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Competitor dies during Maine road rally race through forest

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

NEWRY, Maine (AP) — A competitor was killed in a crash on the first day of a rally race through a forest in western Maine, leading organizers to cancel the event’s second day.Erin Kelly, a 48-year-old woman from Marshall, Virginia, was killed Friday when her team’s car crashed near Lower Richardson Lake during the New England Forest Rally, where vehicles race along rural backroads and logging tracks near Maine’s border with New Hampshire, WMTW-TV reported.On her LinkedIn page, Kelly wrote that she had been navigating cars part-time as a hobby for the Pullen Away Rally Team since 2015.In rally racing, navigators sit next to the drivers and read out course notes such as when to expect turns.The team, which says on its Facebook page that it is based in Northwood, New Hampshire, didn’t immediately respond to a Facebook message or email seeking further information about the crash.Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash, which a photo published by WMTW...

Police searching for woman out on bail after being charged in arson investigation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

Police are searching for a 23-year-old woman who has breached the conditions of her bail in connection with an arson investigation.Investigators allege Dustina Perez and another woman went to an apartment building in the area of Warden Avenue and St. Clair Avenue East in the early morning hours of June 18 and set fire to a door of one of the units. The pair then fled the scene. Two occupants of the apartment were not injured.Perez was arrested on June 27 and charged with several arson-related offences. She was released on bail with conditions, which police say she breached on Friday. Police say they have been unable to locate Perez and are asking anyone with information to contact them. The second woman, 34-year-old Andrea Jameer, was arrested back on June 30 and charged with similar arson-related offences.

Days of torrential rain in South Korea leave at least 26 dead in landslides and floods

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Days of heavy rain in South Korea have left at least 26 people dead and 10 others missing in landslides, floods and other incidents, the government said Saturday. The 26 fatalities were reported on Friday and Saturday, all in the central and southeastern regions, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said in a report.An earlier ministry report on Saturday morning said five people died after landslides caused by torrential downpours buried their houses. Two others also died in landslide-related incidents. But the latest ministry report didn’t explain the cause of deaths for the additional fatalities.Ministry officials said torrential rains have also left 10 people missing since Tuesday, and 13 others injured since Thursday.South Korea has been pounded by heavy rains since July 9. The ministry report said the rainfall had forced about 5,570 people to evacuate and left 25,470 households without electricity in the past several days. It said more than 4,200 pe...

12 killed in a suspected rebel attack in the northeast of Congo, a civil society organizations says

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — An extremist rebel group killed at least 12 people in the northeast of Congo, a local civil society organization said Saturday.The New Congolese Civil Society organization, or NSCC, said the victims were shot dead by the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, a shadowy Islamic State group affiliate that has been launching attacks for years from bases in volatile eastern Congo, following a skirmish with a local armed militia.Conflict in eastern Congo has gone on for decades as myriad armed groups fight for control of valuable mineral resources. There are frequent mass killings, and the violence has triggered an exodus of refugees.Farmers in nearby villages discovered the bloodied corpses of 12 people in the bush early Friday as they left to work in their fields. John Vuleverio, coordinator of the NSCC, reported that the death toll was still provisional as the search for other bodies continued in the area.Col. Jean-Baptiste Munyampazi, the administrator of the territ...

More than 20,000 Quebec households still without power following severe storm

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

MONTREAL — Power outages persist in the Montreal area nearly 48 hours after severe thunderstorms ripped through southern Quebec, downing trees, snapping poles and breaking wires.Hydro-Québec reports over 20,000 customers are still without power as of Saturday morning, down from a Thursday evening peak of more than 300,000, with most remaining outages in the regions to the north and south of Montreal.The utility company says it has restored service to 95% of customers affected by the storm, but work to repair the electricity network in some isolated areas could last until the beginning of next week.Hydro-Québec says 8% of the almost 500 remaining outages affect 50 customers or fewer.It says more than 300 outages have lasted more than 24 hours.Thursday’s storm also caused localized flooding in Montreal, where a city spokesperson said some neighbourhoods received a month’s worth of rain in less than two hours.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 20...

People and pets seek shade and cool as Europe sizzles under heat wave that’s only going to get worse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

ROME (AP) — Scorching temperatures across Europe forced the closure of the Acropolis in Athens for a second day as officials warned Saturday of even hotter weather next week, when the mercury is forecast to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in several popular Mediterranean tourist destinations.Elderly people, young children and dogs were most at risk, experts said, urging precautions against the heat wave caused by Cerberus, a high-pressure anticyclone coming from the south and named after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld.Fifteen cities in Italy, most of them in the country’s center and south, were under heat advisories signaling a high level of risk for older adults and other vulnerable people. Temperatures remained in the mid-30s C (mid-90s F) across much of the Italian peninsula Saturday but were expected to reach between 38 C (100.4 F) and 40 C (104 C) in Sardinia, Sicily and Puglia.The cities under alert...

Marketa Vondrousova is Wimbledon’s first unseeded female champion after beating Ons Jabeur

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

Marketa Vondrousova came to the All England Club a year ago unable to play tennis at all. She had a cast on her surgically repaired left wrist, so her visit was limited to sightseeing around London with her sister and cheering for a friend who was competing at Wimbledon.This trip was a lot more memorable: She is leaving as a Grand Slam champion.Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to win Wimbledon on Saturday, coming back in each set for a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 2022 runner-up Ons Jabeur in the final.“I don’t really know what’s happening now. It’s an amazing feeling,” Vondrousova, a 24-year-old left-hander from the Czech Republic, said during the trophy ceremony. “After everything I’ve been through – I had a cast last year (at) this time – it’s just amazing that I can stand here and hold this. Tennis is crazy.”After being sidelined from April to October, she finished last season ranked just 99th. She arrived at ...

Driver hits Illinois State Police trooper's squad car on Eisenhower Expressway

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

WESTCHESTER, Ill. — An Illinois State Police trooper's car was struck by a driver early Saturday morning in Westchester as they were investigating a three-car crash.The crash was reported just before 4 a.m. on the Mannheim Road ramp to the inbound lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway. Illinois trooper investigating crash injured when driver hits squad car According to state police, a driver was trying to pass a semi-truck on the single-lane ramp from Manheim Road, struck the rear of the semi-truck and sideswiped the driver's side mirror of the trooper's car.The trooper, who was inside their car at the time, and the driver weren't injured, state police said.The driver, a 36-year-old man, of Chicago, was cited for Scott's Law improper passing of an emergency vehicle, failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and improper lane usage, according to state police.This is the 12th move over law-related crash this year, according to state police. Last year there were 23 related crashes and ei...

Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu rushed to hospital, but said to be in 'good condition'

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushed to a hospital on Saturday, but was in “good condition” as he underwent a medical evaluation, his office said.The Israeli leader's office said he was being treated at Israel's Sheba Hospital, near the coastal city of Tel Aviv, but gave no further details.Walla, a leading Israeli news site, quoted an unnamed official close to Netanyahu as saying he had fainted at home but was fully conscious at the hospital. Haaretz, another news site, quoted hospital officials as saying Netanyahu was conscious and walking on his own. The reports could not immediately be confirmed.Netanyahu, 73, is Israel's longest serving leader. He has served multiple terms stretching over 15 years in office. His current far-right government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist parties, took office last December.Netanyahu is said to be in generally good health, though he was briefly hospitalized last October after feeling unwell during ...

Here's what we know about the inside of Sphere in Las Vegas

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:57:41 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Sphere's Las Vegas debut has created a buzz in like none other. And that's just the outside.The Fourth of July brought a spectacular display rivaling fireworks on the Vegas Strip, and people were mesmerized by the color, the motion, and the variety. Everything about the images that night and what followed as Sphere dazzled Las Vegas is a build-up to the Sept. 29 event when "U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere" takes the venue to new heights. That's the first of 25 sold-out performances extending into December.You can almost hear Bono now, singing, "I'm ready for the shuffle, ready for the deal, ready to let go of the steering wheel" in the album's first track, "Zoo Station" … but what will it look like?This render of an underwater scene in a completed Sphere shows what the venue could look like upon completion. (Photo provided by Sphere Entertainment)Our only hint comes from material that's nearly a year-and-a-half old now:"The massive interior LED display plan...