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DA: Salem man appears in court on murder charge in girlfriend’s disappearance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

A Salem man has been arrested on a murder charge in connection with the disappearance of his 20-year-old girlfriend, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker and Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller announced Tuesday.Pablo Vicente, 33, was pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday while authorities continue searching for her body. The pair were in a years-long relationship plagued with domestic violence, police said.Prosecutors said Vicente confessed to choking Nayeli Nieves, a mother of a 18-month-old and a 3-year-old, to death inside her apartment at Salem Heights.“We’re brought here today at this courthouse for another example of terrible domestic violence,” Tucker said. “A young mother taken by violence from a partner.”Officials said Vicente put her body in a dumpster outside the apartment building which has since been emptied. The search is active and ongoing, police said.Vicente was charged with domestic violence against Nieves in 2019 as well as similar charges in Lowell earlier th...

Mets Notebook: Starling Marte receives good news, Danny Mendick may have more to give

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

A night after ending their six-game losing streak, more good news found its way to Flushing Tuesday afternoon. The Mets received good news regarding Starling Marte’s groin as he is expected to return this season.Manager Buck Showalter noted he wasn’t able to release full details citing HIPAA regulations, however, the 67-year-old believes there’s a chance Marte can return once he’s eligible from the 10-day injured list.“Got some pretty good news today, all things considered,” Showalter said before Tuesday’s game against the Cubs. “No surgery needed, we’ve identified the issue he’s had and they attacked it today. And I’m hoping I can tell you exactly how but I’ve got to be careful with the medical stuff.”Marte had double groin surgery in the offseason and has seen a significant dip in performance this season. The 34-year-old is slashing .248/.301/.324 with five homers and 28 RBI in 86 games this year.The out...

Rockaway Beach shark attack victim saved by hero lifeguards using rope, sweatpants as tourniquet

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

There was blood in the water and two heroes on the sand.A pair of fast-thinking Rockaway Beach lifeguards used a pair of sweatpants and the rope from an orange rescue float to stop the bleeding of a 65-year-old shark attack victim, with the predator’s fierce teeth exposing the woman’s femur, the mother of one rescuer told the Daily News on Tuesday.“Their quick thinking saved that woman’s life,” said Janet McDonnell, whose son Bill sprang into action with a co-worker after the shark tore off a chunk of the victim’s flesh above the left knee while she swam alone about 50 feet from shore.“He didn’t think she was going to make it,” the proud mother recounted. “She was bleeding profusely. He said he was just holding her hand … They actually thought she was going to bleed out on the beach in front of everybody.”The 24-year-old McDonnell and the second rescuer, Romeo Ortize, sprung into action just 10 minutes before the 6 p.m. closing time.The deep bite turned the water a bright red ...

Navy sailor accused of espionage had mother's support, prosecutor says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Twenty-two-year-old Jinchao Wei, a U.S. Navy sailor based in San Diego, faced a judge in a federal courtroom Tuesday. The judge agreed with the motion Wei is a flight risk and danger to the community.Wei is being held without bail and without prejudice. He faces charges of espionage for allegedly conspiring with the Chinese government and is accused of selling sensitive photos, videos and manuals of U.S. ships to the Chinese government since February 2022. According to authorities, Wei made about half his salary for selling the information to China. The prosecuting attorney also estimated he made between $10,0000 and $15,000, though the exact amount has not been made public. Family demands answers after girl, 14, found in Camp Pendleton barracks In court Tuesday, the prosecuting attorney alleged that Wei's mother, who lives in Wisconsin, knew and supported what he was doing and had allegedly suggested he work for the Chinese Communist Party once out of the Navy. The a...

Ailing and baby hummingbirds get care at one woman’s apartment-turned-clinic in Mexico City

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gently holding a baby hummingbird between her hands, Catia Lattouf says, “Hello, cute little guy. Are you very hungry?” It’s the newest patient at her apartment in a toney section of Mexico City where she has nursed hundreds of the tiny birds back to health over the past decade.Under Lattouf’s caress, the bird relaxes little by little, allowing her to evaluate it. A young man who rescued it after it fell from a nest onto his patio watched attentively.“It is a broad-billed hummingbird,” the 73-year-old Lattouf said, as she moved an eyedropper to its beak. “Oh, mama, you want to eat!”This is often how Lattouf’s days have gone since she turned her apartment in Mexico City’s Polanco neighborhood into a clinic for sick, injured or infant hummingbirds, about 60 of which currently flit around.Lattouf, who studied French literature, has become a reference source for bird lovers, amateur and professional alike, across Mexico and other parts of Latin America. Her improvised...

NBA lauded for diversity practices, initiatives in report card by university

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

The National Basketball Association set a league record for most head coaches of color in the past year, helping it earn high grades in an annual diversity report.The NBA earned a combined grade of A in the 2023 NBA Racial and Gender Report Card released by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida on Tuesday. In November 2022, the league reached new all-time highs for head coaches of color (17) and Black head coaches (16). As of the report’s release, the league had 15 head coaches of color. The Milwaukee Bucks hired Adrian Griffin, who is Black, as a first-time head coach this offseason. Richard Lapchick, the director for TIDES, said it matters that so many of the league’s 30 teams are led by people of color because such hires lead to increased diversity in other positions. “When a league takes the initiative to set the kind of example that the NBA does, that’s not only good for sport, but good for society as well...

Mississippi GOP Gov. Tate Reeves will face Democrat Brandon Presley in the November election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday won the Republican nomination as he seeks a second term, setting up a general election contest against Democrat Brandon Presley in the heavily conservative state.Reeves defeated two first-time candidates: John Witcher, a physician who has criticized COVID-19 vaccinations, and David Hardigree, a military veteran. Presley, a cousin of rock ’n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, ran unopposed.Presley said the Nov. 7 general election would come down to which candidate “has got guts and the backbone to stand up for the people of Mississippi and which candidate has consistently showed us that he will do whatever his lobbyist buddies want him to do and will not stand up for the people of Mississippi.”Presley planned to take the stage at his victory party to “See See Rider,” the song Elvis Presley often used as walk-on music. The candidate said he would not sing, though.“We’re trying to get votes,” Presley said in a phone interview before ...

Texas woman known as the ‘Sassy Trucker’ leaves Dubai after monthslong legal dispute

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Houston woman known online as the “Sassy Trucker” has left the United Arab Emirates after being stranded in Dubai for months over an altercation at a car rental agency.Tierra Young Allen, 29, left Tuesday and will transit through the United Kingdom on her way back to the U.S., said Radha Stirling, who runs a for-hire advocacy group long critical of the UAE called Detained in Dubai.Allen paid a $1,360 deposit to Dubai police to clear the travel ban she faced, Stirling said.It wasn’t clear if Allen still has any legal complaints against her in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. Officials in Dubai did not return a request for comment. The U.S. State Department in a statement to The Associated Press acknowledged Allen departed Dubai, but declined to say whether she still faced legal proceedings in the UAE. “We take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad,” the State Department said. “Over the pas...

Man charged in violent sexual assaults targeting women across Toronto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

A man has been arrested and charged in alleged sexual assaults in Toronto, including one incident where he dragged a woman into an alleyway.Toronto police were notified of a sexual assault in the Ontario Street and Dundas Street East area in Cabbagetown around 1 a.m. on June 26.It’s alleged a woman was walking in the area when she was approached by an unknown man who attempted to engage her in conversation.The female victim left and continued walking home when the man attacked her. Police said the victim was knocked to the ground, dragged into an alleyway and sexually assaulted. A concerned citizen interrupted the violent act, and the man fled.Around a month later, on July 23 at 2:30 a.m., police responded to the Parliament Street and Dundas Street East area in Cabbagetown for reports of a sexual asault.It’s alleged a female victim was approached by a man unknown to her. Police said the man followed the woman into an alleyway and sexually assaulted her.On August 4, autho...

College professors sue Idaho over a law that they say criminalizes classroom discussions on abortion

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:52:11 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Six university professors and two teachers’ unions are suing Idaho over a law that they say violates their First Amendment rights by criminalizing teaching and classroom discussion about pro-abortion viewpoints. The 2021 No Public Funds for Abortion Act prohibits state contracts or transactions with abortion providers and also bans public employees from promoting abortion, counseling in favor of abortion or referring someone to abortion services. Public employees who violate the law can be charged with misuse of public funds, a felony, and be fired, fined and ordered to pay back the funds they are accused of misusing.The law is “simultaneously sweeping and unclear” and places a “strait jacket upon the intellectual leaders” of Idaho’s public universities, the educators, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, wrote in the lawsuit.The case was brought by five University of Idaho professors who teach philosophy, political science, American litera...