Author: Fox News

Suspected separatist gunmen have killed at least eight police officers over the past three days in southeast Nigeria, authorities said Monday, raising concerns ahead of weekend presidential elections.

Four officers were killed in an attack at a station in Anambra state Monday, while authorities searched for suspects accused of killing four others over the weekend local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. The assailants opened fire on officers while detonating explosives, he said, adding that three of the attackers were killed and two more arrested.

Police blamed the attacks on a separatist group known as the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, which wants the southeast region to gain independence from the West African country.

NIGERIA SEEKS $1.3 BILLION IN AID TO DEAL WITH EXTREMIST VIOLENCE

Nigeria’s officials said that suspected separatist gunmen killed eight police officers days before presidential voting.  (Fox News)

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Authorities have accused the IPOB of instigating violence which has led to many deaths in the conflict-riddled region and stoked fears about the ability of Nigeria’s security forces to protect voters at the polls.

The election commission might not be able to deploy to some polling stations because of security concerns, said Festus Okoye, an official with Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission.

“The security agencies have promised that they have the capacity to secure our communities to make it possible for people to vote,” he said. “(But) for people in zones that are still in conflict, there is absolutely nothing we can do.”

The city of Baton Rouge will pay a $1.17 million settlement to 14 people who accused local law enforcement of using excessive force and violating their First Amendment rights at a protest over Alton Sterling’s death in 2016.

The city’s Metro Council approved the settlement in a 7-4 decision Wednesday, five-and-a-half years after the protest in which the plaintiffs say they were wrongly arrested.

“This settlement should send a message to all law enforcement agencies,” William Most, attorney for the plaintiffs, told WAFB-TV Thursday. “If you won’t hold your officers accountable, we will.”

LOUISIANA POLICE ARREST 19-YEAR-OLDS IN ‘TARGETED’ BATON ROUGE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING THAT LEFT 12 WOUNDED

The state of Louisiana will pay a $1.17M settlement that was approved in the 2016 Alton Sterling protest lawsuit. 

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The 2017 lawsuit states the 14 plaintiffs — two of whom were identified as journalists — attended the July 10, 2016, protest in downtown Baton Rouge when they were arrested for allegedly obstructing a highway or public passageway.

Widespread protests occurred following the fatal shooting of Sterling, a 37-year-old Black man, who was shot six times by a white Baton Rouge police officer outside a convenience store. The deadly interaction was caught on cellphone video. The officer was never charged.

In 2021 the Metro Council approved of a $4.5 million settlement to Sterling’s children.

Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar was in tears as he was stretchered off the field against Lille in France’s Ligue 1 match on Sunday. 

Neymar was tackled by Lille’s Benjamin Andre and landed awkwardly in the 51st minute of the match.

Neymar was in immediate pain as it looked to be the same ankle that he hurt during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar while playing for Brazil. He had to miss 11 days in the tournament after suffering it in the opening match. 

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Neymar of PSG is injured after being tackled by Benjamin Andre of Lille during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Lille OSC (LOSC) at Parc des Princes stadium on February 19, 2023, in Paris. (Jean Catuffe / Getty Images)

Trainers ran out to Neymar, who was writhing in pain on the pitch. After some evaluation, Neymar even tried to get up to continue playing.

However, the stretcher came out and he went off. Neymar was visibly in tears as he realized his day was over. 

CHRISTIAN ATSU, GHANA SOCCER STAR, FOUND DEAD UNDER RUBBLE FROM TURKEY EARTHQUAKE

Paris Saint-Germain announced that Neymar had a sprained ankle and no fracture after an MRI was completed.

Neymar’s injury comes as he has been brought up in rumors regarding Paris Saint-Germain moving on from him. The team has a three-headed monster in Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, but Mbappe recently made comments about the team that appeared to suggest he might want to move on.

Neymar Junior of Paris Saint-Germain lies injured during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Lille OSC at Parc des Princes on February 19, 2023, in Paris. (Antonio Borga / Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

However, Mbappe had positive words for Neymar when talking to reporters. 

CONGOLESE SOCCER REFEREE PHYSICALLY ATTACKED BY TEAM AFTER NOT REWARDING PENALTY

“I was never attacking or pointing the finger at Neymar when I mentioned we need to eat and sleep well,” Mbappe told Fabrizio Romano. “I hope Neymar’s injury is not serious. I hope he returns soon – we need him with us.”

Neymar scored in the 17th minute of the game to put Paris Saint-Germain up 2-0. However, it took Mbappe’s 87th-minute goal and Messi’s free kick in stoppage time to push past Lille in the end.

Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain reacts after an injury during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Lille OSC at Parc des Princes on February 19, 2023, in Paris. (Xavier Laine / Getty Images)

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Paris Saint-Germain sits 18-3-3 on the season after 24 matches.

A “small swarm of meteors” was captured on a camera at the National Weather service’s office in Goodland, Kansas. 

Video shows several streaking lights low on the horizon in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

A small swarm of meteors burned up as they traveled through Earth’s atmosphere near Goodland, Kansas, early Sunday morning.  (National Weather Service Goodland)

The National Weather Service captured the video with an eastern-facing camera in Goodland, a small town in northwestern Kansas. 

GEMINID METEOR SHOWER FAST FACTS

Roughly 48.5 tons of meteoritic material strikes Earth every day, almost all of it vaporizing as it travels through the atmosphere and creating “shooting stars,” according to NASA. 

The meteorites that do make it to Earth’s surface go unnoticed for the most part, but occasionally they strike in an inhabited area close to humans. 

Several meteors were captured by a camera at the National Weather Service’s Goodland office.  (National Weather Service Goodland)

Earlier this week, a nearly 1000-pound meteorite measuring two feet wide crashed near McAllen, Texas. 

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Home surveillance video in the area captured a sonic boom from the meteorite’s impact, which scattered birds and rattled windows nearby. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX – A Pennsylvania English teacher said he included close-up photographs of penises, vulvas, as well as a video of a woman ejaculating in an optional sexuality class, according to an interview. The school told Fox News Digital they were standing by him. 

Al Vernacchio is an English teacher at Friends’ Central School, a private school in Wynnewood. He also is involved in the sexuality curriculum, which expounds from children nursery through 12th grade, according to his website. He has also mentioned this fact on at least one other occasion. After publication of this article, the school reached out and stated there was no “sexual education curriculum prior to fourth grade.”

In his work as Sexuality Education Coordinator, Vernacchio teaches classes, organizes sexuality-themed programs and assemblies, and is one of the faculty advisors for the Gender and Sexual Orientation Alliance.  

In an unearthed 2011 interview he gave to The New York Times Magazine, Vernacchio described his graphic lesson plans which he said have raised concerns outside the school. The teacher said his goal is to desensitize children to images of genitalia. 

PRE-K TEACHER ATTACKS IDEA OF ‘CHILDHOOD INNOCENCE,’ CLAIMS TODDLERS NOT TOO YOUNG FOR ‘SEXUALITY’ DISCUSSION

Al Vernacchio is an English teacher at Friends’ Central School (Fox News Digital | YouTube/Screenshot | iStock)

The Times reported, “The lessons that tend to raise eyebrows outside the school, according to Vernacchio, are a medical research video he shows of a woman ejaculating — students are allowed to excuse themselves if they prefer not to watch — and a couple of dozen up-close photographs of vulvas and penises. The photos, Vernacchio said, are intended to show his charges the broad range of what’s out there.”

“It’s really a process of desensitizing them to what real genitals look like, so they’ll be less freaked out by their own and, one day, their partner’s,” the teacher added. 

Eleventh and 12th grade students were exposed to those lessons. Students had the option to opt out from viewing the nude images and parents sign off on enrollments. 

The school said they stood firmly by their educator. 

“Al Vernacchio is a nationally renowned and highly respected educator. It is disappointing that his work and our School are being miscast so thoroughly. Friends’ Central is committed to cultivating the intellectual, ethical and spiritual promise of our students, in a world that needs that more than ever,” they said in a statement. 

Al Vernacchio is an English teacher at Friends’ Central School (YouTube/screenshot )

“What’s interesting, he added, is that both the boys and girls receive the photographs of the penises rather placidly but often insist that the vulvas don’t look ‘normal,'” the profile of Vernacchio continued. 

“[The students] have no point of reference for what a normal, healthy vulva looks like, even their own,” Vernacchio said. 

Additionally, Vernacchio has commented on children in the context of “sexual being[s].”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD DIRECTOR CLAIMS KIDS ARE ‘SEXUAL BEINGS’ FROM BIRTH WHILE PROMOTING ‘USEFUL’ PORN LITERACY

Al Vernacchio presents at TEDxYouth@SanDiego on human sexuality in 2016.  (YouTube/Screenshot)

“I’m responsible for the sexuality education of all of our students from our youngest students who are three years old in nursery school, up through our 12th graders who are turning 18 and getting ready to leave high school. That’s a huge range, but every single one of those kids is a sexual being. They have been since birth,” he said. “And at every age and stage, we can offer them age appropriate, transformative sexuality education.”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD SEX EDUCATOR TEACHES HOW MINORS CAN ACQUIRE ‘SPICY TOYS’ OR SUBSTITUTE WITH VEGETABLES

Vernacchio did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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“I’m only a small part of the village that supports them as they grow. It’s not enough that I teach them. We have to teach them. Part of my message today is that we all, no matter what else we do in life, need to find a way to be sexuality educators for the kids in our lives. If we don’t step up, others will. And many of those others don’t see wholeness and freedom the way we do,” he said. “One of the things we can celebrate today is how young people have so many more options to consider and simply whether they feel like a boy or a girl, or whether they identify as gay, straight or bisexual. Our understandings of both gender and orientation have greatly expanded in our culture, and there’s an ever-increasing list of labels one can use to describe oneself.”

He added, “What it’s also brought about is greater latitude in experimenting with different identities. It’s not uncommon today for young people to try out different labels and different pronouns and different relationships in search of their truth.”

Fox News host Trey Gowdy highlighted alarming statistics about teenage girls and their struggles with mental health, including persistent sadness, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts on “Sunday Night in America“. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2011 to 2021 the number of teenage girls feeling sad or hopeless had increased from 36% to 57%, and 21% to 29% for teenage boys.

Gowdy claimed this is the “double-edged nature of technology,” which allows social media to be used for good or harm. 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held the “Protecting Our Children Online” hearing on kids’ online safety. Both U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., pledged to “act swiftly” to address “Big Tech’s ongoing harms to kids.”

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY PROPOSES LEGAL AGE TO ALLOW KIDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Emma Lembke, the founder of Log Off, a movement to encourage “healthy” use of social media, joined “Sunday Night in America” to discuss the harmful effects of social media on young people’s mental and physical health.

In describing her personal experience with social media, Lembke said, “At the age of 12, I downloaded my first social media account, Instagram, and as I began to spend more time on these apps, my mental and physical health suffered from the constant quantification of my worth through likes and comments and followers, my anxiety was heightened, my depression was deepened.”

Lembke said the “constant exposure to unrealistic body standards” led her towards “disordered eating and in a direction that was not great” for her mental and physical health.

Gowdy presented the facts that a 12-year-old cannot sign a contract, vote, buy tobacco or alcohol, nor see certain movies, so he asked Lembke why she thinks social media companies may think it’s “okay for a 12-year-old child to have access to all of their platforms when there are so many other things they cannot do?”

‘OUTNUMBERED’ GOES OFF ON SCHOOL DISTRICT AFTER BULLIED TEEN’S SUICIDE: ‘THESE PEOPLE DID NOTHING’

“Well, the answer is easy. For these big tech platforms, the more eyeballs they have on the screen, the more profit they make,” Lembke said. “So what these companies are doing is, no matter the age, no matter how old the user is, they are going to try to maximize that attention, to maximize profit. When in reality, what it’s causing is this fueling of the youth mental health crisis that we face today. And frankly I think that, what we’re facing is the big tobacco of my generation, it’s social media. Unregulated social media has become this weapon of mass destruction for my generation.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2011 to 2021 the number of teenage girls feeling sad or hopeless has increased.

When pressed for solutions Lembke claimed she would “lean away from age verification” and focus on one fundamental question: “How is it that we make online spaces safer when kids decide to enter?”

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Lembke continued, “I think two things have to come into play. One, these companies need to be regulated to have safeguards, like the highest level of privacy by default built in to these platforms. And two, we need to see a greater algorithmic transparency, so we can begin to, as a society, build solutions that are effective based off of how young people are harmed. And what we need is that data and that is not something we have right now.”

A nearly 1,000-pound meteor measuring two feet wide crashed into South Texas on Wednesday, according to reports.

Fox station KDFW in Dallas reported that NASA confirmed the meteor broke apart as it fell through the atmosphere to its resting place near McAllen, Texas, at about 6 p.m.

A meteor from the Geminids meteor shower enters the Earth’s atmosphere past the stars Castor and Pollux (two bright stars at right) on Dec. 12, 2009, above Southold, New York. (Stan Honda / AFP via Getty Images)

“Although meteorites tend to hit Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds, they slow as they travel through the atmosphere, breaking into small fragments before hitting the ground. Meteorites cool rapidly and generally are not a risk to the public,” NASA said in a statement.

METEORIOID EXPECTED TO SAFELY STRIKE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE SUNDAY EVENING OVER FRANCE

The space agency posted a report of the incident along with a map showing an area where pieces of the meteor likely landed.

KDFW posted a video captured from a home security camera with birds scattering and the sound of a sonic boom.

According to the National Weather Service in Brownsville/Rio Grande Valley, multiple people reported a possible meteor in the sky west of McAllen. The weather agency also reported that the flash from the meteor was captured by a Geostationary Lightning Mapper right before 5:30 p.m.

WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE REVEALS STELLAR CLUSTERS FROM DISTANT GALAXIES

The lightning mapper satellite measures lightning from space, and in a Facebook post on Wednesday, the NWS said there was no thunderstorm activity in the area when the meteor crashed.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra posted to Twitter that he was informed by air traffic controllers in Houston that two aircraft reported that they also saw a meteor in the sky near McAllen.

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“The meteor seen in the skies above McAllen is a reminder of the need for NASA and other organizations to increase our understanding and protection of Earth, to combine scientific and engineering expertise to advance human space exploration, to integrate terrestrial and planetary research for furthering our understanding of the solar system, and to promote successful space missions by mitigating risk,” NASA said.

A shooting Sunday night along a Mardi Gras parade route in New Orleans left one person dead and four others wounded, according to police.

The incident on the Bacchus parade route occurred at around 9:30 p.m. local time at the intersection of St. Charles Ave. and Terpsichore St., a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department told FOX News Digital.

A shooting Sunday night at a parade route in New Orleans, Louisiana, left one person dead and four others wounded. (WVUE)

Three of the five victims were men, along with a woman and a young girl.

LOUISIANA POLICE ARREST 19-YEAR-OLDS IN ‘TARGETED’ BATON ROUGE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING THAT LEFT 12 WOUNDED

The victims were all transported to a hospital for medical treatment. The girl and all but one of the other victims are in stable condition. The remaining victim, one of the men, has been pronounced dead.

Map of New Orleans Mardi Gras fatal shooting.

A suspect was taken into custody in connection with the shooting shortly after shots were fired, police said. 

Two weapons were also confiscated.

SUSPECT IN LSU STUDENT MADISON BROOKS’ ALLEGED RAPE ARRESTED AGAIN, ACCUSED OF THIRD SEX CRIME

A suspect was taken into custody in connection with the shooting. (WVUE)

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Police were in the vicinity of the scene when shots were fired. 

The New Orleans Police Department, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Department, Louisiana State Police and the Department of Corrections assisted in the response to the shooting, which is under investigation. 

Police are working to gather information about the suspect along with a possible motive, and to determine if additional people were involved.

Hundreds of uninvited teenagers broke into a Texas family’s home for a “mansion rager” party that they promoted on social media without the homeowners’ knowledge.

“We started receiving numerous phone calls from our neighbors that there were kids on our water tower on our property, there were cars up and down the street, and kids were hopping over the front of our fence,” the Austin homeowner told Fox 7, saying the shindig caused thousands of dollars in damages.

The unidentified homeowner said he rushed home last Saturday night and found “car after car after car just trying to flee the scene.” The party was reportedly promoted on the social media app SnapChat, where it was described as a “mansion rager.”

The homeowner said this wasn’t a case of local students knowing a classmate’s parents weren’t home for the weekend – the family only has a toddler who isn’t in the local school system yet.

FLORIDA HOMEOWNER SPEAKS OUT AFTER TEENS BREAK IN TO $8 MILLION MANSION, THROW MASSIVE RAGER

Advertisement for “mansion rager” at a home in Texas. (FOX 7 )

“It was horrifying. I mean, it was just [an] unbelievable total violation of one’s privacy,” the homeowner said.

Police outside home where a “mansion rager” was held without the homeowner’s permission. (FOX 7)

When the Austin homeowner pulled up to his house, he found the front gate was broken, all the lights were on, the front door was wide open, and other areas in the home were damaged by the drunken teenagers.

FLORIDA TEENS BREAK IN TO $8M HOME FOR WILD PARTY, POST ABOUT IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

“They had beer cans, the seltzer cans, like White Claw. I saw they had thrown like avocados at the wall, there was damage to sheetrock and baseboards. They had thrown tools through the sheetrock of our garage. They had my daughter’s toys scattered around the property,” the homeowner told Fox 7.

Destruction at a home in Austin, Texas, where a wild party was held without the homeowners’ permission. (FOX 7)

The homeowner said some of the partiers left articles of clothing behind, showing they attended schools from all over the area.

THREE TEENAGERS SHOT AT ‘MARKETED’ RENTAL HOUSE PARTY IN TEXAS, SHERIFF SAYS

“We have some articles of other kids that were out on the property, and it was from all the major high schools in the Greater Austin area. It was West Lake High, Vandegrift, Lake Travis and Bowie, those are for certain,” the homeowner told Fox 7. 

Destroyed TV at home where wild party was held without the permission of homeowners. (FOX 7)

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident and calling members of the public with information on the case to come forward. The sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital on Sunday that the investigation is ongoing and there are no updates at this time.

DEADLY SHOOTING AT FLORIDA HALLOWEEN PARTY CLAIMS TEEN GIRL’S LIFE

Destruction at an Austin home where teenagers reportedly held a “mansion rager.” (FOX 7)

“There seems to be little consequences for these actions, and I feel like it’ll keep getting worse if we don’t get to the bottom of things like this,” the homeowner added.

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A similar incident unfolded in Florida last year after teenagers broke into an $8 million home in Santa Rosa for a wild party. In addition to breaking in, the suspects were accused of stealing a $1,500 bottle of wine, a $3,500 Yves Saint Laurent purse and a football signed by Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.

Police searching for Nicola Bulley have found a body in a river, reports say.

Lancashire police said they “sadly recovered a body” after being called to the River Wyre near Rawcliffe Road at 11:35 GMT on Sunday, according to the BBC.

Although formal identification has not yet been made, Bulley’s family “have been informed of developments and our thoughts are with them at this most difficult of times. We ask that their privacy is respected,” Lancashire police said in a tweeted statement.

Bulley, 45, vanished on Jan. 27 after dropping her children off at school. She was last seen walking her springer spaniel on a path by the river, but her cellphone was found on a nearby bench still connected to a work conference call and her dog was found between the bench and the river. 

NICOLA BULLEY MYSTERY: FRIEND OF MISSING WOMAN INSISTS ‘OTHER AVENUES’ FOR POLICE TO EXPLORE

“The body was found about a mile from where she was last seen in the small village of St Michael’s on Wyre,” BBC states.

A specialist dive team ended its involvement Feb. 8 after two exhaustive days and some speculated that Bulley did not, in fact, fall into the river. 

POLICE SEARCH FOR MISSING MOTHER OF TWO: CHILDREN ARE ‘DESPERATE’ TO HAVE HER HOME

Peter Faulding, who led the search in the River Wyre in Lancashire, England, said his team had done all it could before pulling out of the search. The team used sonar equipment to search roughly three miles of the river but found nothing. 

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Leanne Grace, a close friend of Bulley who now lives in Australia, begged police and the public to consider other angles as she insisted there was “no evidence” to back up the theory that Bulley fell into the river. 

Fox News’ Peter Aitken and Ian Leonard contributed to this report.