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Neighbors describe overnight Pompano Beach apartment fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

Fierce flames shot through an apartment building near Northwest Seventh Avenue off Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach and neighbors described chaos as they made their escape.Fire Rescue crews arrived at the scene after the blaze ignited around 3 a.m., Monday.Phylicia Eubanks said she was screaming in panic as she had no idea where she could go with her children.“I opened my back door and there was a bunch of black smoke,” she said. “I tried to go through my room door, but [the smoke] was worse. Then I just kept screaming, ‘I have kids,’ ‘Where do we go,’ and ‘How do we get out?’ several times.”More than half a dozen fire trucks blocked off the area as firefighters tackled the flames.Eubanks said she saw the fire get bigger and worse. The smoke was so thick neighbors said they could not see their surroundings.“None of us could really see,” said Briana Rivera. “We almost fell down the stairs trying to get d...

Taylor Swift interrupts ‘Bad Blood’ to defend concertgoer at Philadelphia tour stop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

 Taylor Swift appeared to help a concertgoer in the crowd of her latest “Eras Tour” stop in Philadelphia on Saturday, and videos of the moment are circulating on social media.Videos from the show at the Lincoln Financial Field showed Swift interrupting her 2014 hit “Bad Blood” to defend a person in the crowd.“She’s fine,” Swift is first heard yelling into the crowd, noticeably perturbed by what she had seen. She paused again to say, “She wasn’t doing anything,” before yelling, “Hey, stop,” two more times.It’s unclear from the videos what transpired in the crowd to prompt the reaction, but Swift is seen resuming “Bad Blood” — perhaps an apt song for the moment — without a hitch shortly after the interruption.CNN has reached out to Lincoln Financial Field and a representative for Swift for comment.Saturday’s show wasn’t entirely full of bad blood. Other ...

Vice Media files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy ahead of planned sale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

(CNN) — Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday to facilitate a sale of the company and safeguard its future, according to court documents and a statement from the struggling media group.The company, which publishes news, technology and lifestyle websites such as Vice, Motherboard and Refinery29, made the filing in the Southern District of New York. The filing stated that the company had assets and liabilities worth between $500 million and $1 billion.A group of creditors, which includes Fortress Investment Group, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital, had made a conditional bid for “substantially all of the company’s assets,” Vice said. The lenders had agreed to provide approximately $225 million, and would assume “significant liabilities” upon closing of the deal.The sale process, which should conclude in the next two to three months, would allow other parties to submit “higher or ...

China sentences elderly US citizen to life in prison on spying charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

(CNN) — A 78-year-old American citizen has been sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on spying charges.John Shing-Wan Leung, who is also a Hong Kong permanent resident, was convicted of espionage and given a life sentence Monday by the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Suzhou, according to a statement on the court’s social media account.Leung was detained on April 15, 2021 by state security authorities in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, according to the brief statement, which did not provide details on his charges.The court also confiscated personal property worth 500,000 yuan ($71,797), the statement added.Chinese authorities and state media have not previously disclosed any information on Leung’s detention or the court process that led to his conviction. Cases involving state security are usually strictly handled behind closed doors, where the judicial system has a conviction rate of around 99%, according to legal observers.Th...

Column: Dusty Baker reflects on highs and lows in Chicago as he prepares to face the Cubs — perhaps for the last time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

Dusty Baker said his life hasn’t changed much since his longtime quest to manage a World Series champion came to fruition last year.“The only difference has been life in the world,” Baker said. “I’m noticing now more than ever that I’ve gotten smarter now, according to other people.”After winning a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday on the South Side, Baker‘s Astros return to Houston on Monday to begin a three-game series against the Cubs.It might be the final time Baker faces his former team, which he managed for four memorable seasons from 2003-06.Baker, 73, signed a one-year deal after last year’s title and doesn’t know what the future holds. The Astros could go in a different direction, or he might decide to hang it up and watch his son, Darren, play.Darren, a 24-year-old second baseman who was teammates with Andrew Vaughn at Cal, was hitting .346 entering Sunday with an .864 OPS at Triple-A Roche...

Chicago baseball report: Christopher Morel still measuring up with the Cubs — and will Liam Hendriks return to the White Sox this week?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

A dismal Sunday afternoon ended a bad week for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox.The Cubs’ promising start in April has hit a road block in May, while the Sox remain in a free fall after series losses to the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros.Every Monday throughout the season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead for the Cubs and Sox.Liam Hendriks getting closerLiam Hendriks’ return to the Sox appears imminent, though manager Pedro Grifol wouldn’t give a date before Hendriks’ appearance Sunday with Triple-A Charlotte.“We’ll talk to him after and see where we go from there,” Grifol said Sunday morning.Hendriks struck out the only batter he faced in a 3-2, 10-inning win over the Durham Bulls.Hendriks said he originally planned to return to Chicago on Sunday and be ready for the series that begins Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians. He allowed four runs on two home runs in two-thi...

Toronto mayoral debate set for tonight as polls show Olivia Chow widening lead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

New polling ahead of the Toronto mayoral byelection suggests the race’s clear frontrunner is widening their lead.The fresh polling comes as some of the main candidates get set to participate in the campaign’s second debate on Monday evening.The top six polling candidates have been invited to the televised debate at the Daily Bread Food Bank in Etobicoke. Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter and Josh Matlow have confirmed their attendance. Former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders declined the invitation.The debate is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Daily Bread’s website.The latest survey from Liaison Strategies suggests the current frontrunner Chow’s lead is growing over other top candidates. The poll conducted Friday and Saturday surveyed more than 1,200 decided and undecided Toronto voters.The results have Chow with 20 per cent support amongst all voters and 30 per cent support amongst only decided voters. It i...

Fixing instead of replacing: Average age of vehicles on US roads hits a record high

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — With new and used cars still painfully expensive, Ryan Holdsworth says he plans to keep his 9-year-old Chevy Cruze for at least four more years. Limiting his car payments and his overall debt is a bigger priority for him than having a new vehicle.A 35-year-old grocery store worker from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Holdsworth would probably be in the market for a vehicle within a few years — if not for the high cost. For now, it’s out of the question.“You’re not going to get one for a price you can afford,” he said.Holdsworth has plenty of company. Americans are keeping their cars longer than ever. The average age of a passenger vehicle on the road hit a record 12.5 years this year, according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility. Sedans like Holdsworth are even older, on average — 13.6 years.Blame it mainly on the pandemic, which in 2020 triggered a global shortage of automotive computer chips, the vital component that runs everything from radios to ga...

Is Twitter’s new CEO heading toward a glass cliff?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

Less than two months into his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, Elon Musk declared that whoever took over as the company’s CEO “ must like pain a lot.” Then he promised he’d step down as soon as he found a replacement “foolish enough” to want the job.That person, Musk announced Friday, is Linda Yaccarino, a highly-regarded advertising executive from NBCUniversal. She’ll start in six weeks. How long she’ll last might depend on her pain tolerance. When Musk tweeted on Thursday that he’s found a new CEO but didn’t say who, one word stuck out: “she.” Some of his more extreme Twitter followers took immediate issue with the new CEO’s gender, but the fact that Musk hired a woman is actually notable simply because it is so rare — in business overall and especially in the tech industry — to see female chief executives. Her appointment renewed questions about the “glass cliff,” a theory that women — as well as underrepresented minorities — are more lik...

Ethnic Greek candidate detained on vote-buying charges wins mayoral election in Albania

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:14:50 GMT

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Preliminary results of Albania’s municipal elections on Monday showed that a mayoral candidate from the Greek minority has won the post while he is in detention for alleged vote-buying.Friday’s arrest of Dhionisios Alfred Beleri, a candidate for mayor of the Albanian city of Himare — a town located in the Albanian Riviera 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of the capital, Tirana, that has a Greek minority presence — raised tensions between the two neighbors.Greece’s Foreign Ministry demanded Beleri’s immediate release, hinting that the case could negatively impact Albania’s application to join the European Union.Beleri was arrested by Albanian police while he was allegedly offering some 40,000 Albanian leks (360 euros; $390) to buy eight votes. A second person was arrested on the same charges and a court confirmed Saturday that they would both remain in custody.Beleri belongs to the Human Rights Union Party of the ethnic Greek minority, but in this municipal vot...