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Toxic gas leak in South Africa has killed 16 people, including 3 children, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY (Associated Press)JOHANNESBURG (AP) — At least 16 people, including three children, were killed by a leak of a toxic nitrate gas being used by illegal miners to process gold in an informal settlement, police and local government authorities said Wednesday.Emergency services initially announced that as many as 24 people might be dead in the Angelo settlement in Boksburg, a city on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg. But police and Gauteng Province Premier Panyaza Lesufi later said the number of deaths had been confirmed as 16 after a recount of the bodies.Teams were still searching the area looking for other casualties. The bodies of the victims remained lying on the ground hours after the leak was reported as emergency services waited for forensic investigators and pathologists to arrive.“We can’t move anybody. The bodies are still where they are on the ground,” said emergency services spokesman William Ntladi.An offici...

Crime Briefs: Girl, 13, shot in Dorchester, Boston Police Department says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

A young teenage girl was shot in her ankle on the Fourth of July while walking down Bowdoin Street in Dorchester.Police responded at 7:55 a.m. Wednesday to Boston Children’s Hospital in Roxbury, where a girl who was shot the night before in Dorchester was being treated.The girl told officers that she was walking in the 200-block of Bowdoin when, the police report summarizes, “she felt a sharp pain to her right ankle … she looked down and saw blood coming.” She said she was unable to walk from the pain.At first, the child and her friend believed that the injury was from a stray firework, according to the report, but police noted it was an apparent gunshot that fractured her fibula. Police canvassed the area “to no avail.”3 men arrested in connection to Mattapan shootingPolice started Wednesday morning very early with a response to the area of Edgewater Drive and River Street in Mattapan for reports of multiple people shot.At the scene shortly after 2 a.m., police found five shooting ...

LA County sheriff calls video of deputy tackling woman ‘disturbing,’ opens inquiry

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County sheriff says a bystander’s cellphone footage showing a deputy violently tackling a woman while she filmed a man being handcuffed, then pepper-spraying her in the face, is “disturbing,” and community groups on Wednesday called for the department’s new chief to hold his agency accountable.The June 24 incident in the city of Lancaster follows several cases that have drawn scrutiny to the department amid allegations of excessive use of force by its deputies. It’s also testing the reform efforts of the new sheriff, Robert Luna, a former Long Beach police chief who has vowed to overhaul the nation’s largest sheriff’s department since taking it over in December after defeating incumbent Alex Villanueva.Both officers were pulled off field duty, Luna said during an afternoon news conference, and could face discipline ranging from letters of reprimand all the way up to dismissal if misconduct is found. He didn’t identify ...

20-year-old dies after launching fireworks in Hawaii parking lot on the Fourth of July

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — A man in Hawaii died after setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July holiday, police said. Police and firefighters responding to a report of an illegal fireworks accident Tuesday night at a Big Island parking lot found a man lying on the ground with a head injury. Police identified him as Glen John Nakata, 20, of Kailua-Kona. “Bystanders stated they saw Nakata holding a fireworks launcher above his head when a firework went off, sending the young man to the ground,” the Hawaii Police Department said.He was taken to a hospital where he died. An autopsy will determine the exact cause of death. It’s unclear what kind of fireworks he was handling.The illegal use of fireworks is an ongoing issue in Hawaii. Last month, Gov. Josh Green signed legislation creating a task force to stop the importation of illegal fireworks and promote compliance with state fireworks laws. The measure noted that the use of illegal fireworks has caused deaths, injuries, brush...

US releases video of Russian fighter jets harrassing American drones over Syria

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian fighter jets flew dangerously close to several U.S. drone aircraft over Syria on Wednesday, setting off flares and forcing the MQ-9 Reapers to take evasive maneuvers, the Air Force said.U.S. Air Forces Central released a video of the encounter, showing a Russian SU-35 fighter closing in on a Reaper, and later showed a number of the so-called parachute flares moving into the drone’s flight path. The flares are attached to parachutes.Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, commander of 9th Air Force in the Middle East, said three of the U.S. drones were operating over Syria after 10:30 a.m. local time, on a mission against the Islamic State group which was not detailed, when three of the Russian aircraft “began harassing the drones.”In a statement, Grynkewich said one of the Russian pilots moved their aircraft in front of a drone and engaged the SU-35’s afterburner, which greatly increases its speed and air pressure. The jet blast from the afterburner can poten...

Father of the bride, teen who tried to save friend among 5 killed in Philadelphia shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A father who was preparing to walk his eldest daughter down the aisle. An aspiring actor who appeared as an extra in the “Creed” movie franchise. A teenager who tried to help a wounded friend. These are the stories of those killed in the all-too-familiar thrum of another mass shooting.Five people in a working-class neighborhood of Philadelphia were gunned down Monday in what became the deadliest among a rash of U.S. shootings that occurred around the July Fourth holiday. A gunman in a ski mask and body armor appeared to fire on people at random while they were on the street or in a car, authorities said. Ralph Moralis, 59; Joseph Wamah Jr., 31; Dymir Stanton, 29; Lashyd Merritt, 21; and DaJuan Brown, 15, were killed in the shooting. Four others, including two 2-year-old boys, were also wounded.The alleged shooter was arraigned Wednesday on multiple charges including five counts of murder. The victims’ families remain shattered as they now cope with the feel...

Barriers facing vulnerable people trying to stay cool

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

As the GTA sweated through another day of extreme heat and sweltering conditions, the city’s Heat Relief Network was once again available to provide relief to residents. The city’s current heat relief strategy provides more than 500 spaces for cooling off, including libraries, civic centres, indoor and outdoor pools, splash pads and malls. Previously when heat warnings were issued, a handful of temporary cooling centres were also opened.Despite an increase in the number of cooling locations now, there is concern the city is sending unhoused people where they are not welcome.“I’ve had people where they have been, not necessarily where they’ve had police arrest them, but they’ve been chased out of using things like a splash pad, for example,” says Diana Chan McNally, the harm reduction case manager at All Saints Toronto. “If you see a grown adult or unhoused person at a children’s splash pad, that’s going to set off alarm bells. So it’s obviou...

Flash Flood Warning issued for Cook County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

7:07 p.m. -- The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued a Flash Flood Warning for Cook County until 10 p.m. Wednesday.Skilling: Thunderstorms, possible hail Wednesday nightDownpours and storm-generated wind gusts with the potential for some hail are to accompany some t-storms into Wednesday evening. A few may become severe. But, a huge, well organized upper wind band which lead to a widespread outbreak of severe storms isn't in place. So the storms which blossom in this environment will be left to tap the energy stored in the humid air—what is known as "Latent heat energy". Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here Make no mistake, storms which feed off latent heat energy absent powerful wind fields aloft are more than capable of generating their own powerful wind gusts and they can produce damage. They don't, however, tend to take on the widespread damaging character of the derecho which swept downstate Illinois last Friday producing a huge swath of damage which ext...

Severe weather leaves storm damage around Chicagoland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

CHICAGO, Ill. -- Severe weather rolled in and out of the Chicagoland area Wednesday that left trees, power lines, and damage for the community to pick up after.The National Weather Service in Chicago issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning multiple times Wednesday evening.A Flood Watch has been issued for most of Northeastern Illinois until 9 p.m. Wednesday night. Interactive Radar: Track showers and storm here A storm cell passed through Morton Grove Wednesday afternoon with heavy rainfall and high winds.On the east side of Morton Grove, downed limbs and branches along Frontage Road, as well as on Major Ave and Lee Street.A woman who lives in a home with the tree down on that backyard tent said she rented it for the Fourth of July and were waiting to return it when the tree came down.Her neighbor was sitting in his front room when the storm passed by."My dog nudged me in the arm 'hey you should get up.' I was looking to the window, I’ve never seen rain and wind going in a circle, it...

Cameraman at MLB game struck by wild throw, carted off on stretcher

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A cameraman was injured Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium when he was hit in the head by a wild throw from Baltimore Orioles rookie shortstop Gunnar Henderson.Positioned right next to the New York Yankees' dugout on the first-base side, Pete Stendel of YES Network was struck by a hurried throw from Henderson, who fired high to first as he tried to complete a double play in the fifth inning. DoorDash drops driver who swore at customer in viral video: ‘We’ve removed this Dasher from our platform’ The game was delayed about 17 minutes as the Yankees' athletic training staff and medical personnel tended to Stendel in the camera well. Baltimore players came off the field and waited in their dugout as Yankees and Orioles, including Henderson, watched in obvious concern at a hushed ballpark.A camera operator who was injured on a throwing error by Baltimore Orioles' Gunnar Henderson receives attention during the fifth inning of the Orioles' baseball game against the New Yo...