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In the wake of Matthew Perry’s death, Chinese fans mourn an old friend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

Long before “Friends” made its official debut in China, the show was a word-of-mouth phenomenon in the country. In the wake of Matthew Perry’s death at 54, fans in China are mourning the loss of the star who felt less like a distant celebrity and more like an old friend.A Wednesday evening memorial at a cafe in Shenzhen, a busy city across the border of Hong Kong, was one of several held throughout the country for the actor who played Chandler Bing and died Saturday in Los Angeles. The coffee shop — an homage to the 10-season sitcom, from its name (Smelly Cat) to the Central Perk sign on its glass wall — was packed with people and floral arrangements as the TV mounted in the corner played an episode of “Friends.”“There are more people who showed up than we expected,” said cafe manager Nie Yanxia. “People shared their own memories about Chandler and ‘Friends’ and many teared up.”A large poster displayed on the bar featured pictures of Perry over the years. “We love you, friend,...

Santa Fe considers tax on mansions as housing prices soar

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Voters are deciding whether to tax mansions to pay for affordable housing initiatives in a state capital city prized for its desert-mountain vistas, vibrant arts scene and stucco architecture rooted in Native American and Spanish-colonial tradition.The tax on homes sold for more than $1 million is being pitched as a lifeline to teachers, service-sector workers, single parents and young professionals who can’t afford local mortgages or struggle to pay rent amid a national housing shortage and the arrival in Santa Fe of high-income digital nomads and affluent retirees.The Nov. 7 ballot measure is the latest bellwether for the popularity of so-called mansion taxes to fund affordable housing and stave off homelessness. It comes on the heels of a voter-approved initiative in Los Angeles and new proposals from Chicago to Massachusetts.THE PROPOSALIf approved, the measure would add a 3% tax on residential property sales of $1 million or more — with no tax on the...

Child custody dispute leads to police shooting, pursuit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

Newly released video by the Los Angeles Police Department shows an attempted murder and a police chase that ends in a crash, all stemming from a child custody dispute.  The incident occurred on Oct. 1 when Harbor Division officers responded to calls of a child custody dispute in the parking lot of a Target store at Gaffey Street and Capitol Drive in San Pedro, according to a LAPD news release. In the video, the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Miesha Scott, is having a discussion with officers about why she’s refusing to return her 5-year-old son to his foster parents following a visitation.  “I’m having a hard time co-parenting with my cousin here,” Scott is heard saying in the video. The 39-year-old tells officers that she’s distressed and as they question her about her son’s legal guardian, she becomes agitated. Police then call the Department of Children and Family Services, who confirm that Scott does not have custody, all of this while her 5-year-old is sitting in ...

Crash involving ‘Ferris Bueller,’ ‘Succession’ actor Alan Ruck was not a crime: LAPD

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

No charges will be filed as a result of the multi-car crash in Hollywood involving "Ferris Bueller" and "Succession" actor Alan Ruck, Los Angeles Police told KTLA on Thursday.The collision happened around 9 p.m. on Halloween night at the busy intersection of La Brea Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard.In two surveillance videos obtained by KTLA, Ruck's Rivian electric pickup truck is seen stopped behind another car at a red light as pedestrians cross in the crosswalk.For reasons still unclear, the truck suddenly lunges forward and rear-ends the other car, and then careens across lanes of traffic, hitting another vehicle before crashing through the wall of Raffallo's Pizza. No one inside the restaurant was hurt.Actor Alan Ruck is seen at the crash scene. Oct. 31, 2023. (KTLA)At least one person is hospitalized after a three-vehicle collision sent a truck crashing through a pizza shop in Hollywood on Oct. 31, 2023. (KTLA)At least one person is hospitalized after a three-vehicle collision s...

The most dreadful start in Sharks history somehow got worse. How much longer can this continue?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

SAN JOSE – So, how much longer can this continue for the San Jose Sharks?In the ugliest loss of an already historically awful start to this season, the largely lifeless Sharks allowed three goals in the opening eight minutes and were run out of their own building Thursday in a 10-1 beatdown at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks at SAP Center.Fabian Zetterlund scored at the 16:12 mark of the third period to break Vancouver’s shutout bid, but it remained the most lopsided home loss the Sharks have experienced since they began operations in 1991-1992.The ugliness doesn’t end there.San Jose Sharks fans wear bags on their heads towards the end of the Sharks 10-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks late in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) The Sharks’ 10-game losing streak from the start of the season is now tied for the seventh-longest in NHL history. The only teams to lose more consecutive ga...

Second suspect in Tahoe-area murder case extradited to California

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

(FOX40.COM) — Samantha Scott, the second suspect in a fatal shooting at a Lake Tahoe-area house in 2021, has been extradited from Nevada to California, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office posted a video on social media that shows Scott being escorted off a small aircraft by deputies to a vehicle. The video also shows Scott being transported to a Placer County Sheriff's Office facility.Law enforcement said Scott arrived at the sheriff's office at 2 p.m. and was booked at the Auburn jail shortly after her arrival. Scott is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. Scott and former MLB player Daniel Serafini were arrested on Oct. 20 in Nevada in connection to a shooting in June 2021 that led to the death of Robert Spohr. Serafini was arrested in Winnemuca, Nevada while Scott was detained in Las Vegas. Ex-MLB player charged in deadly Lake Tahoe-area shooting pleads not guilty Serafini went into custody in Placer County after he was extradited fr...

Skimmer found at Hayward ATM

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

(KRON) -- A credit card skimmer was found on an ATM in Hayward, the Hayward Police Department said Thursday. The device was found by an ATM maintenance technician. Police did not say where the device was found. Police collected the skimmer and submitted it as evidence. A skimmer is a device placed on a credit/debit card reader that can collect the card’s number and PIN information.To avoid being victimized by a skimmer, Hayward police recommends using "card tap/touchless" payment instead of swiping your card. Also, if a card reader or keypad feels loose, tell the business and use a different machine to pay.

Odell Beckham Jr. focusing on Ravens’ success, but his production is ‘not where I want to be’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

The start of Odell Beckham Jr.’s first season with the Ravens hasn’t gone as the veteran wideout expected.As a team, the Ravens are 6-2 and boast perhaps the NFL’s best defense and an offense that’s scored 69 points over the past two games. However, that success has come without the splash Beckham is known for making.“Obviously not where I want to be, but when I signed here I said I wanted to come here and win a Super Bowl and win,” Beckham said Thursday. “We’re 6-2 and on the way to that. Just got to keep going, it’s a long season.”In six games — half of which he missed some time with injury — Beckham has just 14 catches for 162 yards with zero touchdowns. That would put Beckham, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who turns 31 on Sunday, on a 17-game pace for 39 catches for 459 yards — numbers that are dwarfed by those he put up during his heyday with the New York Giants and even his tumultuous seasons with ...

North Korean art sells in China despite UN sanctions over nuclear program

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — For sale at a recent Beijing art exposition was a painting with an asking price of $2,460 that depicted the snow-capped Mount Baekdu, the mythical birthplace of the Korean people. A portrait of a prim young lady in bright brushstrokes was being sold for $5,190. For buyers on a budget, there were colorful landscapes being offered for a few hundred dollars.The dealer hawking the art made no effort to disguise who produced the pieces, despite stiff U.N. sanctions prohibiting the sale of such goods: “They were painted over there,” the dealer said, “in North Korea.”The dealer, who had salt-and-pepper hair and refused to divulge his name, was a representative of an art gallery that trumpets itself as China’s premier seller of North Korean art. The gallery, The Paintings Say Arirang, also operates a studio for North Korean artists in the outskirts of Beijing. Housed in a fenced and heavily surveilled compound, the North Koreans paint glorified, idyllic visions of life ...

North Korea is closing some diplomatic missions in what may be a sign of its economic troubles

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:59 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea confirmed Friday that it’s closing some of its diplomatic missions abroad, a move that rival South Korea suspects is likely the latest sign of the North’s economic troubles amid persistent international sanctions.Earlier in the week, the South Korean government said North Korea was moving to close its embassies in Uganda, Angola and Spain, as well as a consulate in Hong Kong, because the sanctions have made it extremely difficult for them to continue illegal activities abroad to earn money for their operating expenses.According to South Korean government data, North Korea has diplomatic relations with more than 150 countries but operates just around 50 diplomatic posts abroad.The North Korean Foreign Ministry said Friday that it is “either closing or newly opening diplomatic missions in other countries” in line with unspecified changes in the international environment and the North’s external policy. South Korean officials couldn’t i...