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Hawaii wildfires burn homes and force evacuations, while strong winds complicate the fight

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds burned multiple structures, forced evacuations and caused power outages in several communities late Tuesday as firefighters struggled to reach some areas that were cut off by downed trees and power lines.The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers), was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph (97 kph) that knocked out power as night fell, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters. Acting Governor Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation on behalf of Gov. Josh Green, who is traveling, and activated the Hawaii National Guard. Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region. It wasn’t immediately known how many buildings had burned, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said in a phone interview l...

Wild mushrooms suspected of killing 3 who ate a family lunch together in Australia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian police on Wednesday were trying to figure out how three people died and a fourth became critically ill after apparently eating wild mushrooms at a family lunch.Homicide detectives have been investigating the case. Police have interviewed the woman who they say cooked the meal at her home on July 29 but didn’t become ill herself. Police released her without filing any charges but say she remains a suspect.The woman told media outside her home in the town of Leongatha, in Victoria state, that she didn’t know what had happened.“I didn’t do anything,” she told Network Nine on Monday. “I loved them and I’m devastated they’re gone.”The woman declined to answer questions about what meals were served to which guests or the origin of the mushrooms.Victoria Police Det. Inspector Dean Thomas said it wasn’t clear what type of mushrooms the guests had eaten, but their symptoms were consistent with those from a death cap, a particularly deadly variety. He said...

Romanian care homes scandal spotlights abuse described as ‘inhumane and degrading’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — After receiving distressed text messages from a young man worried about the conditions his friend was living in at a social care home in central Romania, Georgiana Pascu arranged an impromptu visit to inspect the facility.“In the beginning, we were quite sure there is nothing there,” said Pascu, program manager at the Center for Legal Resources, a rights group. She said that a day earlier, state authorities had carried out an inspection of the care home for older and disabled people, and no issues had been flagged.But what she and her colleagues uncovered at the care home in the village of Bardesti, she said, was “outrageous … inhuman.”“There was a very young woman who looked malnourished, she didn’t move, she didn’t speak at all — she was lying on the basement floor,” she told The Associated Press. “There was another young woman, she was crying and asking for water.”The nongovernmental organization discovered six residents in late July living in the Little...

US judge to hear legal battle over Nevada mustang roundup where 31 wild horses have died

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A legal battle over the U.S. government’s ongoing capture of thousands of wild horses in Nevada where 31 mustangs have died in a weekslong roundup goes before a judge Wednesday as opponents try to prove it’s illegal and should be stopped.Federal land managers said in new court filings ahead of the Reno hearing that the deaths among 2,500 horses gathered since July 9 are an unfortunate — but expected — part of necessary efforts to cull the size of large herds.They said the free-roaming animals pose a threat to the ecological health of public rangeland.Horse advocates said the deaths were unnecessary, resulting from inhumane tactics being used to expedite removals from public lands where pregnant mares and young foals are being chased in summer heat across rocky, high-desert into makeshift corrals.U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks scheduled Wednesday’s hearing to get details from both sides as he considers the non-profit Wild Horse Education’s bid for...

$1.58 billion jackpot goes to lucky Mega Millions player in Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

Someone in Florida won a $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot Tuesday night, ending a stretch of lottery futility that had stretched for nearly four months.The winning numbers drawn were: 13 19 20 32 33 and the yellow ball: 14.Before the big win Tuesday night, there had been 31 straight drawings since the last time someone won the game’s jackpot on April 18. That enabled the prize to steadily grow to be the third-largest ever in U.S. history.Mega Millions jackpot winners are so rare thanks to odds of one in 302.6 million.The $1.58 billion payout would go to the winner if they opt for an annuity, doled out over 30 years. But people usually prefer a lump sum option, which for Tuesday’s jackpot is an estimated $783.3 million.The prize money is subject to federal taxes. Many states also tax lottery winnings.Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.The Associated Press

Eritrean festivals have been attacked in Europe, North America. The government blames ‘asylum scum’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Flaming cars, violent clashes, dozens of people detained. As one of the world’s most repressive countries marks 30 years of independence, festivals held by Eritrea’s diaspora in Europe and North America have been attacked by exiles that the regime dismisses as “asylum scum.”People who fled the Horn of Africa nation say the violence against festivals in Germany, Sweden and Canada are protests against a repressive government that’s been described as the “North Korea of Africa.” Some allege that proceeds from festivals might support the government.Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Eritrea over the years, many setting off into the deserts of Sudan and then North Africa in attempts to reach Europe. President Isaias Afwerki, 77, has led Eritrea since it won independence from Ethiopia in a long guerrilla war. There have been no elections. There’s no free press. Exit visas are required. Many young people are forced into military service with no end ...

Winning Mega Millions ticket sold in Florida

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

UPDATE: A lottery player in Jacksonville, Florida has won the $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday night were: 13 19 20 32 33 and the yellow ball: 14. No one has won the Mega Millions jackpot since April 18, enabling the prize to grow to the third-largest in U.S. history. The chance of winning is one in 302.6 million. The $1.58 billion payout is for a sole winner who opts for an annuity doled out over 30 years but people usually prefer a lump sum option. For Tuesday’s jackpot this is an estimated $783.3 million. The prize money is nearly identical in size to the second largest jackpot of $1.586 billion in 2016.ST. LOUIS – Check your tickets! Nearly $1.6 billion (with a “B”) is at stake in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing.The winning numbers for the Aug. 8 drawing are 13, 19, 20, 32, and 33, with the yellow Mega Ball number 14.This is the largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, surpassing the previous record of $1.537 billion on the Oct. 23, 2018, d...

NextGenerationEU: Italy submits request to revise its recovery and resilience plan and add a REPowerEU chapter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

Italy has submitted a request to the Commission to modify its recovery and resilience plan, to which it also wants to add a REPowerEU chapter.Italy's proposed REPowerEU chapter includes various reforms, includingin the development of renewable energy, the boosting of green skills in both the public and private sector, the tackling of environmentally harmful subsidies, and the improvement of biomethane production. The chapter also includes three main areas comprising several investments, notably related to the enhancement of energy grids, energy efficiency and strategic supply chains.Italy has proposed to revise 144 investments and reforms related to the six thematic areas of the plan (the so-called ‘missions'). They concern digitalisation and competitiveness, the ecological transition, sustainable mobility, education and research, inclusion and cohesion, and health.Italy's request to modify its plan is primarily based on the need to factor in recent global headwinds such as high inf...

Pursuit suspect in stolen car busted in L.A. County

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

Authorities were in pursuit of a driver that a stole a vehicle out of the city of Montebello Tuesday night. While leading deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in chase, the suspect reportedly clipped two vehicles at an intersection in South El Monte, causing visible damage to the white four-door sedan's front end, before getting on the westbound 60 Freeway. The suspect later exited the freeway onto surface streets in the East Los Angeles area. Sky5 was overhead when the man stopped his vehicle, ran behind a home and quickly returned to the front of the residence where he appeared to be having a conversation with someone. The suspect then got back into the vehicle and took off yet again, speeding down Whittier Boulevard where he weaved through traffic and blew through several red lights. A stolen vehicle pursuit suspect seen surrendering after a high-speed chase on Aug. 8, 2023. (KTLA)While winding his way back to the Montebello area, near Victoria and Maples ave...

Security ambassadors filmed flirting, kissing in West Hollywood 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:27 GMT

Two security ambassadors in West Hollywood have come under scrutiny after video posted to social media appears to show them engaging in intimate behavior with two women while they were in their uniforms.  In the video, posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, by the WeHo Times, shows the uniformed security ambassadors kissing and flirting with two women near the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Jolla Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday.  The city of West Hollywood partners with Block by Block on its Security Ambassador Program. Raquel Vaca, a resident of West Hollywood, told KTLA that the footage is frustrating because it reinforces his belief that the security ambassador program is ineffective.  “Sometimes, just as women walking on the street, we hope to look to authority to protect us from someone cat calling, from strangers, so it’s like who do we rely on, who do we depend on at this point,” she said.  According to the WeHo Times, a local re...