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These small cookiecutter sharks sank an inflatable catamaran and sparked a dramatic rescue

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

(CNN) — The dramatic ocean saga that led to three men being rescued this week from a sinking inflatable catamaran off the Australian coast has been pinned on an unusual culprit: a small, cigar-shaped shark that leaves such perfectly round wounds it’s called the cookiecutter.The sailors, two Russians and one French national, were pulled from the sea on Wednesday on their way to the northeastern Australian city of Cairns from the remote Pacific nation Vanuatu, authorities said.In an Instagram post after the rescue, the group said the attacks were by cookiecutter sharks, which damaged the rear left balloon of the boat on Monday and left it “completely submerged underwater.” The group lasted another day – until the cookiecutters attacked again late Tuesday, this time biting through the right balloon.The attacks left their inflatable boat partly sunken – prompting them to issue a distress call to nearby vessels in the early hours of Wednesday. The crew and their belon...

Back with the Bruins, Milan Lucic feels right at home

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

In some ways, Milan Lucic seemed like he never left here.Meeting with Boston reporters after Friday captain’s practice for the first time since re-signing with the Bruins in July, Lucic was as gregarious as ever, his distinctive voice resonating throughout the Warrior Ice Arena locker room as he spoke about how happy he was to be back in Boston.But in reality, it’s a much different Milan Lucic from the teenager who arrived here in the late summer of 2007. Back then, he was just a teenager who was hoping to have a decent training camp before being sent back to his Vancouver Giants junior team. But he never got that dreaded knock on the hotel room door, and he stayed with the Bruins for the next eight years, winning a Stanley Cup along the way while helping rebuild a winning tradition.This time – after stops in Los Angeles, Edmonton and Calgary – he returns as a 35-year-old veteran of 1,173 NHL games. He may not be the same player who once rode shotgun with David Krejci on...

8 new paperbacks perfect for curling up with in the fall

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

By Moira Macdonald, The Seattle TimesSeptember is here, which means Outdoor Activities Season is slipping away, to be replaced by Cozy Afternoons Reading On the Couch Season. Should you, like me, be thrilled by this state of affairs, here’s a roundup of shiny-new paperbacks this month to join you on the couch.“Marple: Twelve New Mysteries” by various authors (HarperCollins, $18.99)If you like your mysteries short and (relatively) cozy, here’s a treat: A dozen contemporary crime fiction authors take on Agatha Christie’s formidable detective Jane Marple, in stories that take her from her home in the very murder-plagued hamlet of St. Mary Mead to far-flung settings like New York’s Broadway, a cruise to Hong Kong, and an Italian holiday. The authors are a true murderer’s row — including Alyssa Cole, Lucy Foley, Elly Griffiths, Val McDermid, Ruth Ware and more — and I devoured this book like popcorn when it came out last year.“How Not to Dr...

Philadelphia police officer surrenders on murder charges weeks after fatal shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver turned himself in Friday and was charged with murder in the man’s death as prosecutors released graphic bodycam footage of the fatal confrontation.Officer Mark Dial surrendered on a criminal warrant and was arraigned Friday on charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter, official oppression and four other counts. Dial did not comment as he walked past reporters after the arraignment. His lawyer insisted the shooting was justified, saying Dial thought 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry had a gun.Police bodycam footage of the fatal shooting shows Dial firing his weapon at close range through the rolled-up driver’s side window of Irizarry’s sedan during a vehicle stop on Aug. 14. Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and striding over to Irizarry’s car, according to the video. He fired a total of six rounds.The videos, pulled from Dial’s body-worn camera and the ca...

What’s streaming now: Olivia Rodrigo, LaKeith Stanfield, NBA 2K24 and ‘The Little Mermaid’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

Olivia Rodrigo’s much-anticipated sophomore album and LaKeith Stanfield starring in the eight-part horror fantasy series “The Changeling” are among the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near youAmong the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” starring Halle Bailey, the video game NBA 2K24 pays tribute to Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and the popular comfort show “Virgin River” returns for its fifth season on Netflix.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— The latest Disney live-action remake, “The Little Mermaid,” landed on Disney+ on Wednesday. Not everyone has been a fan of the studio’s regular retreads of animation classics. But they’ve been dependable box-office successes; earlier this year, “The Little Mermaid” grossed $568.6 million worldwide. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called this “Mermaid” “a somewhat drab undertaking with sparks of b...

Authorities identify remains of 2 victims killed in 9/11 attack on World Trade Center

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The remains of two people who died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center have been identified, the latest positive identification in the decadeslong effort to return victims to their families.Authorities confirmed the identification of the remains of a man and woman days ahead of the 22nd anniversary of the hijacked-plane attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in Lower Manhattan. Their names were withheld by city officials at the request of their families.New York City’s medical examiner has now been able to link remains to 1,649 World Trade Center victims, a painstaking process that relies on leading-edge DNA sequencing techniques to test body fragments recovered in the rubble. Advancements in the sequencing technology, including increased test sensitivity and faster turnaround times, have allowed officials to identify remains that had tested negative for identifiable DNA for decades, officials said.Similar efforts are used by the U.S. military to identify mi...

Supreme Court is asked to reject limits on a drug used in the most common method of abortion

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is being asked to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off mail-order access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.The case would be the first major abortion dispute decided by the Supreme Court since it overturned Roe v. Wade last year. That ruling has led to bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy in 15 states, with some exceptions, and once cardiac activity can be detected, which is around six weeks, in two others.In an appeal filed Friday, Danco Laboratories, the manufacturer of mifepristone, argued that federal judges should not second-guess the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug or the conditions under which it is dispensed. The Biden administration also was expected to file an appeal.A federal appeals court ruling in August would revoke approval for sending the drug through the mail and would shorten, from the current 10 weeks to seven weeks, the time during which mifepris...

Wisconsin sawmill agrees to pay $191K to federal regulators after 16-year-old boy killed on the job

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A northern Wisconsin sawmill has agreed to pay nearly $191,000 and stop hiring children under 16 to settle a federal lawsuit labor regulators filed after a teenager was killed on the job this summer and other child employees were hurt in a string of accidents.Michael Schuls died in July after he became pinned in a wood-stacking machine at Florence Hardwoods. He was trying to clear a jam in the machine in the facility’s planing mill when the conveyor belt he was standing on moved and left him pinned, according to Florence County Sheriff’s Office reports obtained by The Associated Press through open records requests. An ensuing U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that three children ages 15 to 16 were hurt at the sawmill between November 2021 and March 2023.The sawmill also employed nine children between the ages of 14 and 17 to illegally run machines such as saws, the investigation found. Most work in sawmills and logging is prohibited for mi...

Is hurricane Lee headed for Canada? The ‘spaghetti models’ can be misleading: expert

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

HALIFAX — For residents of Canada’s East Coast, some of the latest images showing the potential path northward for hurricane Lee are disturbing. By combining multiple computer-generated forecasts, meteorologists have produced maps of the western Atlantic Ocean that suggest the powerful storm could slam into the Maritimes late next week. But Chris Fogarty, program manager at the Canadian Hurricane Centre in Halifax, says these long-range models are of little value at this stage.Fogarty says these spaghetti models — so called because the layers of predicted tracks look like splayed noodles — don’t adequately represent the broad range of possible forecasts.“In the case of Lee, these maps are not very useful beyond about five days because the noodles can become very scattered and confusing,” he said Friday in an email.“Beyond about five days — depending on the degree of chaos in the atmosphere — they can appear more focused than they should be. At those lon...

The death toll from flooding in central Greece has increased to 10 while 4 others are missing

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 14:36:43 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The death toll from severe flooding in central Greece rose to 10 people Friday, while another four remained missing, the country’s civil protection minister said. Rescue crews in helicopters and boats ferried hundreds of people from inundated villages to safety. Flooding triggered by rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 22 people in all three countries since the rains began Tuesday. In Greece, the rainstorms turned streams into raging torrents that burst dams, washed away roads and bridges and hurled cars into the sea, and many of the flooded areas were left without power or drinking water. Authorities have said some regions received twice the average annual rainfall for Athens in the space of just 12 hours.Although the rainstorms had stopped by Friday, floodwater continued to rise after the Pineios River burst its banks near the city of Larissa, one of Greece’s largest cities with a population of around 150,000, t...