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L.A. model fears for her safety after deaths of 2 models

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

As authorities investigate the mysterious deaths of two models in downtown Los Angeles, a third model living in the area is frightened and worried about her own safety. Brittany Mason, 26, a successful model working in the fashion and beauty industries, lives at Skye at Bunker Hill luxury apartments on Figueroa street, the same complex where model and real estate agent Maleesa Mooney was brutally killed. She wants to move as soon as possible, but says the landlord is refusing to cooperate. Mason says she doesn’t feel safe after the murder of Mooney in her apartment on September 12. She says she’s seen people sleeping in the stairwells and other activity in the complex that makes her uncomfortable. "Initially, the unit across from me, people were subleasing it so I was seeing different people coming in and out every day and the other thing was, at one point, people were having big parties and there were tons of men coming through here,” she said. According to Mason, th...

Westside residents hit by string of car burglaries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

A series of window-shattering car burglaries in Brentwood and Marina Del Rey have many residents in the area wondering if it might be the same thief or thieves committing the crimes.  Barns Lau and Jas Singh live several miles apart, but both were victims of car burglaries overnight. Singh, a resident of Brentwood parked her Mercedes outside her apartment on Federal Avenue, near Wilshire, around midnight.  “I wake up like normal Monday at like 5:30 a.m. and go to work at 6 a.m. I’m walking to my car, and I realize the door was open,” she told KTLA’s Omar Lewis. Shirtless man in golf cart leads police on chase The Brentwood resident said she then realized other cars on the street had also been broken into. “You can actually see the trails of glass over 10 cars maybe,” she added.  Car after car was broken into with windows smashed in and belongings stolen. Nearly a dozen cars were broken into overnight on Sept. 25, 2023, in Marina Del Rey and Brentwood as they w...

NorCal school district responds to allegations of teacher assaulting 5-year-old autistic student

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

(FOX40.COM) -- During a public call to action on Monday Folsom Cordova Unified School District responded to a parent who said a teacher physically assaulted her 5-year-old nonverbal autistic son at Williamson Elementary School.In a post shared on Facebook on Sept. 21, Ebone McNeal said that she was notified by the superintendent of the district that her son was physically assaulted by his teacher on Sept. 11. FCUSD teacher accused of assaulting a special needs student “I was told she was performing an illegal restraint on him and she struck him across his face. This was reported by the aide 2 days later,” the parent said. “Nothing was immediately reported as required by law. So my son was subjected to being around this abuser for multiple days after she harmed him.”Since learning of the alleged assault, McNeal said she pulled her son out of the school and won't be bringing him back. After not receiving sufficient information from FCUSD about what happened to her son, she said she ...

Polish government whips up hate against director over migrant film

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

WARSAW — Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has launched a vitriolic campaign against acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland for making a harrowing film that centers on how Poland handles — and maltreats — migrants trying to cross its border with Belarus.In a febrile pre-election atmosphere, Holland has faced such an onslaught of invective from PiS leader (and Poland’s de-facto ruler) Jarosław Kaczyński, the president, the prime minister, justice minister and other top officials that she’s paying a security company to protect her. In one of the more caustic attacks, President Andrzej Duda described her film as “anti-Polish.” He then went on to quote a protesting border guard union that used a World War II resistance slogan leveled against Poles who went to see Nazi propaganda films: “Only pigs sit in theaters.”“I’m not afraid but I’m not stupid, either,” Holland told POLITICO, referring to her need for protection. “They’re fueling hate and ...

Human trafficking survivor shares experience during town hall meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego is ranked among the 13 worst human trafficking hotspots in the United States by the FBI. Supervisor Jim Desmond held a virtual town hall meeting on human trafficking Monday night to discuss what every parent should know about when it comes to human trafficking.Up to 8,000 children fall victim to trafficking in San Diego County every single year, with the average age being 16 years old.“A lot of trafficking happens between 12 and 16 years old,” said survivor Keelin Washington, who also joined the town hall meeting to share her insight along with District Attorney Summer Stephan and Geanie Franco, Commander of the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force.“Knowledge is power,” Stephan said. “Predators thrive on ignorance. Knowledge saves lives.” 17 Hells Angels members indicted after violent attack in Ocean Beach Officials say young boys are often targeted in game rooms and social media is where many perpetrators find their victims.“Don’t share private informatio...

German police raid premises across the country in connection with migrant smuggling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — More than 350 German federal police searched premises across the country early Tuesday in connection with smuggling of migrants early on Tuesday.The focus of the raids was on cities and towns in northern and western Germany but also in Bavaria in the south, German news agency dpa reported.Police executed five arrest warrants, three in the northern town of Stade and two in the western town of Gladbeck. Inside the searched apartments and other buildings, police discovered many migrants without residence permits, dpa reported.The raids were ordered by federal police at Frankfurt airport on suspicion of gang and commercial smuggling of foreigners, German news agency dpa reported.The Associated Press

South Korea vows to retaliate against any North Korean provocations in Armed Forces Day ceremony

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president vowed to retaliate immediately against any potential provocations by North Korea in his Armed Forces Day speech Tuesday, as thousands of troops prepared to march through the capital in the country’s first such military parade in 10 years.The show of force comes as concerns grow that North Korea is seeking Russian help in expanding its nuclear arsenal in return for supplying Moscow with conventional arms exhausted by its war with Ukraine.“Based on battle-ready combat capabilities and a solid readiness posture, our military will immediately retaliate against any North Korean provocation,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a ceremony after reviewing soldiers and advanced conventional weapons systems at a military airport near Seoul.“If North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response” from the South Korean-U.S. alliance, he said.Yoon said he would strive to build “a stron...

Stock market today: Asian shares dip with eyes on the Chinese economy and a possible US shutdown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly sank Tuesday over worries about a possible U.S. government shutdown and the troubled Chinese economy.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 1.0% in afternoon trading to 32,357.25. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.5% to 7,044.90. South Korea’s Kospi dropped nearly 1.3% to 2,463.63. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.9% to 17,576.83, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,109.69. Investors are watching for Chinese economic indicators being released later in the week. “The Chinese property woes are far from over, as the notorious developer Evergrande defaulted on its 4 billion yuan onshore bond repayment and delayed the restructuring meetings,” said Tina Teng, market analyst at CMC Markets APAC & Canada. Wall Street clawed back some of its steep losses from last week. The S&P 500 rose 17.38, or 0.4%, to 4,337.44, coming off its worst week in six months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 43.04, or 0.1%, to 3...

After US approval, Japan OKs Leqembi, its first Alzheimer’s drug, developed by Eisai and Biogen

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s health ministry has approved Leqembi, a drug for Alzheimer’s disease that was jointly developed by Japanese and U.S. pharmaceutical companies. It’s the first drug for treatment of the disease in a country with a rapidly aging population.Developed by Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co. and U.S. biotechnology firm Biogen Inc., the drug’s approval in Japan comes two months after it was endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Leqembi is for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and the first medicine that can modestly slow their cognitive decline.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who announced Japan’s approval of Leqembi on Monday, called it “a breakthrough” and said that the “treatment of dementia has now entered a new era.”Kishida has pledged to step up support for the growing number of dementia patients and their families and is due to launch a panel this week to discuss measures f...

Prominent Thai human rights lawyer accused of insulting the king receives a 4-year prison term

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:10:33 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — A prominent Thai human rights lawyer was convicted on Tuesday of insulting the monarchy and sentenced to four years in prison, the first conviction under a controversial law guarding the royal institution since a civilian government took office after years of military-backed rule.Arnon Nampa was found guilty of defaming King Maha Vajiralongkorn during a student-led rally on Oct. 14, 2020, that commemorated a popular uprising in 1973 that led to the fall of a decade-long military dictatorship. He was also fined 20,000 baht ($550) for violating an emergency decree banning large public gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.Arnon, 39, still faces 13 more cases under the lese majeste law, which makes insulting the monarch, his immediate family and the regent punishable by up to 15 years in prison.The court said in its ruling Tuesday that Arnon had declared at the rally that if it were dispersed, it would be at the order of King Maha Vajiralongkon. It said that stateme...