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Review: Uneven ‘Bulrusher’ at Berkeley Rep shines light on magical world

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

A baby floating down the Navarro River in a basket gets tangled amid the tall weeds in Eisa Davis’ play. That’s why the locals, who speak the idiosyncratic patois of the Anderson Valley, Boontling, call her a “Bulrusher.”This lyrical drama bearing that term as title gets a delicate if inconsistent production directed by Nicole A. Watson at Berkeley Rep, in a co-production with Princeton’s McCarter Theatre Center. If Davis’ rhapsodic language can feel stilted in this staging, the gentle pace quickens as Bulrusher comes of age and finds her flow.Jordan Tyson imbues the title character with a feral kind of fragility. She’s a strange and sweet mixture of clairvoyant and innocent, living in ‘50s America but feeling rather timeless.Like all the denizens of this hamlet, she’s a poet in her own right, steeping her identity in the musicality of an idiosyncratic lingo. Davis, a Berkeley native, captures the charm of this language in which sex is “heel scratchin” and a cup of coffee is a...

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos moving to Miami, leaving Seattle

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

By Spencer Soper | BloombergAmazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said he was moving to Miami from the Seattle region, relocating to be closer to his parents and the Cape Canaveral operations of Blue Origin LLC, his space exploration company.Bezos — the world’s third-wealthiest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — made the announcement Thursday via Instagram, which included video of him in his Seattle garage where he founded Amazon in 1994.“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than I’ve lived anywhere else and have so many amazing memories here,” Bezos said. “As exciting as the move is, it’s an emotional decision for me. Seattle, you will always have a place in my heart.”Related ArticlesBusiness | Amazon warehouse injuries more widespread than thought, study says Business | This company envisions a future where humanoid robots are as ubiquitous as smartphones Business | The cheap streaming era is over. Here’s why your bills are going up ...

Bay Area biotech company cutting 40% of workforce, closing Brisbane headquarters

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

(KRON) -- Sangamo Therapeutics, a Bay Area biotech company centered around genomic medicines, will be laying off 40% of its workforce and shutting down its Brisbane headquarters. In a news release sent out Wednesday, announcing the moves were part of a "strategic transformation and a corresponding restructuring of operations and workforce reduction."The layoffs and closure are part of a broader cost savings initiative aimed at reducing the company's annual operating expense by around 50%, the release said. "The restructuring announced today represents a further step towards simplifying the Sangamo organization," the release reads in part. 3 passengers sue Alaska Airlines after off-duty pilot accused of trying to cut engines mid-flight The restructuring will also see the January departures of two of the company's top executives, Executive Vice President D. Mark McClung and Senior Vice President Jason Fontenot.The restructuring and workforce reductions are part of an effort to reduc...

Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah leader threatens escalation with Israel as its war with Hamas rages on

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that his powerful militia is already engaged in unprecedented fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border and threatened a further escalation as Israel’s war with Hamas nears the one-month mark. In televised remarks — his first since the Palestinian militants’ deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel — Nasrallah stopped short of announcing that Hezbollah would fully enter the war, a move that would have devastating consequences for both Lebanon and Israel.The United States, Israel’s strongest backer, has warned Hezbollah and its patron Iran against entering the fray and has sent warships to the Mediterranean, a move Nasrallah said “will not scare us.” Hezbollah is prepared for all options, he declared, “and we can resort to them at any time.” The fighting would “not be limited” to the scale seen so far, he added. In recent weeks, Hezbollah has fired rockets across the border daily, mainly hitting military...

Meloni pushes change to let voters directly elect Italy’s premier in bid to make governments last

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s Cabinet on Friday approved her proposal to make the office of the prime minister directly elected by voters in a bid to end the country’s chronic ailment of short-lived, unstable governments. Changing Italy’s Constitution would allow voters to elect a premier who would serve five years — to coincide with Parliament’s full term. The far-right leader insisted at a news conference that what she called the “mother of all reforms” will guarantee more stability in a nation where government coalitions sometimes last only months, even weeks. But there’s no guarantee the reform will become reality. It’s likely voters would have the final say. A referendum would take place if two-thirds of lawmakers fail to approve the reform. Although Meloni’s government, with the help of its right-wing coalition partners, commands a comfortable parliamentary majority, it would need opposition forces to reach the two-thirds margin. Italy...

Serbia’s pro-Russia intelligence chief sanctioned by the US has resigned citing Western pressure

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s intelligence chief, who has fostered closer ties with Russia and is under sanctions by the United States, resigned Friday after less than a year in the post, saying he wanted to avoid possible further embargos against the Balkan nation.In July, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Aleksandar Vulin, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities.Vulin became the director of Serbia’s intelligence agency BIA in December 2022. The close associate of populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had previously served as both the army and police chief. Vulin is known for advocating close ties with Russia instead ...

El Niño en EE.UU.: nuevos mapas revelan dónde podría nevar más este invierno

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

(CNN) — Mientras EE.UU. se prepara para un invierno muy marcado por el primer fenómeno fuerte de El Niño en años, los científicos de la Administración Nacional Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA, por sus siglas en inglés) presentan mapas que ofrecen información sobre dónde podría acumularse la nieve.Se prevé que El Niño, un patrón oceánico y meteorológico natural en el Pacífico tropical, alcance el nivel más significativo desde que un El Niño muy fuerte en 2015-2016 fomentó el invierno más cálido jamás registrado en todo el territorio contiguo de Estados Unidos, según la NOAA.¿Cómo afectará El Niño a EE.UU. en invierno y qué se espera?Aunque no hay dos inviernos de El Niño iguales, el patrón suele traer un clima más húmedo y frío al sur de Estados Unidos, mientras que el norte se vuelve más seco y cálido. Y eso es exactamente lo que se espera este invierno.Sin embargo, un tiempo más húmedo no significa necesariamente más nieve. Y cuando lo hace, las cantidades pueden variar mucho de...

Officials identify two workers — one killed, one still missing — after Kentucky coal plant collapse

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

Officials have released the names of two workers trapped when a coal mine preparation plant collapsed earlier this week in eastern Kentucky as the search continues to find one of those workers still missing in the rubble. Martin County Judge Executive Lon Lafferty identified the men as Billy Ray Daniels and 57-year-old Alvin Nees, news outlets report. Daniels died amid rescue efforts at the scene, and Nees has not yet been located. The men from neighboring Pike County were doing contracting work as part of the building’s demolition. Lafferty said Friday that the families of both men have been to the site. His team spent time with the families Thursday, which he described as a “very, very tough emotional day. ” He said the Nees family is “still holding out hope and prayer” he will be found alive. “They are very strong in their faith and their convictions in God,” he said, adding: “Obviously, it’s a very, very trying time.” Crews have begun removing layers of rubble ...

Indiana attorney general reprimanded for comments on doctor who provided rape victim’s abortion

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (AP) — Indiana’s attorney general violated professional conduct rules in statements he made about a doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio in the weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, according to a court opinion filed Thursday. The case sparked national attention after Dr. Caitlin Bernard discussed providing the 10-year-old girl with a medication-induced abortion during a July 1, 2022, interview with the Indianapolis Star. At the time, Ohio law prohibited abortions after six weeks of pregnancy but the girl could still be provided a legal abortion in Indiana.The Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission found Todd Rokita, a Republican who opposes abortion, “engaged in attorney misconduct” during an interview he gave on a Fox News show in July 2022 about Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist.The opinion specifically faulted Rokita for describing Bernard on the show...

4 Virginia legislative candidates, including ex-congressman, are accused of violence against women

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:09:28 GMT

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Garrett was only months into his second year in Congress in 2018 when he announced he would drop his bid for reelection to seek treatment for alcoholism.Garrett kept a low profile for the next four years until he announced last November that he would run for the Virginia House of Delegates. But his political comeback has been marked by allegations of abuse in a bitter divorce. His estranged wife, Flanna Sheridan Garrett, has accused him of “a long line of physical and emotional abuses,” including an allegation that he strangled her while she lay in a hotel bed with their infant daughter beside her. Garrett, who denies the accusations, is among four candidates for state legislative seats in Virginia this year who have been accused of physical violence against women — two during divorce proceedings, one in a pending criminal case and one in criminal cases decades ago that ended with charges being dismissed. One of the four men lost h...