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Opinion: Why venture capitalist believes Elizabeth Holmes should be freed

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

After 30-plus years in venture capital and seeding  companies like Skype, Baidu, Robinhood, Tesla, SpaceX, Hotmail, and many others that were not so successful, I believe it is incumbent on me to do the diligence on any startup I back. If a company doesn’t work out, I take my lumps and move on. Startups by their nature are risky. Investors know these risks when we write their checks.Entrepreneurs, by their nature, are projecting a future that they want to accomplish and as my partner used to say: The best entrepreneurs have a reality distortion field because they often believe that they have accomplished what they have set out to accomplish because they have done so in their minds.When I first met Elizabeth Holmes, she was 19 years old and told me she wanted to “change health care as we know it.” I could see how passionate she was. She is determined about what she feels is unconscionable: the system of health care in our country is expensive, unfair and provides inadequate service, ...

Bay Area residents have 1 week until storm-related FEMA, SBA disaster relief deadline

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

(BCN) -- Bay Area residents have until March 16 to apply for federal disaster relief funding for damage caused by the winter storms that soaked the region throughout January. Disaster relief from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration includes grants, loans and other assistance to help residents pay for temporary housing, storm-related home repairs and storm-related expenses like transportation and moving and storage expenses. The SBA has approved $6.9 million in loans for businesses and $43.2 million for residents affected by the storms as well as flooding, landslides and mudslides caused by the multiple atmospheric rivers that passed over the Bay Area starting in late December. Bay Area storm updates: Flooding impacts morning commute In the greater Bay Area, residents in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Joaquin, San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties are eligible for FEMA and SBA disaster assistance. "SBA's disaster assistance...

Two More Jan. 6 Capitol Rioters Have Fled Charges, Bringing Total to Six

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

Over two years since a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol, a small but growing number are on the run after being hit with federal charges for their involvement in the attack.Federal authorities have launched an ongoing dragnet to identity and detain individuals wanted for crimes that took place at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in the wake of Trump’s election loss. Despite these efforts, several of those identified on video footage remain at large, while others, who have been identified, arrested, and are facing charges, have decided to try their luck on the lam — including at least one man who has fled abroad to claim political asylum.This week, the U.S. issued arrest warrants for accused Capitol rioters Olivia Michele Pollock and Joseph Daniel Hutchinson, who, while out on bail, slipped their ankle monitors and escaped days before they were supposed to go on trial. They became the fifth and sixth Capitol rioters to flee following their arrests —...

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors considering higher salaries for members

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.Members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors could see higher salaries in the future.Supervisors this week voted 8-2 to consider raising board members’ salaries.The increase would see board members’ annual salaries go from 90,000 to as high as $130,000, while the chairman’s salary would increase from the current $100,000 to a range of $140,000 to $145,000. The board last received a pay raise eight years ago, in 2015.Supervisor John Foust, who’s retiring after this year, introduced the motion, saying it’s important to consider the evolving nature and increasing demands of board members and the chairman.“In addition to counting base work, the job of a supervisor or chairman requires participation in a growing number of regional bodies, in which most board members participate but are not comp...

China condemns Japanese plan to release Fukushima water

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday condemned a Japanese plan to release treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, demanding that Tokyo first receive the approval of neighboring countries. China has made similar complaints on a regular basis in the past, but has not said how it would respond if Japan goes ahead with the planned release.China, which Japan invaded in the first half of the last century, has been a constant critic of Tokyo and its security alliance with the U.S., with the ruling Communist Party frequently invoking historical wrongs to rally domestic support and seek to undermine Japan’s global standing. Japan’s behavior is “extremely irresponsible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing Friday. “I would like to stress that Japan’s release of treated nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima plant concerns the global marine environment and public health, which is not a private matter for t...

Fire breaks out at building near White House, no injuries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A fire broke out Friday at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House, leading to the evacuation of workers as firefighters responded to the call, according to the U.S. Secret Service.D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services said at 8 a.m. on Twitter that a defective cooling motor in the basement caused the fire. It said there were no injuries in the response to the fire.Built between 1871 and 1888, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building towers over the West Wing, where President Joe Biden works. It houses a wide array of White House workers. An email to White House staff sent Friday morning said “URGENT: EVACUATION” with the order to leave the building at the direction of security officers.By 8:35 a.m., the White House grounds were relatively calm after the morning disturbance.A 2007 fire at the executive building damaged then Vice President Dick Cheney’s ceremonial suite of offices and led to the evacuation of 1,000 federal workers, ...

Man, teen dead after shooting in Southeast DC, 1 injured

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

A man and a teenage boy have died, while another man was injured following a shooting in Southeast D.C. on Tuesday.According to D.C. police, officers responded to the report of a shooting in the 2700 block of Bruce Place at around 7:45 p.m.More DC News More Local NewsWhen they arrived, D.C. police say officers found two men suffering from gunshot wounds.Dana Faulkner, 23, of Southeast D.C., died on the scene, while another man was taken to the hospital, police said.Later on, police responded to the intersection of Wheeler Road and Mississippi Avenue in Southeast for a report of an “unconscious person.”Officers found 15-year-old Abdul Fuller of Southeast D.C. with a gunshot wound and determined he was on Bruce Place when the shooting occurred. He was taken to the hospital on Tuesday and died of his injuries on Thursday.D.C. police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons res...

En EEUU se crearon 311,000 puestos de trabajo en febrero, pero sube la tasa de desempleo

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

WASHINGTON — Los empleadores de Estados Unidos crearon 311,000 puestos de trabajo en febrero, menos que la enorme ganancia de enero, pero suficiente para mantener la presión sobre la Reserva Federal para que eleve las tasas de interés agresivamente para combatir la inflación.La tasa de desempleo aumentó al 3.6 % desde un mínimo de 53 años del 3.4 %, ya que más estadounidenses comenzaron a buscar trabajo y no todos encontraron trabajo.El informe del gobierno de este viernes dejó en claro que el mercado laboral de la nación sigue siendo fundamentalmente saludable, con muchos empleadores aún ansiosos por contratar. El presidente de la Fed, Jerome Powell, dijo al Congreso esta semana que la Fed probablemente aumentaría sus aumentos de tasas si las señales continúan apuntando a una economía sólida y una inflación persistentemente alta. Un mercado laboral fuerte generalmente lleva a las empresas a aumentar los salarios y luego trasladar sus costos laborales más altos a los clientes a trav...

Iran, Saudi Arabia agree to resume ties, with China’s help

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions between the two countries, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom’s oil production attributed to Tehran. The deal, struck in Beijing this week amid its ceremonial National People’s Congress, represents a major diplomatic victory for the Chinese as Gulf Arab states perceive the United States slowly withdrawing from the wider Middle East. It also comes as diplomats have been trying to end a yearslong war in Yemen, a conflict in which both Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply entrenched. The two countries released a joint communique on the deal with China, which brokered the agreement. Chinese state media did not immediately report the agreement. Iranian state media posted images and video it described as being taken in China of the meeting. It showed Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Secur...

Oscars vs. ‘The Last of Us’: What are you watching Sunday?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:33 GMT

Will Joel and Ellie finally reach the doctors in “The Last of Us”? Will Michelle Yeoh take home the Oscar for best actress?Both questions will be answered this Sunday, but viewers will have to make a choice about which answer they want in real time. The season finale of the HBO hit is up against the live telecast of the Oscars on ABC.Of course, there’s an opportunity to see both. The Oscars begin at 8 p.m. Eastern; “ The Last of Us ” airs at 9 p.m. Viewers could begin their night watching the Oscars, click over to “The Last of Us,” and return for the ceremony’s last hour. That’s when the biggest categories are usually handed out, but that plan comes with the risk of missing any buzzy, unscripted moments. And if you choose to stick with the Oscars throughout? You risk spoilers on the fate of Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal’s characters.The debate essentially boils down to zeitgeist, says Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University specializing in media and dir...