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How one Bay Area woman helped police track down a serial sexual assailant

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

On a sunny Saturday afternoon last spring, Jeannie Witkin was walking to a friend’s house in northwest Berkeley when a stranger sexually attacked her — in broad daylight. Stunned, in pain and angry after the seconds-long assault, she immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs, kicked her assailant in the shin and snapped a photo as he fled.Police credited that evidence and quick thinking for helping them arrest and charge Tommy Giles Jr., a 45-year-old notary public and former security guard who lived one block from Longfellow Middle School in Berkeley, within three days of the attack.Looking back, what’s most important to Witkin is that she refused to stay silent. Rather than worry the attack wasn’t “bad enough” or worth reporting, the 61-year-old Berkeley resident said she listened to her gut, spoke out and posted his photo to NextDoor, a neighborhood social media website. She later learned that Giles had sexually battered and assaulted two other women and two gir...

Man robbed and stabbed in Oakland’s Jack London Square

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

OAKLAND — A 60-year-old man walking to his car from work in Jack London Square was robbed and stabbed Tuesday night, authorities said.The man, an Antioch resident, was in stable condition at a hospital with a wound to his back.The man, a restaurant worker, was walking to his car in the 60 block of Franklin Street about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday when he was confronted by three men, all armed with knives, authorities said. The men demanded his backpack and other personal items, authorities said.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Possible kidnapping being investigated by Oakland police Crime and Public Safety | How one Bay Area woman helped police track down a serial sexual assailant Crime and Public Safety | East Bay deputy injured, patrol vehicles damaged after traffic stop, pursuit Crime and Public Safety | East Bay police department disqualify applicant who resigned from BART force Crime and Public Safety | ...

Harry and Meghan say they survived ‘near catastrophic car chase’ with paparazzi in New York

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle are reportedly “extremely upset and shaken” after being involved in what their spokesperson said was a “near catastrophic car chase” involving paparazzi in New York City on Tuesday night.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were traveling with Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, found themselves enduring what their spokesperson called “a relentless pursuit” that lasted more than two hours and caused multiple near collisions with other drivers, pedestrians and two NYPD officers.NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 16: Woman of Vision Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex speaks onstage during the Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards: Celebrating Generations of Progress & Power at Ziegfeld Ballroom on May 16, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images Ms. Foundation for Women) In possible echoes of the fatal car crash that killed Harry’s mother Princess Diana in Paris in 1997, Tuesday night’s p...

US beats Austria 4-1 for 4th straight win at ice hockey worlds

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

TAMPERE, Finland (AP) — The United States maintained a perfect record at the ice hockey world championship by beating Austria 4-1 on Wednesday for a fourth straight victory in the group stage.Lane Hutson and Nick Perbix contributed a goal and an assist each while Rocco Grimaldi and Carter Mazur also scored for the Americans, who moved four points clear atop Group A. Denmark is second with a game in hand, while Austria stayed on one point in seventh.Nick Bonino skated around the goal to feed the unmarked Grimaldi, who opened the scoring with a shot high into the net 7:16 minutes into the middle period at Nokia Arena.Captain Thomas Raffl equalized for the Austrians 10 minutes later but Mazur restored the U.S.’ lead after just 57 seconds, netting from the slot.Hutson doubled the advantage on a solo effort in the final period and Perbix finished it off into an empty net.In the capital of Riga, co-host Latvia edged Norway 2-1 for its second victory in Group B.Canada played Kazakhstan in ...

Hungary blocks military aid to Ukraine over listing of Hungarian bank

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary will continue to block the disbursement of a new tranche of European Union military support to Ukraine until Kyiv removes a Hungarian bank from a list of international sponsors of Russia’s war, Hungary’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Peter Szijjarto, speaking in Vienna after a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, called Ukraine’s recent listing of OTP Bank “scandalous and unacceptable,” and said that Hungary wouldn’t approve the release of 500 million euros ($543 million) from the EU’s European Peace Facility until the bank is removed from the list. “We cannot support the allocation of another half a billion euros from the European Peace Facility for arms transfers to Ukraine, and we will not give it the green light as long as OTP is on this particular list,” Szijjarto said. Earlier this month, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention classified OTP Bank as an international sponsor of the war over it...

Tao Geoghegan Hart crashes out of Giro d’Italia; Pascal Ackermann wins 11th stage

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

TORTONA, Italy (AP) — Tao Geoghegan Hart crashed on a rain-soaked road and left the Giro d’Italia on a stretcher during the 11th stage Wednesday, depriving the race of another overall contender three days after Remco Evenepoel tested positive for the coronavirus after reclaiming the pink jersey.Geoghegan Hart, who won the race in 2020, stood third overall entering the stage, five seconds behind overall leader and Ineos Grenadiers teammate Geraint Thomas.The entire Ineos team, plus Primoz Roglic, were involved in a crash with 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) to go. The team did not immediately provide a medical report on Geoghegan Hart.While Thomas and Roglic quickly got up and got going again, Geoghegan Hart was loaded into an ambulance.German rider Pascal Ackermann won the stage in a sprint finish ahead of Jonathan Milan and Mark Cavendish.Thomas remained two seconds ahead of Roglic, while Joao Almeida moved up to third overall, 22 seconds behind.The stage followed a lengthy 219-kilomete...

To play his father in a movie, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco enlisted Robert De Niro

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco wanted to make a movie for and about his father. Salvo Maniscalco had immigrated from Sicily to America in 1960 when he was 15. At 18, he became a hairdresser and raised and supported a family in Chicago. As a man from a different generation and culture, he could be aggressive and embarrassing at times — especially in situations involving different cultures and tax brackets as with Maniscalco’s in-laws — and the set-up seemed ripe for a big screen comedy.Like anyone dream casting a comedy about an Italian American man of a certain age, one name topped the list: Robert De Niro. Not that Maniscalco thought they stood a chance landing the two-time Oscar winner, but it couldn’t hurt to try.Maniscalco had worked on a film with De Niro before, on Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” but it was brief and didn’t exactly establish anything like a friendship where he could, say, call him up. Then one day he got word that De Niro had the script, through producer Paul...

Paul Schrader can’t shake his Christian faith, even with his latest movie, ‘Master Gardener’

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Throughout his life, Paul Schrader has had a complicated relationship with Christianity.He grew up in a strict Calvinist home, went to a Christian college, left the faith and then eventually returned, albeit to a different denomination. And although he is widely branded with his religious roots, the screenwriter and director who rose to fame after writing “Taxi Driver” hardly fits the mold of a cliche believer.His stories often exploit the logical but worst possible outcomes of his characters’ spiraling depravity or despair. But Schrader’s faith always informs even his most profane films.“You can’t really outrun your original programming,” the 76-year-old said during a recent interview with The Associated Press.His latest movie, “Master Gardener,” which hits theaters Friday, is the final installment of the director’s “Man in a Room Trilogy,” something he freely concedes was more about marketing than an intentional connection between the three films.“Master G...

Novak Djokovic loses to Holger Rune, again, this time at Italian Open

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

ROME (AP) — Twenty-year-old Danish player Holger Rune recorded his second victory over Novak Djokovic in little more than six months, beating the 22-time Grand Slam champion 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the Italian Open semifinals.Rune, who also defeated Djokovic in the Paris Masters final in November, gave the Serb fits with his rapid court coverage. He made his opponent hit extra balls on points that Djokovic thought he had already finished off.“This is probably the coldest and wettest tournament I’ve ever played here in Rome,” Djokovic said. “In these kind of conditions, it’s very difficult to get the ball past him. He’s very, very fast, very quick. Great anticipation. Just a very talented, dynamic player, all-around player.“He was just better. He played too good for me for most part of the match,” Djokovic said. “He kept his nerves and deserved to win.”The 35-year-old Djokovic didn’t appear at his best physically early on and called for a trainer after holding for a 2-...

Abogado clave de Trump, Tim Parlatore, abandona su equipo legal

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:00 GMT

Washington (CNN) — Timothy Parlatore, un abogado de Donald Trump que jugó un papel clave en la investigación de los documentos de Mar-a-Lago y que en una ocasión testificó ante el jurado investigador, abandona el equipo legal del expresidente, según informan a CNN dos fuentes familiarizadas con su salida.La salida de Parlatore se hizo oficial este martes, aunque se había rumoreado durante varias semanas entre el círculo cercano del expresidente. La salida de alto perfil se produce en un momento en que el fiscal especial Jack Smith parece estar en la recta final de las investigaciones sobre el posible mal manejo de documentos clasificados y los esfuerzos para obstruir las elecciones de 2020.CNN explica: la saga de las investigaciones que enfrenta el expresidente Donald Trump“Ha sido un honor increíble servir y trabajar en asuntos legales interesantes. Mi salida fue una elección personal y no se refleja en el caso, ya que creo firmemente que el equipo (del Departamento de ...