower energy bills.“We as a commission have struggled mightily with the ...

Biden joins 21 APEC member economies for discussions as protests rage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

(BCN) -- Leaders from the 21 member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference assembled for their traditional family photo opportunity, deep within the bowels of San Francisco's Moscone Center Thursday. About 75 photographers from the media along with from official delegations and the White House Press Corp were present to record the event. The leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, came out onstage and in an almost balletic performance smoothly moved to their individual markers for photography. 80 protesters cited after Bay Bridge shut down Thursday Absent from the spectacle this year was the wearing of traditional costumes from the host country, often a point of whimsy in previous years. That tradition started in 1993 in the United States when then-President Bill Clinton gave attending leaders matching leather flight jackets.Photographers duly recorded the ritual after waiting about 90 minutes. The whole event was over in ...

KRON4 Anchor Vicki Liviakis receives distinguished Silver Circle recognition

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:45:10 GMT

San Francisco, CA – November 16, 2023 – KRON4 in San Francisco (DMA #10) a Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), owned and operated station, celebrates Vicki Liviakis on her induction as a Silver Circle honoree. Each year the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honors those who have made a significant and impactful contribution to the industry through induction into the Gold & Silver Circle honor society. The Silver Circle recognizes those professionals who have performed distinguished service within the television industry for 25 years or more. Silver Circle members are honored for more than their longevity -- they are honored for making an enduring contribution to the vitality of the television industry and for setting standards of achievement we can all hope to emulate. These honorees also give back to the community as mentors, educators, and volunteers. To be considered for induction in the 2023 Silver Circle, a candidate’s career must have begun before 19...