Concert stampede in Italy leaves 6 dead, more than 50 hurt

Concert stampede in Italy leaves 6 dead, more than 50 hurt

CORINALDO, Italy

Teenagers panicked before a rap concert at a jammed Italian disco, setting off a stampede that killed five of them and a mother who had brought her daughter to the event, authorities and survivors said. Fifty-three people were reported injured, including 13 in very serious condition.

Several survivors said panic spread through the late-night crowd after someone unleashed an irritant spray. Investigators said they were checking those reports.

Video on state TV RaiNews24 showed scores of teenagers rushing out a door and surging toward a low wall near an exit at the Blue Lantern disco in the central Italian town of Corinaldo, near Ancona on the Adriatic coast. The barrier then gives way and a cascade of teenagers tumble over it, falling on top of each other.

The bodies of the trampled victims were all found near a low wall, Ancona Firefighters Cmdr. Dino Poggiali told Sky TG24 News. State radio said most of the dead had their skulls crushed in the melee.

The victims - three girls and two boys - ranged in age from 14 to 16 and the mother who was killed was 39, said Col. Cristian Carrozza, commander of the Ancona province Carabinieri paramilitary police.

FBI: Man charged in kidnapping, death of North Carolina teen

LUMBERTON, N.C.

Police have arrested and charged a man with killing a 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped last month from a North Carolina mobile home park.

The FBI said early Saturday that Michael Ray McLellan has been charged in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Hania Noelia Aguilar. The announcement comes the same day that a memorial service for Aguilar is set to take place at a local high school.

The 34-year-old McLellan faces first-degree murder, rape and eight other felony charges. He’d been released from prison in June and was still on parole from a 2017 felony breaking and entering conviction, according to the News & Observer of Raleigh.

He is being held without bond in the Robeson County Detention Center. He will appear in court at the Robeson County Courthouse on Monday.

Battle of wills: Tiny order of French nuns takes on Vatican

VATICAN CITY

The Vatican has an unusual dilemma on its hands after nearly all the nuns in a tiny French religious order threatened to renounce their vows rather than accept the Holy See’s decision to remove their superior.

The sisters argue that the Vatican commissioners sent to replace their superior general, who is also the niece of the order’s founder, have no understanding of their way of life or spirituality. The church’s conclusion – contained in a summary of its investigation provided this week to The Associated Press - is that the Little Sisters of Marie, Mother of the Redeemer are living “under the tight grip” of an “authoritarian” superior and feel a “serious conflict of loyalty” toward her.

The standoff marks an extraordinary battle of wills between the Vatican hierarchy and the group of 39 nuns, most in their 60s and 70s, who run homes for the aged in rural western and southern France. Their threat to leave comes at a time when the Catholic Church can hardly spare them, with the number of sisters plummeting in Europe and the Americas.

The unlikely revolt had been brewing for years but erupted in 2017, when the Vatican suspended the Little Sisters’ government and ordered the superior, Mother Marie de Saint Michel, removed. The Vatican says it took action after local church investigations in 2010 and 2016 found an excessive authoritarianism in her rule and serious problems of governance.

Details of her alleged abuses of authority haven’t been revealed. But within two years of her election as superior in 2000, six sisters had left, church officials say.

Man arrested in Texas after telling kids Santa isn’t real

DALLAS

Police say a 31-year-old protester who told children Santa Claus is not real has been arrested for trespassing at a North Texas church.

Aaron Urbanski was arrested Saturday after authorities were called to a church in Cleburne, which was hosting a breakfast with Santa event. Police say they found three people demonstrating outside the church after responding to a trespassing complaint.

Authorities say Urbanski refused to leave and continued to cause a disturbance. Urbanski, who was charged with criminal trespass, has been booked into the Johnson County Law Enforcement Center.

Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain weighed in on Facebook, saying “Don’t Mess With Santa!” The mayor continued: “Guess they wanted coal in their stockings to go with a court appearance.”

Dog that survived Calif. wildfire guarded home for weeks

SAN FRANCISCO

A dog that survived the catastrophic wildfire in Northern California apparently protected the ruins of his home for almost a month until his owner returned.

Madison was there waiting when Andrea Gaylord was allowed back to check on her burned property in Paradise this week.

Gaylord fled when the Nov. 8 fire broke out and decimated the town of 27,000. An animal rescuer who responded to Gaylord’s request to check on Madison first spotted the male Anatolian shepherd mix several days later.

Shayla Sullivan said the outdoor guard dog was apprehensive and kept his distance. Sullivan left food and water for him regularly until Gaylord got back Wednesday. She also helped locate Madison’s brother Miguel, another Anatolian shepherd mix that was taken to a shelter 85 miles away in the confusing aftermath of the wildfire.

The dogs reunited Friday when Gaylord came back to the property with Miguel and brought Madison his favorite treat: a box of Wheat Thin crackers.

Gaylord told news station ABC10 she couldn’t ask for a better animal.

“Their instinctual job is to watch the flocks, and we’re part of them,” Gaylord said about her dogs. “It’s a comforting feeling.”

Southern states brace for wintry storm

RICHMOND, Va.

Millions of people in Southern states braced for a harsh wintry storm that could bring immobilizing snowfalls, icy roads or deadly floods.

Governors and local officials from Texas to Virginia have declared emergencies ahead of the storm’s arrival to free up funds and manpower to help mitigate the storm’s effect.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Saturday that residents in the some parts of the state should be ready for lengthy fight with Mother Nature.

Officials have warned residents to prepare emergency kits and staff off roads in impacted areas.

“Virginians should take all necessary precautions to ensure they are prepared for winter weather storm impacts,” said Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

The National Weather Service said a “prolonged period of snow is expected” starting Saturday and lasting until Monday, with the heaviest snow expected in northwest North Carolina and southern Virginia.

Heavy rains are expected in other parts of the South, creating possible floods in coastal areas.

Aircraft technician with Tuskegee Airmen dies at 100 in NYC

NEW YORK

A New York City man who served as an aircraft technician with the famed all-black Tuskegee Airmen died Saturday at age 100.

Police say a home health aide found Wilfred DeFour unconscious and unresponsive inside his Harlem apartment at about 9 a.m.

DeFour was pronounced dead by Emergency Medical Service workers. Police said he appears to have died from natural causes but the medical examiner’s office will perform an autopsy.

DeFour was honored just last month at a ceremony to rename a Manhattan post office after the Tuskegee Airmen.

Associated Press