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Illumina CEO resigns amid pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Gene sequencing test maker Illumina Inc. said Sunday that its board has accepted the resignation of its CEO and director, Francis deSouza, effective immediately. Charles Dadswell, senior vice president and general counsel, has been named interim CEO, while the board conducts a search for a new CEO. Illumina said deSouza, who has been with the company since 2013 and was named CEO three years later, will stay on in an advisory capacity until July 31.“Illumina’s technology remains at the forefront of DNA sequencing and has continued to set the pace for the industry,” Illumina’s board chair, Stephen P. MacMillan, said in a statement. “We are confident Illumina can continue to execute on its goals, while we conduct and complete a CEO search process.”The company, based in San Diego, said the board is looking at internal and external candidates.The resignation comes as Illumina has been locked in a monthslong heated battle with activist investor Carl Icahn, over its $...

Mets Notebook: Starling Marte out of lineup for series finale vs. Pirates

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

PITTSBURGH — Starling Marte hasn’t been himself. If you’ve watched him in the outfield this season, it’s been pretty clear.The Mets’ right fielder, who was so crucial to the team’s success last season, is still dealing with some lingering effects of his offseason double groin surgery. Marte has picked up his production at the plate over the last month, hitting .305 (32-105) with 15 runs, a double, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBI over his last 30 games, but he still only has an OPS+ of 83, which is well below his career average of 117.Marte took it slow in spring training because of the surgery, but few anticipated just how slow he would start the 2023 season. The offensive output over the last month has been a good indication that the 34-year-old will progress to his mean, but his performance in the outfield is somewhat concerning.The Mets, however, won’t go as far as to say there is any sort of concern. They have protected Marte all seas...

Man walking along Soldiers Field Road was reportedly sexually assaulted, Massachusetts State Police investigating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

A man walking along Soldiers Field Road in Brighton early Sunday morning was reportedly sexually assaulted, according to Massachusetts State Police who are investigating.The alleged victim reported that he was walking along Soldiers Field Road between 3 and 4 a.m. on Sunday when a male driver pulled up and asked for directions.The pedestrian told the driver that he couldn’t provide directions and continued walking.“The vehicle followed him for a short period of time before the driver stopped, exited the vehicle, approached the victim on foot, and physically and sexually assaulted him,” a spokesperson for Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. “The victim fought back and eventually the suspect returned to his vehicle and drove away.”The suspect is described as a male, about 6 feet tall, with a Middle Eastern accent.The suspect’s vehicle may be a gray Honda CRV sport utility vehicle.Related ArticlesCrime & Public Safety | Arc...

Ticker: CNN TV ad revenues plunge; Ashish Jha to exit White House COVID post 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

CNN has seen its TV ad revenues drop off sharply this year in part due to plunging ratings.MediaRadar, a New York-based firm that tracks advertising trends, said TV and digital revenues at the network fell nearly 40% year over year when measuring the first four months of 2023 vs. the same period in 2022.The firm estimated advertisers spent about $313 million from January through April of 2023 compared to $513 million from January to April of 2022.This information was released by the firm after Warner Bros. Discovery dropped Chris Licht as chief of CNN following a tumultuous 13-month tenure. MediaRadar did not release comparable figures for other cable networks such as Fox News and MSNBC, but ratings have fallen this year for all three networks.Ashish Jha to exit White House postAshish Jha, the White House’s point person on the COVID-19 response, will depart from the administration next week.The White House said Jha will return to Brown University, where he had served as the de...

Chicago White Sox put reliever Liam Hendriks on 15-day IL, but GM says it’s ‘too early to put it on the flexor’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol asked Liam Hendriks how he was feeling after pitching the ninth inning Friday against the Miami Marlins.Grifol said Hendriks responded, “We’ll see tomorrow.”“If you know Liam, he never says that,” Grifol said Sunday. “He’s always available and he always wants to pitch. Once he said that, it was a little bit of a red flag.”The Sox placed the reliever on the 15-day injured list Sunday with right elbow inflammation. The move is retroactive to Saturday.Hendriks is 2-0 with one save, a 5.40 ERA and three strikeouts in five appearances since his inspirational return on May 29 after his battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.General manager Rick Hahn said Hendriks is “likely dealing with something fairly similar symptomatically to what he dealt with last year.”Last season, Hendriks went on the IL on June 11 with a flexor strain in his right forearm and returned July 4.“At this point, we do no...

Celtics continue to bolster coaching staff with addition of assistant Charles Lee, per report

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

The Celtics are not messing around when it comes to bolstering their coaching staff.For a second consecutive week, the Celtics have added a highly respected veteran assistant coach from a rival. After reportedly hiring 76ers assistant Sam Cassell last Sunday, the Celtics are finalizing a deal to hire Bucks assistant Charles Lee to be their new lead assistant coach under head coach Joe Mazzulla, according to a report Sunday from ESPN.The 38-year-old Lee was reportedly a finalist for the head-coaching openings in Detroit and Toronto, but when both of those franchises went in a different direction – the Pistons hired Monty Williams and on Saturday, the Raptors went with Darko Rajakovic – the Celtics swooped in for Lee, who has reportedly been on their radar for years.Lee was an assistant to Mike Budenholzer for the last nine seasons, including the last four in Milwaukee before the Bucks fired Budenholzer following their first-round loss to Miami. Last season, Lee became Budenholzer’s l...

Monsoon Season begins in San Diego this week

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Southwest US monsoon season officially begins this week, which includes portions of Southern California. That's according to National Weather Service which says June 15 through Sept. 30 is the recognized time period for severe weather in the geographic region, including San Diego. California’s second-largest reservoir reaches 100% capacity A monsoon explainedOftentimes, when we think of monsoons we associate them with torrential downpours and mudslides. Though this isn't necessarily inaccurate in some areas of the world, what describes a monsoon is more simple: the shifting of the season to summer. The word monsoon actually comes from the Arabic word mausim, which means “season.” So, a monsoon isn't an individual thunder or rainstorm, but rather a large scale weather pattern that causes our summer thunderstorms, NWS explained. They are caused by seasonal shift in the winds. Why do winds shifts? Well, NWS says the temperature of the land and the temperature o...

Prayer vigil held for mother murdered in San Diego

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A prayer vigil was held downtown Saturday in honor of a woman who was murdered in San Diego seven years ago.Krystal Mitchell, a 30-year-old mother of two, was visiting the region from Phoenix, Arizona with her boyfriend in 2016 when the unthinkable happened: she was strangled to death in a friend's apartment in Allied Garden. Mother of murder victim speaks out after suspect captured The person accused of her murder is the man who traveled with her on that fateful vacation. Krystal's boyfriend, Raymond McLeod, reportedly used her car to escape to Mexico after the tragic incident.The incident prompted authorities to consider McLeod a fugitive, who was then put on the U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted list. McLeod remained on the run for six year until authorities found him in the Central American country of El Salvador in August 2022, following a tip that the he was teaching at a school in Sosonate. He was arrested extradited to San Diego from there. Authorities say McLeod h...

Ted Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber,” died of suicide: AP Sources

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

Ted Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber,” who carried out a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, died by suicide, four people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.Kaczynski, who was 81 and suffering from late-stage cancer, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Emergency responders performed CPR and revived him before he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later Saturday morning, the people told the AP. They were not authorized to publicly discuss Kaczynski’s death and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.Kaczynski’s death comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in the last several years following the death of wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, who also died by suicide in a federal jail in 2019.Kaczynski had been held in the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, since May 1998, when he wa...

Tories to work with NDP, Bloc to set terms on potential foreign interference inquiry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:59 GMT

OTTAWA — The Conservative Party is willing to work with other opposition legislators to set the terms of reference for a possible inquiry on foreign interference. Party Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will reach out to the New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois next week and begin the work. The Liberal government says it is willing to hold a public inquiry on allegations that China meddled in two recent federal elections, but it wants the opposition parties to come up with its terms of reference, timeline and potential leader.The government is undertaking work to find possible gaps in how it handles allegations of foreign interference, and initially appointed former governor general David Johnston as a special rapporteur to probe the issue. But Johnston resigned from the role on Friday, citing the highly partisan atmosphere around his work.Poilievre says he wants the government to call a public inquiry quickly, and before the next federal election. This report by The Canadian Press was fi...