Connect with us

Published

on

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates has given Democratic incumbent Joe Biden her first ever presidential endorsement, citing his support for reproductive rights among other issues.

Gates this year left the charitable foundation she co-founded with her former husband, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with $12.5 billion for her own charity work.

She said the contrast between Biden and former President Donald Trump, his Republican rival in the Nov. 5 election, “couldn’t be greater, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.”

“Women deserve a leader who cares about the issues they face and is committed to protecting their safety, their health, their economic power, their reproductive rights, and their ability to freely and fully participate in a functioning democracy,” she wrote on social media platform X on Thursday.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated about $1.8 million in the 2020 election, most of it to Democrats.

In a CNN opinion piece on Thursday, Gates elaborated further, saying Trump’s first term in office endangered the health of women, their safety and freedom.

“And he deliberately appointed Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in a decision with far-reaching and catastrophic consequences for women and families,” her CNN piece added.

The court in 2022 overturned the 50-year-old ruling guaranteeing the right to an abortion and ushered in a string of restrictive state measures. Three justices appointed by Trump were in the 5-4 majority.

The Trump campaign had no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, the billionaire Winklevoss twins, founders of cryptocurrency company Gemini, said on Thursday they had each donated $1 million in bitcoin to support Trump, the latest crypto executives to get behind the Republican presidential candidate.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, whose crypto firm in February entered settlement agreements with US and New York state financial regulators after accusations of wrongdoing, announced the donations in posts on X.

They did not specify where the donations were sent.

Tyler Winklevoss posted that Biden’s Democratic administration had “openly declared war on crypto” and that Trump was “pro-Bitcoin, pro-crypto, and pro-business.”

Trump has presented himself as a champion for crypto, including at a San Francisco fundraiser this month with tech executives during which he slammed Democrats’ attempts to regulate the crypto sector.

The crypto industry is increasingly trying to influence US politicians as it faces heightened scrutiny from regulators, especially since bankruptcies at major crypto firms in 2022 spooked investors, exposed fraud and misconduct, and left millions of investors out of pocket.

In February, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) said Gemini would return at least $1.1 billion to customers of its beleaguered lending program due to a third partys bankruptcy and pay a fine of $37 million for unsafe and unsound practices as part of a settlement with the regulator.

Gemini also settled a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had engaged in alleged unsafe and unsound practices for $21 million in February, without admitting or denying wrongdoing in the agreement.

The Winklevoss twins shot to fame after they sued Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging he had stolen their idea for the social networking site. They agreed to a settlement in 2008 in which they received cash and Facebook stock.

The Biden administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Continue Reading

Sports

Stars rule forward Hintz out for Game 3 vs. Oilers

Published

on

By

Stars rule forward Hintz out for Game 3 vs. Oilers

EDMONTON — Dallas forward Roope Hintz has been ruled out for Game 3 of the Stars’ Western Conference finals series against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

Hintz was a game-time decision for Dallas after leaving the third period of Game 2 on Friday with an injury. The center took a slash from Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse less than four minutes into that final frame and was helped off the ice without appearing to put weight on his left leg.

Stars’ coach Pete DeBoer said on Saturday they were awaiting test results on Hintz before determining his status for Game 3. Hintz travelled with the team from Dallas and arrived at Rogers Place on Sunday without wearing a walking boot.

DeBoer still declared Hintz’s status uncertain about an hour before puck drop. Hintz took warmups with the Stars before Game 3 but left several minutes early without participating in line rushes.

Hintz has five goals and 11 points in 15 postseason games and ranked fourth on the Stars in regular-season scoring with 28 goals and 67 points in 76 games.

Continue Reading

Sports

Hurricanes: ‘Tough look’ not sticking up for Aho

Published

on

By

Hurricanes: 'Tough look' not sticking up for Aho

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Carolina Hurricanes regretted not sticking up for star center Sebastian Aho when he was mauled by Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk late in their Game 3 loss on Saturday night.

In the third period, with the Panthers cruising to a 6-2 win and a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, Tkachuk went after Aho with a series of shoves and cross-checks, eventually putting him in a headlock and bringing him down to the ice. The incident was seen as retaliation for Aho’s low hit on Florida’s Sam Reinhart that injured him in Game 2 and kept the forward out of the lineup on Saturday.

“I don’t really look at it as intent or intimidation at all. It’s just sticking up for teammates,” said Tkachuk, who was given a roughing penalty and a 10-minute misconduct. “We’re a family in there. It could happen to anybody and there’s probably 20 guys racing to be the guy to stick up for a teammate like that. That’s just how our team’s built. That’s why we’re successful. I don’t think any of us would be thrilled at that play in Game 2.”

But while Tkachuk was on top of Aho, who remained in the game, there was no chaotic response from the Hurricanes, nor any retaliation for the rest of the game. Carolina forward Taylor Hall said, in hindsight, there needed to be some reaction.

“I think what happened is that we don’t want to take penalties after the whistle, and they’re very good at goading you into them. But we have to support each other and make sure all five of us are having each other’s backs,” Hall said. “That was a tough look there, but we’ll battle for each other to no end.”

Coach Rod Brind’Amour said there needed to be a response, especially since the game was all but over on the scoreboard

“In that situation, there probably does. There’s a fine line. You don’t want to start advocating for that kind of hockey, necessarily. But with the game out of hand, yes, we have to do a better job of that with the game out of hand,” he said.

The Hurricanes face elimination on Monday night in Sunrise. They also face a 16th straight loss in the Eastern Conference finals, a streak that stretches back to 2009.

“We’re going to give our best tomorrow,” Hall said. “I think that we have a belief in our room, honestly. We’re playing for our season.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Horse trainer Clement dies from rare eye cancer

Published

on

By

Horse trainer Clement dies from rare eye cancer

Christophe Clement, who trained longshot Tonalist to victory in the 2014 Belmont Stakes and won a Breeders’ Cup race in 2021, has died. He was 59.

Clement announced his own death in a prepared statement that was posted to his stable’s X account on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, if you are reading this, it means I was unable to beat my cancer,” the post said. “As many of you know, I have been fighting an incurable disease, metastatic uveal melanoma.”

It’s a type of cancer that affects the uvea, the middle layer of the eye. It accounts for just 5% of all melanoma cases in the U.S., however, it can be aggressive and spread to other parts of the body in up to 50% of cases, according to the Melanoma Research Alliance’s website.

The Paris-born Clement has been one of the top trainers in the U.S. over the last 34 years. He learned under his father, Miguel, who was a leading trainer in France. Clement later worked for the prominent French racing family of Alec Head. In the U.S., he first worked for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

Clement went out on his own in 1991, winning with the first horse he saddled at Belmont Park in New York.

“Beyond his accomplishments as a trainer, which are many, Christophe Clement was a kind and generous man who made lasting contributions to the fabric of racing in New York,” Dave O’Rouke, president and CEO of the New York Racing Association said in a statement.

Clement had 2,576 career victories and purse earnings of over $184 million, according to Equibase.

“I am very proud that for over 30 years in this industry, we have operated every single day with the highest integrity, always putting the horses’ wellbeing first,” he wrote in his farewell message.

One of his best-known horses was Gio Ponti, winner of Eclipse Awards as champion male turf horse in 2009 and 2010. He finished second to Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

In the 2014 Belmont, Tonalist spoiled the Triple Crown bid of California Chrome, who tied for fourth. Tonalist won by a head, after not having competed in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness that year.

Steve Coburn, co-owner of California Chrome, caused controversy when he said afterward the horses that hadn’t run in the other two races took “the coward’s way out.” He later apologized and congratulated the connections of Tonalist.

Clement’s lone Breeders’ Cup victory was with Pizza Bianca, owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Clement had seven seconds and six thirds in other Cup races.

“It was Christophe’s genuine love for the horse that truly set him apart,” Eric Hamelback, CEO of the National Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said in a statement. “He was a consummate professional and a welcoming gentleman whose demeanor was always positive, gracious and upbeat.”

Clement’s statement said he would leave his stable in the hands of his son and longtime assistant, Miguel.

“As I reflect on my journey, I realize I never worked a day in my life,” Clement’s statement said. “Every morning, I woke up and did what I loved most surrounded by so much love.”

Besides his son, he is survived by wife Valerie, daughter Charlotte Clement Collins and grandson Hugo Collins.

Continue Reading

Trending