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Family mourning after woman’s body found in basement of home in Lawrence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

Family members were mourning Tuesday after they said their 21-year-old loved one was found dead in the basement of a home in Lawrence.The Essex District Attorney’s office in a statement said Lawrence police were first called to a basement apartment on Salem Street around 7:45 a.m. Tuesday for a well-being check. The DA’s office said responding officers soon found an unresponsive person, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The DA’s office did not immediately share any additional information. Family members spoke with reporters, though, identifying the person who died as Diamaris Mejia.Family members said Mejia had been living in Lawrence for roughly one year after immigrating to the US from the Dominican Republic. She had two children back in the Dominican Republic and was working to send money back to them. Family members said they think Mejia’s body was left in the basement since a party on Christmas Eve. Family members continued, saying they believe Mejia wa...

Ukraine claims it destroyed Russian tank landing ship

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

(CNN) — Ukraine claimed on Tuesday to have carried out an airstrike in Crimea that destroyed a Russian Navy tank landing ship in what would be, if confirmed, the third instance of major losses of Russian military hardware in less than a week.In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk thanked personnel involved in “the destruction of the Novocherkask large landing ship” while it was in the port of Feodosia in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.CNN cannot independently verify the claim, but videos posted on social media showed large explosions in the Feodosia port.The Russian Defense Ministry said the Novocherkask had been “damaged” in a Ukrainian attack in a statement reported by the state-run TASS news agency.The Russia-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, earlier acknowledged via a statement that there had been “an enemy attack in [the] Feodosia area,” adding that “detonation has stopped and the fire has be...

Surveillance video shows smash-and-grab at Framingham smoke shop

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

A smoke shop smash-and-grab was recently caught on camera in Framingham, with security cameras rolling as vandals broke in and ransacked the store Tuesday morning. The break-in happened at Framingham Vape & Smoke near Walsh Street just after 4:30 a.m. In video shared with 7NEWS, five people are seen running up to the store and looking in the window before forming a plan of action to get inside. Soon, one person is seen shattering the glass. Each person then runs into the store, with its alarms blaring. Individuals are seen trying to break into the cash register. One by one, each person next grabs products and runs back out of the store. Prakash Prajapati works at the Framingham Smoke Shop and spoke to 7NEWS on Tuesday.He said the store was still trying to figure out the value of the stolen items as of Tuesday afternoon.Beyond the loss in products, Prajapati said the smoke shop is also concerned about the potential blow this robbery could have to its business....

Red Sox notebook: Paxton and Giolito perhaps, but no Maldonado

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

The free-agent pitching market is heating up, and all eyes are on the Red Sox, who’ve already been on the hot seat for almost two months after chairman Tom Werner promoised a “full throttle” offseason.There’s mutual interest in a reunion with James Paxton, who was arguably Boston’s best starter from his season debut in early May until the the All-Star break, even earning American League Player of the Month honors in June. Yet the veteran left-hander’s lengthy injury history, which includes missing the entire ’22 Red Sox season and nearly two months of ’23 (between his late debut and season-ending injured list stint at the start of September) is cause for concern. Signings such as Paxton’s are one of the key reasons the Red Sox finished last three times in the past four seasons. They need durability from their starting rotation, and Paxton, who only pitched 21 2/3 innings between the ’20 and ’21 seasons, hasn’t b...

More January closures coming to Green Line Extension

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

Maintenance work to widen tracks on the Green Line Extension will not be completed until at least late January and will require several more stretches of disruption to riders.MBTA officials announced that service on the entire 4.4-mile extension will be suspended for the weekends of Jan. 6-7 and Jan. 20-21, plus another 11 evenings over the course of January.Trains will stop running from about 8:45 p.m. through the end of service from Jan. 8-11, Jan. 16-18 and Jan. 22-25. Shuttle buses will replace service between North Station and Medford/Tufts, but not on the one-stop Union Square branch.The new plan represents the second substantial extension to the repair project after the contractors responsible, Green Line Extension Constructors, failed to complete work on the initial 14-night timeline they presented to the T.GLXC built the extension, but T officials revealed in recent months that large stretches of the rails are too close together. The companies — including Fluor Enterp...

Robert Kraft disheartened over rising antisemitism, calls out Hamas supporters: ‘These are terrorists’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

Robert Kraft says the rising number of antisemitic incidents across the country is “disheartening,” and it’s renewing his belief that education is the most important tool in getting people to stand up to hate.“If we don’t do a good job controlling it, I think hate leads to violence,” Kraft said in an interview with CNN on Christmas. “And what we’re seeing going on in this country now is really scary to me. And it’s something we want to work very hard to try to prevent.”Preventing antisemitism is the purpose behind Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, which the Patriots owner launched in 2019 to carry out efforts to stomp down on Jewish hate and other forms of hatred in the U.S.Since Hamas’ attack on Israel in early October, the number of antisemitic incidents in the country has skyrocketed to a record high, according to a report the Anti-Defamation League released earlier this month.The ADL found that reported incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism ha...

Dominican Republic authorities carry out raids in search of Rays star Wander Franco

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

Authorities in the Dominican Republic are searching for Wander Franco.As reported in Listín Diario, the nation’s oldest newspaper still in circulation, the Santo Domingo Prosecutor’s Office for Children and Adolescents conducted two raids in Franco’s hometown of Baní, in the Peravia province, on Tuesday in search of the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop, but didn’t find him. Police vehicles and officials were seen at Franco’s home as well as his mother’s. The authorities left contact information with Franco’s wife, neighbors told Listín Diario.On August 13, social media posts alleged that Franco, 22, had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl. Major League Baseball opened an investigation that night, and the Rays announced that they’d mutually agreed he’d go on the restricted list the following day. Authorities in Peravia opened their own investigation into the matter. The league placed him on administrative leave ...

Missing pregnant Texas teen and her boyfriend found dead in a car in San Antonio

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — A missing pregnant Texas teenager and her boyfriend were found dead in a parked car Tuesday in San Antonio and police said they may have been there for days.Savanah Nicole Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22, were reported missing by police in Leon Valley, a few miles northwest of San Antonio suburb.Two bodies were found in a Kia Optima matching the description of one belonging to the boyfriend and they may have been there for three or four days, Police Chief William P. McManus said at a news conference. He didn’t identify the bodies pending confirmation by the medical examiner but said they were believed to be those of the missing couple. McManus didn’t provide other details and said he didn’t know whether a weapon had been found in the car.“What we’re looking at right now is a very, very perplexing crime scene,” the chief said.“Detectives right now are looking at this as a possible murder but we don’t know for sure,” he said. “Because of th...

North Korea’s Kim boasts of achievements as he opens key year-end political meeting

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised what he called achievements and victories that strengthened national power and boosted the country’s prestige this year, as he opened a key political meeting to set new policy goals for 2024, state media reported Wednesday.Experts said that during this week’s year-end plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, North Korea would likely hype its progress in arms development because the country lacks economic achievements amid persistent international sanctions and pandemic-related economic hardships. In his opening-day speech at the meeting that began Tuesday, Kim defined 2023 “as a year of great turn and great change both in name and reality, in which (North Korea) left a great trace in the glorious course of development in the efforts to improve the national power and enhance the prestige of the country,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.KCNA said North Korea achieved a rapid advancement i...

National Weather Service warns of high surf for some of Hawaii’s shores

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:11:12 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — The National Service warned Tuesday about high surf — up to 30 feet (9 meters) — along some of Hawaii’s shores.The high surfing warning was in effect for north- and west-facing shores of the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Molokai and Niihau and north-facing shores of Maui.Waves of 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 meters) were expected, building to 25 to 30 feet (7.62 to 9 meters), Tuesday night through Wednesday along north shores. Ocean surges could affect coastal properties and roads, the weather service warning said. “Powerful longshore and rip currents will be present at most beaches,” the warning said. Derek Wroe, a meteorologist for the weather service in Honolulu, said large waves are not uncommon during Hawaii’s winter months. The Associated Press