Local search for North Carolina

14+ min ago (661+ words) Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies Friday in an intensive apartment-by-apartment search of a high-rise complex where a massive fire engulfed seven buildings. The death toll in one of the city's deadliest blazes rose to 128, and many remain unaccounted for. First responders found that some fire alarms in the complex, which housed many older people, did not sound when tested, said Andy Yeung, director of Hong Kong Fire Services, though he did not say how many were not working or if others were. Meanwhile, the anti-corruption agency has said it is investigating possible corruption relating to a renovation project at the complex. The blaze jumped rapidly from one building to the next as bamboo scaffolding covered in netting and foam panels, apparently installed by a construction company, caught fire. On Friday, crews prioritized apartments from which they had received…...

28+ min ago (753+ words) WASHINGTON " Charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia announced Friday. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24 were hospitalized in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting. Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom had died. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War, now include one count of first-degree murder, three counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. President Donald Trump called the shooting a "terrorist attack" and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to'enter the U.S. Administration…...

45+ min ago (236+ words) Three figure skaters from Russia and Belarus, including an Olympic gold medal prospect, were approved Thursday by the IOC to compete as neutrals at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February. They include 18-year-old Adeliia Petrosian, who showed medal potential in the women's singles event when winning an Olympic qualifying event in Beijing in September. Petr Gumennik, the Russian singles champion, won the men's event in Beijing two months ago and Viktoriia Safonova of Belarus was fourth behind Petrosian. They also got approved neutral status, the International Olympic Committee said. The Beijing qualifying event was the first time Russians were allowed by the International Skating Union to compete at one of its figure skating events since the full military invasion of Ukraine started in 2022 " just four days after the end of the Beijing Olympics The IOC is doing its own…...

56+ min ago (92+ words) Roderick Dean Duckworth has gone missing, last seen driving a black Chevrolet Trail Blazer. Search for missing man in Matthews MATTHEWS, N.C. " A 51-year-old man is missing from Matthews. Roderick Dean Duckworth, born Nov. 16, 1974, was last seen driving a black Chevrolet Trail Blazer. He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, a black jacket and blue jeans. Duckworth is a white male with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. He is about 5'6, 140 pounds. Anyone with information to Duckworth's whereabouts should call 704-847-5555....

1+ hour, 12+ min ago (533+ words) Anti-corruption units have raided the home and reportedly also the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, in an unwelcome distraction for Kyiv officials as they battle to defeat Russia's invasion and persuade U.S. officials to accommodate their concerns in peace proposals. Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said their searches targeted Yermak. Yermak, a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in talks with the United States, confirmed they searched his apartment inside the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv, where checkpoints limit public access. Media reports said Yermak's office was also searched, but investigators declined to comment on that. It was not clear where Zelenskyy was at the time of the morning raid. "The investigators are facing no obstacles," Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He added that he was cooperating fully…...

1+ hour, 15+ min ago (220+ words) How local malls in the Triad are gearing up for Black Friday, and what to expect if you plan to shop Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem is preparing for a busy Black Friday, with extended hours and festive decorations to welcome an expected influx of shoppers. Stacey Keating, vice president of communications for CBL Properties, which owns Hanes Mall, said they anticipate a significant increase in visitors this holiday season. "Last year on Black Friday or for Q4 alone, at Hanes, we saw about 2.5 million visitors to the property throughout the last three months of the year. And that was an increase over the prior year in 2023. And we have seen traffic increase throughout the year. And so I think that we will continue to see that trend this holiday season and throughout the Black Friday weekend at Hanes," Keating said. Keating…...

1+ hour, 28+ min ago (346+ words) Forgiveness, redemption, and leadership: Those three principles define Team USA wheelchair curler Steve Emt. Here's how Emt describes growing up in Hebron, Connecticut: "All American childhood, most popular kid in my high school, great student." Standing 6-foot-5, Emt was a great prep athlete who earned an appointment to the United States Military Academy and then transferred to play basketball for the powerful University of Connecticut Huskies. But life changed in 1995. "I was a drunk driver; fortunately, I'm lucky to be sitting here with you, great people, today. I was left for dead on the side of the road, and when I woke up from a coma two weeks later, I was told I'd never walk again, at 25 years old," said Emt. He passed out behind the wheel, flipping his pickup truck, and was ejected. After the crash, Steve spent months…...

1+ hour, 35+ min ago (277+ words) A man arrested by French police earlier this week is thought to be the fourth member of the team that stole France's crown jewels in a brazen heist from the Louvre Museum, the Paris prosecutor said Friday, meaning that the entire gang is now believed to be in custody. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, whose office is heading the investigation, said the 39-year-old man has a criminal record, with six previous convictions. The prosecutor's statement didn't say what role, exactly, the man is thought to have played in the daylight heist, carried out with angle grinders, a freight lift and subterfuge, with robbers dressed as workers in bright vests. The robbery is believed to have been the work of a four-person team " with two people breaking into the museum's Apollo Gallery where the jewels were displayed and then being whisked away on…...

1+ hour, 43+ min ago (636+ words) WASHINGTON " The case of an American woman missing on a Caribbean island has taken a strange turn, as authorities in Sint Maarten now say a woman matching her description has been seen on the French side of the island." Ann Evans, 55, is a U.S. citizen who was cruising on the Rotterdam, a Holland America ship. When the ship made a stop at Port St. Maarten in Philipsburg on Nov. 20, she got off for a tour, according to the Police Force of Sint Maarten." "At approximately 10:00 a.m., she departed the ship on an organized island tour," the agency said in a missing person alert issued Wednesday. "During the tour, Ms. Evans disembarked the bus in Marigot, French Saint Martin, during the tour but did not return to the bus or to the cruise vessel."" In a statement to USA Today, Holland America said…...

1+ hour, 46+ min ago (328+ words) Friday marks 37 years since an overnight tornado killed four people and injured 157 others as it tore through Raleigh. People who lived in Raleigh in November 1988 remember the tornado. The F-4 tornado spun through Wake, Franklin, Nash, Halifax, Northampton and Hertford counties. The Kmart was flattened. Asbury United Methodist Church was destroyed. Not many people expected a tornado or even severe weather in the waning days of November " when we're still sleepy from Thanksgiving and our minds are turned to the upcoming holiday season. Some Raleigh residents remember crouching in their bathtubs while the walls shook around them. "I lived behind that Kmart! I still have a fear of tornadoes after that night," said Jennifer J. Another Raleigh resident, Lynda K., said, "I will never forget that night! My house at the intersection of Mine Shaft and Sawmill was completely destroyed with my family…...