Friday, November 15, 2024

It is Friday, November 15, 2024. Here are today’s top stories.

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Humans wearing bear suits accused of insurance fraud

AP News said four people in Los Angeles were arrested and accused of defrauding insurance companies by wearing bear costumes to make it seem like a bear damaged luxury vehicles to get insurance money.

The four allegedly created videos showing a bear damaging a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes vehicles and showed it to insurance companies. The insurance companies suspected that the “bear” was actually a human in a bear costume and informed police.

An investigation found that other insurance companies received similar claims for damage during the same time frame and at the same location.

Detectives issued a search warrant for the suspects’ home and found a bear costume.

https://apnews.com/article/bear-costume-insurance-fraud-vehicles-california-791f330b81d0ef627caf1b00a6daf69f

https://fox59.com/news/national-world/bear-that-attacked-luxury-car-was-actually-man-in-costume-insurance-investigators-say/

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Trump picks Kennedy Jr. as health secretary

President-elect Donald Trump said he’s going to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Kennedy is an anti-vaccine activist and he would be leading a department that oversees vaccines.

Kennedy said he would study vaccine safety and efficacy but did promise to not take vaccines away from anyone.

The current director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Cohen, said she is concerned because vaccines do work and without them, children or adults may become sick or die.

For example, measles is a very contagious disease that could cause serious symptoms or death in children. But it is easily preventable with vaccines.

Other than vaccines, Kennedy is known for his outspoken criticism against processed foods, large commercial farms and animal feeding operations, and the pharmaceutical industry. So he’s probably going to shake things up in the department.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-rfk-hhs-health-kennedy-f40ee2398e3a280c1586eecdd80bdf7c

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/robert-f-kennedy-donald-trump-hhs/index.html

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Diplomats working on ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel

NBC News said the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal to halt fighting between Hezbollah and Israel to Lebanon’s parliament speaker.

The proposal says Israeli forces will withdraw from

Lebanon if Hezbollah fighters withdraw from southern Lebanon to an area about 20 miles further north.

NBC said it would be difficult to reach a deal. Months of efforts on a deal have failed so far.

The Israeli military has continued to conduct strikes on southern Lebanon and in its capital city of Beirut.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/lebanese-cease-fire-efforts-inch-ahead-israel-keeps-fierce-bombardment-rcna180295

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Cop rescues man who drove car into pool

A police officer in Phoenix rescued a man who drove his car into a pool by smashing the car’s sunroof to pull out the man from the water. Check out this video.

[Video] Credit: CBS / Phoenix Police

The driver said he accidentally stepped on the gas pedal too hard and ended up in an apartment swimming pool. The man was hospitalized but it appears that he will be okay.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/phoenix-pool-rescue-video/

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Advance Auto Parts to close 700 stores

Advance Auto Parts said it will close over 700 locations in the U.S. in the next few years due to financial struggles. The company has not released a full list of locations that will close, but it will affect 523 corporate stores and 204 independent locations. Four distribution centers will be shut down as well. This is out of about 4,700 stores in the U.S.

https://www.mlive.com/news/2024/11/advance-auto-parts-announces-plan-to-close-over-700-locations.html

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That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light.

TOP STORIESPaul Hovan