Victoria Fox's Blog, page 252

Israeli police shoot and kill a man at Jerusalem’s holiest site

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Israeli police close a path leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after shots were fired on Saturday in the Old City of Jerusalem. Mahmoud Illean/AP

Mahmoud Illean/AP

JERUSALEM — Israeli police shot and killed a man who they alleged tried to snatch an officer’s gun at an entrance to a Jerusalem holy site early Saturday, raising fears of further violence during a time of heightened tensions at the flashpoint compound.

Later Saturday, the Israeli military said a Palestinian driver rammed his vehicle into a group of Israelis in the occupied West Bank. Israeli medics said three people were wounded, two seriously, and the alleged attacker was shot dead.

In Jerusalem’s police shooting, Palestinian worshippers at the entrance to the site on Saturday morning had a different account, saying that police shot the man at least 10 times after he tried to prevent them from harassing a woman who was on her way to the holy compound, home to Al-Aqsa Mosque in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City — the third holiest shrine in Islam. The compound, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, is also the most sacred site in Judaism.

The police said the slain man was 26-year-old Mohammed Alasibi from Hura, a Bedouin Arab village in southern Israel. The village council called for a thorough investigation of his killing and a general strike Saturday in protest.

Hours after the incident, the muddy stone alleyway leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque was still stained with blood. Alasibi’s family said he was a physician who had recently passed his exams and earned his M.D. in Romania. He returned to his hometown a month ago, his cousin said, and was caring for his sick father as he worked to get certified in Israel.

“He is a polite, kind man from a family of doctors who was going to Al-Aqsa for spiritual reasons,” his cousin Fahad Alasibi said. “If you want us to believe that he tried to attack police, then show us the security footage.”

A police spokesperson pushed back on Palestinian accounts, insisting there was no woman walking to the compound at midnight because the complex was closed to visitors under an agreement with an Islamic trust called the Waqf controlled by Jordan.

Nonetheless, a few dozen people have been trying to sleep at the mosque overnight during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, prompting Israeli police to intervene and try to evict the worshippers.

The police spokesperson said Alasibi first aroused suspicion walking toward the shuttered compound. After being stopped for questioning, the spokesperson said Alasibi jumped on one of the officers and grabbed his gun, managing to fire two bullets toward policemen as the officer struggled to restrain him. Police described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack and said they shot and killed him in self-defense. No officers were injured. The spokesperson said there was no camera on the inner wall of the compound that could have captured the incident.

Palestinian worshippers at the compound Saturday disagreed. Noureddine, a 17-year-old who lived in the neighborhood and declined to give his last name for fear of reprisals, said he saw Alasibi confront police who had stopped a female worshipper on her way to Al-Aqsa Mosque. Alasibi’s relationship to the woman was not clear. He said some kind of disagreement broke out between Alasibi and the officers before he heard a dozen shots ring out.

“Nothing could justify that many shots,” he said, pointing to chaotic footage he filmed that showed Palestinian vendors and worshippers screaming at the sound of bullets being fired in rapid succession. “They were fired at close range.”

His cousin Fahad said Alasibi was worried about making the trip from Israel’s Negev desert to Al-Aqsa because his ailing father relied on him. “But he went because praying there during Ramadan means a lot to him,” he said.

The city’s contested compound has been a focus for clashes in the past, particularly in times of turmoil in Israel and the West Bank. This year, as violence surges in the occupied territory under the most right-wing government in Israeli history, fears of an escalation in Jerusalem have mounted with the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Israeli police have boosted their forces as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers flock to Al-Aqsa Mosque for prayers.

On Friday, more than 200,000 Palestinians gathered at the compound for noon prayers, which passed peacefully.

Noureddine said police forced Palestinian vendors and worshippers out of the area after the incident, beating him and others with batons. Israeli police briefly closed the site before reopening it for dawn prayers.

Confrontations at the hilltop compound have triggered wider violence in the region in the past. Clashes at the site in May 2021 helped fuel the outbreak of a bloody 11-day war between Israel and Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers.

This year’s convergence of Ramadan with the Jewish holiday of Passover could increase the possibility of friction as the Old City hosts a massive influx of pilgrims.

For the past year, Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the occupied West Bank. At least 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler gunfire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period. Israel says most of those killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting police incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

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21 deaths; power outage updates

The death toll rose to 21 people on Saturday after confirmed or suspected tornadoes in at least eight states tore through the South and Midwest, leaving residents picking up the pieces as more severe weather loomed.

Power outages in the United States reached more than 900,000 customers Saturday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, as bad weather moved northeast and swaths of the Midwest and South recovered from the destruction that began on Friday.

The storms left a path of destruction in states such as Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Iowa.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Valley, Northeast and Mid Atlantic braced for high winds and heavy thunderstorms, the National Weather Service predicted. Isolated hail, scattered wind gusts up to 70 mph and a few tornadoes are possible as severe thunderstorm watches have been issued for parts of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, according to AccuWeather.

PHOTOS SHOW DESTRUCTION:Shredded houses, streets filled with debris, overturned cars

FRIDAY WEATHER SUMMARY:‘Large destructive tornado’ hits near Little Rock; Arkansas tornado emergency

Seven dead in McNairy County, Tennessee

Seven people died in McNairy County, southern Tennessee, said David Leckner, mayor of Adamsville, Tennessee. Most of the damage was to homes and residential areas, and first responders went door to door Saturday to make sure everyone was taken care of, Leckner said.

In Lewis County, Tennessee, Melissa Keller ran to her bathroom to hide from the storm in the community where she has lived with her family for nearly 50 years. Her house was still standing on Saturday, but her sister’s house was destroyed, she said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Keller said.

‘Absolute chaos’: Illinois theater roof collapses during concert

A theater roof collapsed Friday night in Belvidere, Illinois, about 70 miles northwest of Chicago, amid a severe storm, killing one person and injuring 28.

About 260 people were attending a heavy metal concert at the Apollo Theater when the storm hit, Belvidere Fire Department Chief Shawn Schadle said.

“Chaos, absolute chaos,” Belvidere Police Chief Shane Woody said as he described the scene.

As security personnel urged spectators to take shelter in the basement, many rushed to pull people from the rubble when parts of the roof gave way.

“I was like, I’m not going to the basement. There are still injured people,” said spectator Hasib Neaz. “I have to get people out. Time is running out. People could die. They could suffocate in there.”

Elsewhere in central Illinois, many communities suffered significant property damage and downed power lines. A stable in Sangamon County was damaged and 32 horses were missing.

Jack Ealey of Sherman, Illinois weathered the storm on the floor of his pickup truck, which was parked in his garage. He said his house was uninhabitable and the back of his garage had been ripped out.

“Last night we were lucky to be alive,” he said. “Now we are trying to figure out what to do.”

Little Rock, northern Arkansas hit by tornadoes

A tornado that moved through west Little Rock killed at least one person and injured more than two dozen others, officials said. It demolished a mall before heading north and leaving massive damage in its wake.

The Associated Press reports that Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott said 2,100 homes and businesses were in the tornado’s path before an official damage assessment, but no assessment has yet been made on how many. of damaged people. Earlier, AP reported that a number of homes were damaged or destroyed.

Storm chaser Brian Emfinger documented tornado damage in and around Little Rock. His drone footage captured houses and buildings reduced to piles of wood and rubble.

As a native of Arkansas and a former resident of Little Rock, he knew the area well. Even with the “enormous amount” of devastation he witnessed, it was hard to see, he said.

“It’s the first time (it’s) a place where I’ve actually lived, eaten at restaurants and visited,” Emfinger told USA TODAY. “I worked for some of the places that were affected.”

He saw shaking vehicles, people helping injured people and neighbors controlling each other. The tornado – rare in recent years for Little Rock – triggered gas leaks and knocked down power lines.

Little Rock resident Niki Scott heard glass shattering while hiding in a bathroom. She emerged to find her house was one of the few on her street without a tree.

“It’s like everyone says. It got really quiet, then it got really loud,” Scott said.

Four people also died in Wynne. The northeast Arkansas town suffered heavy damage that left people trapped in the debris.

Severe weather still expected

A pattern similar to recent storms is expected to unfold on Tuesday, amplified by even greater heat and humidity, raising the risk of severe weather, Victor Gensini, an associate professor at Northern Illinois University, told USA TODAY.

If you wanted to draw an extreme weather pattern, “it would definitely be this one,” he said. Between dry conditions in the west and hot, humid conditions in the east, he expects to see a “fairly large area of ​​real estate” at risk Tuesday afternoon and evening.

LEARN MORE:Bad tornado season in the United States is getting worse: here’s what you need to know.

SEVERE WEATHER:Bad tornado season in the United States is getting worse: here’s what you need to know.

HURRICANE SEASON:The National Hurricane Center used to give a 2 day outlook. In 2023, he will plan 7 days of absence.

United States Weather Watch and Warnings National Weather Radar

Contributors: Dima Amro and Lucas Finton, Memphis Commercial Appeal; Jeff Kolkey, star of the Rockford Register; The Associated Press; The USA TODAY Network

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Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki and Spurs connections top 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame class

Tony Parker and Pau Gasol played for him. Becky Hammon coached alongside him. Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade fought against him.

It’s Gregg Popovitch.

And he, finally, is a Hall of Famer.

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame made it official on Saturday, with three of the NBA’s biggest international names – Nowitzki, Parker and Gasol – joining Wade, Hammon and Popovich as the headliners for the Class of 2023 which will be enshrined August 11. and 12 at ceremonies in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

“It’s basketball heaven,” Wade said on the ESPN telecast of the announcement in Houston.

Also receiving the call from the Hall: the 1976 United States Olympic women’s basketball team; former Purdue coach Gene Keady, seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year; former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, who took two teams to the Final Four; longtime coach at Division III Amherst and two-time national champion David Hixon; and Gene Bess – who won 1,300 games as a junior coach at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Former Heat star Dwayne Wade said “this is basketball heaven” after learning of his Basketball Hall of Fame selection.Getty Images


Dirk Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year NBA career with the Mavericks.Getty Images

The late Jim Valvano, who as a coach led NC State to the 1983 NCAA title, was selected as a contributor – also taking into account his work as a broadcaster and a strong advocate for cancer research and the V Foundation.

Hall of Fame President Jerry Colangelo told new members or their families the happy news earlier this week.

Most of them joined Colangelo and other Hall of Famers on Friday for a welcome dinner of sorts, and then on Saturday took their first public bows as the king of basketball.

“This class doesn’t just represent all levels of basketball — it really represents, in every way, what the game is and where it is,” Colangelo told The Associated Press. “I mean, think about the candidates. There are the countries that are represented, Germany and Spain and France. It shows how far the game has come and where it is today. I think it’s possibly the most unique class, I would say, ever, and covers a lot of territory. It stands by itself as in its uniqueness.

The four NBA players – Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol and Wade – have combined for 95,092 points, 39 All-Star appearances and 10 NBA championships.

Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and is the coach of defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.

And all Popovich has done is win five NBA titles, more games than anyone in league history, and an Olympic gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Games.

“He’s amazing,” said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who played for Popovich and coached under him with USA Basketball at the 2019 World Cup and then the Tokyo Olympics. “The Hall of Fame was just a formality. Everyone knew he would be there. It was just a matter of time. »

Steve Kerr says the Basketball Hall of Fame was “just a formality” for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich because everyone knew he would get there eventually.Getty Images

The long held belief was that Popovich wanted certain people in the room before allowing himself to be considered.

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were scheduled to come in first, and Popovich also lobbied for two-time Houston champion coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

Parker coming in with Popovich seems fitting, and Popovich has long touted Hammon’s abilities.

“In all honesty, I always thought the Hall of Fame was like for Red Holzman, Red Auerbach and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. … I never felt like I really belonged, to be honest with you,” Popovich said “I’m not trying to be ‘Mr. Humble’ or whatever. I’m a Division III guy. I’m not a Hall of Fame guy.

Becky Hammon coached Gregg Popovich and recently led the Las Vegas Aces to the 2022 WNBA title.Getty Images

It’s the latest accolade for Gasol, the longtime Spanish star whose two NBA championships came with the Los Angeles Lakers alongside his dear friend Kobe Bryant.

Nowitzki, the German big who changed the game with his combination of big-man size and guarding skills, has spent his entire 21-year career in Dallas and is sixth on the all-time goalscoring list of the NBA.

Parker won four rings with Popovich in San Antonio.

“When Jerry called, I tried to keep it cool on the phone…but that’s super cool,” Nowitzki said. “And I called my family, my immediate family … and my mom, right away, said, ‘I’m the mother of a Hall of Famer. That’s when it really took hold.

Wade won three titles with Miami.

In the arena where the Heat play, they retired the numbers of five former players – Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Chris Bosh and Wade.

And now all five are also bound by Hall of Fame membership.

Like Parker, Nowitzki and Gasol — and Popovich, for that matter — Wade entered his first ballot.

Former guard Tony Parker has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame along with his former Spurs head and assistant coaches.Getty Images

“To me, obviously all of these guys are first-round guys,” Heat president Pat Riley said. “Look at the records. Look at the longevity they’ve had in this league. Look at what they’ve done for the league and how much the league remembers them – because they’re ambassadors for this great league and they have a big voice and a big message. Dwyane being a first-rounder was a no-brainer.

The class will receive their Hall of Fame jackets and rings on August 11 in Uncasville, Connecticut, followed by the ceremony and their speeches on August 12 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

“It’s amazing,” Popovich said on the telecast. “Obviously it’s an honour…I’m sitting here among people I’ve always admired. So being in this situation is kind of an out of body experience to be honest with you. All I can do is thank everyone who helped me get into this position.

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Florida child found in the jaws of an alligator after his mother was stabbed to death

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The body of a missing child was found Friday in the mouth of an alligator at Lake Maggiore in Florida.

Authorities have charged the father of 2-year-old Taylen Mosley with two counts of first-degree murder. One of those charges was for the little boy, and the other was for the fatal stabbing of the boy’s mother, Pashun Jeffery, who was found dead in her apartment on Thursday, the New York Post reported Saturday.

In a social media post, the St. Petersburg Police Department detailed how officers found the child’s body after launching a major search:

The investigation led detectives to search Dell Holmes Park, 2741 22nd Street South and Lake Maggiore. After spending all day searching the area, this evening officers were alerted to an alligator seen with something in its mouth. The alligator was killed in order to recover the body, confirmed to be that of Taylen Mosley. The medical examiner will determine what caused his death.

Chief Holloway also identified the boy’s father as Thomas Mosley.

Taylen Mosley found deadTonight the body of two-year-old Taylen Mosley was found in Lake Maggiore….

Posted by St. Petersburg Police on Friday, March 31, 2023

The initial search began Thursday afternoon after Jefferey’s body was discovered when investigators followed a trail of blood from his car, the Job says the article.

Authorities have considered the child’s father a person of interest after he went to hospital with cuts to his hands and arms. However, his son was not with him at the time.

Footage shared while Taylen was still missing shows Jefferey and the boy:

Taylen is still missing. We haven’t found two-year-old Taylen Mosley yet. We kindly ask anyone with information to…

Posted by St. Petersburg Police on Friday, March 31, 2023

Investigators said 10 Tampa Bay they were unaware of any past domestic violence between Mosley and Jefferey. The outlet noted that once he recovers from his injuries, Mosley will be transported to Pinellas County Jail.

Dive teams searched the holding tanks before traveling 13 miles to the mother and child’s home where they later found the toddler’s body.

Speaking about the child at a press conference on Friday, a family member said, “We just want to say Taylen is a beautiful little boy.”

“Pashun was a beautiful mom,” she added.

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Reviews | Trump’s huge mistake on January 6

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But there was Trump in Waco, Texas, opening his inaugural 2024 campaign rally with a recording of the song “Justice for All” he performed with the J6 Prison Choir, with some Jan. 6 scenes played on the jumbotrons.

Among those who favorably support it, the bloody riot on Capitol Hill has gone from something to downplay — and blame others, whether antifa or federal informants — to something to celebrate, almost. , if not altogether, Stop the Steal’s Bastille Day.

For Trump, a master at appropriating grit lines and attacks from the other side, reversing the tide on Jan. 6 would be his boldest move yet. How long does it take before that day, in an echo of the phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy that got him impeached, becomes “the perfect protest?” »

This is a huge mistake from all points of view, especially on the substance, but also on the political level.

Yet Trump’s position is not surprising. He still goes back to the two premises of the Jan. 6 riot – that, as a rule, the 2020 election was stolen and, specifically, former Vice President Mike Pence could have stopped the vote count if he did. he had not been. so weak. That’s why, in a contradiction, Trump blames Pence for an event he also describes as not so bad.

Trump spoke of forgiving the rioters, who are “great patriots”, and floated the idea of ​​the government apologizing to many of them.

Now, it’s true that the Democrats’ and media’s insistence on always and exclusively referring to January 6 as “the insurrection” is annoying and politically motivated. (The insurrection suggests a sustained campaign, whereas it was a one-time spasm of violence more properly called a riot.)

The Department of Justice did everything possible to increase the number of prosecutions in order to politically highlight the seriousness of the event, and the defendants were denied bail in a very unusual way – if we Let’s bail out Mafia hitmen, and we do, we should bail out someone who punched a cop on January 6th.

And there is rank hypocrisy in the treatment of political violence. The same people on the left who were willing to look the other way during the “mostly peaceful” riots after the killing of George Floyd are outraged on January 6. (Of course, hypocrisy is a two-way street: if it’s wrong to burn down a gas station in the name of Black Lives Matter, it’s no better to storm the Capitol in the name of Stop the Steal.)

That said, finding excuses or valuing January 6 is deeply wrong.

First, there is the question of principle. Riots are wrong and never justified (except in the rare case where they are the precursor to a just and grounded revolutionary act – for example, the American Revolutionary War). They injure people and destroy property, gaining nothing or backing away from the cause they were meant to advance.

The disorder at the heart of the US government, disrupting a long-standing ritual linked to the peaceful transfer of power, is particularly glaring.

Second, justifying or excusing political violence has a disturbing influence on the republic. The more reason both sides have to physically fear each other, the easier it is to justify extreme measures in response, in a growing whirlwind of escalation.

Third, it’s just a terrible policy. If the other side is desperate to portray you as being in bed with fanatics and rioters, it’s best not to go out of your way to prove them right. It’s perverse to Republicans that just as the January 6 Committee was decommissioned and no longer able to constantly remind the public of January 6, here is Donald Trump coming to remind people of January 6.

It would be a bit like Richard Nixon running for the 1976 Republican presidential nomination and campaigning with a quartet of barbers made up of the Watergate Burglars.

Or Ulysses S. Grant deciding to seek a third term while extolling the unsung virtues of the organizers of the Whiskey Ring scandal.

What Trump is doing goes against the lessons of the midterm reviews. January 6 gave emotional power to the Democratic argument that democracy was under threat, and the Stop the Steal candidates proved to be radioactive. Trump wants, in effect, to repeat the failed political experiment of November 2022 on a larger scale in 2024.

In addition to his natural inclinations, Trump can do the math that in a primary race with Ron DeSantis to be the most MAGA Republican candidate, he can’t lose by staking the most pro-Jan. 6 positions. It’s not a crazy bet, but if Trump is to be beaten, it will likely be, in part, on the grounds that he is carrying too much baggage and posing an eligibility risk. By embracing rather than circumventing one of his main vulnerabilities, he gives his opponents more ammunition on both counts.

January 6 is a scandal that should not become a cause.

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Marchers gather on Transgender Awareness Day

Across the country, people are coming together in a series of events to build support for transgender rights in what they say is an increasingly hostile environment. (March, 31st)

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Survivor of burning Pennsylvania factory explosion fell into vat of chocolate

A woman pulled alive from the rubble of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory after an explosion that killed seven co-workers says flames engulfed the building and her arm when the ground gave way beneath her.

It could have been the end, if she hadn’t fallen into a vat of liquid chocolate.

The dark liquid extinguished her inflamed arm, but Patricia Borges ended up breaking her collarbone and both heels.

She would spend the next nine hours screaming for help and waiting for help as firefighters battled hell and helicopters slammed over the RM Palmer Co. plant.

“When I started to burn, I thought that was the end for me,” Borges, 50, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview from his hospital bed in West Reading, Utah. Pennsylvania, minutes from the chocolate factory where she worked as an operator.

Borges said she was ignited by the explosion, when she fell below her collapse and fell into the tank, extinguishing the flames.PA


Borges in an undated photo before the factory explosion.PA

National Transportation Safety Board investigators interviewed Borges on Friday, according to his family.

The March 24 explosion at the RM Palmer killed seven of Borges’ colleagues and injured 10.

Federal, state and local investigations are ongoing.

A cause has not been determined, but the Federal Transportation Safety Agency has called it a natural gas explosion.

“It’s all on the table at this point because we still haven’t completed the investigation. To say it’s one way or the other, I wouldn’t say that at this point,” Beohm said.

West Reading, Penn. a chocolate explosion killed seven people on March 24, 2023.PA

Two state police fire marshals are working to determine the cause and origin of the explosion, he said.

The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which regulates workplace safety, was also on site.

Natural gas was not the only possible cause.

Local hospitals received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition, respectively, and the rest had been discharged.PA

Chocolate makers and other food manufacturers must take steps to mitigate the risk of fire and explosion from flammable dust produced by ingredients such as cocoa powder and cornstarch, Holly said. Burgess, technical manager for industrial and chemical safety at the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit organization. group that produces hundreds of codes and standards.

Burgess said smaller particles that stay in the air pose a greater danger than larger particles that quickly fall to the ground.

Food manufacturers are expected to determine the combustibility of the dust, perform a risk analysis, and then take steps to manage it.

“Every batch is different, so the chocolatey material in the cocoa I get from one place may have a larger particle size or a smaller particle size. So that’s where they usually have to do their own testing,” Burgess said, speaking generally and not about the situation in Palmer.

A cause has not been determined, but the Federal Transportation Safety Agency has called it a natural gas explosion.PA

Commercial ovens and furnaces, as well as commercial refrigerants using ammonia, are other major explosion hazards in food factories, she said.

Records from OSHA, the federal workplace safety agency, show only one violation at the West Reading plant in the past five years.

In 2018, an employee lost the tip of a finger while cleaning an air-pressure ball valve.

The company agreed to pay a fine of $13,000.

The plant, shown in a pre-explosion photo, was run by RM Palmer Co. had received just one violation from OSHA in the past five years.Google Earth

In January, records show, OSHA imposed a fine of more than $12,000 after an inspection at RM Palmer’s plant in neighboring Wyomissing.

Details of this case were not immediately available.

RM Palmer said in a statement over the weekend that everyone in the company was devastated and that it was contacting employees and their families through first responders and disaster recovery organizations because its communication systems were broken.

“The tragic events that occurred on Friday had a profound impact on all of us at RM Palmer, and we appreciate the outpouring of support as we all continue to deal with the loss of our friends and colleagues,” the company said on Facebook. . Sunday.

The company did not comment further. He did not respond to questions from The Associated Press on Monday.

The Berks County Coroner’s Office identified two of the victims as Amy Sandoe, 49, of Ephrata, and Domingo Cruz, 60, of Reading, and said “further forensic examinations” would be required to positively identify the other five victims. Autopsies were expected to be completed by the end of the week, officials said.

Rescue teams had used thermal imaging equipment and dogs to search for possible survivors after the blast destroyed a building and damaged a nearby building.

Crews were using heavy equipment to methodically and carefully remove debris from the site, according to Police Chief Wayne Holben.

Three buildings around the site have been condemned as a precaution until further examination by structural engineers to ensure their safety.

Officials said they had no update on the condition of a woman pulled alive from the rubble early Saturday.

Borges screamed for help for nine hours as first responders battled the blaze.PA

Mayor Samantha Kaag said she was apparently on the second floor and found in a “hopeful circumstance”, calling for rescuers despite her injuries after a dog found her.

Reading Hospital said it received 10 patients and transferred two to other facilities, while two others were admitted in good and fair condition, respectively, and the rest were discharged.

Dr. Charles Barbera, president and chief executive of the hospital, said one of the admitted patients was discharged on Monday.

Three buildings around the site have been condemned as a precaution until further examination by structural engineers to ensure their safety.PA

UGI spokesman Joe Swope said the utility detected leaks in a few locations at street level some distance from the plant after gas was restored and completed repairs.

“The company believes these are unrelated to the Palmer explosion,” he said.

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Andrew Tate has been released from a Romanian jail and placed under house arrest

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Young fans and media surround Andrew Tate as he leaves a police detention facility in Bucharest, Romania, after his release from prison on Friday. Alexandru Dobre/AP

Alexandru Dobre/AP

BUCHAREST, Romania — Andrew Tate, the divisive internet personality who has spent months in a Romanian jail on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, has won an appeal to replace his detention with house arrest, an official said Friday.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Tate’s appeal, which challenged a judge’s decision last week to extend his arrest a fourth time for 30 days, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT.

Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen who has 5.5 million Twitter followers, was initially detained in late December in Romania’s capital Bucharest, along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women.

All four won an appeal Friday, and will remain under house arrest until Apr. 29, Bolla said. None of the four has yet been formally indicted. The court ruled in favor of their immediate release. Prosecutors cannot challenge the appeal court’s decision, which was final, Bolla added.

As the brothers left the detention facility late Friday in Bucharest, Tristan Tate told a scrum of reporters that “the judges today made the right decision.”

“I respect what they’ve done for me and they will be vindicated in their decision, because I’m an innocent man and I can’t wait to prove it,” he said.

Some Tate supporters outside the facility chanted “Top-G, Top-G,” using a popular moniker many of Andrew Tate’s fans refer to him as.

Later, standing outside what is believed to be the Tate brothers’ home near the capital, Andrew Tate said he wanted to thank the judges “who heard us today, because they were very attentive and they listened to us, and they let us free.”

“I have no resentment in my heart for the country of Romania or for anybody else,” he said. “I just believe in the truth … I truly believe that justice will be served in the end. There is zero percent chance of me being convicted for something I’ve not done.”

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Andrew Tate, left, and his brother Tristan leave a police detention facility in Bucharest, Romania, after his release from prison on Friday. Alexandru Dobre/AP

Alexandru Dobre/AP

Tate, a professional kickboxer who has resided in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech. He has repeatedly claimed Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a “political” conspiracy designed to silence him.

DIICOT said in a statement after the December arrests that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group.

The agency said victims were lured with pretenses of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.

In January, Romanian authorities descended on a compound near Bucharest linked with the Tate brothers and towed away a fleet of luxury cars that included a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. They reported seizing assets worth an estimated $3.9 million.

Prosecutors have said that if they can prove the cars’ owners gained money through illicit activities such as human trafficking, the assets would be used to cover the expenses of the investigation and to compensate victims. Tate unsuccessfully appealed the asset seizure.

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Controversial Influencer Andrew Tate Released From Romanian Jail

Controversial social media personality Andrew Tate is out of jail.

A spokesperson for Andrew, a former kickboxer, and his brother Tristan told NBC News that the brothers would be released March 31 from a detention center in Romania and placed on house arrest. Andrew later confirmed on social media that he was back home.

The men, along with two Romanian women, were arrested last December over allegations of sex trafficking and human trafficking; however, no charges have been formally brought against the group, per NBC News. 

Upon his release, Andrew uploaded a video on Twitter of him smoking a cigar and pacing around a room.

“Since last year ive been in 24 hour lockdown. No yard time,” he wrote. “Pacing a 3metre cell with zero electronics or outside contact. Absolute clarity of mind. Real thoughts. Real plans. Vivid pain. One hour home and I cant stand my phone. Some habits die hard.”

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The EPA approves California’s plan to phase out diesel trucks

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Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. President Joe Biden’s administration cleared the way for California’s plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, a part of the state’s efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas. Noah Berger/AP

Noah Berger/AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California’s plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state’s efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast.

The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California — which has some of the nation’s worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large passenger pick-ups.

“Under the Clean Air Act, California has longstanding authority to address pollution from cars and trucks. Today’s announcement allows the state to take additional steps in reducing their transportation emissions through these new regulatory actions,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, in a statement.

Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded the state’s role as a leader for setting ambitious vehicle emission standards.

“We’re leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses – the most polluting vehicles – off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead,” the Democrat said in a statement.

The EPA typically sets standards for tailpipe emissions from passenger cars, trucks and other vehicles, but California has historically been granted waivers to impose its own, stricter standards. Other states can then follow suit, and eight other states plan to adopt California’s truck standards, Newsom’s office said. In a letter last year, attorneys general from 15 states, Washington, D.C., and New York City urged the EPA to approve the California truck standards.

The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. Newsom has already moved to ban the sale of new cars that run entirely on gasoline by 2035. The EPA has not acted on those rules.

The new truck standards are aimed at companies that make trucks and those that own large quantities of them. Companies owning 50 or more trucks will have to report information to the state about how they use these trucks to ship goods and provide shuttle services. Manufacturers will have to sell a higher percentage of zero-emission vehicles starting in 2024. Depending on the class of truck, zero-emission ones will have to make up 40% to 75% of sales by 2035.

California has a long legacy of adopting stricter tailpipe emission standards, even before the federal Clean Air Act was signed into law, said Paul Cort, a lawyer with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice.

“We have a vehicle problem,” Cort said. “We’re addicted to our cars and trucks, and that’s a big cause of the air pollution that we’re fighting.”

But Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, said it’s too soon to adopt the California standards.

“The charging infrastructure is certainly not there,” he said about powering stations for electric vehicles. “And on top of the charging infrastructure, we have the grid issues.”

While California was hit this winter by atmospheric rivers that soaked much of the state, it has for years suffered from drought conditions, and in September, a brutal heat wave that put its electricity grid to the test.

The announcement came as advocates are pushing for more ambitious tailpipe emissions standards in other states and at the national level.

“We don’t just fight for California, we fight for all of the communities,” said Jan Victor Andasan, an activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. The group advocates for better air quality in and around Los Angeles, the nation’s second-most populous city that is known for its dense traffic and intense smog.

Andasan and other environmental activists from across the country who are a part of the Moving Forward Network, a 50-member group based at Occidental College in Los Angeles, met with EPA officials recently to discuss national regulations to limit emissions from trucks and other vehicles.

But some in the trucking industry are concerned about how costly and burdensome the transition will be for truck drivers and companies.

“The state and federal regulators collaborating on this unrealistic patchwork of regulations have no grasp on the real costs of designing, building, manufacturing and operating the trucks that deliver their groceries, clothes and goods,” said Chris Spear, president of the American Trucking Association, in a statement.

“They will certainly feel the pain when these fanciful projections lead to catastrophic disruptions well beyond California’s borders,” he added.

Federal pollution standards for heavy trucks are also getting tougher. The EPA released rules that will cut nitrogen oxide pollution, which contributes to the formation of smog, by more than 80% in 2027. The agency will propose greenhouse gas emissions limits this year.

The agency expects the new standards and government investment will lead to zero-emissions electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks carrying most of the nation’s freight.

California activists Andasan and Brenda Huerta Soto, an organizer with the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, are troubled by the impact of pollution from trucks and other vehicles on communities with a large population of residents of color that live near busy ports in Los Angeles, Oakland and other cities as well as warehouse-dense inland areas.

Huerta Soto works in Southern California’s Inland Empire, where a high concentration of trucks pass through to transport goods. On top of truck pollution, the many cars, trucks and trains that travel through the area burden residents with noises, odors and pollutants these vehicles emit, she said.

“We have the technology, and we have the money” to move toward zero-emission vehicles, she said.

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