SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An unwelcome change in the weather, with higher winds, temperatures and lightning that threatens to spark new wildfires was coming Sunday to parched Northern California, where firefighters have for nearly a week battled three huge “complexes” of fires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands to flee.
Firefighters made slow but hopeful progress in battling the blazes on Saturday, aided by good weather but hampered by smoky skies that grounded water-dropping aircraft for some of the day. Reinforcements arrived to bolster overwhelmed crews, and evacuation orders were lifted in some areas.
But the changing weather brought fears of new fires overnight and warnings from state and local officials for residents in threatened areas to prepare to flee at any moment.
“There’s not a feeling of pure optimism, but a feeling of resolve, a feeling of we have resources backing us up,” Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore said.
Since Aug. 15, state fire officials said more than 12,000 lightning strikes across the state have ignited more than 500 wildfires. Of those, about two dozen major fires were attracting most of the state’s resources. Most of the damage was caused by three clusters of fire “complexes” that were ravaging forest and rural areas in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. They have burned 1,120 square miles (2,900 square kilometers).
Among the casualties were ancient redwood trees at California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, plus the park’s headquarters and campgrounds. Smoke from the fires made the region’s air quality dangerous, forcing people to stay inside.
Overall, the fires have killed five people, torched nearly 700 homes and other structures and forced tens of thousands from their houses.
“Tuesday night when I went to bed I had a beautiful home on a beautiful ranch,” said 81-year-old Hank Hanson of Vacaville. “By Wednesday night, I have nothing but a bunch of ashes.”
The changing weather brought good news for some communities, including Boulder Creek, an old logging community of about 5,000 people in the Santa Cruz mountains. Fire officials said they expected the blaze to reach the community, but they took advantage of recent good weather to try to “herd” flames around the town.
The storms predicted for Sunday were expected to aid those efforts by changing the direction of the wind.
“As bad as that weather prediction is overall for certain parts of this fire, it actually is going to help us move it away from those certain communities,” said Chief Mark Brunton, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state’s firefighting agency.
Responding to the emergency, President Donald Trump issued on Saturday a major disaster declaration to provide federal assistance. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that the declaration will also help people in counties affected by the fires with crisis counseling, housing and other social services.
Fire officials, meanwhile, struggled to get enough resources to fight the two largest cluster of fires around the San Francisco Bay area that had grown to become the second-largest and third-largest fires in state history by size.
The fire burning in California’s wine country, north of the San Francisco Bay, had only 1,400 firefighters assigned to battle the blaze. By comparison, the state had 5,000 firefighters assigned to the Mendocino Complex in 2018, which still holds the record as the largest fire in state history — for now.
“All of our resources remain stretched to capacity that we have not seen in recent history,” said Shana Jones, the chief for CalFire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit.
Underscoring the danger the fires pose for firefighters, the Sonoma County sheriff’s office released dramatic video of the helicopter rescue Friday night of two firefighters trapped on a ridge line at Point Reyes National Seashore. They were hoisted to safety as flames advanced.
“Had it not been for that helicopter, those firefighters would certainly have perished,” Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said.
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - A Filipino crew member aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship died of the coronavirus after being transferred off the ship last month, according to Bay Area advocacy groups.
The male worker was sent to a hospital in San Francisco where he eventually succumbed to the disease, becoming the third person aboard the ship to die from the coronavirus.
Terry Valen, president of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), was informed of the death of the crew member by the latter's Filipino shipmates who have since been repatriated.
Valen said he could not provide any further information about the fataility at this time.
In an email to Fox 2 KTVU, spokeswoman Negin Kamali of the Princess Cruises said they are deeply saddened by the death of one of their team members on Grand Princess who passed away from complications related to COVID-19.
Philippine Consulate General Henry Bensurto Jr. of San Francisco told ABS-CBN News they attempted to request if the crew member's daughter could come to the US to see him before his passing.
But the highly contagious nature of the disease did not make it possible.
Bensurto said the Filipino was able to video chat with his family before his death.
Read more on Balitang America:
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The San Francisco Bay Area is on lockdown due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. US President Donald Trump urges Americans on Monday to hold off most social activities for 15 days and not congregate in groups larger than 10 people. ABS-CBN North America bureau chief TJ Manotoc with the details. - Early Edition, ANC, March 17, 2020
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OAKLAND — Passengers waiting to disembark from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship in California faced frustrating delays Tuesday, despite US President Donald Trump saying the operation was going "incredibly well."
The Grand Princess arrived at a sealed-off wharf at the port of Oakland in San Francisco Bay on Monday after days stranded at sea with 21 confirmed infections on board.
California Governor Gavin Newsom admitted the start of the operation had been slow, with just 676 people taken ashore by early Tuesday afternoon from roughly 2,400 passengers.
"We're going to need to see an increase in those processing in order to turn this ship around," he told a news conference. "We don't want to see it here for more than a week."
Trump earlier told a White House meeting that the "big ship that came in yesterday" was "going along incredibly well."
Health Secretary Alex Azar said it was "a very complex operation" but "progressing well," with all Californian residents expected to leave the ship Tuesday.
Two people infected with the virus were among those immediately taken for medical care in ambulances, overseen by emergency workers equipped with gowns, gloves, respirators and face shields.
After an overnight pause, more masked passengers were escorted in small groups from the Grand Princess to ambulances and waiting buses Tuesday.
"The captain said they hope to have us all off by tomorrow night," passenger Carolyn Wright, a 63-year-old from New Mexico, told AFP.
"We are getting really frustrated that they still have not told us where our ultimate destination will be," she added.
Princess Cruises, the operator, said the evacuation would be a "multiple day process."
'ISOLATE'
US residents leaving the ship were to be quarantined for 14 days at military bases in California, Texas and Georgia.
But doubts emerged after Nevada unveiled its own plan to bring all 49 of its passengers -- who do not have symptoms -- directly to the state for quarantine at their homes.
"We have received confirmation from the federal government accepting all the conditions" of the plan, the Nevada governor's office said in a statement.
Passengers who were taken to hospital but found to be stable will be quarantined in hotels and motels throughout California, Newsom said.
Foreign passengers were being flown to their home countries.
Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said 228 Canadians were repatriated and would be quarantined for 2 weeks after landing at the Trenton air force base.
The 19 crew members who tested positive for coronavirus did not have symptoms and remained on the ship Tuesday, in isolation in their cabins, Princess Cruises said.
Newsom said the original plan to quarantine all crew on the ship once it leaves Oakland was being reconsidered. Some members of the crew -- which is disproportionately Filipino -- could instead be repatriated, he said.
A Florida couple travelling on the Grand Princess filed a $1 million lawsuit against the ship's operator alleging negligence.
Princess Cruises had "exposed plaintiffs to actual risk of immediate physical injury," a copy of the complaint filed at a Los Angeles court Monday said.
Newsom said it was now "incumbent upon seniors and those with any medical conditions, not to go on cruise ships, and to begin to socially isolate themselves from larger crowds."
Some 28 people have died of the coronavirus in the US, with almost 1,000 cases reported according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
Agence France-Presse
Health authorities announced Thursday 2 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in San Francisco, the first to be confirmed in the city.
Officials said both patients did not travel to any country with COVID-19, which confirms there is now community spread in San Francisco.
The first patient - a man in his 90s with underlying health conditions - is in serious condition. The second is a woman in her 40’s with no underlying health conditions.
The two patients are unrelated, are being treated at separate hospitals and had no contact with known infections.
San Francisco Mayor London Nicole Breed said a cruise ship, the Grand Princess, is waiting off the San Francisco coast after one of its previous passengers died of COVID-19 in California.
Thirty-five of the more than 3,000 people on board have shown flu-like symptoms.
The Philippine health department earlier confirmed there are more than 500 Filipino crew members on the Grand Princess.
Breed said all the passengers and crew members will be tested for COVID-19. She added she has yet to decide where or when the ship will dock, adding that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention procedures and protocols will be observed when the ship reaches port.
The San Francisco Director for Public Health said residents should avoid shaking hands and should do elbow bumping instead.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
San Francisco declared a local emergency over the coronavirus on Tuesday, despite having no cases, as US officials urged Americans to prepare for the spread of infections within their communities.
California's fourth-largest city said it made the move to boost its coronavirus preparedness and raise public awareness of risks the virus may spread to the city.
“Although there are still zero confirmed cases in San Francisco residents, the global picture is changing rapidly, and we need to step-up preparedness,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told the United States on Tuesday to prepare for community spread after infections surfaced in several more countries.
The 14 confirmed US cases of coronavirus have been mostly travel related, with only 2 cases of person-to-person spread. There are also 39 cases among Americans evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Tokyo and from Wuhan, China.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO, United States—Facebook said Tuesday it was devoting $1 billion during the coming decade in affordable housing, most of it in its home state of California.
The leading social network has partnered with Governor Gavin Newsom and others on projects intended to result in as many as 20,000 new housing units for teachers, nurses, first responders and other "essential workers," according to Facebook chief financial officer David Wehner.
"Access to more affordable housing for all families is key to addressing economic inequality and restoring social mobility in California and beyond," Newsom said in a statement.
"State government cannot solve housing affordability alone, we need others to join Facebook in stepping up—progress requires partnership with the private sector and philanthropy to change the status quo and address the cost crisis our state is facing."
Facebook has previously teamed up with community groups and local officials on affordable housing initiatives in the San Francisco Bay area and in the Silicon Valley city of Menlo Park, where it has its headquarters.
In San Francisco, a family of 4 with a household income of $100,000 per year is considered low-income, according to Wehner.
"We've learned that the production of affordable housing across the income spectrum is a problem throughout California and must be addressed through partnerships that bring companies, communities, non-profit organizations and policy makers statewide together to find creative solutions," Wehner said.
Facebook is devoting $250 million to a partnership with California for homes on excess state-owned land where housing is scarce, and will provide $225 million worth of land it has already bought in Menlo Park to be used for more than 1,500 units of mixed-income housing, according to Wehner.
About a third of the money, some $350 million, will be allotted to affordable housing projects across the US, Facebook said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
A San Francisco tour guide has been charged with being an agent of the Chinese government, accused of picking up U.S. national security secrets from furtive locations and delivering them cloak and dagger style to Beijing, federal prosecutors said on Monday.
Xuehua Peng, also known as Edward Peng, was arrested on Friday in the San Francisco suburb of Hayward, California, and was denied bail during an initial court appearance by a U.S. magistrate judge that same day, federal prosecutors said at a Monday morning news conference.
"The conduct charged in this case alleges a combination of age-old spycraft and modern technology," U.S. Attorney David Anderson said.
"Defendant Xuehua (Edward) Peng is charged with executing dead drops, delivering payments, and personally carrying to Beijing, China, secure digital cards containing classified information related to the national security of the United States," Anderson said.
Peng, 56, is not accused of stealing secrets from the U.S. government himself, but is charged with acting as a courier who between October 2015 and June 2018 picked up classified information from the "dead drops" in Oakland and Newark, California, and Columbus, Georgia and delivering them to his handlers from the Ministry of State Security (MSS) in Beijing.
FBI agents began conducting surveillance on Peng after a double agent, referred to in court papers only as "the Source," was told by MSS officers in March 2015 that "Ed", who had family and business dealings in China, could be relied on.
"I believe that 'Ed' - who was later identified as Peng - had been instructed in spycraft, practiced it and knew that he was working for intelligence operatives of the PRC," FBI Agent Spiro Fokas, said in a sworn affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, referring to the People's Republic of China.
An MSS officer told the Source that the ministry "control(s) everything about Ed's" company and would "cut him off" if he did not do as told.
According to Fokas' affidavit, the double agent on several occasions passed information to Peng for delivery to Beijing, dropping them at the front desk of a hotel or in rooms reserved by Peng.
The dead drops sometimes involved Peng leaving $10,000 or $20,000 taped in white envelopes inside the drawer of a television stand and retrieving secure digital cards with the classified information, according to the court papers.
Peng then flew to Beijing with the digital cards, the affidavit alleges.
Peng, who works as a sight-seeing tour operator for Chinese tourists in the Bay Area, faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted, prosecutors said. He has been ordered to return to court in San Francisco on Oct. 2.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO, United States—Facebook said Friday it suspended "tens of thousands" of apps on its platform as a result of a privacy practices review launched following a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica.
The review started in 2018 after revelations that the political consultancy hijacked personal data on millions of Facebook users, and it included attorneys, external investigators, data scientists, engineers, policy specialists and others, according to a Facebook statement.
The suspensions are "not necessarily an indication that these apps were posing a threat to people," said vice president of partnerships Ime Archibong, adding that some developers "did not respond to our request for information."
Archibong said the investigation "has addressed millions of apps. Of those, tens of thousands have been suspended for a variety of reasons while we continue to investigate."
The suspected apps were associated with about 400 developers, and many of the software programs were still in testing phases, according to Facebook.
The huge social network became the subject of intense scrutiny after acknowledging in 2018 that Cambridge Analytica misappropriated personal data on tens of millions of Facebook users as part of its work for Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Subsequently, Facebook said it would review all apps on the platform to determine how they used data and if they respect its privacy rules.
"In a few cases, we have banned apps completely," Archibong said.
Bans can be caused by violations including inappropriately sharing data obtained from Facebook or making data publicly available without protecting people's identities, according to the social network.
APP CRACKDOWN
"One app banned was called myPersonality, which shared information with researchers and companies with only limited protections in place, and then refused our request to participate in an audit," Archibong said.
A year ago, Facebook said it had banned some 400 apps including one called myPersonality, which according to Archibong "shared information with researchers and companies with only limited protections in place," and refused to accept an audit.
Facebook said a recent agreement on privacy with the US Federal Trade Commission, which included a record $5 billion fine, calls for additional oversight on app developers.
It "requires developers to annually certify compliance with our policies," Archibong said. "Any developer that doesn't go along with these requirements will be held accountable."
Facebook earlier this year filed a lawsuit against South Korean data analytics firm Rankwave in California to make sure it isn't breaking the leading social network's rules.
REVAMPING CONTROLS
Along with slapping Facebook with a record fine for data protection violations, the settlement in July called for Facebook to create a privacy committee within its board of directors to be appointed by an independent nominating committee.
This would end "unfettered control" of decisions on privacy by Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, the FTC statement said.
Facebook also will be required to conduct privacy reviews of every new or modified product, service or practice before it is implemented, including for its WhatsApp and Instagram services.
"We have a responsibility to protect people's privacy," Zuckerberg said at the time.
"We're going to set a completely new standard for our industry."
As the news was announced by Facebook, Zuckerberg was in Washington meeting with policymakers on questions about privacy and antitrust issues, and held talks at the White House with President Donald Trump.
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The city of San Francisco and nearby Santa Clara County sued President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday, seeking to block a new rule that would drastically reduce legal immigration by denying visas to poor migrants.
Some experts say the new rule could cut legal immigration in half by denying visas and permanent residency to hundreds of thousands of people if they fail to meet high enough income standards or if they receive public assistance such as welfare, food stamps, public housing or Medicaid.
"This illegal rule is just another attempt to vilify immigrants," San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said in a statement. Trump has made efforts to curb both legal and illegal immigration, an issue he has made a cornerstone of his presidency and one that he has stressed again as the campaign for the 2020 presidential election heats up.
The rule, unveiled on Monday and to take effect Oct. 15, expands the definition of a public charge, allowing denials to visa applicants who fail to meet income requirements or who receive public assistance.
"The final rule rejects the longstanding, existing definition of public charge, and attempts to redefine it to include even minimal use of a much wider range of non-cash benefits," said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
"The final rule will worsen the health and well-being of the counties' residents, increase risks to the public health, undermine the counties' health and safety-net systems, and inflict significant financial harm," the suit said.
San Francisco is both a city and a county. Santa Clara County includes the city of San Jose and various other parts of Silicon Valley.
The suit names U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security and their directors as defendants. The former agency declined to comment and the latter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit claims the new rule violates the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 by contradicting the longstanding definition of public charge as a person "primarily" dependent on public assistance for survival.
The suit also claims the new rule would split families, undermining immigration laws to prioritize family unification; misapplies the intent of Congress on the description of self-sufficiency of immigrants; and runs contrary to the statutes governing SNAP, also known as food stamps.
The National Immigration Law Center said it also will file a lawsuit to stop the rule from taking effect. The attorneys general of California and New York have also threatened to sue. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta Editing by Leslie Adler)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LOS ANGELES - San Francisco on Tuesday became the first major US city to effectively ban the sale and manufacture of electronic cigarettes, as concerns grow over a sharp rise in vaping among youths.
The city's legislature unanimously approved an ordinance suspending the sale in shops or online of e-cigarette products that lack approval by federal health authorities. No such approvals currently exist.
Backers said the ban was necessary due to the "significant public health consequences" of a "dramatic surge" in e-cigarette use among teenagers.
But the move triggered a swift backlash from critics who say it could drive former smokers back to conventional cigarettes.
US health authorities are alarmed by the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that enable users to inhale addictive nicotine liquids that are often fruit flavored.
The potential health consequences of vaping, including fears it could stunt adolescent development, remain largely unknown, in part because the practice is so new.
The number of young Americans using e-cigarettes grew by 1.5 million in 2018, with about 3.6 million middle and high school students using vaping products.
San Francisco is home to market-leading e-cigarette maker Juul.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who co-sponsored the ban, said it closed a loophole that the federal U.S. Food and Drug Administration should have tackled long ago.
"E-cigarettes are a product that, by law, are not allowed on the market without FDA review," he said in a statement after the second and final vote to implement the ban.
"For some reason, the FDA has so far refused to follow the law. If the federal government is not going to act, San Francisco will."
'DEADLY CIGARETTES'
The city's mayor London Breed has 10 days to sign the legislation -- which she has said she will do -- with the ban due to take effect seven months later.
"We need to take action to protect the health of San Francisco's youth and prevent the next generation of San Franciscans from becoming addicted to these products," Breed said in a statement Tuesday ahead of the vote.
She added that e-cigarette companies were "targeting our kids in their advertising and getting them hooked on addictive nicotine products."
But critics say the legislation will make it harder for people seeking alternatives to regular cigarettes.
E-cigarettes do not contain the cancer-causing products found in tobacco.
An editorial in the Los Angeles Times noted that regular cigarettes were still for sale in San Francisco, arguing that "it's bad public health policy to come down harder on the lesser of two tobacco evils."
Juul said in a statement following the vote that the ban would "drive former adult smokers who successfully switched to vapor products back to deadly cigarettes, deny the opportunity to switch for current adult smokers, and create a thriving black market."
The manufacturer called instead for stricter regulation and enforcement including proof-of-age identification.
'INCREASE RISK'
Traditional "Big Tobacco" companies have increasingly marketed "smoke-free" products like e-cigarettes as far less harmful alternatives to the deadly habit they have long been peddling.
But experts point out that it took decades to determine that smoking tobacco -- which accounts for more than seven million premature deaths worldwide every year -- is truly dangerous.
The San Francisco ordinance text said that nicotine exposure during adolescence "can harm the developing brain" and "can also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs."
It would introduce fines of up $1,000 for each violation by vendors.
Unlike an e-cigarette ban in force in Singapore, the San Francisco legislation does not restrict the use of vaping products -- only sales, manufacturing and distribution.
Recreational cannabis use has been legal for adults in California since January last year.
amz-ban/ft
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SAN FRANCISCO, United States - A lawsuit filed Tuesday by developers alleges Apple is abusing its monopoly position in its online marketplace to extract excessive fees from those creating iPhone applications.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California, claims Apple cornered the market with its iOS App Store, collecting a 30 percent commission on all app sales and in-app purchases.
The complaint comes as Apple holds its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California and just weeks after the US Supreme Court allowed a consumer lawsuit against Apple on similar grounds to proceed.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status for the suit, said Apple requires developers selling products through the App Store to pay an annual fee of $99, which hurts small and new developers.
They also said that by keeping all iOS apps into 1 marketplace -- some 2 million were available last year -- consumers never see most apps.
"Between Apple's 30 percent cut of all App Store sales, the annual fee of $99 and pricing mandates, Apple blatantly abuses its market power to the detriment of developers, who are forced to use the only platform available to them to sell their iOS app," said Steve Berman of the law firm Hagens Berman, which is representing the plaintiffs.
"In a competitive landscape, this simply would not happen."
The lawsuit seeks to force Apple to end its monopoly and allow competition in the distribution of iOS apps.
It also seeks to end Apple's pricing requirement including the minimum price mandate of 99 cents for paid apps.
Apple did not immediately respond to a query on the lawsuit.
In the past, Apple has defended its control of the App Store, saying it enables the iPhone maker to protect against malicious software and maintain quality standards.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that consumers could proceed with a separate lawsuit on app pricing, rejecting Apple's argument that consumers lacked standing because the tech giant was merely an intermediary with app developers.
The class-action lawsuit from 2011 maintains that Apple abuses its monopoly position, resulting in higher prices.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco officials on Tuesday voted 8 to 1 to ban the purchase and use of facial recognition technology by city personnel, in a move to regulate tools that local Silicon Valley companies helped develop.
The ordinance, which also would require city departments to submit surveillance technology policies for public vetting, can become final after a second vote next week by the same officials, the city's Board of Supervisors.
The action puts San Francisco at the forefront of increasing discontent in the United States over facial recognition, which government agencies have used for years and now has become more powerful with the rise of cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies.
"We have a fundamental duty to safeguard the public from potential abuses," Aaron Peskin, the city supervisor who championed the ban, said before the board's vote.
Peskin said the ordinance was not an anti-technology policy. It allows continued use of surveillance tools like security cameras; the district attorney or sheriff can make an appeal to use certain restricted technology in exceptional circumstances as well.
Rather, Peskin said, the aim is to protect "marginalized groups" that could be harmed by the technology.
For instance, Amazon.com Inc has come under scrutiny since last year for selling an image analysis and ID service to law enforcement. Researchers have said this service struggles to identify the gender of individuals with darker skin, prompting fears of unjust arrests. Amazon has defended its work and said all users must follow the law.
Civil rights groups and companies including Microsoft Corp , which markets a facial recognition service, have called for regulation of the technology in recent months. This has added momentum to the effort in San Francisco and to a parallel ban reportedly in the works in nearby Oakland.
While communities at the heart of the technology industry are moving to limit facial recognition, police elsewhere have increased their use, primarily to spot potential suspects in known offender databases after a crime has occurred.
U.S. customs agents are vetting foreign travelers at airports with facial recognition, and other federal agencies use the technology too.
Daniel Castro, vice president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, said concerns that the U.S. government would use face identification for mass surveillance, like China has, were overblown. The non-profit includes technology industry representatives on its board.
San Francisco's "ban on facial recognition will make it frozen in time with outdated technology," he said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO, United States - "Millions" of Instagram users had their passwords stored in unencrypted form on internal servers, Facebook said Thursday, raising its original estimate of tens of thousands.
"We discovered additional logs of Instagram passwords being stored in a readable format. We now estimate that this issue impacted millions of Instagram users," Facebook said in a blog post.
"We will be notifying these users as we did the others. Our investigation has determined that these stored passwords were not internally abused or improperly accessed," the social network said.
Facebook, Instagram's parent company, revealed last month that the unencrypted passwords of hundreds of millions of users had been stored, putting the number of Instagram users affected in the tens of thousands.
The social network's handling of user data has been a flash point for controversy since it admitted last year that Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, used an app that may have hijacked the private details of 87 million users.
Facebook has announced a series of moves to tighten handling of data, including eliminating most of its data-sharing partnerships with outside companies.
The California firm reaches an estimated 2.7 billion people with its core social network, Instagram and messaging applications.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Fire fighters battle a fire sparked by a ruptured gas line along Geary Boulevard and Parker Avenue in San Francisco, California, U.S., Wednesday. No one was reported injured during the incident which razed 5 houses.
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Led Zeppelin was ordered by a US appeals court to face a new trial over whether it stole the opening guitar riff for its 1971 anthem "Stairway to Heaven" from an obscure instrumental written four years earlier.
In a 3-0 decision on Friday, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco threw out a June 2016 verdict in the rock band's favor, citing a series of errors by the trial judge.
The decision revives one of the music industry's most closely-watched copyright cases, potentially exposing Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page to millions of dollars of damages.
Lawyers for the defendants had no immediate comment.
The lawsuit had been filed by Michael Skidmore, a trustee for the songs of Randy Wolfe, a guitarist for the band Spirit.
Skidmore accused Plant, 70, and Page, 74, of stealing the iconic opening to "Stairway" from the Spirit song "Taurus."
He said the songs had similar chord progressions, and that Page may have written "Stairway" after hearing "Taurus" while Led Zeppelin and Spirit were touring together.
Wolfe, who performed as Randy California, had complained in interviews about the songs' similarities, but did not sue prior to his death by drowning in 1997.
Jurors determined that while Plant and Page, who testified at the trial, had access to "Taurus," the song's riff was not intrinsically similar to the opening of "Stairway."
But in Friday's decision, Circuit Judge Richard Paez said the trial judge erred in failing to instruct jurors that the trustee could prevail if Wolfe had created a "sufficiently original combination" of otherwise unprotectable music elements.
Paez also said the judge erred in instructing jurors about the copyrighting of music elements in the public domain, and should have let them listen to "Taurus" while Page testified, to assess his demeanor and help determine whether he had access.
"We do not dispute that Led Zeppelin is one of the greatest bands in history, but their plagiarism indelibly stains their legacy," Skidmore's lawyer Francis Malofiy said in an email.
“Led Zeppelin obviously copied 'Taurus' by Randy California, a musician they knew well," he added.
The case was returned to U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner in Los Angeles.
Friday's decision followed a March 21 copyright ruling by another 9th Circuit panel upholding a $5.3 million judgment to Marvin Gaye's children. They accused Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams of creating the 2013 smash "Blurred Lines" by copying Gaye's 1977 song "Got to Give It Up."
The case is Skidmore v Led Zeppelin et al, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-56057.
-reuters-
A driver plowed a vehicle into five people in San Francisco on Wednesday, killing one, before fleeing the scene, officials said.
The five people were taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, where one person died and one was in critical condition, said hospital spokesman Brent Andrew. The three others were in serious or fair condition.
"We do not believe the general public is at risk," San Francisco police spokesman Robert Rueca said at a news conference, calling it an isolated incident.
The driver was later arrested, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing unnamed sources.
The newspaper, based on sources familiar with the investigation, also reported the people who were hit had been trying to steal the driver's vehicle.
Police declined to immediately provide details on what might have led to the incident or confirm that a suspect had been arrested. They initially said the driver plowed into the five people after a physical altercation.
In video from the San Francisco affiliate of NBC, paramedics and police could be seen attending to a person lying on the sidewalk after the incident in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood, also known as the Central Waterfront.
Paul Lim, who works at a business in the area, told the San Francisco Chronicle he saw the aftermath of the incident.
"I saw two lifeless people from across the street," Lim told the newspaper. "Another one was being consoled by a friend screaming for help. And another one was moving very slowly."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
One of the books featured during the recent Filipino-American International Book Festival in San Francisco is a book that chronicles the life journey of Elizabeth Ramsey and her six-decade long career as the Philippines' queen of rock and roll.
Prior to her death two years ago, Ramsey told her story through one of her children, Sansu, about what it took to make it as the first black Filipina accepted in the Philippine entertainment business.
"She wanted all her fans, and family and friends to know more in-depth about who Elizabeth Ramsey was," said Sansu.
Conflict between Ramsey's children is also included in the book - particularly between Sansu and Jaya, a soul singer in the Philippines.
"I wish that one day she can visit her mother's burial - if she knows where it is, if she really wants to, if she is interested to see where her mother is buried. To let you know, Jaya, she was buried in San Carlos where she was born and raised - you may have to take a trip!" Sansu said.
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source: news.abs-cbn.com
SANTA ROSA, California - Fast-moving fires spread by shifting winds
forced thousands more Californians to evacuate their homes on Saturday
as the death toll from the deadliest blaze recorded in the state's
history rose to at least 38, with hundreds of people still missing.
About 10,000 firefighters supported by air tankers and helicopters overhead were battling 16 major wildfires, some encompassing several smaller merged blazes, in areas north of San Francisco that have consumed nearly 214,000 acres (86,000 hectares) over seven days, or roughly 334 square miles (865 sq km) - an area larger than New York City.
The 38 confirmed fatalities, including 20 in Sonoma County, already make it the deadliest fire event in California history.
Some 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, including 3,000 evacuated on Saturday from the city of Santa Rosa, about 50 miles (80 km) north of San Francisco, and another 250 from nearby Sonoma city.
"This is truly one of the greatest tragedies that California has ever faced. The devastation is just unbelievable. It is a horror that no one could have imagined," California Governor Jerry Brown told a news conference in Santa Rosa.
The fires have damaged or destroyed about 5,700 structures, reducing homes and businesses to ash. The fires' death toll surpassed the 29 deaths from the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles.
"It's an unwieldy beast right now," fire information officer Dennis Rein said at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, the main staging area for the so-called Nuns Fire in Sonoma County, a world-renowned wine-producing region.
At least a dozen Napa Valley and Sonoma County wineries were damaged or destroyed, throwing the state's wine industry and related tourism into disarray.
For the picturesque Napa Valley town of Calistoga, the winds were a double-edged sword. The town was spared by hazardous winds when they shifted, Mayor Chris Canning said, though he warned a resurgence could pose a new threat.
The town of roughly 5,000 people had been evacuated, he said.
Firefighters from states including Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada have joined crews from California to battle the blazes.
From the air, some 70 helicopters and large aircraft including a 747, two DC-10s and about a dozen air tankers doused flames across the sprawling affected area with fire retardant, officials said.
On the ground, prison inmates were helping firefighters - sometimes digging lines to help contain fires, other times preparing meals at command centers, always watched over by guard.
In an area largely dependent on immigrant farm labor, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they would temporarily suspend routine operations during the emergency, "except in the event of a serious criminal presenting a public safety threat," spokesman James Schwab said in a statement.
SHIFTING WINDS
Ground crews gained on the wildfires on Friday, but drier weather and fast-shifting winds complicated efforts on Saturday, sparking a large new wildfire in Lake County, officials said.
The Nuns Fire, which had killed at least 1 person, was only 10 percent contained with winds threatening more residential areas, Cal Fire spokesman Antonio Negrete said.
But the more deadly Tubbs Fire, which killed at least 17 people in Sonoma County, was 44 percent contained, which officials considered a victory.
"It's cautious optimism, but it's optimism," Negrete said of the Tubbs Fire.
Cal Fire had estimated the fires would be contained by Oct. 20, but Rein said they may need to revise that date because of the winds that kicked up.
US Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, at the news conference with the governor in Santa Rosa pledged more federal aid to the region to help it through the devastation.
Whole neighborhoods of Santa Rosa have been reduced to landscapes of ash, smoldering debris and burned-out vehicles.
Some victims were asleep when flames engulfed their homes, and many survivors had only minutes to flee.
As parts of Santa Rosa were devastated, Calistoga, about 12 miles (20 km) to the northeast, faced hazardous winds that were forecast to push the Tubbs Fire toward town.
Mayor Canning said the shifting winds kept the flames at least 2 miles (3.2 km) from the city limit.
"If the winds shift and come back again, that's a big concern," he said in a telephone interview.
All but 12 of the city's 5,200 people heeded evacuation orders and left, Canning said.
"Nobody was confrontational," Canning said. "When the police or firefighters knocked on doors, most people were already ready to go with their bags packed."
With 235 people still missing on Saturday in Sonoma County alone, and rubble from thousands of incinerated dwellings yet to be searched, authorities have said the number of fatalities from the North Bay fires would likely climb.
The year's wildfire season is one of the worst in history in the United States, with nearly 8.6 million acres (3.5 million hectares) burned, just behind 2012, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Google on Thursday fired off invitations to an October 4 event at which the US tech giant is expected to field a second-generation Pixel as its new champion in the competitive smartphone market.
The internet giant behind Android software for powering mobile devices also launched a madebygoogle.com web page that featured a playful animation that asked "Thinking about changing phones?" and then suggested waiting until October 4.
Invitations to the event in San Francisco also advised the curious to follow its @madebygoogle account at Twitter. The phrase was rolled out with the original Pixel to refer to the fact it was the first time Google created both the software and hardware of a smartphone.
The Google event will come shortly after Apple begins shipping new iPhone 8 models unveiled this week at an event at the company's new "spaceship" campus in Silicon Valley.
Apple also announced a 10th anniversary iPhone X, touting the new flagship device as the next generation of mobile computing.
The Apple handset starting $999 will be available starting November 3 in more than 50 markets.
Samsung last month unveiled a new model of its Galaxy Note with a similarly high price tag as it seeks to mount a renewed challenge to iPhones.
Pricing on a Pixel 2 remained to be seen, but the original handset competes in the premium segment of the market.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
