BrightSpring Health Services, which KKR bought in 2019, says it helps thousands of people with disabilities “live their best lives.” But a BuzzFeed News investigation found conditions that were often dire, and in some cases fatal. Over five decades, the private equity giant KKR became famous — or infamous, depending on the observer — for a particular playbook. It acquired iconic companies such as RJR Nabisco, Duracell, and Toys R Us, loaded them up with debt, and sold them off. In 2019, KKR took on a responsibility that was very different from selling cookies or batteries: caring for thousands of people with severe intellectual or developmental disabilities, some of whom cannot speak, wash, or feed themselves. With its $1.3 billion purchase of BrightSpring Health Services, one of the nation’s largest group home operators, KKR became the owner of more than 600 residential facilities serving people from California to West Virginia. Many residents have no family to look out for them. Almost all need round-the-clock care. They all depend on the company to keep them safe. Touting its financial success and BrightSpring’s mission to “help people live their best lives,” KKR has announced plans to take the company public. That development could yield windfall returns for investors and executives. But a yearlong BuzzFeed News investigation found that KKR focused on expanding the business even as a crisis mounted in its group home division, where conditions grew so dire that nurses and caretakers quit in droves, a state prohibited the company from accepting new residents, and some of the most vulnerable people in its care suffered and died.

The controversial rap-rave group Die Antwoord is facing serious allegations of child abuse and exploitation by their adopted son, Tokkie du Preez, who has broken his silence after 12 years.

Donziger won a $9.5 billion dollar judgment against Chevron for environmental crimes and genocide in Ecuador, but the judgment was rejected in the United States by a pair of Federalist Society psycho judges who let Chevron charge him with horseshit crimes https://t.co/c663i8OQ4f

Director Robert Eggers on how he shot his climactic lava fight — and why he had to add CG testicles

A mother in Louisiana is struggling to pay her bills and decides to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, better known as food stamps. She starts to fill out the state’s 26-page, 8,350-word application. Page one instructs her to distinguish between SNAP and two other programs, the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program and the Kinship Care Subsidy Program, providing a schematic on what to fill out depending on which she wants to apply for. Page three lets her know that she needs to collect paperwork or data in up to 13 different categories—pharmacy printouts from the past three months, four pay stubs, baptismal certificates, proof of who lives in the home. Page six includes details on drug court and “alternatives to abortion”; page seven outlines the penalties if she misuses her benefits by, for example, spending them on a cruise ship or at a psychic. Page 15 asks her to detail her income from 24 different sources; page 16 asks about 14 different housing expenses; page 19 asks about 10 types of assets members of her family might own. The process is invasive, time-consuming, and confusing. She might never finish the application. If she does, she could be rejected for doing the paperwork wrong. For the past decade, the San Francisco–based civic-technology nonprofit Code for America has endeavored to use digital tools to make these kinds of applications easier. It has studied applicants’ experiences and advised states on how to simplify their systems. It has built tools to clear a person’s criminal record, connect them with a volunteer tax preparer, and sign them up for valuable tax credits. Now, with $100 million in new donations, CFA is planning to double in size and scope, and “unlock” $30 billion in benefits for millions of families in 15 states.

As public health emergencies end, so do emergency allotments for households receiving vital nutrition benefits.

Now I’m the elder on the subway, praying that the band of teens next to me on the platform doesn’t get in the same car.

In a viral TikTok, makeup brand Milani debunks claims that Amber Heard used their makeup to cover bruises from ex-husband Johnny Depp.

In 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt went for a swim in the ocean and never returned. While the official verdict was that he drowned, no body was ever recovered, leading to endless, enduring conspiracy theories

We are issuing a Free Keefu advisory for the Twitter and the surrounding area

Meta wants a huge cut of content sales, but NFT sales are a worry after demand collapses.

Emmanuel Macron will win France's presidential election, pollsters project, fending off a historic challenge from far-right candidate Marine Le Pen during Sunday's runoff vote.

“The problems at Parchman are severe, systemic, and exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision,” the report said.

A man set himself on fire in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday night, a court spokesperson said, while emphasizing that there was no threat to public safety. The Metropolitan Police Department identified the man as Wynn Bruce, of Boulder, Colorado. On Saturday, police said he died from his injuries.

Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed next week for a crime she says she didn't commit — one that may not have even occurred. She was convicted 14 years ago of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and a Texas jury sentenced her to death. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. But as new details have emerged about her case, a growing chorus of lawmakers, faith leaders, anti-domestic violence organizations and celebrities has called for clemency. At least one juror from the trial says the jury wasn't given the full picture — and that if he had known more, he would have never voted for the death penalty. "No court has ever considered the new evidence of Melissa Lucio's innocence," says Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project and one of Lucio's attorneys. "So first and foremost, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals could issue a stay so that the evidence of Melissa Lucio's innocence can be fully litigated in the court. And that's what we're hoping for."

Mexico's president said on Thursday that an elite unit which worked on narcotics investigations with the United States was closed last year, confirming a Reuters report, and alleging the group had been infiltrated by criminals. On Tuesday, Reuters reported Mexico had disbanded the group that for a quarter of a century worked hand-in-hand with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to tackle organized crime. read more The closure complicates U.S. efforts to help combat organized crime inside Mexico, one of the epicenters of the multi-billion dollar global narcotics trade, and makes it harder to catch and prosecute cartel leaders, security experts say. Speaking at a regular news conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the unit was shut down "over a year ago" and that cooperation with international security bodies was continuing, provided Mexico's sovereignty was respected. "That group, which was supposedly a high-level strategic group, was infiltrated (by criminals)," he said. The president said he had "put in order" Mexico's relations with the United States. Past administrations had allowed those ties to infringe on Mexico's sovereignty, he argued.

Toronto tenants are celebrating after a three-month effort that saw their landlords rescind eviction notices issued to their entire west-end apartment building. Parkdale Organize, a local tenant advocacy group, announced Tuesday landlords Neil Spiegel and Evan Johnsen had rescinded their eviction notices. Cordelia Huxtable, who has lived in her unit for seven years, said she didn't know the building was up for sale when it changed ownership in 2020. But when the new owners took over, she said she began to notice red flags. First, she said tenants were offered money to leave their units. The offer raised eyebrows amongst residents and, although they eventually collectively declined the offer, they “decided to keep an eye on the situation,” she said. In the two years since, Huxtable said building residents continued to strengthen their relationships – helping one another through the pandemic, caring for those who were sick and offering support and assistance when repairs or maintenance was needed within the building. It wasn’t until January of this year that tenants were forced to put their collective power into play again, when they said they received paperwork informing them Spiegel and Johnsen intended to terminate their leases. The tenants held demonstrations, displayed banners, communicated collectively and, in the end, were successful in their refusal to leave their homes.

VILNIUS, April 22 (Reuters) - In April 2021, Russia's financial intelligence unit met in Moscow with the regional head of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. The Russians wanted Binance to agree to hand over client data, including names and addresses, to help them fight crime, according to text messages the company official sent to a business associate. At the time, the agency, known as Rosfinmonitoring or Rosfin, was seeking to trace millions of dollars in bitcoin raised by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a person familiar with the matter said. Navalny, whose network Rosfinmonitoring added that month to a list of terrorist organisations, said the donations were used to finance efforts to expose corruption inside President Vladimir Putin's government. Binance's head of Eastern Europe and Russia, Gleb Kostarev, consented to Rosfin's request to agree to share client data, the messages showed. He told the business associate that he didn't have "much of a choice" in the matter.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It’s unknown how long a stay will hold off the execution of Richard Bernard Moore — South Carolina's first-ever inmate to be put to death by a firing squad — as his attorneys pursue legal challenges.

"I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla," Musk told Gates, per the texts.