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Severe thunderstorms possible in Massachusetts: Hail, lightning, strong winds, torrential rain in forecast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

Severe thunderstorms are possible across the Bay State on Friday, as National Weather Service forecasters warn of hail, lightning, strong wind gusts and torrential rainfall.A “Severe Thunderstorm Watch” has been issued for much of Massachusetts until 8 p.m. The only parts of the state not in the watch zone were southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands.The forecasters were warning of the chance for ping-pong size hail, frequent lightning strikes, wind gusts up to 65 mph, and heavy rain. With the ground already so saturated from recent rainfall, some localized flooding will be possible.Related ArticlesWeather | Massachusetts weather will be ‘a lot nicer this week,’ with comfortable temps, humidity Weather | Tornado touched down along Easton/Foxboro town line, 105 mph peak winds: National Weather Service Weather | Tornado spotted in New Hampshire; Massachusetts could see severe storms, flash flooding: ‘...

Waltham Riverwalk assault: Massachusetts State Police release sketch of suspect, ask for public’s help

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

Police continue to try to track down the suspect accused of assaulting a woman along the Waltham Riverwalk last weekend, as authorities on Friday released a police artist’s sketch of the assailant.Massachusetts State Police and Waltham Police hope that someone will recognize the suspect and contact investigators.Police believe that the suspect is a Hispanic male, in his late 20s or his 30s, and is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall. He was reportedly wearing a baseball hat at the time of the assault.A woman told police that she was assaulted at around 8:45 p.m. on Sunday in the area of Newton and Farwell Streets.The woman reported that she heard footsteps behind her and was then grabbed from behind by the suspect, who tried to put his hand over her mouth.“The victim was able to scream and struggled to get free,” a State Police spokesperson said in a statement. “The assailant then let go of her and ran off. The woman turned and saw the assailant fleeing.”Units ...

SWAT standoff: Armed man barricades inside vehicle in Carlsbad

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A SWAT standoff has prompted a Friday morning road closure in Carlsbad, authorities told FOX 5.A man with armed with a hand gun is reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis inside his vehicle on the 2700 block of Loker Avenue West, near Palomar Airport Road, the Carlsbad Police Department said. Tijuana man accused in drug trafficking case extradited to San Diego The situation initially started around 7:15 p.m. Thursday following reports of an individual in distress in an office building parking lot on Loker Avenue West, according to police.Authorities say the man activated the vehicle's emergency communication system -- similar to  OnStar -- Thursday evening."It's been a bit of a challenge, communicating with the third-party (OnStar system) and the man whom does not have a cell phone. There is also a language barrier. He speaks Russian," Carlsbad police told FOX 5.Authorities say there is currently no threat to public, but they are encouraging residents...

After 27 years, authorities identify woman whose remains were found along Gilgo Beach parkway

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (AP) — A woman whose remains were among discoveries that became known as the Gilgo Beach killings has been identified after 27 years, authorities said Friday.Known until now to the public only as “Jane Doe No. 7,” she was Karen Vergata, 34, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told a news conference.Her family last heard from her on Valentine’s Day in 1996, when she called her father on his birthday, according to a 2017 court decision that declared her presumptively dead.Friday’s development was part of a reinvestigation that, last month, spurred the first arrest in connection with the long-unsolved string of killings that emerged when remains of 10 people were found over a decade ago along a coastal parkway in Gilgo Beach, on Long Island in New York.But it is unclear whether Vergata’s death might ever be tied to the ongoing case against Rex Heuermann, an architect who has been charged with three of the killings and named the prime suspect in a fo...

U.S. publishing executive dies in a boat crash off Italy’s Amalfi Coast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

ROME (AP) — A U.S. publishing executive died in a boating accident off Italy’s Amalfi Coast, her company said Friday.Adrienne Vaughan, 45, was president of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., the company headquartered in New York said.The rented motorboat Vaughan and her family were on during a vacation to the popular tourist destination crashed into a sailboat Thursday, Italian state TV said.According to Italian media reports, the motorboat, rented through a skipper, slammed into the sailboat, which was carrying dozens of U.S. and German tourists, including some celebrating a wedding.The impact of the crash knocked the woman into the water, where she was struck repeatedly by the motorboat’s propeller, the reports said.She was pulled out of the water and brought to a dock but died by the time a helicopter ambulance arrived, state TV said.The Italian coast guard office in Amalfi was investigating the crash. A call to its office wasn’t answered, nor was there a response to an emailed re...

Randall Park adapts a favorite graphic novel for his feature debut ‘Shortcomings’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Randall Park was a struggling actor when he first encountered Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel “Shortcomings” in 2007. The story focused on a twentysomething Japanese American man named Ben, who is trying to find himself in the Bay Area along with his girlfriend Miko and best friend Alice, who is a lesbian. They are all flawed, complex and figuring things out, sometimes inelegantly. Park was obsessed.“I remember thinking, gosh this would make an amazing movie,” Park said in an interview earlier this year during the Sundance Film Festival. “And in my dreams it was like, ‘Oh I’d love to play Ben.’”It would take about 15 years for “Shortcomings” to become a feature. By then Park had, in his words, aged out of the role. But he got a cooler gig out of it: feature film director. “Shortcomings,” starring Sherry Cola as Alice, Ally Maki as Miko and Justin H. Min as Ben, had its world premiere at Sundance and is now coming to theaters Friday through distributor Sony Pictu...

New Montreal summer camp helps Ukrainian refugee children integrate in Quebec

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

MONTREAL — A free, new summer camp is aiming to help Ukrainian refugee children and their families settle in Montreal.Sixty children are participating in the inaugural edition of the camp, an initiative of the Quebec branch of the Ukrainian National Federation.Branch president Taras Kulish says the goal of the program is to foster a sense of community among new arrivals and help them integrate in their new environment, using day trips to familiarize participant families with the city. The camp is based out of the federation’s community centre, in Montreal’s Mile End neighbourhood.The first of two two-week camp sessions wrapped up Friday. So far, the camp has proved to be a critical social touchpoint for refugees who fled the war launched by Russia in eastern Europe, Kulish says.“You can only imagine leaving your family, all your cherished belongings behind,” he said in a recent interview. “You arrive in this country where you know nobody, you have no fa...

Health Canada approves first RSV vaccine for adults age 60 and over

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

Health Canada has approved the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for adults age 60 and over.Manufacturer GSK says the federal agency has approved its new vaccine called Arexvy.Doctors have been calling for an RSV vaccine for seniors because although the virus is common, older people are much more likely to become severely ill and require hospitalization.RSV season in Canada usually starts in the late fall and lasts until spring.GSK says a randomized clinical trial showed the vaccine was 82 per cent effective at preventing lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV compared to seniors who got a placebo.The company says it was 94 per cent effective at preventing the illness in seniors with underlying medical conditions.

The UN cut their food aid this summer. These Palestinians now struggle to find their next meal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

JENIN, West Bank (AP) — Except for a small bag of lentils and the orange juice she reserves for guests, there is no food in Ashwaq Abu al-Wafa’s house in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Ever since the U.N. cut her food aid in June, she has fallen behind on rent. All her money now goes to feeding her three children, she said. “The fridge is empty,” al-Wafa said from her apartment on Thursday. “I can barely hold all of this stress in my heart.”Thousands of families like al-Wafa’s across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip go through the day not sure where they will get their next meal now that the World Food Program has halted aid to 200,000 people, 60% of beneficiaries, its largest-ever cuts in the Palestinian territories. The agency has made cuts across the world, from war-torn Yemen to West Africa, a region gripped by its worst hunger crisis in years.The WFP’s deputy executive director, Carl Skau, announced last week that the agency has raised just $5 billion of the $20 bil...

2 charged in violent downtown Toronto kidnapping, other man wanted

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:29 GMT

Toronto police have arrested two men and are searching for a third in an alleged downtown kidnapping that saw the suspects demand money from the victim and threaten them with a firearm and baseball bat.Investigators were notified of a kidnapping on July 5 just after 7:30 p.m. in the Wellington Street West and Bay Street area.It’s alleged that a group of suspects approached the victim, took his car keys and stole his vehicle. They then forced him into a different vehicle and took him to a bank machine, where the suspects demanded money.The suspects demanded money and threatened the victim while taking him to other locations across the city. Police said the group kept asking for more money from the victim and threatened him with a firearm and baseball bat.The victim was dropped off in the Humber Bay Park area in Etobicoke. Police said the suspects assaulted the victim and demanded more money before fleeing.On July 8, investigators arrested 26-year-old Peter Okoronkwo of Toronto....