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James Spader bids farewell to an intriguing criminal mastermind as ‘The Blacklist’ finale approaches

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Raymond “Red” Reddington is finally hanging up his famous black fedora and — fitting for a manipulative genius — he’s doing it on his own terms.“The Blacklist” ends its 10-year NBC run Thursday with a two-hour send-off, and star James Spader says the cast and crew relished the chance to take their time saying goodbye.“I was very, very glad we were able to end it exactly the way we wanted to end it. It was deliberate and we weren’t taken by surprise in terms of when the ending was going to come,” he tells The Associated Press. “You’ll see that the ending has conviction and we commit to it.”The end of “The Blacklist” is a swan song for Reddington, one of the most intriguing and delicious characters on television. A master of brokering shadowy deals for criminals, he offered his help to the FBI tracking down the world’s most dangerous criminals.Spader reveals that the show — filmed mostly in New York City with an embrace of international characters — went overseas...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 16-22

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 16-22:July 16: Singer William Bell is 84. Actor-singer Ruben Blades (“Fear the Walking Dead”) is 75. Drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police is 71. Actor Faye Grant (“Affairs of State”) is 66. Dancer Michael Flatley (“Lord of the Dance”) is 65. Actor Phoebe Cates is 60. Actor Paul Hipp is 60. Actor Daryl “Chill” Mitchell (“Ed”) is 58. Actor Jonathan Adams (“Last Man Standing”) is 56. Actor Will Ferrell is 56. Actor Rain Pryor (“Head of the Class”) is 54. Actor Corey Feldman is 52. Singer-guitarist Ed Kowalczyk (Live) is 52. Singer Ryan McCombs (Drowning Pool) is 49. Actor Jayma Mays (“The Millers,” ″Glee”) is 44. Actor AnnaLynne McCord (“Nip/Tuck”) is 36. Actor-singer James Maslow (“Big Time Rush”) is 33. Actor Mark Indelicato (“Ugly Betty”) is 29. Singer-guitarist Luke Hemmings of 5 Seconds Of Summer is 27.July 17: Actor Donald Sutherland is 88. Bassist Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath is 74. Actor Lucie Arnaz is 72. Actor David Hasselhoff is 7...

British police assessing information from BBC over claim a presenter paid a teen for explicit photos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British detectives met representatives of the BBC on Monday over allegations that a leading presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos.The U.K.’s publicly funded national broadcaster has suspended the male star, who has not been named, over allegations he gave a youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the young person was 17.Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it’s a crime to make or possess indecent images of anyone under 18.London’s Metropolitan Police force said detectives were “assessing the information discussed at the meeting and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed.”“There is no investigation at this time,” the force said.The Sun newspaper, which first reported the allegations, said the young person’s mother had complained to the BBC in May but that the presenter had remained on the air.The BBC said in a statement on Sunday that it “first...

Stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard closed starting Wednesday for Honda Indy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

If your commute involves taking Lake Shore Boulevard West, a large stretch of the roadway will be off-limits to drivers starting Wednesday for the Honda Indy.Lake Shore from Strachan Avenue to British Columbia Road will be closed from 9 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, until 1 a.m. on Monday, July 17.The southbound lanes of Strachan Avenue from Fleet Street to Lake Shore Boulevard West will also be closed from 9 p.m. on Wednesday until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 16.Ahead of the full closure on Lake Shore West, several curb-lane restrictions will be in effect along the boulevard from Monday, July 10, until Wednesday.The Honda Indy festivities kick off on Friday with the main race happening on Sunday.

Oil refinery fire injures 8 firefighters in southern Iran

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Fire erupted at an oil refinery in southern Iran and injured eight firefighters Monday, the official IRNA news agency reported. The news agency did not say what caused the fire but reported the firefighters were hurt while trying to put out the blaze burning in two of the five tanks at an oil depot near Iran’s port of Banda Abbas. Authorities said there was concern the fire might spread to more tanks. The port, located at the mouth of strategic Strait of Hormuz, is a major import and export hub. Similar fires were reported there in the past and at other oil facilities in Iran. Authorities blamed them on decades of international sanctions as well as hot summer weather.Temperatures in Bandar Abbas reached nearly 37 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.The Associated Press

Report: Main suspect in 1982 Tylenol murders found dead

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

The sole suspect in the 1982 Tylenol murders was found dead Sunday, according to the Chicago Tribune.Tribune investigative reporters Christy Gutowski and Stacy St. Clair, who conducted a long investigation into the mystery, reported that sources told them prime suspect James Lewis died at his suburban Boston home at the age of 76.In Sept. 1982, fear gripped the Chicago area and the country after seven suburban residents died after taking Tylenol that was laced with lethal doses of potassium cyanide. Copycat killings followed later in the U.S.Lewis was a tax consultant who sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson and said he would stop the killings if the company paid him a million dollars. He was convicted of extortion and spent 12 years in prison. But investigators never found hard evidence to tie him to the poisonings.  “(The FBI) went through some of his stuff and found the handbook of poisons,” St. Clair told WGN News last September. “And in the years since, they have finger ...

One dead as extreme rain, flooding slams Northeast

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Heavy rain washed out roads and forced evacuations in the Northeast on Monday as more downpours were forecast throughout the day. One person in New York drowned as she was trying to leave her home.The slow-moving storm reached New England in the morning after hitting parts of New York and Connecticut. Heavy downpours with possible flash flooding were forecast in parts of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. 1 dead from flooding in Orange County, house floated away: County Executive One of the worst hit places was New York's Hudson Valley, where rescuers found the body of a woman in her 30s whose home was surrounded by water. The force of the flash flooding dislodged boulders, which rammed the woman’s house and damaged part of its wall, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus told The Associated Press. Two other people escaped.“She was trying to get through (the flooding) with her dog,” Neuhaus said, “and she was overwhelmed by tida...

17 people taken to hospital during Ed Sheeran concert in Pittsburgh

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (WTAJ) -- It was a busy night Saturday during the Ed Sheeran concert in Pittsburgh as 17 people were taken to a local hospital, including a worker and an EMT. The Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS said they received 37 calls for service during the concert at Acrisure Stadium, with 17 people taken to the hospital for various reasons, including heat-related issues and two cases of cardiac arrest. EMS reported that one person who suffered cardiac arrest was working on "tearing down the setup inside the stadium." The worker got help as a result of "the quick actions by numerous crews," according to a Pittsburgh Public Safety press release Sunday. Madonna postpones upcoming tour due to serious illness, manager says In addition, a paramedic went into cardiac arrest while leaving the facility. They were reportedly resuscitated after several shocks and taken to the hospital as well. Others reportedly suffered heat-related issues and "some falls," with one person having a seizure, s...

Threads hits 100 million sign-ups within first week 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

(The Hill) -- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Monday that the company’s new social media platform Threads hit 100 million sign-ups over the weekend, within less than a week of the app’s launch. “Threads reached 100 million sign ups over the weekend. That’s mostly organic demand and we haven’t even turned on many promotions yet. Can’t believe it’s only been 5 days!” Zuckerberg said in a post on the new platform.Threads saw some 30 million downloads in the first few hours it was live, and it had reached 70 million by Friday, according to the Meta CEO. Meta, which is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has positioned Threads as an alternative to Twitter, the app bought out last year by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Musk’s takeover of Twitter has been fraught with controversy as he moved to make sweeping changes to the company’s organization and to certain app features, including tweaks to the user verification process that made Twitter’s recognizable blue check...

Campsites found in Pennsylvania manhunt for escaped 'survivalist' prisoner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:27 GMT

(NewsNation) — A manhunt is underway in Pennsylvania for Michael Burham, an escaped prisoner who police describe as a "survivalist" with military training, prepared to withstand the elements and conceal himself.Police have located some small campsites they believe are associated with Burham, Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said at a press conference. The jail from which Burham escaped is in northern Pennsylvania, about 18 miles from Jamestown, New York, and just outside the Allegheny National Forest.Officials have scoured the homes and wooded areas inside the search radius of the manhunt. Army reservist accused of defrauding Gold Star families out of millions "Burnham is a self-taught survivalist with military experience and could be potentially holed up in a wooded area near the city," Bivens said. "We are considering him armed and dangerous, and we are cautioning residents if they see him or believe that he may be anywhere near them that they should not a...