Police made a number of further arrests on Friday evening as they mounted a significant security operation in Dublin to ensure that there was no repeat of Thursday’s disorder. A number of people were taken away in police vans following sporadic altercations.

Police arrested 34 people after Thursday night’s rioting when up to 500 people looted shops, set fire to vehicles and threw rocks at crowd control officers equipped with helmets and shields.

The violence began after rumors circulated that a foreign national was responsible for the attack outside a Dublin school on Thursday afternoon. Authorities haven’t disclosed the suspect’s nationality.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Ireland’s capital had endured two attacks, one on innocent children and the other on “our society and the rule of law.”

“These criminals did not do what they did because they love Ireland, they did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people, they did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped,” Varadkar told reporters on Friday morning. “They did so because they’re filled with hate, they love violence, they love chaos and they love causing pain to others.”

A 5-year-old girl was in critical condition at a Dublin hospital and a teacher’s aide was in serious condition, police said. A 6-year-old girl continues to receive treatment for less serious injuries and another child was discharged overnight. The alleged assailant, who was tackled by witnesses, remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Thursday’s unrest came amid rising tensions over immigration in Ireland that mirror trends in other parts of Europe. Earlier this year, people carrying signs reading “Ireland is full” demonstrated in Dublin, and protesters blockaded a hotel housing asylum-seekers in County Clare on the west coast.

An analysis of more than 13 million social media posts over the past three years found that right-wing groups were increasingly using platforms such as X, formerly known as Twitter, to stir up opposition to immigration. Recent activity has characterized the refugees and asylum-seekers as an “existential threat to Ireland,” according to a report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based group that seeks to combat extremism.

Ireland received more than 141,000 immigrants in the 12 months through April, the highest total since 2007, the latest government statistics show. The influx of migrants drove an 11.7% increase in Ireland’s population over the past 11 years, contributing to a steady increase in housing prices.

When he was questioned about anti-immigration tensions earlier this year, Varadkar told Ireland’s parliament that there was always a place for peaceful protest, but violence, intimidation and racism were never legitimate.

“I think when it comes to this matter, we should never lose sight of the bigger picture — we’re facing a major refugee crisis not just here in Ireland but all across Europe,” he said in May.

Commissioner Drew Harris, head of Ireland’s national police force, described those who took part in Thursday’s unrest as a “complete lunatic hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology.”

More than 400 officers, including many in riot gear, were deployed throughout the city center to contain the violence. A cordon was set up around the Irish Parliament building, Leinster House, and mounted officers were dispatched to nearby Grafton Street.

One officer was seriously injured in clashes with the rioters, some of whom were armed with metal bars and covered their faces.

“These (riots) are scenes that we have not seen in decades, but what is clear is that people have been radicalized through social media and the internet,’’ Harris told reporters.

“But I don’t want to lose focus on the terrible event in terms of the dreadful assault on schoolchildren and their teacher. There’s a full investigation ongoing. There’s also a full investigation in respect on the disorder.”

Varadkar praised people of multiple nationalities who intervened to stop the attack as it unfolded, describing them as “real Irish heroes.”

One of them was Caio Benicio, a Brazilian delivery driver who stopped when he saw the teacher’s aide trying to save the children. Spotting a knife, he ripped off his helmet and slammed it into the attacker with all his strength.

“I pray for her to survive,” Benicio said of the child in critical condition. “I’m a parent myself, I have two kids and I know how hard it is.”

Benicio told Britain’s Press Association that the disturbances seemed to be caused by a “small group of people” who “wanted an excuse to do what they did.”

“I’m here for about 20 years now, I don’t know politics here deeply to have an opinion about it,” he said. “What I can say is I know the protest is against immigrants and for me it doesn’t make sense, because I’m an immigrant myself and I was the one who helped out. For me it doesn’t make sense.”

___

Pan Pylas contributed to this report.

In Florida, preliminary state statistics show more than 133,840 loggerhead turtle nests, breaking a record set in 2016. Same for green turtles, where the estimate of at least 76,500 nests is well above the previous mark set in 2017.

High sea turtle nest numbers also have been reported in South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia, although not all set records like Florida, where Justin Perrault, vice president of research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, said the number of nests is remarkable this year.

“We had more nests than we had ever seen before on our local beaches,” said Perrault, whose organization monitors Palm Beach County and broke a local record by 4,000 nests. “That’s quite a bit of nesting.”

There are seven species of sea turtles: loggerhead, green, leatherback, hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, olive ridley and flatback. All are considered either endangered or threatened. They come ashore on summer nights, digging pits in the sand and depositing dozens of eggs before covering them up and returning to the sea. Florida beaches are one of the most important hatcheries for loggerheads in the world.

Only about one in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings live to adulthood. They face myriad natural threats, including predators on land and in the ocean, disruptions to nests and failure to make it to the water after hatching. This year along one stretch of Florida’s Gulf Coast where 75 nests had been counted, most were wiped out by the surge from Hurricane Idalia in August.

“Unfortunately, the nests pre-Idalia were almost all lost due to the high tides and flooding on our barrier islands,” said Carly Oakley, senior turtle conservation biologist at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Female turtles generally lay eggs in a three-year cycle, leading to up-and-down years of nests, she said. “The nesting process is very exhausting and, in this break, females regain the energy to do the process again,” Oakley said.

Climate change has added to those challenges, reducing beaches as sea levels rise and causing more powerful tropical storms. Hotter air, water and sand and changes in the ocean currents turtles use to migrate also lower the odds of surviving, according to Oceana, an international conservation group.

Sand temperatures play a major role in determining sea turtle sex. In general, warmer temperatures produce more female turtles, and sand temperatures are projected to increase dramatically around the world by 2100, according to researchers at Florida State University.

“So the warmer the nest is, the more likely that nest is to produce females,” Perrault said. “Additionally, hatchlings that come out of warmer nests are much smaller and often slower.”

A study led by FSU professor Mariana Fuentes that was published recently in the Global Change Biology journal found sea turtles will have to nest much later or much earlier than they currently do to cope with changing environmental conditions.

Even that may not be enough for every species, said Fuentes, who works in FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. Turtles have adapted to altered climates over millions of years, but today’s rapid changes could happen too quickly for them to evolve, she said.

“We have found that even if they do change the timing of their nesting, that’s not going to be sufficient to maintain the temperatures of current nesting grounds,” Fuentes said.

Sea turtle mothers already have to lumber out of the water to find a good spot to nest, which can be difficult in areas where humans have built seawalls. Some female turtles make several attempts, known as false crawls, before finding a suitable location.

Racoons, coyotes and other predators raid the nests and hatchlings, once they dig their way out, have to crawl to the sea before being snatched up by birds and other animals. Electric lights can disorient them, causing turtles to head the wrong way on the beach instead of following light from the moon and stars. And when the lucky ones finally start swimming, hungry fish await.

Michelle Pate, biologist at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said tens of thousands of hatchlings don’t make it to the water, even as nest numbers trend higher across much of the Southeast.

“If we can’t get hatchlings to emerge and make it to the ocean, then an increase in nest numbers doesn’t help,” she said.

The increase in turtle nests this year conceals an ominous future for the animals, Perrault said.

“Yes, we’re seeing record numbers, but our hatchling production may not be that great,” he said. “And so in the future, 20 to 30 years from now, and these things come back to nest, we may not be seeing these record numbers that we’re seeing now.”

___

AP video journalist Cody Jackson contributed from Juno Beach, Florida.

Officers responding to a reported shooting in the area of 165 Carl Ave. around 3 p.m. found the woman injured, according to police.

A detective located the suspect soon after and placed him in custody. His name has not been released.

The 39-year-old woman was taken to the hospital with what were considered non-life-threatening injuries.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

“It’s only a start, but so far, it’s gone well,” Biden told reporters in Nantucket Friday afternoon. He also noted the release of several Thai nationals who had also been kidnapped by Hamas.

The three American citizens who fall into the category of women and children, including now-4-year-old Abigail Edan, were not part of this first release, but Biden renewed his commitment to seek their return.

“We also will not stop until we get these hostages brought home and an answer to their whereabouts,” he said.

Biden said he expects to soon get the names of those among the second wave of hostages who will be released Saturday, saying he was “hopeful it’s as we anticipate.” He said he did not know when the three Americans would be released, but confirmed he still does “expect it to occur.”

“My hope and expectation is it’ll be soon,” he said of the possibility of the release of the three Americans.

Biden suggested it is possible that the pause in fighting could extend by additional days to bring more than the expected 50 hostages home, telling reporters, “I think the chances are real.”

But asked whether all of the 10 unaccounted-for Americans are alive, he said, “We don’t know all of their conditions.”

And he offered a bleak assessment of Hamas’ objectives when asked whether he trusts the Palestinian militant group.

“I don’t trust Hamas to do anything right. I only trust Hamas to respond to pressure,” he said, later adding that Hamas “does not give a damn” about innocent Palestinian civilians.

The president also speculated on the reasoning behind Hamas’ October 7 attack: “I believe one of the reasons why Hamas struck when they did is that they knew I was working very closely with the Saudis and others in the region to bring peace to the region by having recognition of Israel and Israel’s right to exist,” he said, adding that he will “continue to work” on those efforts.

Biden cast the initial hostage release as the product of extensive US diplomacy and numerous calls he held with world leaders in the region, including the emir of Qatar, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He thanked each for their “personal partnership” during the painstaking, weeks-long negotiations and noted he would remain in close touch with the leaders to ensure the deal stays on track. He said that he has been in constant contact with his team and will “remain engaged” over the course of the implementation process.

Biden also pointed to the humanitarian aid going to Gaza as part of this pause, saying those in the region are “not wasting one single minute” to bring in critical supplies like fuel, medicine, cooking gas and food. US special envoy David Satterfield is monitoring the progress on that front and Biden said he has asked Satterfield to keep him updated “minute by minute.”

Biden reiterated the need for a two-state solution in order to bring peace to the region in the long term.

“As we look to the future, we have to end this cycle of violence in the Middle East. We need to renew our resolve to pursue this two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can one day live side by side in a two states solution with equal measure of freedom and dignity, two states for two people and it’s more important now than ever. Hamas unleashed this terrorist attack because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace,” he said.

Biden said that he and the first lady were keeping the hostages in their prayers as they begin a “long journey of healing,” expressing empathy for the trauma the group has experienced.

Video footage from a traffic camera shows the dark, long-horned bull mulling around the highway as troopers try to herd it from the safety of their vehicles.

Sgt. Kevin Watt told AZfamily.com that he came face to face with the animal, which was standing in the high-occupancy vehicle lane.

Watt tried scaring the bull off the road.

“I had my sirens going, everything I could to scare him off the roadway, but he seemed like he wanted to take me on,” Watt said.

Troopers managed to wrangle the animal off the highway and back to the cattle enclosure it escaped from. They discovered the gap in the enclosure that allowed the bull to escape and fixed it.

Authorities say they still don’t know who owns an enclosure so close to the freeway.

Nearly 100 people in 32 states have gotten sick from the contaminated fruits. Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio have the highest number of cases. Two people have died of the infections in Minnesota, and 45 people are hospitalized nationwide.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s original recall included Malichita brand whole cantaloupe, Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupe and ALDI whole cantaloupe and pre-cut fruit products. Rudy brand whole cantaloupes and Freshness Guaranteed brand and RaceTrac brand pre-cut cantaloupes joined the list Friday.

Health officials say anyone who bought the recalled fruits should throw them away and wash surfaces that touched them with hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher.

Most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps within six hour to six days after consuming food contaminated with the bacteria. Illnesses typically last four to seven days. Vulnerable people, including children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems may develop severe illnesses that require medical care or hospitalization.

The Worcester Police Department had issued an arrest warrant for Santos-Padgett for Armed Assault to Murder and worked in conjunction with the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Squad and the Haverhill Police Department to apprehend the individual.

According to court documents, Santos-Padgett aimed a gun at the victim’s head and pulled the trigger, killing her.

Police identified the suspect through surveillance video and license plate readers, which caught his vehicle in the area where the shooting took place.

Worcester Police Department said officers first responded to the Angie’s Bodywork Spa at 383 Pleasant Street around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday after receiving a report of a female “experiencing a possible medical issue.”

Police said a male individual soon flagged down arriving officers and brought them to an unconscious female. 

Officers rendered medical aid, according to police, until the unconscious female was pronounced dead.

Authorities have not yet identified the victim or a potential motive.

This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Six officers already on the scene working as part of a detail were quickly alerted and worked to deescalate the situation.

Several individuals involved in the dispute were detained for questioning and to receive necessary medical treatment. Videos of the fight posted to social media show a chaotic scene and at least one individual with a bloody face.

No arrests were made, but Saugus Police said the investigation is ongoing and that charges may be forthcoming, particularly for one individual who was seen using a glass bottle in the fight, a felony offense.

“The Kowloon is a family friendly restaurant, unfortunately a few unruly patrons ruined a nice evening for many others,” Saugus Police Chief Michael Ricciardelli said in a statement. “A disturbance such as this on Thanksgiving Eve is unacceptable and disgusting.”

The restaurant and bar closed early following the conflict.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Saugus Police at 781-941-1199.

Pérez Salas is “one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins,” according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Known as “Nini,” Pérez Salas was captured by the Mexican National Guard on Wednesday in Culiacán, Sinaloa, according to Mexican officials.

CNN has reached out to the Mexican Attorney General’s Office for more details about the arrest but did not immediately receive a response. It is not clear if Pérez Salas has an attorney.

In February 2021, Pérez Salas was charged in the United States with cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and witness retaliation. The US State Department offered a reward of up to $3 million for information leading to his arrest.

The State Department said Pérez Salas worked directly with Oscar Noé Medina González, a subordinate of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, one of the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who was sentenced to prison in the US in 2019.

The State Department also said Pérez Salas was responsible for the security apparatus of Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. He is accused of being one of the commanders of the “Ninis” cell, described as a “particularly violent” group of security personnel for Los Chapitos.

President Joe Biden praised Mexican security forces for Pérez Salas’ arrest on Wednesday.

“On November 22, Mexican security forces captured Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas (‘El Nini’), the notorious head of security for the Chapitos wing of the Sinaloa Cartel. For nearly three years, El Nini has been one of Mexico’s and the United States’ most wanted criminals, indicted by the United States for his roles in perpetrating violence and illicit fentanyl trafficking into the United States, and both our countries are safer with him behind bars and facing justice for his crimes,” the president said in a statement.

Biden heralded the US-Mexico partnership to “secure our communities against violence, counter the cartels, and end the scourge of illicit fentanyl” days after the US secured an agreement with China regarding the source materials used to make fentanyl.

Biden expressed his gratitude to Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador and the Mexican Army and special forces.

“I want to thank President López Obrador and the Mexican Army and special forces for effectively capturing El Nini, and express our appreciation for the brave men and women of Mexican security forces who undertook this successful operation to apprehend him,” he said.

Catholic Charities Boston is the first organization to be awarded a grant to provide temporary rooms to extremely low-income families with children and pregnant individuals, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay announced this week.

The grant will pay for a site in the greater Boston area that opened on Tuesday evening and can accommodate up to 27 families, or about 81 people, as they wait to enter the state’s emergency shelter system, officials said.

Catholic Charities Boston will provide bedding, meals, staff, and security. The site is available to families eligible for the the state’s family shelter system but who could not be immediately placed in a shelter.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced the $5 million grant program earlier this month.

Sarah Bartley of the United Way said the agency has already received several other grant applications. The grants are meant to support community gathering spaces with restrooms and heat, such as places of worship, community centers, and school buildings, to provide safe space for families to find short-term, congregate shelter, meals and other basic necessities, she said.

The flexible program will remain in place through the winter and spring, officials said.

On Monday, the state began letting homeless families stay overnight in the state transportation building in Boston. The space in the office building is large enough to provide overnight shelter for up to 25 families with cots and limited amenities and will only be used in the evening and overnight hours, officials said.

The space will be available to families determined eligible for emergency assistance and is expected to operate for about two weeks until additional safety net shelter sites are operational.

The spike in demand is being driven in part by migrant families entering the state. About half of the current shelter caseload are new arrivals to Massachusetts, according to the Healey administration.

As of last Friday, there were 92 families on the state’s waiting list for emergency shelter.

The huge mass of ice broke away from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in 1986, calved and grounded on the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea floor almost immediately.

The iceberg, named A23a, is about 400 meters (1,312 feet) thick, and almost 4,000 square kilometers (1,544 square miles) in area. Greater London, by way of comparison, is 1,572 square kilometers (607 square miles).

But now, nearly three decades later, the iceberg has probably shrunk enough in size to lose its grip on the seafloor as part of the natural growth cycle of the ice shelf, and has started moving, scientists Ella Gilbert and Oliver Marsh from the British Antarctic Survey told CNN.

A23a has held the “largest current iceberg” title several times since the 1980s, occasionally being surpassed by larger but shorter-lived icebergs, including A68 in 2017 and A76 in 2021, they added.

The iceberg, carried by ocean currents, will likely head eastward, and at its current rate is traveling five kilometers (three miles) a day.

Gilbert and Marsh added that while this particular iceberg probably broke away as part of the natural growth cycle of the ice shelf, climate change is driving changes in Antarctica’s ice and the continent is losing enormous quantities of ice every year.

Police were called at 5:45 a.m. PST on Friday morning and she was arrested shortly after. She remains in custody as of Friday morning local time, a public information officer told CNN.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Haddish for comment.

Haddish had reportedly performed at The Laugh Factory in West Hollywood on Thursday night for the comedy club’s 43rd annual free Thanksgiving feast for the community.

The comedic actress was also arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2022 bear Atlanta, Georgia.

The Niagara Falls Police Department named the couple as Kurt P. Villani and Monica Villani, both 53, of Grand Island, New York, a leafy Buffalo suburb close to the falls.

Online business records indicate the victims’ family owns Gui’s Lumber and seven Ace Hardware locations in western New York. A man who answered the phone Friday at a number listed for the business declined to comment.

Authorities have not yet released details on what exactly led to the couple’s crash Wednesday at the Rainbow Bridge, where their car raced through an intersection, hit a low median and was launched through the air before slamming into a row of security booths and bursting into flames.

The wreck prompted widespread concern on both sides of the border, as video and images of what appeared to be the aftermath of an explosion began to circulate online and officials closed the bridge and three other crossings in the area. Authorities investigated for several hours before the FBI’s Buffalo office said it found no signs the incident was a terror attack and turned the case over to local police as a traffic investigation.

The Niagara Falls Police Department has said the investigation will take time to complete given the complexity of the crash. The agency issued a statement Friday that named the victims but contained no other details.

“The City of Niagara Falls would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families as they deal with this tragedy,” the statement read.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has described the crash as “surreal” and said the vehicle was “basically incinerated” with nothing left but the engine and a scattering of charred debris.

“You actually had to look at it and say, was this generated by AI?” Hochul, a Democrat, said at a news conference Wednesday. “Because it was so surreal to see. How high in the air this vehicle went, and then the crash, and the explosion, and the fire.”

The safety measures tied up traffic at a nearby airport in Buffalo and elsewhere on one of the busiest U.S. travel days of the year, ahead of the American Thanksgiving holiday. The bridges were later reopened.

About 6,000 vehicles cross the Rainbow Bridge each day, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory. The short, steel bridge offers scenic views of the falls.

Shot in New England, “Good Burger 2” features nine-year-old Alexis Turner, of Dorchester, alongside stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. In the film, Turner plays Ketchup, one of Mitchell’s on-screen daughters.

“I’m so excited to see it,” Turner said. “It was a great experience. I loved to be there, I had a really fun time.”

Turner told 7News some of her favorite parts of filming included scenes where she ate french fries, ran down hallways, and got into a pillow fight.

The young actress, who has been performing since age four, is supported in her career by her mother Antoinette Toney.

“I’m very proud,” Toney said. “She’s my best friend and I’m just going to always be there for her. As long as she wants to do it, I’m going to support her.”

Good Burger 2 is streaming now on Paramount+.

The civil suit filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act names Combs and his companies, including Bad Boy Entertainment, and is just the latest in a rush of cases filed against high profile men among others as the window to file under the state’s look back law closes this week.

The civil suit filed in New York Supreme Court demands a trial by jury and seeks damages. “Plaintiff brings suit against Defendants to redress the substantial and lifetime injuries she has suffered as a result of being drugged, sexually assaulted and abused, and being the victim of ‘revenge porn’ that Sean Combs or ‘P. Diddy’ created and distributed,” the suit filed in New York Supreme Court stated.

A spokesperson for Combs says the allegations are “made up and not credible,” adding the move is “purely a money grab.”

“This last-minute lawsuit is an example of how a well-intentioned law can be turned on its head,” the spokesperson said. “Mr. Combs never assaulted her, and she implicates companies that did not exist,” it continues.

A representative for Bad Boy Entertainment was not immediately available for comment.

The alleged victim, Joi Dickerson-Neal, was a Syracuse University student at the time of the 1991 incident and had previously appeared with Combs in a few video clips of a music video.

The suit alleged she agreed to a dinner at a Harlem restaurant “reluctantly” with Combs while on school break for the holidays in January, when he “pushed” her to keep him company while he attended to “a few things in the city.”

The suit alleges during their date he “intentionally drugged” her “resulting in her being in a physical state where she could not independently stand or walk.”

While at dinner, she left to use the restroom and left her drink “unattended,” it is alleged in the suit.

In the car, the suit alleges she took a puff of a “blunt” under pressure from Combs, and “from that point on, Plaintiffs memory is incomplete.”

“Driving first to a music studio where she could not get out of the car, Combs proceeded to a place he was staying to sexually assault her,” the suit alleges.

“Because she had been drugged, Plaintiff lacked the physical ability or mental capacity to fend Combs off,” the suit alleges.

The suit alleges Combs video recorded  the sexual assault, and days later a male friend revealed to Dickerson he had viewed it.

“Horrified, Ms. Dickerson asked how many others saw it, to which he responded, ‘everyone.’”

Thereafter, Dickerson alleges her life “went into a tailspin,” she was admitted to hospital for severe depression and suicide ideation, the suit claims.

According to the suit, Dickerson filed police reports at unspecified agencies in New York and New Jersey and spoke to “several prosecutors” hoping to press charges and was told her “allegations would need to be corroborated.”

The suit goes on to say Combs had experienced “great success” with the launch of late Notorious B.I.G.’s career whose hit single Juicy was charted on Billboard, and claims witnesses were “terrified that Combs would retaliate against them and that they would lose future business and music opportunities if they made a statement in support” of her.

The accuser was trying to gain a foothold in the music industry working as a location scout for an industry cameraman, and despite her allegations of “emotional pain” continued work in the music industry at a DJ management company after the incident, the suit states.

She eventually left as Combs’ “star continued to rise and his presence was inescapable,” according to the suit.

“It was the filing of the lawsuit about his abuse of Cassie Venture [sic] on November 16, 2023, that forced her to face his assault again,” the suit says.

Ventura, former girlfriend of Combs, accused the rapper and producer of years of sexual abuse, rape and trafficking in a suit Combs said was resolved “amicably” one day after the filing.

Combs’ representative at the time said it was “in no way an admission of wrongdoing” and “does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims.”

Israel — wrenched by the abduction of nearly 240 people in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war — cheered as 13 Israeli women and children emerged free from Gaza. Most were in their 70s or 80s, and the youngest was a 2-year-old. Also released were 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines.

In Gaza, the truce’s start Friday morning brought the first quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians reeling and desperate from relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel went silent as well.

Increased supplies of food, water, medicine and fuel promised under the deal began to roll into Gaza, where U.N. officials had warned that Israel’s seal on the territory threatened to push it to starvation.

But relief has been tempered — among Israelis by the fact that not all hostages will be freed and among Palestinians by the briefness of the pause. The short truce leaves Gaza mired in humanitarian crisis and under the threat that fighting could soon resume.

Israel says the cease-fire could be extended if more hostages are released, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had received a new list of hostages to be released by Hamas on Saturday.

But Israel has vowed to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. That has clouded hopes that the deal could eventually help wind down the conflict, which has fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.FIRST HOSTAGES FREED

Under the deal, Hamas is to release at least 50 hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners over the four days. Both sides were starting with women and children. Israel said the four-day truce can be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.

After nightfall Friday, a line of ambulances emerged from Gaza through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt carrying the freed hostages, as seen live on Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera TV. The freed Israelis included nine women and four children 9 and under.

The released hostages were taken to three Israeli hospitals for observation. The Schneider Children’s Medical Center said it was treating eight Israelis — four children and four women — and that all appeared to be in good physical condition. The center said they were also receiving psychological treatment, adding that “these are sensitive moments” for the families.

At a plaza dubbed “Hostages Square” in Tel Aviv, a crowd of Israelis celebrated at the news.

Yael Adar spotted her mother, 85-year-old Yaffa Adar, in a TV newscast of the release and was cheered to see her walking. “That was a huge concern, what would happen to her health during these almost two months,” she told Israel’s Channel 12.

But Yael’s 38-year-old son, Tamir Adar, remained in captivity. Both were kidnapped on Oct. 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz. “Everyone needs to come back. It’s happiness locked up in grief.”

The hostages included multiple generations. Nine-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri was freed along with his mother, Keren Munder, and grandmother Ruti Munder. The fourth-grader was abducted during a holiday visit to his grandparents at the kibbutz where about 80 people — nearly a quarter of all residents of the small community — are believed to have been taken hostage.

The plight of the hostages has raised anger among some families that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to bring them home.

Hours later, 24 Palestinian women and 15 teenagers held in Israeli prisons in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem were freed. In the West Bank town of Beituna, hundreds of Palestinians poured out of their homes to celebrate, honking horns and setting off fireworks that lite up the nights sky.

The teenagers had been jailed for minor offenses like throwing stones. The women included several convicted of trying to stab Israeli soldiers, and others who had been arrested at checkpoints in the West Bank.

“As a Palestinian, my heart is broken for my brothers in Gaza, so I can’t really celebrate,” said Abdulqader Khatib, a U.N. worker whose 17-year-old son, Iyas, was freed. “But I am a father. And deep inside, I am very happy.”

Iyas had been taken last year into “administrative detention,” without charges or trial and based on secret evidence. Israel often holds detainees for months without charges. Most of those who are tried are put before military courts that almost never acquit defendants and often don’t follow due process, human rights groups say.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group, Israel is currently holding 7,200 Palestinians, including about 2,000 arrested since the start of the war.CEASE-FIRE TAKES HOLD

Friday’s halt in fighting brought Gaza’s uprooted population a moment to catch their breath after weeks of fleeing for shelter, searching for food and fearing for family.

After the truce began Friday morning, four trucks of fuel and four trucks of cooking gas entered from Egypt, as well as 200 trucks of relief supplies, Israel said.

Israel has barred all imports into Gaza throughout the war, except for a trickle of supplies from Egypt.

Its ban on fuel, which it said could be diverted to Hamas, caused a territory-wide blackout. Hospitals, water systems, bakeries and shelters have struggled to keep generators running.

During the truce, Israel agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,340 gallons) of fuel per day — still only a small portion of Gaza’s estimated daily needs of more than 1 million liters.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are crowded into the southern portion of the territory, with more than 1 million living in U.N. schools-turned-shelters. The calm brought a chance for displaced residents of the south to visit homes and retrieve some belongings.

But the hundreds of thousands who evacuated from northern Gaza to the south were warned not to return in leaflets dropped by Israel. Israeli troops hold much of the north, including Gaza City.

Still, hundreds of Palestinians tried walking north Friday. Two were shot and killed by Israeli troops and another 11 were wounded.

Sofian Abu Amer decided to risk checking his home in Gaza City.

“We don’t have enough clothes, food and drinks,” he said. “The situation is disastrous. It’s better for a person to die.”

Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was also quiet on Friday, a day after the militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the highest number of attacks in one day since fighting there began Oct. 8.

Hezbollah is not a party to the cease-fire agreement but was widely expected to halt its attacks.A LONGER PEACE?

The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers.

The hope is that “momentum” from the deal will lead to an “end to this violence,” said Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which served as a mediator along with the United States and Egypt.

But hours before it came into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops that their respite would be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months.

Netanyahu has also vowed to continue the war to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the hostages.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza government. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead, though the latest number was not broken down. The figure does not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north, where communications have broken down.

The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls.

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count.

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Federman reported from Jerusalem, Jeffery from Cairo. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed.

Troopers responding to a reported crash around 3:40 a.m. Friday determined the driver of a 2017 Toyota Camry had lost control, gone down an embankment, and slammed into a tree, according to state police.

A 1-year-old girl who was a passenger in the car sustained life-threatening injuries and the driver, a 33-year-old woman, suffered minor injuries.

Both are from Nashua, New Hampshire.

The infant was transported to Lawrence General Hospital before being taken by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, though officials said distracted driving is being investigated as a potential cause.

This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

On Instagram and TikTok, the star posted about welcoming her second child, a daughter named London. Hilton and her husband Carter Reum are also parents of an infant son, Phoenix.

“Thankful for my baby girl,” the caption reads on her Instagram photo of a pink outfit with the name “London” inscribed on the shirt.

Hilton also shared a video in which she’s holding her son and saying, “I’m a big brother” as her husband cheers them on.

“Celebrating Phoenix the ‘Big Brother’ on #Thanksgiving,” the caption reads on the video.

In another TikTok video, Hilton can be heard asking her niece and nephew if they are excited for their new cousin and answering in the affirmative when her nephew asks if she has two babies.

The couple announced the birth of their son in January. Hilton married the venture capitalist in November 2021. The lavishness of their celebrations were documented in the Peacock docuseries, “Paris in Love.”

Earlier this year, Hilton explained to Glamour UK why she and Reum opted to use a surrogate to have their son.

“When I was in ‘The Simple Life,’ I had to be in a room when a woman was giving birth and that traumatized me as well,” she told the publication. “But I want a family so bad, it’s just the physical part of doing it. I’m just so scared… childbirth and death are the two things that scare me more than anything in the world.”

At the same time, Ukrainian officials reported that the Kremlin’s forces escalated their weekslong and costly attempt to storm Avdiivka, a strategically important city in eastern Ukraine.

The stepped-up efforts came as both sides are keen to show they are not deadlocked as the fighting approaches 2024. Neither side has gained much ground despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June, and analysts predict the war will be a long one.

With winter weather setting in, bringing snow and freezing temperatures to the battlefield, Ukraine and Russia are looking to take ground that could provide platforms for future advances.

The Moscow-appointed governor for the Russian-occupied part of southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Crimea early Friday. He claimed that dozens of drones were shot down over the province and the northern part of Crimea.

Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a move that most of the world considered illegal, and has used it as a staging and supply point during the war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 13 Ukrainian drones over Crimea and three more over southern Russia’s Volgograd region.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on the Russian reports.

It was not possible to independently verify either side’s battlefield claims.

Russia has been trying to capture Avdiivka since Oct. 10, using heavy bombardments and reportedly taking heavy losses. The city is wrecked, and the battle has become reminiscent of the fight over the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut, which was largely destroyed during nine months of fighting before Russian troops eventually captured it.

Avdiivka lies in the northern suburbs of Donetsk, a city in a region of the same name that Russian forces partially occupy. Avdiivka’s location grants Ukrainian forces artillery advantages over the city and could serve as a springboard for them to liberate Donetsk.

After intense artillery and aerial bombardments, Russian troops attacked the heavily fortified city from an additional direction and spread along the line of contact whereas before they attacked in columns, Vitalii Barabash, the head of Avdiivka’s military administration, said Friday.

The city is enduring up to 40 bombardments daily, he said.

In exchange for giving up ownership of drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma and for contributing up to $6 billion to fight the crisis, members of the wealthy Sackler family would be exempt from any civil lawsuits. At the same time, they could potentially keep billions of dollars from their profits on OxyContin sales.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Dec. 4 over whether the agreement, part of the resolution of Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy, violates federal law.

The issue for the justices is whether the legal shield that bankruptcy provides can be extended to people such as the Sacklers, who have not declared bankruptcy themselves. The legal question has resulted in conflicting lower court decisions. It also has implications for other major product liability lawsuits settled through the bankruptcy system.

But the agreement, even with billions of dollars set aside for opioid abatement and treatment programs, also poses a moral conundrum that has divided people who lost loved ones or lost years of their own lives to opioids.

Ellen Isaacs’ 33-year-old son, Ryan Wroblewski, died in Florida in 2018, about 17 years after he was first prescribed OxyContin for a back injury. When she first heard about a potential settlement that would include some money for people like her, she signed up. But she has changed her mind.

Money might not bring closure, she said. And by allowing the deal, it could lead to more problems.

“Anybody in the future would be able to do the exact same thing that the Sacklers are now able to do,” she said in an interview.

Her lawyer, Mike Quinn, put it this way in a court filing: “The Sackler releases are special protection for billionaires.”

Lynn Wencus, of Wrentham, Massachusetts, also lost a 33-year-old son, Jeff, to overdose in 2017.

She initially opposed the deal with Purdue Pharma but has come around. Even though she does not expect a payout, she wants the settlement to be finalized in hopes it would help her stop thinking about Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members, whom she blames for the opioid crisis.

“I feel like I can’t really move on while this is all hanging out in the court,” Wencus said.

Purdue Pharma’s aggressive marketing of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller that hit the market in 1996, is often cited as a catalyst of a nationwide opioid epidemic, persuading doctors to prescribe painkillers with less regard for addiction dangers.

The company pleaded guilty to misbranding the drug in 2007 and paid more than $600 million in fines and penalties.

The drug and the Stamford, Connecticut-based company became synonymous with the crisis, even though the majority of pills being prescribed and used were generic drugs. Opioid-related overdose deaths have continued to climb, hitting 80,000 in recent years. That’s partly because people with substance abuse disorder found pills harder to get and turned to heroin and, more recently, fentanyl, an even more potent synthetic opioid.

Drug companies, wholesalers and pharmacies have agreed to pay a total of more than $50 billion to settle lawsuits filed by state, local and Native American tribal governments and others that claimed the companies’ marketing, sales and monitoring practices spurred the epidemic. The Purdue Pharma settlement would be among the largest. It’s also one of only two so far with provisions for victims of the crisis to be compensated directly, with payouts from a $750 million pool expected to range from about $3,500 to $48,000.

Lawyers for more than 60,000 victims who support the settlement called it “a watershed moment in the opioid crisis,” while recognizing that “no amount of money could fully compensate” victims for the damage caused by the misleading marketing of OxyContin.

In the fallout, parts of the Sackler family story has been told in multiple books and documentaries and in fictionalized versions in the streaming series “Dopesick” and “Painkiller.”

Museums and universities around the world have removed the family’s name from galleries and buildings.

Family members have remained mostly out of the public eye, and they have stepped off the board of their company and have not received payouts from it since before the company entered bankruptcy. But in the decade before that, they were paid more than $10 billion, about half of which family members said went to pay taxes.

Some testified in a 2021 bankruptcy hearing, telling a judge that the family would not contribute to the proposed legal settlement without being shielded from lawsuits.

Two family members appeared by video and one listened by audio to a 2022 court hearing in which more than two dozen people impacted by opioids told their stories publicly. One told them: “You poisoned our lives and had the audacity to blame us for dying.”

Purdue Pharma reached the deal with the governments suing it — including with some states that initially rejected the plan.

But the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department responsible for promoting the integrity of the bankruptcy system, has objected to the legal protections for Sackler family members. Attorney General Merrick Garland also has criticized the plan.

The opposition marked an about-face for the Justice Department, which supported the settlement during the presidency of Donald Trump, a Republican. The department and Purdue Pharma forged a plea bargain in a criminal and civil case. The deal included $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures, but the company would pay the federal government only $225 million so long as it executed the settlement plan.

A federal trial court judge in 2021 ruled the settlement should not be allowed. This year, a federal appeals panel ruled the other way in a unanimous decision in which one judge still expressed major concerns about the deal. The Supreme Court quickly agreed to take the case, at the urging of the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Purdue Pharma’s is not the first bankruptcy to include this sort of third-party release, even when not everyone in the case agrees to it. It was specifically allowed by Congress in 1994 for asbestos cases.

They have been used elsewhere, too, including in settlements of sexual abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America, where groups like regional Boy Scout councils and churches that sponsor troops helped pay, and against Catholic dioceses, where parishes and schools contributed cash.

Proponents of Purdue Pharma’s settlement plan often assert that federal law does not prohibit third-party releases and that they can be necessary to create a settlement that parties will agree to.

“Third-party releases are a recurring feature of bankruptcy practice,” lawyers for one branch of the Sackler family said in a court filing, “and not because anyone is trying to do the released third parties a favor.”

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Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

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This story has been corrected to show that the appeals court ruling was unanimous, not 2-1.

Department of Corrections spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Pistorius would be released from prison on Jan. 5. His parole will come with conditions, including that he not leave the area of Pretoria where he is set to live without permission from authorities. Pistorius will also attend a program to deal with his anger issues, Nxumalo said, and will have to perform community service.

Pistorius’ parole conditions will be in place for five years, the Department of Corrections said.

“Parole does not mean the end of the sentence. It is still part of the sentence. It only means the inmate will complete the sentence outside a correctional facility,” Nxumalo said.

Pistorius, who turned 37 this week, has been in jail since late 2014 for the Valentine’s Day 2013 killing of model Reeva Steenkamp, although he was released for a period of house arrest in 2015 while one of the numerous appeals in his case was heard. He was ultimately convicted of murder and sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison.

Serious offenders in South Africa must serve at least half of their sentence to be eligible for parole, which Pistorius has done.

Pistorius was at the height of his fame and one of the world’s most admired athletes when he killed Steenkamp. He shot her multiple times in the bathroom of his Pretoria villa in the predawn hours with his licensed 9mm pistol.

Friday’s parole hearing was Pistorius’ second in the space of eight months. He was wrongly ruled ineligible for early release at a first hearing in March. That was due to an error made by an appeals court over when the sentence officially started.

Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide — a charge comparable to manslaughter — for killing Steenkamp. That conviction was overturned and he was convicted of murder after an appeal by prosecutors. They also appealed against an initial sentence of six years for murder, and Pistorius was ultimately sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison.

Pistorius testified at his murder trial that he killed Steenkamp by mistake, thinking she was a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom in the middle of the night when he fired four times through the door with his licensed 9mm pistol. Prosecutors argued that Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and reality TV star, had fled to the toilet cubicle during a late-night argument and Pistorius killed her in a rage.

Pistorius was eventually convicted of murder on a legal principle known as dolus eventualis, which means he acted with extreme recklessness and should have known that whoever was behind the door would likely be killed. It’s comparable to third-degree murder.

Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, died in September. Her mother, June Steenkamp, did not oppose Pistorius’ parole.

Rob Matthews, a South African man whose 21-year-old daughter was murdered in 2004 and who became a Steenkamp family friend, read out a statement from June Steenkamp outside the prison before the hearing in which she said she was not opposing his parole and didn’t attend the hearing because “I simply cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage.”

Nevertheless, “I do not believe Oscar’s version that he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” June Steenkamp said in the statement. “In fact, I do not know anybody who does. My dearest child screamed for her life. … I believe he knew it was Reeva.”

While out on parole, Pistorius is expected to live at his uncle’s luxurious mansion in a wealthy Pretoria suburb, where he stayed during his murder trial.

Pistorius was initially sent to Pretoria’s central prison, a notorious apartheid-era jail. He was moved to the city’s Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in 2016.

There have been only occasional glimpses of Pistorius’ life behind bars over the past decade. His father has said he has been holding bible classes for fellow prisoners, although there have also been flashes of trouble, including an altercation Pistorius had with another inmate over a prison telephone that left him requiring medical treatment.

Steenkamp’s killing happened when Pistorius was at the height of his fame and just months after he had become the first double-amputee to compete at the Olympics. He was also a multiple Paralympic sprinting champion and one of sport’s most marketable figures, having overcome the amputation of both his legs below the knee as a baby to run on specially designed carbon-fiber blades.

At his sensational trial, prosecutors argued there was another side to Pistorius’ life that involved guns and angry confrontations with others. Pistorius was also found guilty of a second charge of recklessly firing a gun in a restaurant.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

Just days before the killing of 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, Italians were already applauding a blockbuster movie about a woman who endures beatings and belittling by her overbearing husband. The movie is set in 1946, 24 years before divorce became legal in Italy and on the eve of the first time Italian women were allowed to vote. The film’s exploration of the suffocating role of patriarchy in Italian society is painfully resonating today.

The moment is a remarkable confluence of fact and fiction, driving demands across Italy to protect women and to eradicate patriarchal mentalities woven into society.

Giulia Cecchettin disappeared after meeting her former boyfriend, Filippo Turetta, for a burger at a shopping mall, just days before she was to receive her degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Padua.

Her ex-beau, a year younger, friends and family said, resented that she had finished her studies ahead of him and feared she’d move on to pursue personal and professional dreams. Everything was ready to celebrate Cecchettin’s degree — red bows were tied to the metal fence outside her family home in Vigonovo, a town of 10,000 people near Venice — and a restaurant was booked for family and friends.

While at the burger place, she texted her older sister, Elena, for advice on what shoes to buy for the ceremony. It was the last her family would hear from her.

“Giulia’s case shook all of Italy,″ actress and director Paola Cortellesi said in an interview earlier this week in Rome. “Because in her disappearance, all of Italy knew that shortly there would have been the discovery of a young woman slain at the hands of a man.”

“Because by now it’s the same routine. It’s chilling to call it a routine,″ she said, referring to Italian statistics indicating roughly every three days a woman is murdered in the country at the hands of a man — often a spouse, a partner or an ex.

For the seven days before Cecchettin’s body was found, on Nov. 18 — covered by black plastic bags in a ditch near a lake in the foothills of the Alps — the nation’s newscasts gave macabre updates.

A few kilometers (miles) from her home, an industrial complex’s video camera on a deserted street captured the image of a man, alleged by investigators to be Turetta, chasing after Cecchettin who had bolted from the car before being struck repeatedly, knocked to the ground and bundled into the car, leaving hair and bloodstains on the sidewalk.

For days, roadside surveillance cameras recorded glimpses of Turetta’s car, first in northern Italy, then Austria, then Germany. On Sunday, Nov. 19, German police checked on a car parked on a highway shoulder and out of gas. Inside was Turetta.

On Wednesday, a German court ordered his extradition to Italy for investigation of suspicion of murder. A medical examiner’s report noted 26 wounds, apparently inflicted by a blade, on the woman’s neck, arms and legs, Italian media said.

As the real-life drama of Cecchettin’s killing played out, the movie “C’è ancora domani” (There’s still tomorrow) riveted audiences across Italy.

Cortellesi, who directed the movie, said her work swept up audiences “beyond the ordinary, precisely because, as I have been saying, it hit a raw nerve in the lives of everybody.” A noted Italian comic actress, Cortellesi also plays the lead role of Delia, an abused Roman wife hoping for a better future for her teenage daughter.

Cortellesi recounted how, at one screening, a woman stood up and revealed to a theater full of strangers that she, too, had an abusive husband, saying “I was Delia.”

Among the film’s fans is Daria Dicorpo, a middle-school teacher in Rome. “Unfortunately, the theme of violence against women is always actual,” she said.

In the movie, women, from lower to upper classes, are told by their husbands to keep their opinions to themselves, or, more bluntly, to shut their mouth. ”Instead, no, we have to yell, we have to communicate the beauty of being women,” Dicorpo said.

Italians had previously taken to the streets in silent, torchlit marches to protest the slayings of women. But Elena Cecchettin, Giulia’s sister, offered an alternative: “make noise” to honor her sister. “If you have keys, rattle them,” she called out.

In a letter to Corriere della Sera daily, Elena Cecchettin dismissed descriptions of her sister’s alleged murderer as a “monster.” Killers are “not sick, they are the healthy sons of patriarchy,” she wrote.

“Femicide isn’t a crime of passion, it’s a crime of power,” Elena Cecchettin wrote, using a term that refers to the slaying of women precisely because they are women or because of the power men hold over women.

On Wednesday, after final passage of a bill to protect women with such measures as increased use of electronic monitoring devices for men stalking or threatening them, lawmakers from the opposition 5-Star Movement pounded rhythmically on their desks “in a minute of noise.”

Director Cortellesi appealed to the two most powerful women in Italian politics today — far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni and Elly Schlein, who heads the Democratic Party, Parliament’s largest force on the left. She asked them to “do something (about women’s violence) that doesn’t have anything to do with keeping their electorate happy,” she said.

Schlein is pushing for bipartisan legislation to make lessons mandatory, starting in primary grades, to teach reciprocal respect between girls and boys, men and women. But the plan by Meloni’s education minister envisions lessons on “relationships” for high schools.

Italy’s RAI state TV reported that in the days since Cecchettin’s body was found, calls to a national hotline for women fearing for their safety at the hands of men have jumped from some 200 to 400 a day— including from parents of young women.

“Women are afraid,” said Oria Gargano, who heads Be Free, an organization fighting violence, sex trafficking and discrimination.

Among the handwritten notes tucked among the flowers, candles and bouquets left outside the Cecchettin family home was one reading: “Forgive us for not having done enough to change this culture.”

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AP journalists Trisha Thomas and Silvia Stellacci contributed to this report.

Consumers are under pressure as their savings dwindle and their credit card debt grows. Inflation has eased but many goods and services like meat and rent are still far higher than they were three years ago.

Yvonne Carey, 72, was among the first shoppers at Macy’s Herald Square store in Manhattan where she snapped up discounted Michael Kors slippers and Ugg boots for herself. But Carey said she plans to stick to the same $1,000 budget as last year as she shops for gifts for her six grandchildren and her husband.

“The prices are crazy on everything food, clothes,” Carey said.

Many retailers ordered fewer goods for this holiday season and pushed holiday sales earlier in October than last year to help shoppers spread out their spending, a trend that accelerated during the pandemic when clogs in the supply network. But this year, retailers said more shoppers were willing to wait until the last minute in hopes of finding better deals.

“In this economy it’s really hard. We had to save some gift cards. We’ve been saving for like months ahead, to try and make it work, keep it normal,” said Damaris Fay Bayard, shopping with her husband and daughter at a mall in Metairie, Louisiana.

Gone are the Black Fridays of years ago when customers would stand in line for hours in the middle of the night, or brawls would break out over high demand items. But Black Friday shopping remains a favorite tradition for many, and retailers tried to reward devotees with steeper discounts and other surprises.

“Tradition every year, get up at four o’ clock, eat breakfast and come in the mall and shop all day,” said Martha Stewart, singing and giddily looking through her shopping bags at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metarie.

Nearby, Jenell Rayford was delighted when workers at Lakeside popped champagne for shoppers.

“I have champagne and a new pair of shoes in my hand,” Rayford said. “I just wasn’t expecting all of this.”

At Macy’s Herald Square store, the Disney Princess shop had augmented reality allowing delighted youngsters to virtually step into one of the princess dresses. Shoppers who streamed in soon after the doors opened at 6 a.m. were greeted with discounts of between 40% and 60% on footwear, handbags and diamond jewelry.

“The customer is under pressure. You see it with what is going on in luxury. That is a recent development,” Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said in an interview with The Associated Press, adding that shoppers across all income levels are ”more discerning about how they are spending their budget.”

About 12,000 customers showed up at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, in the first hour of its 7 a.m. opening — 20% more than last year, said Jill Renslow, executive vice president of business development and marketing for the shopping center. She said she expects sales to be up anywhere from 3% to 4% at the mall.

Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of mall operator CBL Properties, also said traffic was similar or better on Friday compared with a year ago based on a spot check of 18 of its 54 malls. He said more stores brought back doorbuster discounts, a Black Friday hallmark before the advent of online shopping. Palmetto Moon gave out $25 gift cards to the first 50 people in line, while JCPenney gave out 200 discount cards every four hours.

Consumers spent $5.6 billion on Thanksgiving Day, when most of the major stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s closed and shoppers focused on online shopping, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks online spending. That was up 5.5% compared with a year ago. For the first 23 days of November, consumers spent $76.7 billion online, up 6.8% from the same period a year ago. Online sales on Black Friday are expected to bring in $9.6 billion, up 5.7% compared with the year-ago period, Adobe said.

The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expects shoppers will spend more this year than last year, but their pace will slow.

The group has forecast that U.S. holiday sales will rise 3% to 4% for November through December, compared with 5.4% growth a year ago. The forecast is consistent with the average annual holiday increase of 3.6% from 2010 to pre-pandemic 2019. Americans ramped up spending during the pandemic, with money in their pockets from federal relief checks and nowhere to go during lockdowns.

Online discounts should be better than a year ago, particularly for toys, electronics and clothing, according to Adobe. It predicts toys will be discounted on average by 35%, compared with 22% a year ago, while electronics should see 30% cuts, compared with last year’s 27%. In clothing, shoppers will see an average discount of 25%, compared with 19% last year.

Analysts consider the five-day Black Friday weekend — which includes the Monday after the holiday known as Cyber Monday — a key barometer of shoppers’ willingness to spend.

This year, “it has been slow,” said Gabriella Santaniello, founder of A Line Partners, an independent retail research firm in Los Angles, who had a network of associates scoping out malls and stores in Dallas, Philadelphia, Orlando, Florida and other parts of the country on Friday. “They’re getting out to shop. But I don’t think they’re buying as much.”

Worker unrest and protests over the Israel-Gaza war clouded the shopping experience in some parts of the world. Pro-Palestinian activists staged Black Friday protests Los Angeles and Washington. In Europe, the UNI Global Union said it organized “Make Amazon Pay” strikes and protests in 30 countries. Amazon said the strikes would not affect customers.

Black Friday is expected as usual to be the busiest shopping day of the year, according to Sensormatic Solutions, which tracks store traffic.

But some shoppers who returned to stores for Black Friday for the first time in years were unimpressed by the size of the crowds and the quality of the discounts.

Samuel Alvez, 44, and his wife bought two computer monitors and a pressure cooker at a Walmart in Germantown, Maryland, but came away disappointed in the discounts during their first Black Friday outing in years.

“Back in the day, they had these good deals in stores,” Alvez said. “Now, we don’t see that anymore.

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The spelling of Metairie, Louisiana, has been corrected. It is Metairie, not Metarie.

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Associated Press reporters Haleluya Hadero in Germantown, Maryland, Stephen Smith in Metairie, Louisiana, and Courtney Bonnell in London contributed to this story.

The fire left the top level of the home completely charred.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

No additional information is immediately available.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan by a woman known in the documents only as Jane Doe alleges that Foxx rubbed her breasts and groped her under her pants against her will.

The suit says she and a friend were seated at a table next to Foxx’s at Catch NYC in 2015. The woman’s asked Foxx for a photo, and the two women took several pictures with him, the suit says. It says that afterward, he began complimenting her “super model body” and told her she looked like the actor Gabrielle Union.

He then grabbed her by the arm and took her to a secluded area, where he put both hands under her crop top and felt her breasts, the suits says. She tried to pull away from Foxx as he reached into her pants with his hands and touched her genitals, the suit also alleges.

When the woman’s friend found them, he stopped and the women walked away, the suit says.

A statement in response released Thursday from a representative for the 55-year-old Foxx said the alleged incident never happened.

“In 2020, this individual filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Brooklyn. That case was dismissed shortly thereafter. The claims are no more viable today than they were then. We are confident they will be dismissed again. And once they are, Mr. Foxx intends to pursue a claim for malicious prosecution against this person and her attorneys for re-filing this frivolous action,” the statement said.

The woman is seeking damages to be determined at trial, the suit says.

The lawsuit was one of many filed this week under a temporary New York law, the Adult Survivors Act, that allows adult victims sue over alleged sexual attacks that previously would have been outside the statute of limitations. The law expired after Thursday.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly.

There were no reports of fighting in the hours after the truce began. The deal offered some relief for Gaza’s 2.3 million people, who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment and dwindling supplies of basic necessities, as well as for families in Israel fearful for the fate of loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.

The truce raised hopes of eventually winding down the war, which has flattened vast swaths of Gaza, fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East. Israel, however, has said it is determined to resume its massive offensive once the cease-fire ends.

Not long after it took effect, four fuel tankers and four tankers with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Israel said.

Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,340 gallons) of fuel per day during the truce — still only a small portion of Gaza’s estimated daily needs of more than 1 million liters.

For most of the past seven weeks of war, Israel had barred the entry of fuel to Gaza, claiming it could be used by Hamas for military purposes — though it has occasionally allowed small amounts in.

United Nations aid agencies pushed back against the claim, saying fuel deliveries were closely supervised and urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe since fuel is required to run generators that power water treatment facilities, hospitals and other critical infrastructure.

The Israeli military dropped leaflets over southern Gaza, warning hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge there not to return to their homes in the territory’s north, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.

Even though Israel warned that it would block such attempts, hundreds of Palestinians could be seen walking north Friday.

Two were shot and killed by Israeli troops and another 11 were wounded in the legs. An Associated Press journalist saw the two bodies and the wounded as they arrived at a hospital.

Sofian Abu Amer, who had fled Gaza City, said he had decided to risk heading north to check on his home.

“We don’t have enough clothes, food and drinks,” he said. ”The situation is disastrous. It’s better for a person to die.”

During the cease-fire, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took on Oct. 7. Hamas said Israel would free 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Both sides agreed release women and children first, starting Friday afternoon. Israel said the deal calls for the truce to be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.

The first hostages freed will be Israeli citizens, including some who have a second nationality, according to a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details with the media.

The official would not comment on media reports that Hamas had also agreed to release non-Israelis, including 23 Thai nationals. Thailand’s foreign minister told reporters in Bangkok he had not been able to confirm the reports.

Israel’s Justice Ministry published a list of 300 prisoners eligible for release, mainly teenagers detained over the past year for rock-throwing and other minor offenses. Three Palestinian prisoners are to be released for every hostage freed.

The deal was reached in weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators.

The hope is that the “momentum” from it will lead to an “end to this violence,” Majed al-Ansari, a spokesman for Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

But hours before the deal came into effect, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted telling troops that their respite would be short and that the war would resume with intensity for at least two more months.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also vowed to continue the war to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its 16-year rule in Gaza and return all the hostages.

Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was also quiet on Friday, a day after the militant Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas, carried out the highest number of attacks in one day since fighting there began Oct. 8.

Hezbollah is not a party to the cease-fire agreement, but was widely expected to halt its attacks.

The war erupted when several thousand Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking scores of hostages, including babies, women and older adults, as well as soldiers.

The soldiers will only be released in exchange for all Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, according to the Islamic Jihad militant group, which is reportedly holding about 40 hostages.

It is not clear how many of the hostages are currently serving in the military or whether the militants also consider reserve soldiers to be “military hostages.”

Close to 7,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel on security charges.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which resumed its detailed count of casualties in Gaza after stopping for weeks because of the health system’s collapse in the north.

The ministry says some 6,000 people have been reported missing, feared buried under rubble.

The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its death tolls. Women and minors have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead, though the new numbers were not broken down. The figures do not include updated numbers from hospitals in the north.

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters, without presenting evidence for its count.

Israel continued to strike targets throughout the night ahead of the truce, and also destroyed stretches of tunnels and a number of tunnel shafts in the area of Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, the military said.

Earlier this week, Israel showed a tunnel and rooms that military officials said were a major Hamas hideout beneath Shifa. Hamas and hospital staff deny Israeli allegations that Shifa was used as a militant command center.

___

Mroue reported from Beirut and Rising reported from Bangkok.

___

Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

The Barnstable Police Department in a statement said police first responded around 5:30 p.m. to the area of Hamden Circle after they received a report of a woman with apparent gunshot injuries. 

An investigation got underway and the victim was taken to Cape Cod Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Police were seen working in the area of Hamden Circle Thursday night, taping off a home with crime scene tape. 

Authorities had left the scene as of around 10 p.m.

While the incident remained under investigation, police said it appeared to be targeted. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators by phone at 508-778-3874 or by email at 214@barnstablepolice.com.

This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Vice President Kamala Harris and the second gentleman will also attend the Tuesday service.

A number of ceremonies  are slated to take place next week to celebrate the life of Carter, the wife of former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 96.

According to the Carter Center, members of the public will be able to pay their respects as the former first lady lies in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum on Monday, while the tribute service will be held for invited guests Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. A funeral service will take place Wednesday for family and invited friends at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, according to the schedule shared by the Carter Center.

Former President Jimmy Carter’s attendance “has not been confirmed” for events remembering his wife, The Carter Center told CNN.

Biden, speaking with reporters shortly after Rosalynn Carter’s death, praised the Carter family, saying: “They’re really an incredible family because they brought so much grace to the office.”

While Rosalynn Carter’s most lasting individual legacy will be her efforts to diminish the stigma attached to people with mental illnesses and her fight for parity and access for mental health treatment, she, along with her husband of 77 years, redefined and revolutionized the post-presidency.

Together they founded the Carter Center and traveled to hot spots around the world, including visits to Cuba, Sudan and North Korea, monitoring elections and working to eradicate Guinea worm disease and other neglected tropical diseases.

Shortly before her death, the Carter Center announced that Rosalynn Carter had entered hospice care in the couple’s home in Plains. She had been diagnosed with dementia in May. Former President Jimmy Carter began home hospice care in February, following a series of hospital stays.

The 7NEWS sports department has all the scores from eastern and central Massachusetts games: 

Eastern Mass.

ABINGTON – 46

WHITMAN-HANSON – 6

–

WESTFORD ACADEMY – 35

ACTON-BOXBOROUGH – 10

–

NEWBURYPORT – 44

AMESBURY – 26

–

NORTH ANDOVER – 13

ANDOVER – 27

–

OLD ROCHESTER – 21

APPONEQUET – 36

–

ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS – 42

CARDINAL SPELLMAN – 14

–

WALTHAM – 7

ARLINGTON – 27

–

SHAWSHEEN VALLEY TECH – 41

ARLINGTON CATHOLIC – 7

–

HOPKINTON – 0

ASHLAND – 35

–

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH – 20

ATTLEBOROUGH – 15

–

AYER-SHIRLEY – 18

LITTLETON – 35

–

BARNSTABLE – 54

FALMOUTH – 8

–

BEDFORD – 34

BURLINGTON – 19

–

NORTON – 13

BELLINGHAM – 20

–

BELMONT – 47

WATERTOWN – 0

–

SALEM – 35

BEVERLY – 14

–

CHELMSFORD – 13

BILLERICA – 27

–

BISHOP FEEHAN – 31

BISHOP STANG – 6

–

MASCONOMET – 3

BISHOP FENWICK – 39

–

TECHBOSTON – 14

BRIGHTON – 20

–

BLUE HILLS – 22

BRISTOL-PLYMOUTH – 6

–

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL – 50

BC HIGH – 22

–

BOSTON LATIN – 19

BOSTON ENGLISH – 6

–

BOSTON LATIN ACADEMY – 6

O’BRYANT – 36

–

BOURNE – 36

WAREHAM – 26

–

MILTON – 19

BRAINTREE – 33

–

BROCKTON – 7

BRIDGEWATER-RAYNHAM – 22

–

NEWTON NORTH – 42

BROOKLINE – 21

–

SOMERVILLE – 20

CAMBRIDGE RINDGE & LATIN – 43

–

CANTON – 19

STOUGHTON – 0

–

CAPE COD TECH – 16

UPPER CAPE COD – 6

–

MIDDLEBOROUGH – 56

CARVER – 0

–

ATLANTIS CHARTER – 0

CASE – 26

–

CHELSEA – 20

CATHEDRAL – 0

–

CENTRAL – 22

SOMERSET BERKLEY – 26

–

LAWRENCE – 14

CENTRAL CATHOLIC – 17

–

COHASSET – 3

HULL – 10

–

LEXINGTON – 6

CONCORD-CARLISLE – 33

–

GLOUCESTER – 0

DANVERS – 35

–

FAIRHAVEN – 24

DARTMOUTH – 21

–

DEDHAM – 12

NORWOOD – 15

–

DENNIS-YARMOUTH – 35

NAUSET – 32

–

SEEKONK – 16

DIGHTON-REHOBOTH – 42

–

GREATER NEW BEDFORD – 27

DIMAN – 8

–

MEDFIELD – 25

DOVER-SHERBORN – 7

–

DRACUT – 16

METHUEN – 48

–

NEW BEDFORD – 26

DURFEE – 21

–

MARSHFIELD – 21

DUXBURY – 23

–

EAST BRIDGEWATER – 21

ROCKLAND – 42

–

ESSEX TECH – 14

NORTHEAST METRO TECH – 16

–

ST MARY’S – 28

EVERETT – 56

–

FOXBOROUGH – 30

MANSFIELD – 17

–

NATICK – 13

FRAMINGHAM – 15

–

KING PHILIP – 35

FRANKLIN – 0

–

GREATER LAWRENCE – 30

WHITTIER – 20

–

LOWELL CATHOLIC – 6

GREATER LOWELL TECH – 42

–

IPSWICH – 0

HAMILTON-WENHAM – 34

–

HANOVER – 0

NORWELL – 32

–

SCITUATE – 13

HINGHAM – 10

–

SOUTH SHORE VOC TECH – 41

HOLBROOK/AVON – 30

–

HOLLISTON – 36

WESTWOOD – 53

–

KEEFE TECH – 28

MINUTEMAN – 12

–

LYNN TECH – 19

KIPP ACADEMY – 45

–

NEWTON SOUTH – 7

LINCOLN-SUDBURY – 35

–

LOWELL – 12

HAVERHILL – 20

–

LYNN CLASSICAL – 8

LYNN ENGLISH – 6

–

NORTH READING – 0

LYNNFIELD – 34

–

MALDEN – 14

MEDFORD – 30

–

ST. JOHN’S (S) – 33

MALDEN CATHOLIC – 14

–

NORTH MIDDLESEX – 28

MANCHESTER-ESSEX – 8

–

MARBLEHEAD – 28

SWAMPSCOTT – 21

–

SANDWICH – 15

MASHPEE – 22

–

MAYNARD – 20

WEST BOYLSTON – 50

–

MILLIS – 14

MEDWAY – 0

–

MELROSE – 3

WAKEFIELD – 7

–

TAUNTON – 21

MILFORD – 31

–

MONOMOY – 42

ST. JOHN PAUL II – 0

–

NEEDHAM – 21

WELLESLEY – 7

–

QUINCY – 20

NORTH QUINCY – 43

–

TRI-COUNTY – 8

OLD COLONY – 43

–

SHARON – 42

OLIVER AMES – 6

–

SAUGUS – 6

PEABODY – 27

–

PEMBROKE – 27

SILVER LAKE – 21

–

TRITON – 7

PENTUCKET – 21

–

PLYMOUTH SOUTH – 7

PLYMOUTH NORTH – 28

–

READING – 0

STONEHAM – 39

–

WINTHROP – 22

REVERE – 0

–

SOUTHEASTERN – 0

WEST BRIDGEWATER – 48

–

ST. JOHN’S PREP – 21

XAVERIAN – 23

–

TEWKSBURY – 29

WILMINGTON – 19

WALPOLE – 44

WEYMOUTH – 20

–

WESTON – 18

WAYLAND – 49

–

WINCHESTER – 17

WOBURN – 20

Central Mass.

ABBY KELLEY FOSTER – 0

WORCESTER TECH – 14

–

ALGONQUIN REGIONAL – 6

WESTBOROUGH – 28

–

MAHAR – 8

ATHOL – 40

–

AUBURN – 18

LEICESTER – 7

–

SOUTHBRIDGE – 8

BARTLETT – 10

–

BAY PATH RVT – 42

OXFORD – 34

–

BLACKSTONE-MILLVILLE – 40

SUTTON – 6

–

NIPMUC – 14

BLACKSTONE VALLEY TECH – 35

–

DOHERTY MEMORIAL – 32

BURNCOAT – 6

–

CLINTON – 42

NASHOBA REG – 14

–

LEOMINSTER – 59

FITCHBURG – 7

–

GARDNER – 31

QUABBIN – 16

–

MILLBURY – 0

GRAFTON – 14

–

TYNGSBOROUGH – 44

GROTON-DUNSTABLE – 22

–

MARLBOROUGH – 0

HUDSON – 41

–

OAKMONT REG – 40

LUNENBURG – 7

–

MONTACHUSETT RVT – 22

NASHOBA VALLEY TECH – 26

–

NARRAGANSETT – 40

MURDOCK – 8

–

UXBRIDGE – 35

NORTHBRIDGE – 14

–

WARE – 20

QUABOAG – 14

–

ST. PAUL DIOCESAN – 6

ST. BERNARD’S – 32

–

SHEPHERD HILL – 14

TANTASQUA – 17

–

SHREWSBURY – 22

WACHUSETT – 31

–

WORCESTER SOUTH – 20

WORCESTER NORTH – 14

Emergency crews were first called to the scene on Moody Street around 5:30 p.m. In all, officials said four buildings were damaged. Fifteen people were displaced. 

“It literally punched me in the face,” Leandro Paola said of the thick smoke that at one point filled the neighborhood. “Just the scent of burning woods, it was ridiculous.” 

Video shared with 7NEWS showed the entire back of one building engulfed in flames. The siding on one other building was visibly melted. 

One woman in the area said she saw two of her neighbors, 12-year-old girls, go door to door as the flames grew to tell their neighbors to get out of their buildings. 

“The house just caught fire super quick,” the woman said. “We saw it, just like paper, everything just started flying into the sky.” 

Crews from Cambridge, Newton and Waltham ultimately worked together to put the fire out, with dozens of firefighters working to get people to safety and douse flames. 

Several people were seen being taken away by paramedics. 

Later speaking with reporters, Waltham Fire Chief Andrew Mullen said crews experienced heavy fire conditions as they responded. 

“People were still inside. We were getting people out,” Mullen said. “They had to tackle the fire and full houses at the same time.”

As shock and sadness spread Thursday night, and despite the damage, there was a moment of thanks that no one was seriously hurt and no lives were lost in this Thanksgiving Day fire. 

“It’s just sad,” said the woman who saw her young neighbors sounding the alarm. “I just hope these people find shelter for right now and I’m just glad that everyone’s OK because, you know, material things we can recover.” 

Officials said one firefighter was injured and treated on the scene during this response. The firefighter is expected to be OK.

Though the fire had been extinguished, crews remained on scene around 9 p.m. Thursday. The Red Cross was also on scene to help people who were displaced. 

Chief Mullen said the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

That is ringing true at Abington High School where coach Jim Kelliher is retiring after leading the school’s football program for the past half-century. 

Kelliher is the only coach in Massachusetts history to coach the same high school football team for 50 or more years. He recently spoke to 7NEWS about his career. 

“It has been an honor,” he said. “I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world.” 

“It has been just a wonderful journey. To be at this point still is amazing to me,” he continued. 

Kelliher had a lifelong dream of coaching his alma mater program. Having fulfilled that dream, he will be remembered for bringing out the best in his players. 

In this 50th and final year on the sideline for Kelliher, his team dedicated their season to their coach.

“We need to put in everything we have because he has put in everything he’s had for the past 50 years,” said Abington senior captain Connor Pease.

“This year is very focused on Kel,” said fellow senior captain Connor O’Donnell. “Every single time someone is unmotivated, you can say ‘Alright, it is for Kel.’” 

Coach Kelliher has led the Green Wave to five state titles during his career. 

His former players say he hasn’t changed. 

“He is still a gentleman first. That’s what we always like to say. That’s what he has always taught us,” said current Abington associate head football coach Ed Reilly.

Reilly, now one of Kelliher’s top assistants, was Kelliher’s quarterback in the 1980s. He said he is going to miss Kelliher’s presence off the gridiron the most. 

“One of the first words that comes to mind when I think of him is just class,” Reilly said. “He does so many things that people don’t even realize.” 

Reilly said Kelliher gets away from the football field, attending events such as National Honors Society inductions and games for other teams and sports. 

“I don’t want to just be thought about as just simply being a football coach,” Kelliher said. “I know that I grew up just like they did and I would have appreciated if I saw my football coach come to my graduation and just shake my hand.” 

Being like a second father to more than 2,000 players throughout his career, Kelliher is leaving a lasting impact on his players and community. 

“I got to give them some more than simple stuff because they give me a heck of a lot,” Kelliher said. 

“We have a lot of other great players too, for sure, but they have set a standard,” said Methuen head football coach Tom Ryan, discussing brothers Shane and Drew Eason. 

Ryan continued, crediting the Eason brothers for their standard in the weight room and their standard in practice. 

“They’re excellent, hard working kids and it shows,” he said. “The results show for them.”

The Easons made it look relatively easy over the past two seasons with Drew under center and Shane in the backfield. 

Speaking with 7NEWS, Shane said Drew is a great leader and a great role model who “does all the things for the team.” 

“[He] steps up in the biggest moments,” Shane said.

Drew similarly praised his brother. 

“When there is someone I need to go to, he is the guy,” he said of Shane. 

Shane and Drew together helped drive Methuen to an 18-6 record through the past two seasons, highlighted by a Final Four berth in 2022.

Coach Ryan said Shane “has got to be one of the best running backs I have ever encountered.” 

“And Drew has such good command of our offense,” he continued. “He can sling it with the best of them in the state.” 

The Eason brothers’ talent is reminiscent of their father PJ, who was a standout for powerhouse Everett in the 1990s. 

Drew said his father told him he led the league in scoring. 

“I will take his word for it,” Drew said. 

“He was a power back,” Shane said of his father. “He also used his speed. He was faster than most. He could run through most. He was just an all-out dog.” 

The Eason brothers’ mother and father have had a front row seat as their children helped put Methuen football on the map. 

“I think that he is a big piece of them,” said the brothers’ mother, Tammi. “They are very coachable kids. I think that comes from their dad for sure.” 

PJ, the brother’s father, said it has been fun watching the two play together. 

“When one does something good, the other one is the first one there to cheer them on,” he continued. 

PJ said he had been hoping to see his sons play sports together. To now see that happen, he said, “is tremendous.” 

With all their football success, Coach Ryan said the Eason brothers are leaving a legacy that will impact the next generation of Rangers players. 

Ryan said their brand of success, though, may be unique. 

“We’re going to be able to show kids films of these kids one day and be like ‘Hey, this is kind of how we want you to do things,’” Ryan said. “But I don’t think you’re ever going to be able to copy what these kids have done.” 

Shane Eason is a junior. Drew, a senior, threw for 120 yards and three scored in a 48-16 win over Dracut Wednesday night, finishing his high school career with a school record 6,212 passing yards and a school record 62 career passing touchdowns.

In addition to the school records, Drew’s 6,212 passing yards are good for ninth place all-time in Massachusetts history.

The Wareham Police Department said officers came across the driver, Alisha McGough, after they were called to Maple Springs Road just after midnight for a report of a car crash.

According to police, McGough’s vehicle ended up partially submerged as a result of the crash and that when officers arrived, a good Samaritan was in the process of helping the 31-year-old get out.

Authorities did not say whether the driver was injured, but noted she was the only occupant at the time of the crash.

Wareham PD added that after an investigation, McGough was charged with Operating Under the Influence – Alcohol and Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle, and that she would be arraigned in Wareham District Court on Friday.

A holiday tradition in the community, the event is the largest Thanksgiving Day road race in New England. This year, former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara served as the race’s official starter. 

“People are here to be with family,” said race director David McGillivray. 

“I always enjoy being part of the community,” Chara said. “And having this race on Thanksgiving, seeing all the people coming out and supporting it, it’s a lot of fun.”

More than 7,000 runners and walkers participated in this year’s race. 

Back for another year, the 2023 iteration of the event was extra special, with the Feaster Five Kids’ Run now named Sidney’s Rainbow Run to honor the memory of Sidney Mae Olson. 

Olson, 5, was hit and killed by a tractor-trailer in Andover back in May. Her father, Eric Olson, spoke to 7NEWS saying he and his wife wanted to find a way for Sidney’s legacy of love to live on. 

“It’s going to be a celebration of who she was, what she stood for, her family,” McGillivray said of the newly renamed kids’ run. “We’re going to remember her in a big way.”

“Since the day Sidney died, we knew we had have to have a new type of relationship with her,” Eric Olson said. “This is just one way that we’re seeing her spirit live on and live on through so many kids in the community.”

Five hundred young runners participated in the rainbow-themed kids’ run Thursday. 

Continuing in his comments, Eric Olson said his daughter loved everyone, adding that her love of rainbows was inspired by her love for her friends. 

“For her fifth birthday party, she asked for a rainbow birthday party because it was all the colors of her friends,” he said. “That’s what kind of kid she was. That’s where the name of the race came from.”

“She was just a lover,” Olson said. “She loved everybody and she would just love to see this rainbow of children out here today.”

Part of the proceeds from this year’s race will go to the Sidney Mae Olson Rainbow Fund, which helps to create safer neighborhoods and provides children with access to educational programs in the community. 

Scott Macaulay has held the tradition for nearly 40 years. He had to make some changes in delivery due to the pandemic. Recently speaking to 7NEWS, though, he said he is always happy to help out his community.

“They’re not just names,” Macaulay said as he handed out food this week. “They’re people. They’re people with a story.” 

For the broken and the forgotten, Macaulay has always had a hot meal and a shoulder to lean on over the years. 

This year, Macaulay said he gave out more than 100 meals. 

“You get sort of attached to them,” he said of the people receiving meals. 

“Then, there’s different ones you remember more than others,” he continued. “Some of them are funny and some of them are sad.”

Nicole Stanley said she lost her mother a few days after Thanksgiving last year. 

“Scott was the first phone call,” she said. 

For Macaulay, the work is not just a Thanksgiving tradition but a lesson in gratitude.

“They’re individuals and, if they share their story, that makes it not just a name on my list,” he said. “It makes them a person, a real live person.”

He said he has people write down what they’re thankful for.

“It gives them a place to come and go and get a meal and it makes the day better than it would be if it would be if I’m not here, I guess,” Macaulay said.

Macaulay continued, saying it will all be worth it if one less person is alone for the holidays.  

“As long as there’s a need, I guess I got to keep doing it,” he said. “I might be doing it with a cane, but I’ll keep doing it as long as I can.”

Officers could be seen blocking the entrance to Angies Bodywork Spa at 383 Pleasant Street early Thursday afternoon. 

In a later update, the Worcester Police Department said officers first responded around 11:30 a.m. after receiving a report of a female “experiencing a possible medical issue.”

Police said a male individual soon flagged down arriving officers and brought them to an unconscious female. 

Officers rendered medical aid, according to police, until the unconscious female was pronounced dead.

“The death appears to be suspicious,” police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.

Police remained on scene around 9 p.m., with Angies Bodywork Spa still taped off. Neighbors reacted, in the meantime, describing the initial police response and sharing their thoughts on the situation. 

“I’m shocked,” said Richard Caballero. “Like, what happened in there?”

One other person said they saw “a whole bunch of cops and stuff.” 

Caballero said his children told him about the police cars and ambulances outside. 

“I was like, OK, what happened? Maybe a crash or something,” he said. 

“Now, we got to watch out whatever happened here,” he continued. 

Dropping off some 50 pies beforehand and dawning a festive turkey cap, McAvoy, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn, and other officials helped carve turkeys for nearly 2,000 holiday dinners.

“It’s just a great time – we get to come here, we get to meet a lot of nice people, a lot of people who are volunteering their time as well and it’s awesome,” McAvoy told reporters.

“This organization and all of our partners across the city do so much every single day of the year,” Wu said. “For all of the staff, for all of the supporters, everyone who comes here to volunteer – it’s life-changing.”

The volunteers worked to serve meals at a time Pine Street Inn Executive Director Lyndia Downie said the shelter is over-capacity. She also described how for those in need of the shelter’s services, Thanksgiving can often be bittersweet.

“Everybody’s home, everybody’s talking about being with family, being with friends, and if you’re here, that’s not your situation – you’re by yourself and you’re really feeling it, so it’s a very, very hard day, it’s a very emotional day for people,” Downie said.

Speaking with reporters, one volunteer said she had previously stayed at the Inn, but after finding housing, was back to give back herself.

“I might as well give back because I’m so thankful – for what Pine Street has done for me for many, many years,” said Julia Mitchell.

Those interested in contributing or assisting Pine Street Inn in their mission can find more info here.

CSX spokesperson Bryan Tucker said in an email Thursday afternoon that “the fire is completely out.” He said that authorities and CSX officials reviewed air monitoring data and decided it was safe to let displaced return home.

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County. Residents were encouraged to evacuate.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached, CSX said in a statement.

It’s believed that the fire released the potentially harmful gas sulfur dioxide, but officials have not released results of measurements taken from air monitoring equipment that was being deployed Wednesday night.

The derailment meant some Livingston residents woke up on Thanksgiving in a middle school shelter.

Cindy Bradley had just finished cooking for the big meal Wednesday when an official knocking loudly urged her to leave her small Kentucky home as soon as possible because a train had derailed.

She ended up at Rockcastle County Middle School in Livingston — unsure what was to come next.

“It’s just really scary. We don’t know how long this is,” Bradley told WTVQ-TV on Wednesday night, surrounded by dozens of cots.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. The gas is commonly produced by burning fossil fuels at power plants and other industrial processes, the EPA says.

Evelyn Gray noticed a problem when her back door was opened by someone telling her to evacuate.

“As soon as he opened the back door to come in the chemical hit me, and I had a real bad asthma attack,” Gray told the TV station.

The danger from sulfur dioxide tends to be direct and quick, irritating the lungs and skin, said Neil Donahue, a chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

“It is just nasty, caustic, and acidic stuff that hurts. It’s unpleasant to be in,” Donahue said.

Once the fire was put out, the threat from the chemicals was expected to diminish quickly, Donahue said.

CSX is now working to clean up an additional spilled chemical and restore the area.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in the county, assuring crews all the help from the state they need. He asked the public to keep in mind the emergency workers and people forced to spend Thanksgiving away from home.

“Please think about them and pray for a resolution that gets them back in their homes. Thank you to all the first responders spending this day protecting our people,” the governor said in a statement Thursday.

CSX promised to pay the costs of anyone asked to evacuate, including a Thanksgiving dinner.

At that time, police seized an assault-style rifle and 9 mm handgun from John Madore, 33. Madore, who was arrested in Strafford on assault and reckless conduct charges, was later involuntarily admitted at New Hampshire Hospital in Concord, according to records. The charges were dismissed in 2017 following a competency evaluation that remains sealed.

The weapons ban against Madore was part of bail orders unsealed by a judge Wednesday following a request by the New Hampshire Bulletin.

On Nov. 17, Madore had a 9 mm pistol and ammunition when he shot and killed Bradley Haas, a state Department of Safety security officer who was working at the hospital’s front lobby entrance, the state attorney general’s office said. Madore was fatally shot by a state trooper shortly afterward.

In addition to the pistol, police found an AR-style rifle, a tactical vest and several ammunition magazines in a U-Haul truck in the hospital’s parking lot that Madore had rented.

Those firearms were not the same ones seized in 2016, Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, confirmed in a statement late Wednesday. The guns used in 2016 remain in the custody of the Strafford Police Department, he said.

It remains unclear how Madore, who had most recently lived in a hotel in New Hampshire’s Seacoast area, acquired the guns found Nov. 17. If he had tried to buy them, he would have been required to note his hospitalization at a mental health institution when filling out a federal firearms application.

Madore was accused in 2016 of choking his sister and grabbing his mother around the neck and knocking her to the floor because he was upset that they had put the family dog down, according to an affidavit.

When police arrived at their Strafford home, Madore was barricaded in an upstairs bedroom and said he had firearms and that it wasn’t going to end well, the police affidavit states. He eventually surrendered peacefully, police said.

A celebration of life has been scheduled on Nov. 27 for for Haas, 63, a former police chief from Franklin, New Hampshire.

The pause in fighting will start at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET), with 13 women and children hostages to be freed at 4 p.m., according to a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, Majed Al-Ansari.

The list of hostages who are expected to be released has been handed to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, Al-Ansari said.

The Mossad will also hand over a list of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released to the Qataris, he added. “Whenever we have both lists confirmed this is when we can begin with the process of getting people out,” the spokesperson said.

An Israeli official told CNN a total of 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released Friday as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas.

The prisoners will be taken from two jails – Damon and Megiddo, both southeast of Haifa – and driven to the Ofer prison, south of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, for final checks by the Red Cross.

And Israel has started notifying the families of the first hostages set to be released on Friday, Israeli coordinator for hostages and missing persons Gal Hirsch said in a statement. “Liaison officers have informed all of those families whose loved ones appear on the list, as well as all of the hostages’ families,” the statement said.

An Israeli official told CNN Wednesday that the truce had been slated to begin at 10 a.m. local time on Thursday to be followed by the release of at least 50 women and children out of the more than 230 being held hostage in Gaza. But those plans were delayed late Wednesday, just hours before the pause in fighting was initially expected to begin.

“Nothing is finalized until it’s actually happening. And even amid the process, changes might occur at any moment,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in his daily press briefing on Thursday.

He said that the Israeli army continues to fight in the Gaza Strip “at this hour,” pointing out that once the pause goes into effect, IDF soldiers will be stationed along the “truce lines” established inside the territory.

Under the deal outlined earlier, 150 Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli jails. The prisoners concerned are women and children, Hamas said Wednesday, adding that the agreement also involves the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to all parts of the besieged territory.

The Israeli government on Wednesday published a list of 300 Palestinian prisoners for possible release, as Israel is offering a potential second phase of exchanges.

The list includes the ages of the prisoners, and the charges on which they are being held – throwing stones and “harming regional security” are among the most common. Others are listed as detained for supporting illegal terror organizations, illegal weapons charges, incitement, and at least two accusations of attempted murder.

Most of the Palestinian prisoners listed as eligible for release are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women, according to a CNN count.

Delay until Friday

Israel’s National Security Council said earlier in a statement that the first group of hostages would not be released before Friday. An Israeli official told CNN the start of an agreed temporary truce in fighting was also delayed until Friday.

“Talks to release our hostages are advancing and are ongoing. The start of the release process will take place according to the original agreement between both sides, and not before Friday,” the statement said.

The comments over ongoing planning echo those from American officials.

A US National Security Council spokesperson stressed in a statement late Wednesday that the hostage deal “remains agreed,” adding that the parties were “working out final logistical details particularly for the first day of implementation.”

“It is our view that nothing should be left to chance as the hostages begin coming home,” NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. “Our primary objective is to ensure that they are brought home safely. That is on track and we are hopeful that implementation will begin on Friday morning.”

One Israeli official familiar with the matter downplayed its seriousness, putting it down to “fairly minor implementation details.”

Netanyahu warned on Thursday, however, that getting the first group of hostages out of Gaza is “not without its challenges.”

“We hope to get this first tranche out, and then we’re committed to getting everyone out,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

Officials and analysts in Israel have long cautioned that any deal would be precarious up and until the hostages were safely across the border.

“The fighting will continue forcefully”

The IDF had continued ground and air operations in Gaza on Wednesday ahead of the expected start of the truce, carrying out strikes in the north-eastern and central parts of the Gaza Strip. Areas further south, including Khan Younis and Rafah, were also hit, according to Palestinian accounts.

Israeli forces continued to strike targets on Thursday, the IDF said, including in northwest Jabalya.

The IDF also said Thursday that Israeli soldiers had located a tunnel shaft inside a mosque and located and struck another tunnel shaft in an agricultural area in Beit Hanoun. It claimed IDF soldiers had located “numerous weapons” and identified a tunnel shaft inside a civilian residence in the area.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel’s military operation against Hamas will continue “forcefully” after the brief truce and that the fighting is expected to go on for at least two more months.

“This will be a brief pause, when it ends the fighting will continue forcefully, and will create pressure that will allow the return of more hostages… Fighting of at least two more months is expected,” Gallant said while visiting Israeli troops on Thursday.

The deal had marked a major diplomatic breakthrough nearly seven weeks after the start of a conflict that has spiraled into a grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The announcement was greeted with relief and heightened anticipation from the families of those taken hostage.

The truce, meanwhile, would also allow the entry of “a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid,” as laid out by key negotiator Qatar in a statement.

There is an option for the pause to last as long as 10 days, but Israeli officials believe it is unlikely to last that long.

Netanyahu said when the deal was approved that for every additional 10 hostages released, there will be an additional one day pause in the fighting.

Hamas is holding 236 hostages captive in Gaza, including foreign nationals from 26 countries, according to figures from the Israeli military. The mass abductions at gunpoint took place during October 7, when Hamas militants struck across the border in a coordinated and bloody surprise attack killing around 1,200 people – the largest such attack on Israel since the country’s founding in 1948.

Prior to the deal, only a handful of hostages had been released.

Israel responded to the attack by declaring war against Hamas and imposing a siege on Gaza that cut off supplies of food, water, medicines and fuel, while launching a relentless air and ground assault. Some 12,700 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to data from the Palestinian health ministry in the West Bank, which draws on information from Hamas-run health authorities.

Officials with the DA’s office said the victims were found early Thursday morning after officers were called to Central Square around 12:30 a.m.

According to authorities, while responding to 10 Magazine St., officers found two individuals suffering from gunshot wounds near a black Tesla in the roadway.

Both were taken to a Boston hospital where one of the victims, described as a 27-year-old female, was pronounced dead, while the other, a 26-year-old male, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

“It was really scary,” said a witness who lives nearby, who told 7NEWS she was woken up by the sound of gunshots outside her home. “I looked out from my window a few minutes later and I saw all of the police cars coming.”

“It’s horrifying – I feel sick about it,” Pam Curtis, a resident of 30 years, told reporters. “It’s upsetting – I raised my son here, we have people in the neighborhood with kids.”

“We walk through there every day and you don’t think anyone’s carrying a gun,” said resident Chris Brokaw.

As an investigation into the shooting continues, the DA’s office asks anyone with information contact the Cambridge Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit, or submit tips anonymously at 617-349-3370 or online at cambridgepolice.org/TIPS.

The three-page filing does not contain details of the alleged assault but names Adams, the transit bureau of the New York Police Department and the New York Police Department Guardians Association as defendants.

“Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Defendant Eric Adams in New York, New York in 1993 while they both worked for the City of New York,” the summons reads.

The filing seeks a trial and $5 million in relief. It was filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The woman’s attorney did not immediately return an emailed request for comment on Thursday.

In a statement, a City Hall spokesman said “The mayor does not know who this person is. If they ever met, he doesn’t recall it. But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim.”

Adams, a Democrat, was a New York City police officer who rose to the rank of captain before entering politics. He served as a state senator and Brooklyn borough president before becoming mayor.

The summons was filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a special New York law that has cleared the way for a wave of lawsuits against famous men accused of sexual misconduct. The law has led to more than 2,500 lawsuits, including cases against former President Donald Trump, hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and the comedian and actor Russell Brand.

The filing comes as Adams has been dogged by an FBI investigation into his 2021 campaign that prompted agents to seize his phones and raid the home of his chief campaign fundraiser.

The New York Times and New York Post have reported that part of the investigation involves examining whether Adams inappropriately tried to help the government of Turkey get city approval to open a 35-story skyscraper housing diplomatic facilities in 2021, despite concerns about the tower’s fire safety systems.

Adams has sidestepped questions about the FBI investigation but has maintained he did nothing wrong.

The two musicians are famous as the members of the eponymous Hall & Oates rock duo that had tremendous success in the early 1980s with hits like “Private Eyes” and “Maneater.”

The suit by Hall against Oates as an individual and Oates’s trust is listed as a “contract/debt” dispute, but the details of the case are sealed, court records show.

On Friday, the court granted Hall’s motion for a temporary restraining order to take effect November 30, according to records.

Because the file is largely sealed, the nature of the restraining order is not apparent. Such an order might typically be entered in a business dispute to keep one party from harming the other party’s economic interests.

CNN has reached out to representatives and attorneys of both Hall and Oates for comment and more information.

The hitmakers met in the 1960s in Philadelphia, and according to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, had 29 Top Forty hits from 1976 to 1990.

“Their most indelible earwigs (sic) include the ethereal chorus of ‘I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)’; the percolating beat and chiming harmonies of ‘Kiss on My List’; the weightless rhythmic flow and play of voices in ‘Maneater’; and the plangent, soul-searing refrain of ‘She’s Gone,’” Parke Puterbaugh wrote for Hall & Oates’ induction into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

Search efforts for three people who remain missing have finished for the evening, and a search strategy will be announced Thursday, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a Wednesday news release.

The landslide was reported around 9 p.m. local time Monday on the Zimovia Highway near Wrangell and walloped three homes in its path, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said. The state’s transportation department said the path grew to an estimated 450 feet wide and had a significant debris field.

A girl was found dead during initial search and rescue efforts Monday night, and the remains of two adults were recovered after they were located by a drone operator Tuesday, according to the department of public safety.

Nearby resident Eric Yancey said the lights at his house in Wrangell flickered within the hour before the landslide occurred. But that’s common during storms, so he wasn’t alarmed, Yancey told CNN in a phone interview.

About an hour later, Yancey said he heard about the severity of the landslide. People began contacting his brother-in-law, Frankie, who owned a big, well-lit fishing boat, he said. Frankie wanted to provide some light on the beach to find anyone who was stranded, Yancey said.

Yancey wanted to help and used one of his boats, a 75-foot landing craft with a ramp for accessing the beach, he said. He went to the beach to provide better light and help people who were stranded.

After getting a hold of Frankie and one of his wife’s sons, they all rounded up a crew and headed out to see how they could assist.

“On our way out there, we began having radio communications with the volunteer fire department folks who were on site,” Yancey said. “What was suggested to me was to run to a person’s private dock and pick up some of the people that had abandoned their houses because of the situation.”

It took him about an hour to get there by boat, Yancey said.

Once he was there, he initially rescued eight people who were at the private dock before going back to rescue another group of people, including children, at the dock several hours later. Just as he was about to leave, four more people showed up, Yancey said.

Yancey said he didn’t dock until 3 a.m. By then, he had helped rescue about 19 people and a few dogs and brought them back to town.

“We are a small town on an island, so everybody is pretty darn helpful in whatever ways possible,” Yancey said.

Community bands together

The area has been wet in recent days, which is typical for this time of year. But it was particularly rainy Sunday and Monday, with more than 3 inches of rain falling around Wrangell in the 24 hours leading up to the landslide, said Andy Park, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Juneau.

Winds of 61 to 87 mph Monday evening may have been a factor in the landslides as well, Park told CNN.

The southeast Alaska region is already at risk for debris flows, said Barrett Salisbury, a geologist with the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. Heavy rainfall, rapid snowmelt or saturated soil only increase that risk, he said in a news conference.

The Wrangell community has come together after the landslide, as people with private boats have shuffled fuel and supplies to folks who need it, Yancey said.

Spenser Stavee, who now owns a company Yancey used to own, was running to the nearby town of Petersburg on Wednesday to get supplies such as food and fuel to the stricken community, Yancey said. The items will be donated to parks and recreation officials, who will then give the haul of supplies to people in need.

“We are going over there with boats to grab and bring it back,” Stavee said.

The alleged incident occurred in 2015 at Catch NYC, a popular New York City restaurant, according to the complaint obtained by CNN.

CNN has reached out to a representative for the plaintiff seeking comment.

The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, claims in the suit that Foxx “intentionally and without consent used force to offensively touch Plaintiff’s person,” including groping her breasts and genitals. The complaint alleges Foxx seemed “intoxicated” at the time of the incident.

As a result, the complaint states the woman suffered and continues to suffer “physical and emotional injuries, anxiety, distress, embarrassment and economic harm,” and is seeking an unspecified amount.

“The alleged incident never happened. In 2020, this individual filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Brooklyn. That case was dismissed shortly thereafter. The claims are no more viable today than they were then,” a spokesperson for Foxx told CNN in a statement Thursday.

“We are confident they will be dismissed again. And once they are, Mr. Foxx intends to pursue a claim for malicious prosecution against this person and her attorneys for re-filing this frivolous action,” the statement read.

The plaintiff is also suing the restaurant’s parent company, Catch Hospitality Group, and various related business entities as defendants for negligent hiring, training and supervision.

A representative for the company was not immediately available for comment.

The lawsuit was filed under the New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which went into effect in late November 2022 and allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their abusers in New York – even if the statute of limitations on their claims had expired.

The law has given adult survivors of sexual assault one year to file lawsuits against their perpetrators and is set to expire on Friday.

Foxx had a medical episode earlier this year after he was hospitalized in Atlanta for an undisclosed medical condition. The Oscar-winner addressed his recovery for the first time in July.

Alarms were raised from New York to Washington, DC, late Wednesday morning after the incident on the US side of the Rainbow Bridge crossing. Investigators believe the couple was traveling in a Bentley at high speed when it struck a curb at the checkpoint, then hit a guardrail that sent the vehicle airborne and into a screening area before it exploded, according to the sources.

Despite initial concerns of a terror attack, the FBI has not found any connection to terrorism and no explosives were found at the scene, the agency’s Buffalo field office announced Wednesday night. The case is being turned over to local police as a traffic investigation.

“I want to be very, very clear to Americans and New Yorkers: At this time there is no indication of a terrorist attack,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Wednesday evening.

“Two individuals died in the vehicle,” Hochul said, noting the car is associated with a western New York resident.

Investigators believe the man who died had plans to attend a KISS concert in Canada, but when it was canceled he went to a casino in the US instead. The crash occurred sometime after the couple left the casino, the sources said.

“There’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Hochul said of the vehicle’s occupants Wednesday. She noted it was still unclear whether the crash was an accident or an intentional act.

The explosion prompted a temporary shutdown of all four bridges between Canada and the US near Niagara Falls on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Three of the bridges reopened later Wednesday, but Rainbow Bridge remains closed.

Here’s what we know so far.

Crash looked ‘absolutely surreal,’ governor says

The vehicle was traveling at an “extraordinarily high rate of speed” when it approached the border crossing around 11:30 a.m. and hit a barrier, Hochul said.

The impact sent the car soaring several feet into the air before it came crashing down into a Customs and Border Protection booth and burst into flames, Hochul said. She described footage of the incident as “absolutely surreal.”

An officer working in the booth was treated for minor injuries, she said.

The vehicle was “basically incinerated” and pieces of the wreck were scattered across more than a dozen checkpoint booths, the governor said.

Rickie Wilson saw the car flying past him “almost like a movie,” and for a moment, he thought it was a plane, the witness told CNN affiliate WKBW.

FBI investigated explosion as possible terrorist threat

In the aftermath of the crash, federal investigators scrambled to determine whether the incident was an act of terrorism. Within hours, officials shared preliminary findings and assured the public they hadn’t found any indication of terrorist motivation.

“But we will continue to stay vigilant. We will continue to make sure that the information we have is passed onto the public,” US Attorney Trini Ross of the Western District of New York said in a news conference.

The leaders of both the US and Canada were briefed on the incident as the investigation was underway.

The initial explosion triggered heightened security precautions around the region, including the evacuation of local government offices on the US side.

Buffalo Niagara International Airport closed to international arriving and departing flights but later lifted the restriction, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration. All cars coming into the airport were also being screened by bomb-detecting dogs, a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesperson said.

Amtrak temporarily suspended part of its cross-border route connecting New York to Toronto.

Officials investigating the crash had been looking into an individual but working through the Joint Terrorism Task Force did not initially find any concerning information, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia said Wednesday afternoon.

“We do not have any derogatory information on this person that we’ve identified,” he said. “We’re scanning his social media, there’s nothing there. We’re still running a full investigation so that’s a preliminary assessment.”

By Wednesday night, the FBI announced it had concluded its investigation at the scene and turned the case over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation.

In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat. They are often crossbreeds that combine the survival skills of wild Eurasian boar with the size and high fertility of domestic swine to create a “super pig” that’s spreading out of control.

Ryan Brook, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and one of Canada’s leading authorities on the problem, calls feral swine, “the most invasive animal on the planet” and “an ecological train wreck.”

Pigs are not native to North America. While they’ve roamed parts of the continent for centuries, Canada’s problem dates back only to the 1980s when it encouraged farmers to raise wild boar, Brook said. The market collapsed after peaking in 2001 and some frustrated farmers simply cut their fences, setting the animals free.

It turned out that the pigs were very good at surviving Canadian winters. Smart, adaptable and furry, they eat anything, including crops and wildlife. They tear up land when they root for bugs and crops. They can spread devastating diseases to hog farms like African swine fever. And they reproduce quickly. A sow can have six piglets in a litter and raise two litters in a year.

That means 65% or more of a wild pig population could be killed every year and it will still increase, Brook said. Hunting just makes the problem worse, he said. The success rate for hunters is only about 2% to 3% and several states have banned hunting because it makes the pigs more wary and nocturnal — tougher to track down and eradicate.

Wild pigs already cause around $2.5 billion in damage to U.S. crops every year, mostly in southern states like Texas. And they can be aggressive toward humans. A woman in Texas was killed by wild pigs in 2019.

Eradication of wild pigs is no longer possible in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Brook said. But the situation isn’t hopeless everywhere and a few U.S. states have eliminated them. The key, he said, is having a detection system that finds them early and fast, and then responding quickly.

Brook and his colleagues have documented 62,000 wild pig sightings in Canada. Their aerial surveys have spotted them on both sides of the Canada-North Dakota border. They’ve also recorded a sighting in Manitoba within 18 miles (28 kilometers) of Minnesota.

“Nobody should be surprised when pigs start walking across that border if they haven’t already,” Brook said. “The question is: What will be done about it?”

Brook said Montana has been the most serious about keeping wild pigs out. It banned raising and transporting wild pigs within the state.

“The only path forward is you have to be really aggressive and you have to use all the tools in the toolbox,” Brook said.

That could include big ground traps with names like “BoarBuster” or net guns fired from helicopters. Some states and provinces embrace crowdsourced “Squeal on Pigs” tracking programs. Scientists have also studied poisons such as sodium nitrite, but they risk harming other species.

Minnesota is among states trying to prevent the swine from taking hold. The state’s Department of Natural Resources is expected to release a report in February identifying gaps in its management plan and recommend new prevention steps. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is using aircraft and drones to beef up surveillance along the northern border.

Minnesota was declared an eradicated state after USDA Wildlife Services shot and killed a group of pigs in 2016 that wandered off a farm and turned feral in the far northwest corner of the state — but not before they began to reproduce and root up a wildlife preserve. Gary Nohrenberg, the Minnesota director of Wildlife Services, said as far has he knows, no truly wild pigs have made their way to his state — yet.

Feral swine have been reported in at least 35 states, according to the USDA. The agency estimates the the swine population in those states totals around 6 million.

Since launching the National Feral Swine Management Program in 2014, the USDA has provided funding to 33 states, said Mike Marlow, an assistant program director. He said their goal is to eradicate wild pigs where populations are low or emerging, and to limit the damage where they’re already established such as Texas and southeastern states.

The program has had success in some states that had small populations like Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Washington, he said. The animals are spotted occasionally and quickly killed off in North Dakota.

“I think we’re making great strides toward success,” Marlow said. “But eradication is not in the near future.”

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Follow AP news about invasive species at: https://apnews.com/hub/invasive-species.

The term “Black Friday” in relation to shopping the day after Thanksgiving is most often traced to Philadelphia where police had to deal with large crowds who thronged the streets of the city before the annual Army-Navy game and to take advantage of sales. According to the Dec. 18, 1961, issue of Public Relations News, a newsletter, it became customary for police to refer to post-Thanksgiving shopping as Black Friday and Black Saturday because of the headaches they created.

Retailers began taking ownership of the term in the late 1980s as the opening bell for the holidays. Of course Black Friday has morphed more accurately into a month of offers that begin in October, when Halloween jack-o’-lanterns are still flickering.

A number of stores that were closed on Thanksgiving, including Walmart and Target, reopen early Friday as the holiday shopping season begins in earnest.

Here are the store hours on Black Friday for some prominent national chains.Walmart Black Friday hours

Walmart stores will open at 6 a.m.Target Black Friday hours

Most Target stores will open at 6 a.m.Best Buy Black Friday hours

Best Buy stores will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.Macy’s Black Friday hours

Macy’s stores will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.Dick’s Sporting Goods Black Friday hours

Dick’s Sporting Goods stores will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.Kohl’s Black Friday hours

Kohls stores will open at 5 a.m.Home Depot Black Friday hours

Home Depot stores will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.Lowe’s Black Friday hours

Lowe’s will open at 6 a.m.

The agency has received 52 reports of elevated lead levels among children who reportedly consumed the products, which is up from 34 cases reported last week. The reports span 22 states and involve children between the ages of 1 to 4, according to the FDA’s online update on the investigation.

The pouches were marketed to parents and children under three brands: WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree and Schnucks and Weis cinnamon applesauce pouches. They were sold by national grocery chains, including Dollar Tree, and online retailers such as Amazon.

The FDA said it is still working with Dollar Tree to get the recalled products off of shelves in several states.

“This product should not be available for sale and consumers should not purchase or consume this product,” the agency said.

Parents should dispose of the pouches by emptying the contents into the trash and discarding the packaging, the agency said.

The FDA said Wednesday it is investigating the source of the contamination in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency previously said cinnamon imported from a manufacturer in Ecuador was the “likely source” of the lead contamination.

Lead exposure can lead to serious learning and behavior problems. Heavy metals like lead can get into food products from soil, air, water or industrial processes, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

There’s no safe level of lead exposure, but the CDC uses a marker of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter to identify children with higher levels than most. The affected children’s blood lead levels ranged from 4 to 29 micrograms per deciliter.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Michael Brady, 44, pleaded guilty Nov. 14 to engaging in a pattern of aggravated felonious sexual assault and to endangering the welfare of a child, the Rockingham County attorney’s office said Wednesday. As part of a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail, plus a six- to 15-year prison sentence that will remain suspended if he pays restitution to the victim and meets other conditions.

Prosecutors said the assaults took place in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Kingston while Brady was the victim’s Boy Scout master and camp counselor. County Attorney Patricia Conway praised the “bravery and integrity” of the now-adult victim, saying he “stood strong and determined to do the right thing in the face of adversity.”

Conway said the sentence reflects that the case presented challenges given the passage of time.

The plea and sentencing came weeks after the Boy Scouts of America named a new chief executive. Retired businessman Roger Krone said he plans to reverse the trend of declining membership and improve safety programs as the 113-year-old youth organization emerges from bankruptcy following a sexual abuse scandal.

A federal judge in March upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan for the Irving, Texas-based organization, which allowed it to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed claims saying they were sexually abused while in scouting.