Ballpark bunny is an instant hit
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SAN FRANCISCO -- A handsome, golden-colored therapy bunny named Alex came to the ballpark and stole the hearts of San Francisco Giants fans Thursday night, attending the series opener against Miami with owners Kei Kato and Josh Row. Sporting a dark bow tie with orange crabs to represent the Giants' colors, 4 1/2-month-old Alex earned some major screen time in the early innings -- because it's just not every day you see a rabbit at a baseball game. The bunny in the stands is believed to be a first in the 22-year history of Oracle Park. "Never. Crazy. … If we win tonight, she (Kato) has to come back tomorrow," spokeswoman Staci Slaughter texted, noting Alex became an instant Twitter sensation. Daniel Kurish of the Marlins' media relations staff wasted no time getting in on the bunny fun: In the seventh inning, he was off to deliver Miami gear to the good-sized mammal. "Tonight's attendance, 4,580, not including the rabbit," official scorer David Feldman announced in the seventh. Alex has been an important, beloved companion for the 32-year-old Kato, who lost her brewery restaurant called "K-OZ" during the pandemic and now runs a small cafe in the U.S. Immigration office. The bunny helps her deal with the anxiety and stress of no longer having her main source of income and fulfillment. "I lost it all because of COVID, so I've been really stressed a lot," Kato said. "We support local. I was a local. He's well trained, too." Alex has hopped along with the Warriors dance team at its practice outside nearby Chase Center in San Francisco's Mission Bay district. Kato and her fiance, Row, plan to bring him to see Stephen Curry and Golden State soon. "The bunny is welcome! If he's fast, we'll put him in the game to run the fast break!!" Warriors spokesman Raymond Ridder said. The bunny has attended a NASCAR event and is an ambassador for Lions Clubs International. Alex helped hand out 400 Easter eggs to children, brings smiles and loves to play, even giving kisses on command. He entertains the masses at farmers markets and has been tubing at Lake Tahoe and kayaking. "We actually bring him everywhere," Kato said. "He brings joy to everybody. He brings joy to us."
Jenner joins governor's race
LOS ANGELES -- Republican Caitlyn Jenner said Friday she will run for governor of California, injecting a jolt of celebrity into an emerging campaign that threatens to oust Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. Jenner -- an Olympic hero, reality TV personality and transgender rights activist -- said in statement posted on Twitter and on an accompanying website that she has filed initial paperwork to run for the post. Newsom, a first-term Democrat, is facing a likely recall election this year, though officials are still reviewing petition signatures required to qualify the proposal for the ballot. Several other Republicans have also announced plans to run.
Klipspringer antelope born
MELBOURNE, Fla. -- A baby klipspringer antelope is bonding with its mother before making a public debut at a zoo. The calf was born April 15 to mother Deborah and father Ajabu at the Brevard Zoo here. The calf weighed 27.5 ounces at birth. Officials have not yet named the calf. It is nursing and appears to be in good health. The male calf was the ninth klipspringer born at the zoo. The species of antelope typically gives birth to one calf, which will grow to between 18 and 40 pounds. They are native to rocky areas of the sub-Saharan Africa, and are known for their surefootedness.
Climber tests positive on Everest
KATHMANDU, Nepa -- The coronavirus has conquered the world's highest mountain. A Norwegian climber became the first to be tested for COVID-19 in Mount Everest base camp and was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, where he was hospitalized. Erlend Ness said in a message Friday that he tested positive on April 15. He said another test on Thursday was negative and he was now staying with a local family in Nepal. An ace mountain guide, Austrian Lukas Furtenbach, warned that the virus could spread among the hundreds of other climbers, guides and helpers who are now camped on the base of Everest if all of them are not checked immediately and safety measures are taken. Any outbreak could prematurely end the climbing season, just ahead of a window of good weather in May, he said. "We would need now most urgently mass testing in base camp, with everyone tested and every team being isolated, no contact between teams," said Furtenbach. "That needs to be done now, otherwise it is too late." Furtenbach, leading a team of 18 climbers to Mount Everest and its sister peak Mount Lhotse, said there could be more than just one case on the mountain as the Norwegian had lived with several others for weeks.
Russians start pulling back
MOSCOW -- Russian troops began pulling back to their permanent bases Friday after a massive buildup that caused Ukrainian and Western concerns. On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared the sweeping maneuvers in Crimea and wide swaths of western Russia over, and ordered the military to bring the troops that took part in them back to their permanent bases by May 1. The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that its forces that took part in the massive drills in Crimea were moving to board trains, transport aircraft and landing vessels en route to their permanent bases. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would await intelligence confirmation of the pullback. "We want to see that Russian deeds match Russian words," Kuleba ."
SpaceX launches 3rd crew
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk's rapidly expanding company. The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX's debut crew last May. They'll spend six months at the orbiting lab. It was the first time SpaceX reused a capsule and rocket to launch astronauts for NASA, after years of proving the capability on station supply runs. The rocket was used last November on the company's second astronaut flight. Embracing the trend, spacecraft commander Shane Kimbrough and his crew weeks ago wrote their initials in the rocket's soot, hoping to start a tradition.
Court cuts back FTC power
WASHINGTON -- A unanimous Supreme Court on Thursday cut back the Federal Trade Commission's authority to recover ill-gotten gains, overturning a nearly $1.3 billion award against a professional race car driver who was convicted of cheating consumers through his payday loan businesses. The high court's ruling takes away what the FTC has called "one of its most important and effective enforcement tools," used in recouping billions of dollars over the past decade. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in his opinion for the court that the provision of federal law that the FTC has relied on does not authorize the commission to seek or a federal court to order restitution or disgorgement of profits.But Breyer noted that other parts of the Federal Trade Commission Act could be used to obtain restitution for consumers who have been cheated. "If the Commission believes that authority too cumbersome or otherwise inadequate, it is, of course, free to ask Congress to grant it further remedial authority. Indeed, the Commission has recently asked Congress for that very authority." The acting FTC chairwoman, Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, issued a scathing statement in response to the decision. Slaughter said the court "ruled in favor of scam artists and dishonest corporations, leaving average Americans to pay for illegal behavior. With this ruling, the Court has deprived the FTC of the strongest tool we had to help consumers when they need it most." She called on Congress "to act swiftly to restore and strengthen the powers of the agency so we can make wronged consumers whole." The FTC accused Scott Tucker of Leawood, Kansas, of using his payday loan companies to deceive consumers across the United States and illegally charge them undisclosed and inflated fees. Tucker is a former American Le Mans Series champion who, according to prosecutors, used proceeds from the lending business to finance a professional auto racing team. In a separate criminal case, Tucker was sentenced in 2018 to 16 years in prison on fraud and other charges.
Sold bleach as Covid cure
MIAMI -- A family accused of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a coronavirus cure through their Florida-based church has been indicted on federal charges. A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Mark Grenon, 62, and his sons, Jonathan, 34, Jordan, 26, and Joseph, 32, with one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts each of criminal contempt. They face possible life sentences if convicted. Mark Grenon is the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, based in Bradenton, Florida. The church sells chlorine dioxide as a "Miracle Mineral Solution," officials said. The Grenons claim the solution can cure a vast variety of illnesses ranging from cancer to autism to malaria to COVID-19. A federal judge last April ordered the church to stop selling the substance, but the order was ignored. When ingested, the solution sold by the Grenons becomes a bleach that is typically used for such things as treating textiles, industrial water, pulp and paper, according to the FDA. Authorities said ingesting it is the same as drinking bleach and can be fatal.
Welker opens up about infertility
NEW YORK -- NBC News' Kristen Welker, shortly before she expects the birth of a daughter through a surrogate, is revealing the struggles with infertility that she and her husband, John Hughes, have gone through. Welker, NBC's chief White House correspondent, said on the "Today" show Friday that their daughter is expected in June. She shared a copy of a letter she's written to her unborn daughter, saying "I cannot wait until the moment I hold you for the very first time -- it is all I have dreamed about for years." The letter described lengthy fertility treatments and the day a doctor told them they would need a surrogate. "On that day, I cried so many tears that I didn't think they would ever stop," she wrote. "I felt as though I had let you down because I couldn't carry you myself." She wrote that she couldn't wait to share life's lessons with her. "It is OK to ask for help; in fact, it can be empowering," Welker wrote. "Families are made in all different ways, come in all different shapes and sizes, and all families should be celebrated."
Terror probe in police killing
RAMBOUILLET, France -- French prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation into the fatal stabbing Friday of a French police official inside a police station near the historic Rambouillet chateau outside Paris. Police shot and killed the attacker at the scene. Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard did not provide details on the attacker's identity or motive. French media reports identified him as a 37-year-old French resident with no criminal record or record of radicalization. A French judicial official said the suspect was born in Tunisia and that witnesses heard him say "Allahu akbar, Arabic for "God is great," during the attack. The judicial official was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about an ongoing investigation. The official killed Friday was a 49-year-old administrative employee who worked in the station for the national police service.
Bee: vocabulary, lightning round
WASHINGTON -- The Scripps National Spelling Bee is undergoing a major overhaul to ensure it can identify a single champion, adding vocabulary questions and a lightning-round tiebreaker to this year's pandemic-altered competition. The 96-year-old bee has in the past included vocabulary on written tests but never in the high-stakes oral competition rounds, where one mistake eliminates a speller. The only previous tiebreaker to determine a single champion was a short-lived extra written test that never turned out to be needed. Both new elements, however, also signal a departure from what for many observers is the core appeal of the bee: watching schoolchildren who have such mastery of roots and language patterns that they can figure out how to spell the trickiest words in the dictionary, even if they've never heard them before. The bee had co-champions from 2014-16, and the 2019 bee ended in an eight-way tie after organizers ran out of words difficult enough to challenge the top spellers, whose preparation with personal coaches and comprehensive study guides was no match for the vaunted Scripps word list. Executive director J. Michael Durnil, who started in the job this year, did not directly criticize the previous bee but said ending with one winner was a priority. "I think the spellers don't enter into our competition thinking that they're going to have to share the ultimate distinction of the spelling champion with anybody else. From a competitive standpoint, we owe it to the spellers to identify the champion of the spelling bee."
Uffizi discovers lost frescoes
MILAN -- The Uffizi Gallery in Florence used the winter COVID shutdown to push ahead with renovations, discovering lost frescoes that will greet visitors when the leading repository of Italian Renaissance art reopens on May 4. Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said the six months of closure were put to good use: renovating 14 new rooms that will open to the public next month, and discovering frescoes that would otherwise have remained hidden. The previously hidden frescoes include a life-size figure of a young Cosimo II de Medici -- part of the Renaissance family that commissioned the Uffizi -- dating from the 1600s, as well as decorative plant motifs from the 1700s on the walls and ceiling of nearby rooms.
Arsenal fans want owner out
LONDON -- Several hundred Arsenal fans protested outside Emirates Stadium before the English Premier League match against Everton on Friday to call for owner Stan Kroenke to leave the club for joining the Super League. Fans gathered on the stadium's concourse more than two hours before kickoff, banging metal screens above the main box office, lighting flares, setting off fireworks, blaring airhorns and chanting "We want Kroenke out," and "We want our Arsenal back." They also hung banners over the edge of the concourse including ones that read, "Arsenal till I die. Kroenke out," and "Our club our home. Sell up Stan." After gathering on the concourse, the fans marched down stairs to the box office and team store to continue their noisy demonstration. One fan climbed on top of the box office awning and waved banners and flags, riling up the hundreds of fans gathered in front of him and leading them in chants against Arsenal's ownership. The protest was still in full voice and could be heard inside the stadium as the teams took to the pitch to warm up and after the match kicked off as a police helicopter circled above the stadium. Officers didn't attempt to move in to break up the protest.
Frantic search for missing sub
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's navy scoured the waters off Bali on Friday, bolstered by the arrival of a sonar-equipped Australian warship with a helicopter, in an increasingly frantic search for a missing submarine with only hours left in its oxygen supply for its 53 crewmembers. The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting it may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time. The navy chief said the submarine was expected to run out of oxygen early Saturday morning. "We will maximize the effort today, until the time limit tomorrow at 3 a.m.," military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad said. There have been no signs of life from the submarine, but family members held out hope that the massive search effort would find the vessel in time.
Twenty-four Indonesian ships and a patrol plane were mobilized for the search Friday, focusing on the area where an oil slick was found after the submarine disappeared during an exercise. Rescuers made similar massive searches in the previous two days. An American reconnaissance plane was expected to join the search Saturday and a second Australian ship was due soon.
News site on 'foreign agents' list
MOSCOW -- Russia's justice ministry has placed a widely respected news website on its list of "foreign agents," a sign of increasing efforts to crack down on reporting critical of authorities. The order announced Friday affects Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian-language news site covering Russian affairs. In 2019, its investigative reporter Ivan Golunov, who focused on Moscow City Hall and the city's crime-ridden funeral industry, was arrested, reportedly beaten, and charged with drug crimes that could have put him in prison for 20 years. After a public outcry, the charges were dropped; five former police officers were later charged with trying to frame him. Russian law obliges groups or news outlets that receive foreign funding to identify their work as being done by "foreign agents," which could discredit them because of the term's pejorative connotation.