treasures of aztec
Chance of direct attack by Russia ‘remote’, says UK armed forces chief49ers QB Brock Purdy remains severely limited by injury to his throwing shoulder
NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S. but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected. Then Wednesday's targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight. Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business. As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans — more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the U.S. government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. The business run by Thompson brought in $281 billion in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $10.2 million annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company's highest-paid executives. The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at PwC and had little name recognition beyond the health care industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company's face belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before Congress. When Thompson did occasionally draw attention, it was because of his role in shaping the way Americans get health care. At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company's shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy rather than focusing on treating them once sick. “Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time. “We are cognizant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the ... family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.” Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to start denying payment for what it deemed non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms. “Patients are not medical experts and should not be expected to self-diagnose during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the chief executive of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter addressed to Thompson. “Threatening patients with a financial penalty for making the wrong decision could have a chilling effect on seeking emergency care.” United Healthcare responded by delaying rollout of the change. Thompson, who lived in a Minneapolis suburb and was the married father of two sons in high school, was set to speak at an investor meeting in a midtown New York hotel. He was on his own and about to enter the building when he was shot in the back by a masked assailant who fled on foot before pedaling an e-bike into Central Park a few blocks away, the New York Police Department said. Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators were looking at Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members. “Didn’t seem like he had any issues at all,” Kenny said. "He did not have a security detail.” AP reporters Michael R. Sisak and Steve Karnowski contributed to this report. Murphy reported from Indianapolis.49ers QB Brock Purdy remains severely limited by injury to his throwing shoulderThe gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fled New York City by bus, police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. Here's the latest: The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer may have fled the city on a bus, New York City police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. “We have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer made sure to wear a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence in view of the nation’s biggest city and its network of security cameras that have aided authorities piecing together his movements and his identity. A law enforcement official said Friday that new surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan and provided more clues about his actions in the days before he ambushed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . The gunman’s whereabouts and identity remain unknown Friday, as did the reason for Wednesday’s killing. New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack . ▶ Read more about the search for the gunman In many companies, investor meetings like the one UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was walking to when he was fatally shot are viewed as very risky because details on the location and who will be speaking are highly publicized. “It gives people an opportunity to arrive well in advance and take a look at the room, take a look at how people would probably come and go out of a location,” said Dave Komendat, president of DSKomendat Risk Management Services, which is based in the greater Seattle area. Some firms respond by beefing up security. For example, tech companies routinely require everyone attending a major event, such as Apple’s annual unveiling of the next iPhone or a shareholder meeting, to go through airport-style security checkpoints before entering. Others forgo in-person meetings with shareholders. ▶ Read more about how companies protect their leaders Those images include New York’s subway system, a law enforcement official said. In establishments where the person was captured on camera, he always appeared to pay with cash, the official said. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. — Mike Balsamo Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm that serves 1.5 million customers in 12 states, said it’s temporarily closing all six locations. The firm has offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota, and employs about 3,000 people. Employees will work from home, Medica spokesman Greg Bury said in an email Friday. “The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security both for all of our employees,” a statement from Medica said. “Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution.” Bury also said biographical information on the company’s executives was taken down from its website as a precaution. The insurer cited the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in its announcement about the Dec. 12 event. “All of us at Centene are deeply saddened by Brian Thompson’s death and want to express our support for all of those affected. Health insurance is a big industry and a small community; many members of the CenTeam crossed paths with Brian during their careers,” Centene CEO Sarah M. London said in a news release. “He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his family and his colleagues during this difficult time.” Centene Corp. has grown in recent years to become the largest insurer in Medicaid, the state- and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes. Insurers manage Medicaid coverage for states, and Centene has more than 13 million people enrolled in that coverage. The insurance company also said it’s focused on ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators. “While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place,” the company said. But he said Friday that he’s confident police will arrest the shooter. “We are on the right road to apprehend him and bring him to justice,” Adams said on TV station WPIX. Later, it removed their names and biographies entirely. Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, a law enforcement official said. Investigators were also trying to obtain additional information from a cellphone recovered from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. Experts say today’s political, economic and technological climate is only going to make the job of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them even more difficult, experts say. Some organizations have a protective intelligence group that uses digital tools such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to comb through online comments to detect threats not only on social media platforms such as X but also on the dark web, says Komendat. They look for what’s being said about the company, its employees and its leadership to uncover risks. ▶ Read more about the steps companies take to protect their leadership Police said Thursday they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush and think the suspect bought them from a Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The items were being tested by the city’s medical examiner.New footage of vehicles slamming into rail bridges in Queensland has been released amid a push to improve driver awareness. At least 386 bridges or protection beams have been hit by vehicles in the past 12 months, causing train and road delays. Police and multiple government departments are leading a blitz this week to improve awareness among drivers in high-risk areas. “Just last month we saw a car narrowly miss being crushed after a truck got wedged at Corinda – next time maybe we won’t be so lucky,” said Travis Cooper from Queensland Rail. “We’re not mincing our words – drivers, know your height, plan your route and obey the signs and rules.” Independent senator Lidia Thorpe says she has no regrets about throwing papers at One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, which got her suspended from the chamber for a day. Speaking on Nine’s program, the maverick senator walked through the press gallery joking about her “suspension badge” before speaking on the Senate fallout from yesterday. “It’s been a horrible week, and when you’re subjected to racism, which I have been since I was a kid ... I stand up against it and that’s what I did,” she said. Asked if she had any regrets, Thorpe firmly said she did not. “No, not at all,” she said. Continuing the media rounds, Thorpe dodged a question on ABC about whether she planned to come back to the Senate today despite being suspended. Children younger than 16 are all but set to be banned from social media, with federal parliament poised to enact the world-first legislation. The Senate is expected on Thursday to pass the laws that would ban young people from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok with bipartisan support. However, there has been concern that the proposal has been rushed through parliament without proper scrutiny, given that Australia would be the first country to implement such a ban. The ban would come into effect one year after the laws pass the parliament, with trials of age-verification technology still done by the federal government. Criticism had been levelled at the ban after an inquiry into the laws ran for just three hours, with people only given one day to hand in submissions and a lack of consultation with young people themselves. While the bill has enjoyed bipartisan support, several coalition members have broken ranks to raise concerns. Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to vote against the ban in the House of Representatives, while coalition senator Matt Canavan has also criticised the laws. Brisbanites wake to another cloudy day today, with the mercury forecast to hit a top of 30 degrees. There’s a higher chance of showers today than there has been this week so far, so don’t forget your umbrella. Tomorrow and the weekend look to be even wetter again. Here’s the outlook into the weekend and beyond. Stories making the rounds beyond Brisbane this morning: Bikies , and they’re not going to leave quietly. Efforts to clean up the troubled union are encountering resistance as the extent of past problems becomes clearer. Independent senator was suspended from the chamber for a day for throwing papers at Senator Pauline Hanson in fury, after the latter was accused of spreading hatred by Senator Fatima Payman. In Canberra, over environmental reform that Labor promised at the last election, circumventing his Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. It was a picture that revealed more than just Donald Trump’s inner circle. What does the president-elect’s diet consist of? Breakfast – nothing. Lunch – nothing. Dinner – a McDonald’s, KFC, pizza or a well-done steak. Twelve Diet Cokes a day, and snacking on Doritos. when Gareth Davies tried it for a week. And a man who could be the NRL season’s most important buy has revealed why he changed clubs, as Sports Reporter Nick Wright . Good morning, thanks for joining us for live news blog. It’s Thursday, November 28, and we’re expecting a partly cloudy day and a top temperature of 30 degrees. In this morning’s local headlines: After an eight-month inquiry, the Senate transport committee’s 229-page . In Olympics venue news, Dykman Consulting is working on , with the Gabba becoming the Brisbane Arena, a Suncorp Stadium upgrade and a Main Stadium at the eastern end of Victoria Park. Primary school students have added their voices to a chorus of locals , staging a protest outside Hendra State School on Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of mums, dads and bubs have turned King George Square into a parking lot for prams as they gathered to sing songs and read stories . And a sophisticated neighbourhood boozer has opened in what many would consider a relatively unknown byway between the CBD and Fortitude Valley.
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