America

Wine Enthusiast released its 50 best wine restaurants in America list where it celebrated the country’s top businesses with an emphasis on, you guessed it, great wines. Noticeably missing from the roster was a wide selection of Bay Area restaurants . Ironically, the annual award included Little Saint in Healdsburg as the only restaurant located in Wine Country. The other Bay Area restaurants included were San Francisco favorites Flour+Water and Nari . “With much of the food coming from the owners’ farms, this new, plant-forward restaurant/bar, market and shop from the SingleThread team has quickly become a focal point in the Sonoma wine and food community,” the magazine wrote about Little Saint. “The wine program shares the ‘farm-forward’ ethos. It highlights bottles with low environmental impact, from farming to packaging, as well as female and BIPOC winemakers.” Wine Enthusiast praised Flour+Water wine director Sam Bogue for his curated list of 80 wines that … [Read more...] about Only 3 Bay Area restaurants named in Wine Enthusiast’s 50 best wine restaurants in America list

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 17 CLEVELAND (AP) — In a world increasingly troubled by the persistent harm that plastic — manufactured in petrochemical plants — has had on the environment, companies are investing billions of dollars to ramp up production of plastics made from natural, renewable materials that can be safely composted or can biodegrade under the right conditions. Bioplastics have long been used in medical applications. The stitches you got after cutting your hand slicing onions were likely made of a bioplastic thread that harmlessly dissolved into your body. But the nascent bioplastics industry envisions a far bigger role for materials made from corn, sugar, vegetable oils and other renewable materials in the hope of grabbing a larger share of a nearly $600 billion global plastic market. Since large-scale … [Read more...] about Billions pour into bioplastics as markets begin ramping up

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden formally welcomed Finland and Sweden joining the NATO alliance Tuesday as he signed the instruments of ratification that delivered the U.S.'s formal backing of the Nordic nations entering the mutual defense pact, part of a reshaping of the European security posture after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. “In seeking to join NATO, Finland and Sweden are making a sacred commitment that an attack against one is an attack against all," Biden said at the signing as he called the partnership the “indispensable alliance.” The U.S. became the 23rd ally to approve NATO membership for the two countries. Biden said he spoke with the heads of both nations before signing the ratification and urged the remaining NATO members to finish their own ratification process “as quickly as possible.” The Senate last week approved the two, … [Read more...] about Biden formalizes US support for Finland, Sweden joining NATO

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former Twitter employee has been convicted of failing to register as an agent for Saudi Arabia and other charges after accessing private data on users critical of the kingdom’s government in a spy case that spanned from Silicon Valley to the Middle East. Ahmad Abouammo, a U.S. citizen and former media partnership manager for Twitter’s Middle East region, was charged in 2019 with acting as an agent of Saudi Arabia without registering with the U.S. government. A jury found him guilty on six counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The jury acquitted him on another five charges involving wire fraud. The case marked the first time the kingdom, long linked to the U.S. through its massive oil reserves and regional security arrangements, has been accused of spying in America. A 2019 FBI complaint alleged that Abouammo and Saudi citizen Ali Alzabarah, who worked as an engineer at Twitter, used their positions to access … [Read more...] about Former Twitter worker convicted of spying for Saudi Arabia

Reuters reported Monday that Democrat lawmakers have stalled a $100-million sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Brazil over worries about Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s “Trump-like questioning of voting integrity ahead of Brazil’s Oct. 2 election.” Meanwhile, the Biden administration last week cleared a $3 billion Patriot missile sale to Saudi Arabia — the nation President Joe Biden vowed to make into an outlawed and shunned international “pariah” during his 2020 campaign. According to Reuters, the sale of about 220 Javelin missiles was negotiated in the last year of the Trump administration and approved by the Biden State Department late last year. The deal, which has not been revealed to the public, was then “slow-walked” by congressional Democrats to “send a message to Bolsonaro and his military.” The Javelin missile is a very hot defense product at the moment, after performing extremely well against Russian armor on the battlefields of Ukraine. One … [Read more...] about Report: Democrats Block Arms Sales to Bolsonaro’s Brazil, Greenlight Sales to Saudi Arabia

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — The four people killed in a weekend golf cart collision in Texas were a grandfather, two of his grandchildren and a niece who were visiting Galveston for a quick vacation before school began, police said. The crash happened Saturday after a driver accused of being intoxicated ran a stop sign and crashed into a pickup truck, which then hit the golf cart that was carrying six people. Police on Monday identified the four killed as Felipe Bentancur, 49; his niece, Destiny Uvalle, 25; and two grandchildren, Kaisyn Bentancur, 4; and Brailyn Cantu, 14. All four were from Rosenberg, a Texas city about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Houston, police said. Two others on the golf cart were critically injured, authorities said. The driver of the SUV, Miguel Espinoza, 45, has been charged with four counts of intoxication manslaughter. He remained jailed Tuesday on $400,000 bond, and it wasn't clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. … [Read more...] about Grandfather, grandkids among 4 dead in Texas golf cart crash