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Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
Onslow County Sheriff's Office reminds drivers of ‘Click it or Ticket' initiative
ONSLOW COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) — The Onslow County Sheriff's Office announced that their 'Click it or Ticket' initiative will be in full swing this weekend. The sheriff's office said that their deputies will be out 'in force' to help drivers and pedestrians remain safe throughout the busy holiday weekend. They listed a few things that drivers can do to remain safe on the roads like making sure to buckle up, never drive under the influence and obey the speed limits posted. Stay safe! Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In U.S. retreat from global media, Arab language network is latest casualty
The message was contrite but direct. 'I'm heartbroken. If you're receiving this letter, I'm letting you go — effective immediately.' The email came from Jeffrey Gedmin, head of Middle East Broadcasting Networks,or MBN, the nonprofit overseeing the U.S.-government-funded, Arab-language news channel Alhurra. It was April 12, and the email in the inbox of 500 of Alhurra's employees was another move by the Trump administration and its Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to shut down U.S.-funded media initiatives abroad. Alhurra, which received around $112 million in 2024 from Congress, joined other state-supported outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which had their funding frozen. Done in DOGE's chainsaw-signature style, the cuts have disrupted the lives of journalists both in Alhurra's Middle Eastern bureaus and its Virginia headquarters, leaving them with no severance or compensation. Dozens who had permits to work in the U.S. are unsure if they can remain in America. When news about Alhurra filtered out — along with talk that even MBN might shut down — many observers saw it as an own goal, a misguided rollback of U.S. soft power in the Middle East. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which is helping MBN with legal representation to restore its funding, called the cutbacks "a betrayal of the U.S.'s historical commitment to press freedom." In a statement, Gedmin said, 'Media in the Middle East thrive on a diet of anti-Americanism. It makes no sense to kill MBN as a sensible alternative and open the field to American adversaries and Islamic extremists.' But interviews with critics — including many from Alhurra and MBN's own ranks — reveal a more complicated story. Though many insist they believe in MBN's mission to bring a pro-American perspective to the region, few mourn it in its current form. Others say Alhurra withered under an unclear mandate that never allowed the channel to find its identity and therefore audiences. Some even agreed with Kari Lake, the pugnacious advisor Trump appointed to oversee the Agency for Global Media, which provides funding for news programming abroad. Lake recently described her new workplace as 'irretrievably broken,' where 'waste, fraud and abuse run rampant.' 'It was a relief to me when the grant was canceled because I didn't want my taxes, as little as they are, contributing to somebody's six-figure income that sucks in their work,' said a former employee who was involved in reviewing MBN's finances and who left last May. 'We didn't have to scratch very deep. We were finding things that were very disturbing." Like many interviewed for this article, the former employee refused to have his name used to avoid reprisals. He accused MBN management of entering into needless, multimillion-dollar expansions of bureaus that went wildly over budget, all amid a culture of cronyism that often left the wrong people in place for too long. The April firings continued a downsizing that began in September, when Congress mandated a $20-million cut to MBN's budget, forcing management to fire 160 employees and merge Alhurra with its Iraq-focused satellite news channel, Alhurra Iraq. In March, though Congress had approved MBN's budget through the end of the 2025 fiscal year, Lake blocked the disbursement to MBN a few hours later. 'I'm left to conclude that she is deliberately starving us of the money we need to pay you, our dedicated and hard-working staff,' he said in the email. Along with Alhurra, MBN supports other news outlets. Rather than shut down and declare bankruptcy, Gedmin decided to keep Alhurra on-air with a truncated schedule — mostly broadcasting evergreen content and reruns — and a skeleton staff of 30 to 50 people. It was a gamble, Gedmin said in an interview this week, that would 'buy time for the courts.' 'If we win this in court and eventually have funding, we would pay some severance and restore some staff,' Gedmin said. Read more: Trump signs executive order directing federal funding cuts to PBS and NPR Susan Baumel, a former interview producer at MBN, said in an article published on the National Press Club website last month she and her colleagues were fired before the courts decided if the Trump administration acted legally, unlike staff at other U.S.-funded outlets which were put on leave. (On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the administration to release $12 million it had cut from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The administration, he ruled, could not unilaterally revoke funding approved by Congress.) An email sent in March from a former employee in the finance department to top management which was reviewed by The Times said MBN had $8 million in its accounts, including $4.7 million that could have been used to cover unused annual leave and partial severance. The employee also wonders why some bureaus continued to operate despite loss of funding. By April, according to a WhatsApp conservation between former employees reviewed by The Times, the balance had fallen to $4.2 million. MBN leadership, including Gedmin and the MBN board chair, former Ambassador Ryan Crocker, insist the networks will pay annual leave and end-of-service to all employees terminated last month. Many of those laid off resent the decision to continue broadcasting, saying Gedmin knew Lake was unwilling to deal with current management, and that he and his colleagues should have stepped down weeks earlier. 'I consider that the money they used to continue [operating] was supposed to be for us, and we were neglected and our professional life destroyed so they could keep on broadcasting,' said one correspondent who worked in the Beirut bureau for six years. 'We weren't given a safe exit, to have one or two months to search for a new job. We were thrown out on the street — that's how I see it.' Another correspondent who worked with Alhurra Iraq since 2008 characterized the firings differently. MBN managers "basically took us as hostages so they could face the Trump administration,' he said. Meanwhile, around 40 Alhurra employees in the U.S. on work visas must leave the country before May 12. All U.S.-based staff lost healthcare benefits at the end of April. When President George W. Bush began Alhurra in 2004, he said it would "cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda" and act as a counterweight to what U.S. officials considered the pernicious coverage of Al Jazeera. But launched one year after the disastrous invasion of Iraq, it faced an uphill battle. "It was tainted, in the first place, as the mouthpiece of the American administration, placed before audiences that are already skeptical of political affiliations of any media,' said Zahera Harb, an expert on Arab media at City University in London. 'The idea you can win hearts and minds through propaganda and information by telling people how good the U.S. is — it was never going to work,' said Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland professor and an Arab polling data expert. 'It was not a main source of news," said Telhami, who served on a Bush-era commission evaluating Alhurra's performance. "Our research showed that less than 2% of people watched it. And that's probably charitable.' MBN claims Alhurra and its other outlets reach a combined 33.5 million people per week, but a 2023 study from the University of San Diego's Center for Public Diplomacy found that it never exceeded 27 million weekly views for the last decade. The same study found Alhurra's share of adult Arab audiences shrank by half, from 17% in 2005 to 8.8% in 2022. At the same time, complaints of corruption have long dogged the network. A 2009 ProPublica investigation found much of the hiring based on cronyism and office politics rather than on qualifications — a scenario all former employees interviewed for this article say still persists. Alhurra is subject to the same forces afflicting all TV networks, with audiences increasingly finding their news on TikTok and YouTube. But even during big news events, including the war in Gaza, Alhurra live broadcasts never managed more than 167 viewers, said one former employee in the Dubai bureau. 'And 100 of those screens are people inside our studios. So who is really watching you, 20, 25 people?' she said. 'And that's probably the censors.' Read more: Between censorship and chaos: Syrian artists wary of new regime Gedmin, who became interim head of MBN last April and took the reins in October, acknowledges MBN's defects, but said he believed the networks were on the path to a turnaround before Lake's intervention. None of the former employees interviewed had faith MBN's current leadership could improve. Others question the very premise of a government-funded channel being independent. James O'Shea, who served as chairman of MBN's board between 2022 until 2024, said, "One of the things I walked away with is I don't know if you can do this with government.' O'Shea, a former editor of The Times, remembered how at one news meeting, Alhurra journalists were chastised for talking to Hamas representatives, because such interviews drew the ire of congressional officials. 'You can't ignore a major part of the story. Alhurra was set up to be independent, but it wasn't,' he said. He added that the 'tragedy' of Alhurra was that 'an Arabic-language news operation, with an objective, journalistic voice is really needed in the region.' "The best thing you can do is promote the American kind of journalism: Not controlled by any government, and which adheres to the principles of the 1st Amendment." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
In U.S. retreat from global media, Arab language network is latest casualty
AMMAN, Jordan — The message was contrite but direct. 'I'm heartbroken. If you're receiving this letter, I'm letting you go — effective immediately.' The email came from Jeffrey Gedmin, head of Middle East Broadcasting Networks,or MBN, the nonprofit overseeing the U.S.-government-funded, Arab-language news channel Alhurra. It was April 12, and the email in the inbox of 500 of Alhurra's employees was another move by the Trump administration and its Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to shut down U.S.-funded media initiatives abroad. Alhurra, which received around $112 million in 2024 from Congress, joined other state-supported outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which had their funding frozen. Done in DOGE's chainsaw-signature style, the cuts have disrupted the lives of journalists both in Alhurra's Middle Eastern bureaus and its Virginia headquarters, leaving them with no severance or compensation. Dozens who had permits to work in the U.S. are unsure if they can remain in America. When news about Alhurra filtered out — along with talk that even MBN might shut down — many observers saw it as an own goal, a misguided rollback of U.S. soft power in the Middle East. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which is helping MBN with legal representation to restore its funding, called the cutbacks 'a betrayal of the U.S.'s historical commitment to press freedom.' In a statement, Gedmin said, 'Media in the Middle East thrive on a diet of anti-Americanism. It makes no sense to kill MBN as a sensible alternative and open the field to American adversaries and Islamic extremists.' But interviews with critics — including many from Alhurra and MBN's own ranks — reveal a more complicated story. Though many insist they believe in MBN's mission to bring a pro-American perspective to the region, few mourn it in its current form. Others say Alhurra withered under an unclear mandate that never allowed the channel to find its identity and therefore audiences. Some even agreed with Kari Lake, the pugnacious advisor Trump appointed to oversee the Agency for Global Media, which provides funding for news programming abroad. Lake recently described her new workplace as 'irretrievably broken,' where 'waste, fraud and abuse run rampant.' 'It was a relief to me when the grant was canceled because I didn't want my taxes, as little as they are, contributing to somebody's six-figure income that sucks in their work,' said a former employee who was involved in reviewing MBN's finances and who left last May. 'We didn't have to scratch very deep. We were finding things that were very disturbing.' Like many interviewed for this article, the former employee refused to have his name used to avoid reprisals. He accused MBN management of entering into needless, multimillion-dollar expansions of bureaus that went wildly over budget, all amid a culture of cronyism that often left the wrong people in place for too long. The April firings continued a downsizing that began in September, when Congress mandated a $20-million cut to MBN's budget, forcing management to fire 160 employees and merge Alhurra with its Iraq-focused satellite news channel, Alhurra Iraq. In March, though Congress had approved MBN's budget through the end of the 2025 fiscal year, Lake blocked the disbursement to MBN a few hours later. 'I'm left to conclude that she is deliberately starving us of the money we need to pay you, our dedicated and hard-working staff,' he said in the email. Along with Alhurra, MBN supports other news outlets. Rather than shut down and declare bankruptcy, Gedmin decided to keep Alhurra on-air with a truncated schedule — mostly broadcasting evergreen content and reruns — and a skeleton staff of 30 to 50 people. It was a gamble, Gedmin said in an interview this week, that would 'buy time for the courts.' 'If we win this in court and eventually have funding, we would pay some severance and restore some staff,' Gedmin said. Susan Baumel, a former interview producer at MBN, said in an article published on the National Press Club website last month she and her colleagues were fired before the courts decided if the Trump administration acted legally, unlike staff at other U.S.-funded outlets which were put on leave. (On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the administration to release $12 million it had cut from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The administration, he ruled, could not unilaterally revoke funding approved by Congress.) An email sent in March from a former employee in the finance department to top management which was reviewed by The Times said MBN had $8 million in its accounts, including $4.7 million that could have been used to cover unused annual leave and partial severance. The employee also wonders why some bureaus continued to operate despite loss of funding. By April, according to a WhatsApp conservation between former employees reviewed by The Times, the balance had fallen to $4.2 million. MBN leadership, including Gedmin and the MBN board chair, former Ambassador Ryan Crocker, insist the networks will pay annual leave and end-of-service to all employees terminated last month. Many of those laid off resent the decision to continue broadcasting, saying Gedmin knew Lake was unwilling to deal with current management, and that he and his colleagues should have stepped down weeks earlier. 'I consider that the money they used to continue [operating] was supposed to be for us, and we were neglected and our professional life destroyed so they could keep on broadcasting,' said one correspondent who worked in the Beirut bureau for six years. 'We weren't given a safe exit, to have one or two months to search for a new job. We were thrown out on the street — that's how I see it.' Another correspondent who worked with Alhurra Iraq since 2008 characterized the firings differently. MBN managers 'basically took us as hostages so they could face the Trump administration,' he said. Meanwhile, around 40 Alhurra employees in the U.S. on work visas must leave the country before May 12. All U.S.-based staff lost healthcare benefits at the end of April. When President George W. Bush began Alhurra in 2004, he said it would 'cut through the barriers of hateful propaganda' and act as a counterweight to what U.S. officials considered the pernicious coverage of Al Jazeera. But launched one year after the disastrous invasion of Iraq, it faced an uphill battle. 'It was tainted, in the first place, as the mouthpiece of the American administration, placed before audiences that are already skeptical of political affiliations of any media,' said Zahera Harb, an expert on Arab media at City University in London. 'The idea you can win hearts and minds through propaganda and information by telling people how good the U.S. is — it was never going to work,' said Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland professor and an Arab polling data expert. 'It was not a main source of news,' said Telhami, who served on a Bush-era commission evaluating Alhurra's performance. 'Our research showed that less than 2% of people watched it. And that's probably charitable.' MBN claims Alhurra and its other outlets reach a combined 33.5 million people per week, but a 2023 study from the University of San Diego's Center for Public Diplomacy found that it never exceeded 27 million weekly views for the last decade. The same study found Alhurra's share of adult Arab audiences shrank by half, from 17% in 2005 to 8.8% in 2022. At the same time, complaints of corruption have long dogged the network. A 2009 ProPublica investigation found much of the hiring based on cronyism and office politics rather than on qualifications — a scenario all former employees interviewed for this article say still persists. Alhurra is subject to the same forces afflicting all TV networks, with audiences increasingly finding their news on TikTok and YouTube. But even during big news events, including the war in Gaza, Alhurra live broadcasts never managed more than 167 viewers, said one former employee in the Dubai bureau. 'And 100 of those screens are people inside our studios. So who is really watching you, 20, 25 people?' she said. 'And that's probably the censors.' Gedmin, who became interim head of MBN last April and took the reins in October, acknowledges MBN's defects, but said he believed the networks were on the path to a turnaround before Lake's intervention. None of the former employees interviewed had faith MBN's current leadership could improve. Others question the very premise of a government-funded channel being independent. James O'Shea, who served as chairman of MBN's board between 2022 until 2024, said, 'One of the things I walked away with is I don't know if you can do this with government.' O'Shea, a former editor of The Times, remembered how at one news meeting, Alhurra journalists were chastised for talking to Hamas representatives, because such interviews drew the ire of congressional officials. 'You can't ignore a major part of the story. Alhurra was set up to be independent, but it wasn't,' he said. He added that the 'tragedy' of Alhurra was that 'an Arabic-language news operation, with an objective, journalistic voice is really needed in the region.' 'The best thing you can do is promote the American kind of journalism: Not controlled by any government, and which adheres to the principles of the 1st Amendment.'
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hawaii is ranked low for emergency readiness
JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Evacuees are directed inside the Hawai 'i Convention Center in advance of Hurricane Douglas. JAMM AQUINO / 2020 Evacuees are directed inside the Hawai 'i Convention Center in advance of Hurricane Douglas. Is Hawaii ready for the next public health emergency or disaster ? Hawaii is not as ready as it could be, according to the Trust for America's Health, which ranked the state among 13 low-performance states in its ' report. The Washington, D.C.-based think tank evaluated each state, using 10 key indicators ranging from public health funding to workforce mobility. On one hand, Hawaii got high marks for a higher-than-average flu vaccination rate, safe municipal water systems and low avoidable mortality. Hawaii is also among the 14 states that increased public health funding in 2024, and has a laboratory surge capacity plan in place. On the other hand, Hawaii got low marks for not being accredited for its public health and emergency management programs and its low hospital patient safety ratings. Hawaii is also not part of the, which enables nurses to practice across state lines. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. According to the trust, public health emergencies in the U.S.—from measles outbreaks to wildfires and extreme heat—demonstrate the need for consistent investment in public health infrastructure and workforce, and programs that support health in every community. The report noted that 2024 began 'with the continued aftermath of the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, which necessitated multiple renewals of public health emergency declarations due to ongoing health risks, infrastructure challenges, and the prolonged recovery process.' 'These wildfires, ' the report said, 'highlighted the critical need for appropriate environmental health strategies and long-term support for disaster-stricken communities.' The rest of the year was packed with powerful hurricanes that devastated multiple states. The H5N1 bird flu, meanwhile, poses a looming threat as it continues to spread through livestock, poultry and wild birds. A special section on bird flu includes recommendations from public health experts on steps the U.S. should take to prevent it from evolving into the next pandemic. Hawaii's low ranking Hawaii has consistently ranked low in the annual 'Ready or Not ' reports since at least 2020, according to Matt McKillop, senior health policy research and analyst at the trust. 'Certainly, there were areas where Hawaii stacked up very well against other states, ' said McKillop. 'I think what contributed to its placement in the low tier, which is consistent with last year, really had to do with a few of the indicators.' One of these is accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board and the Emergency Management Accreditation Program. Hawaii is one of six states that has neither accreditation. 'Most states have been accredited in one or the other or both, which helps them strengthen emergency readiness, ' said McKillop. 'It means they have well-defined processes in place, along with robust monitoring and evaluation systems.' Having these accreditation means state agencies have systems in place for emergency response, disease surveillance and risk communication, for instance, and effective coordination across sectors. 'These capabilities can mean the difference, often, between life and death during outbreaks or disasters, ' he said. Additionally, only 8 % of Hawaii hospitals received an 'A ' safety grade from Leapfrog in the fall of 2024, he said, lower than the national average of 27 %. Hawaii fared better in 2024, with 25 % of hospitals receiving an 'A.' Leapfrog, which has faced some criticism for its methodology, measures patient safety data, errors and infections. Not having an 'A ' grade does not mean hospitals in the state are not safe, he said, but indicates there are opportunities for improvement. Every state, regardless of ranking, has room for improvement, said McKillop, acknowledging that Hawaii did handle the COVID-19 pandemic emergency well, with the in 2023. States in the low tier just have more room for improvement, he said, and the intention of the study is to provide benchmarks to show where gaps exist. Dr. Kenneth Fink, state health director, responded in writing that it is actively pursuing alignment with PHAB as a step toward accreditation. 'While we continue to protect and promote the health of the public while responding to public health crises, federal funding rescissions, and a 29 % staff vacancy rate, ' he said, 'we agree with the importance of performance assessment.' Fink wrote that the department was pleased with Hawaii's top performances in some areas. 'The report showed why Hawaii remains one of the healthiest states in the nation, ' he said. 'The report also showed that Hawaii performed better than most states in distributing prevention and treatment opportunities more evenly among racial /ethnic lines, a key indicator of equity in public health and healthcare.' Such systems are likely to be more resilient in times of public health emergencies, the report noted, and capable of protecting all populations effectively. The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency did not respond to requests for comment by press time, including whether it is pursuing EMAP accreditation. Licensure compact Another reason for Hawaii's low rating is its absence from the nurse licensure compact, which allows registered and practical nurses with a single, multistate license to practice in any member state. As of January, 41 states have joined this compact, which gives states the ability to swiftly mobilize health care workers without cumbersome licensure delays. In 2024 the Hawaii State Center for Nursing and a working group presented to the state Legislature a detailed nearly 200 pages long on the feasibility and impact of adopting the compact. A survey in the report indicated a majority of nurses, 81 %, agreed or strongly agreed Hawaii should become a member of the compact. The Healthcare Association of Hawaii, a nonprofit trade group, also supports joining the compact, which requires a change to state law, according to President and CEO Hilton Raethel. 'One of the primary reasons for a licensure compact is to be able to bring nurses into the state on an as-needed basis if we need to in the event of a disaster or emergency, ' said Raethel, 'without having to rely on an emergency proclamation.' During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency proclamations helped waive licensing requirements so out-of-state nurses could fill in at overflowing hospitals. Following the 2023 Maui wildfires, Gov. Josh Green signed more emergency proclamations, including a waiver of state licenses for doctors, nurses and other health care workers to ease shortages while recovering from the disaster. But emergency proclamations generally expire in 60 days and constantly need to be renewed. Even now a is still in place, effective until June 3. Some concerns about the compact include a potential exodus of Hawaii nurses who could more readily leave the state, but Raethel says nurses who want to move can and already are doing so. There is no bill at this legislative session addressing the issue this year, but Rae thel said HAH will continue to advocate for Hawaii's membership in the compact. Looking ahead The Trust for America's Health, which is a nonprofit and nonpartisan group, warns that stable, sufficient funding for public health is more important than ever and that the report is a call to action for states to prepare for emergencies ahead of time. 'The only way to stay ahead of outbreaks is to shore up prevention, detection, and response capacities across the country, ' said the report, which has been published annually for 22 years. The trust is concerned about federal cuts and reorganizations, said McKillop, just as the U.S. faces a measles outbreak, severe weather disasters and a portentous battle against bird flu. It calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue funding states—about 80 % of its domestic budget—for public health preparedness, along with its national immunization program and other initiatives. It also calls for Congress to reauthorize the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. 'We know that public health systems in every state depend on CDC funding and expertise, ' said McKillop. To address avian influenza, the trust said the U.S. must 'act decisively to prevent it from evolving into a new pandemic.' Though the CDC says the current risk to the public is low, the viruses can evolve to become more transmissible between humans. McKillop said the group is seeing similarities to some of the early challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the inadequate testing, tracking and monitoring of the virus' spread. 'It's a great mistake to be weakening our public health infrastructure at this time, ' he said, 'because we know these cuts mean slower outbreak response, fewer vaccinations, reduced support for mental health, overdose prevention and food safety.' The disruptive changes risk undoing years of progress in building more resilient, equitable health systems, he said. 'We have urged the administration to pause, reassess and work with experts to strengthen rather than dismantle our health protection systems, ' he said. HAWAII'S 'READY OR NOT' RANKING Low-performance tier (13 states ) Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virgina, Wyoming Middle-performance tier (16 states ) Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas High-performance tier (21 states and D.C.) Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virgina, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin How Hawaii did based on 10 indicators 1. Participation in the nurse licensure compact for workforce mobility : Hawaii is not part of compact. 2. Accreditation for public health : Hawaii not accredited. 3. Accreditation for emergency management : Hawaii not accredited. 4. State public health funding : Hawaii increased funding. 5. Water safety : 0 % in Hawaii served by municipal system in violation of health standards. 6. Paid time off use : Hawaii at 57 %, above national average of 55 %. 7. Influenza vaccination rates : Hawaii at 51 %, above national rate of 47 %. 8. Hospital patient safety : Leapfrog : 8 % of Hawaii hospitals got an A rating, compared with 27 % nationally. 9. Laboratory surge capacity : Hawaii has surge plan in place. 10. Avoidable mortality : Hawaii ranked third in avoidable mortality and first for equity. Source : Trust for America's Health 'Ready or Not : Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism '
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Cleese says he's without a house or a car following multiple divorces
John Cleese has admitted that he is without a house or a car following multiple divorces and recently gave a flat to his current partner to 'make her feel secure'. The Monty Python star was married to psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger for 16 years before their split in 2008. In their divorce, Eichelberger received a £20m settlement resulting in Cleese travelling the world with 'The Alimony Tour' to earn back some of his net worth. It was not the first time Cleese turned to the stage to pay his alimony. He previously took his 'A Ludicrous Evening with John Cleese ... or How to Finance Your Divorce' tour to Scandinavia. He said at the time that he was unhappy at being forced to go back to work. Cleese has now been married four times, having also been wed to Connie Booth between 1968 and 1978, and to Barbra Trentham between 1981 and 1990. The Life of Brian actor married Jennifer Wade, a 53-year-old jewellery designer, in 2012. Speaking to The Times, Cleese opened up on how the divorces have impacted him financially: 'The third wife got two properties, one was in London and one was in New York, and we had to sell the other three. I've actually given the flat behind Peter Jones to Jennifer, so I don't have a house, I don't have a car,' said the 85-year-old comedian. Explaining the decision to give the flat in Chelsea to his fourth wife Cleese added: 'I [did it] to make her feel secure. I think the greatest, saddest thing about our world is how many women feel unsafe, that's not a good society. When asked to explain what he meant, Cleese replied: 'Emotionally, they [women] don't feel very secure. And I think if they have a property, they know that I can't kick her out … it's taken anxiety away from her that I think she wasn't totally aware of.' This is not the first time that Cleese has shared his situation following his divorce from Eichelberger. Talking about his third wife in 2024, Cleese told Saga: 'Can you believe when I met her, I had a beautiful house in Holland Park and no mortgage and when I broke up with her, I had a flat in Sloane Square and a full mortgage? How they figured out she was worth $20m, I have no idea.' In the same interview, Cleese also touched on the decision to give the flat to Wade, noting that it made 'a huge difference' to her, 'but I'm surprisingly poor,' he said. 'I never thought it was necessary to own a great deal. The most important thing is to have enough money to have some really good food, buy clothes twice a year and have nice holidays.'
