From the Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A wayward kangaroo was corralled safely by sheriff’s deputies Thursday after it was spotted hopping around the pool area of a Florida apartment complex.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released video and still photos of the kangaroo, including some footage shot from a helicopter. The agency also released audio of a female resident of the complex calling in to report it.

“I actually see a kangaroo. It’s kind of a large kangaroo,” the unidentified woman says. “We got him closed in the pool gate area.”

Deputies were able to figure out the animal’s owner and reunite them after checking for its proper registration, the agency said in a Facebook post. No injuries to the kangaroo or any people were reported.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A senior member of the Swedish security police said Thursday that Iran has planned attacks on the country, days after local media reported that two Iranians were deported for a plot to kill three Swedish Jews several years ago.

Earlier this week, Swedish broadcast SR reported that two Iranians had been suspected of planning to kill members of the Swedish Jewish community. They were arrested in 2021 and were expelled from Sweden in 2022 without charges, according to Swedish radio.

Daniel Stenling, counterespionage head at Sweden’s domestic security agency, told SR on Thursday that Iran “has been preparing and conducted activities aimed at carrying out a so-called physical attack against someone or something in Sweden.”

He added, “we have worked on a number of such cases where we have, as we gauge it, thwarted such preparations.” He declined to give specifics.

The two deported Iranians sought asylum in the Scandinavian country in 2015, claiming to be Afghans, and eventually got shelter in Sweden, according to SR. The report identified them as Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid, and said they have links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

A Swedish prosecutor earlier confirmed to The Associated Press that the two, a man and woman, were suspected of planning to carry out an attack “deemed to be terror” and that they have been expelled from Sweden. Prosecutor Hans Ihrman did not say when.

Ihrman told the AP that the prosecution “failed to get the necessary evidence that had been a prerequisite to be able to bring charges.” He also declined to give further details.

SR said the Iranians arrived in Sweden in 2015 as hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers sought to Europe. Sweden, with a population of 10 million, took in a record 163,000 migrants in 2015 — the highest per capita of any European country.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Wednesday the report was “very serious.”

“We have had too many people in Sweden entering on the wrong grounds and who were not stopped at the border,” Kristersson said. “It is extremely important that dangerous people are stopped if they try to enter.”

The security agency earlier has said that Iran was active in Sweden and has been described as one of the countries that pose the greatest intelligence threat to Sweden.

“But I can’t go into detail about what it’s about, because then I’d reveal what we’re doing,” Stenling told SR.

By Patrick Whittle for the Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A special commission organized to investigate the response to the Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting last year is set to hear testimony from more police.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills and state Attorney General Aaron Frey assembled the commission to review the events that led up to the shootings that killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston on Oct. 25. The commission has heard from officers with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office and will hear from members of the Lewiston and Lisbon police departments on Thursday.

While previous hearings have focused on encounters police had with shooter and former Army reservist Robert Card previous to the killings, Thursday’s testimony could center more on the immediate aftermath of the shootings. The Lewiston and Lisbon departments were both involved in the emergency response and subsequent manhunt that followed the shootings.

Card was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot after the two-day search, police said. Lawyers for victims have pointed to potential missed opportunities to prevent the shootings in the preceding weeks, as they had received warnings about Card’s deteriorating mental health and potential for violence.

The session with Lewiston and Lisbon police was a late addition to the panel’s schedule, officials with the independent commission said. A session with Maine State Police scheduled for next week is still on the calendar, said Kevin Kelley, a spokesperson for the commission.

“The previously scheduled meeting with officials from the Maine State Police is still scheduled for next week, Thursday, February 15,” Kelley said. “This meeting was added to the schedule.”

The commission is expected to investigate potential missed opportunities to prevent the shootings and produce a written report in the coming months. Sagadahoc Sheriff’s Office members previously told the commission that they had difficulty using the state’s yellow flag law that allows guns to be confiscated from someone in a mental health crisis.

In another session, tearful family members of people who died in the shootings called on the commission to make sure others don’t experience a similar fate. Kathleen Walker, whose husband, Jason, was killed while rushing the gunman to try to stop him, told the commission: “The system failed.”

There were numerous signs Card was unstable. He underwent a mental health evaluation last year after he began acting erratically during Army Reserve training. He had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks and had made threats that he would “shoot up” an Army drill center in Maine. There were also reports that he was hearing voices.

The governor, a Democrat, has announced a series of proposals aimed at preventing future gun tragedies. They include boosting background checks for private sales of weapons and improving mental crisis care. The Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee has also signed off on a proposal to make sure survivors of violent crime get access to support services.

“I’m eager to see this funded and passed into law, so that these vital services to support victims and survivors of violence can continue,” said Democratic Sen. Anne Carney, who proposed the bill.

The independent commission also hopes to hear from Army officials at a future hearing.

BY JULIE WATSON AND LOLITA C. BALDOR for the Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Five U.S. Marines aboard a helicopter that went down during stormy weather in the mountains outside of San Diego are confirmed dead, the military said Thursday.

Authorities say the CH-53E Super Stallion vanished late Tuesday night while returning to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego after training at Creech Air Force Base, northwest of Las Vegas.

“It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that I share the loss of five outstanding Marines from 3d Marine Aircraft Wing and the “Flying Tigers,” Maj. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte, commander of 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, said in a statement.

The names of the Marines were not immediately released.

“To the families of our fallen Marines, we send our deepest condolences and commit to ensuring your support and care during this incredibly difficult time,” Borgshulte said. “Though we understand the inherent risks of military service, any loss of life is always difficult.”

Efforts to recover the remains of the five have begun and an investigation into the crash is underway, according to the statement.

Capt. Stephanie Leguizamon, spokesperson for the wing, said she had little information beyond the statement.

“I do know that it’s cold … I know that’s been a contentious issue” for searchers in reaching the crash site.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he and first lady Jill Biden are “heartbroken” to learn of the Marines’ deaths.

“Our service members represent the very best of our nation — and these five Marines were no exception,” Biden said. “As the Department of Defense continues to assess what occurred, we extend our deepest condolences to their families, their squadron, and the U.S. Marine Corps as we grieve the loss of five of our nation’s finest warriors.”

The last known contact with the helicopter was at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Mike Cornette of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection told CBS 8 news. That location was based on a “ping” reported to a Cal Fire dispatch center.

The craft was discovered Wednesday morning near the mountain community of Pine Valley, an hour’s drive from San Diego.

Civilian authorities searching on ground and by air located the aircraft, which went down during stormy weather in the Southern California mountains, about 45-miles (72-kilometers) from San Diego.

The helicopter, which was designed to fly in harsh conditions, went missing as an historic storm dumped heavy snow and record rain over California. More rain and snow hit the region Wednesday night, forcing searchers to battle through heavy snow to reach the helicopter.

The five Marines were assigned to Miramar’s Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, the military said in a statement.

While it can carry dozens of people, the normal crew component for the Super Stallion is four: a pilot, copilot, crew chief, and mechanic/gunner, according to a U.S. Navy website.

The military worked with federal, state and local agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the state Civil Air Patrol.

But weather and rugged terrain made the task difficult. Pine Valley is at about 3,700 feet (1,127 meters) in elevation in the Cuyamaca Mountains, an area which saw as much 8 inches (20 centimeters) of accumulating snow within hours Tuesday night and early Wednesday and saw more falling Wednesday night, according to forecasters.

The area includes San Diego County’s second highest mountain, Cuyamaca Peak, at 6,512 feet (1,985 meters), and is also near the Cleveland National Forest, which covers 720 square miles (1,860 square kilometers) with much of it steep, rocky and with limited trails.

The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest helicopter in the military and the Marines have used it for heavy-lifting duties around the world for more than three decades. More than 130 are in operation.

Equipped with GPS, infrared radar and other equipment, the aircraft has performed “a full range of military combat operations in Beirut, Somalia, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya,” according to a U.S. Navy website.

About 99 feet (30 meters) long, the Super Stallion can move troops and equipment from ships to shore, ferry supplies and launch amphibious assaults.

Nicknamed the “hurricane maker” because of the downwash from its three engines, the Super Stallion has a 50-mile (80.5-kilometer) range. It was designed to carry up to 55 troops or about 16 tons (more than 13,000 kilograms) of cargo both inside and slung outside the cabin.

With an external load, the helicopter can weigh up to nearly 35 tons (31,638 kilograms).

Two CH-53E helicopters were used in the civil war-torn capital of Mogadishu, Somalia, in January 1990 to rescue American and foreign allies from the U.S. embassy.

The helicopter has been involved in several deadly accidents. In 2018, four Marines from Miramar died when their Super Stallion crashed near El Centro, near the California-Mexico border, during a training mission. The Marine Corps ruled out pilot error for the accident. The victims’ families later sued two companies they alleged provided a defective part that they blamed for the crash.

In 2005, a Super Stallion went down in a sandstorm in Iraq, killing 31 people on board. The accident, blamed on pilot error, was the single deadliest loss of U.S. troops during the war.

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Baldor reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Edmond, Okla. and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

From the Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Not all heroes wear capes. Some don’t wear anything at all.

With only towels around their waists, patrons aboard a floating sauna in a Norwegian fjord rescued two people whose car had plunged into the water.

The car appeared to have driven off the quay on Thursday at the Akershusstranda, an area where ships dock at the foot of the Norwegian capital Oslo’s picturesque medieval fortress and castle.

A witness told the Norwegian VG newspaper that he saw the car stopped, before it suddenly accelerated and ended up in the water. The paper reported that the driver had thought the vehicle was in park when he hit the accelerator pedal.

As the car went down, the two occupants escaped and were on the roof of the vehicle as the sauna raft headed toward them.

Nicholay Nordahl, the skipper, told VG that “I gave full throttle toward the people who came climbing out of the car” and reached them just as the car went under.

“With good help from two of the guests, we got them up. They warmed up in the sauna,” he said.

The wooden sauna rafts that operate on the fjord in Oslo are electrically powered, allowing people to take part in the much-loved Scandinavian pastime in peace while enjoying the natural beauty of the area — and perhaps taking a dip in the icy waters.

The car was later recovered from the water.

From the Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police cleared a suspected Chinese spy pigeon after eight months’ detention and released it into the wild Tuesday, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

The pigeon’s ordeal began in May when it was captured near a port in Mumbai with two rings tied to its legs, carrying words that looked like Chinese. Police suspected it was involved in espionage and took it in, later sending it to Mumbai’s Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals.

Eventually, it turned out the pigeon was an open-water racing bird from Taiwan that had escaped and made its way to India. With police permission, the bird was transferred to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, whose doctors set it free on Tuesday.

Mumbai police could not be reached for comment.

It is not the first time a bird has come under police suspicion in India.

In 2020, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after a probe found that the bird, which had flown across the heavily militarized border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy.

In 2016, another pigeon was taken into custody after it was found with a note that threatened Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

From the Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A Texas firefighter was critically injured and three others suffered lesser injuries when the firetruck they were in rolled over early Tuesday while responding to a fire.

In addition to the firefighter who was hospitalized in critical condition, one firefighter was in stable condition and two others were treated and released, the Fort Worth Fire Department said in a statement.

A department spokesperson did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

“Our foremost priority is supporting the wellbeing of our firefighters and their families in this difficult moment,” Fort Worth Fire Chief Jim Davis said in the statement.

The statement said the firefighters were en route to a house fire when the firetruck rolled over and crashed just after 2:30 a.m.

The department said no other vehicles appeared to be involved in the crash and police are investigating the cause of the crash.

A police spokesperson also did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

“Our firefighters are always there for our community, and right now, we need the community’s prayers for their recovery and healing,” Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement.

From the Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Two people were killed and four others injured after gunfire broke out during a confrontation at a late-night party in a residential area of Denver, police said Sunday.

Evidence from the scene pointed to multiple shots being fired from multiple firearms, Denver police said.

A 26-year-old man and a boy were killed. The boy did not appear to have been involved in the conflict, which began after a group of uninvited guests showed up at the party and the confrontation escalated into gunfire, Denver police spokesperson Sean Towle said.

Four male victims remained hospitalized, one of them in critical condition, Towle said. Three were adults and the age of the fourth had not been determined.

“We don’t believe it’s random at this time,” Towle said. “No arrests at this point, and we’re working to develop suspect information.”

The shooting was reported Sunday at 1:23 a.m. in northeast Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood. Four of the victims were taken to hospitals by ambulance and the other two went to a hospital on their own, Towle said.

The identities of the man and boy who were killed will be released at a later time by the Denver medical examiner.

Investigators continued to work at the shooting scene Sunday night, Towle said.

Some witnesses likelySome witnesses likely left the scene prior to the arrival of police officers, said Towle, who asked for anyone with information about the shooting to contact authorities.

BY PATRICIA LUNA AND MANUEL RUEDA from the Associated Press

Firefighters wrestled Sunday with massive forest fires that broke out in central Chile two days earlier, as officials extended curfews in cities most heavily affected by the blazes and said at least 112 people had been killed.

The fires burned with the highest intensity around the city of Viña del Mar, where a famous botanical garden founded in 1931 was destroyed by the flames Sunday. At least 1,600 people were left without homes.

Several neighborhoods on the eastern edge of Viña del Mar were devoured by flames and smoke, trapping some people in their homes. Officials said 200 people were reported missing in Viña del Mar and the surrounding area. The city of 300,000 people is a popular beach resort and also hosts a well-known music festival during the southern hemisphere’s summer.

On Sunday morning, Chilean President Gabriel Boric visited the town of Quilpé, which was also heavily affected by the fires and reported that 64 people had been killed. Late Sunday, Chile’s Forensic Medicine Service updated the confirmed death toll to 112 people.

Boric said the death toll could rise as rescue workers search through homes that have collapsed. Some of those arriving in hospitals were also in critical condition.

Rodrigo Mundaca, the governor of the Valparaiso region, where Viña del Mar and other affected cities are located, said Sunday he believed some of the fires could have been intentionally caused, echoing a theory that had also been mentioned Saturday by Boric.

“These fires began in four points that lit up simultaneously,” Mundaca said. “As authorities we will have to work rigorously to find who is responsible.”

The fires around Viña del Mar began in mountainous forested areas that are hard to reach. But they have moved into densely populated neighborhoods on the city’s periphery despite efforts by Chilean authorities to slow down the flames.

On Saturday, Boric said that unusually high temperatures, low humidity and high wind speeds were making it difficult to control the wildfires in central Chile, which have already burnt through 8,000 hectares (30 square miles) of forest and urban areas.

Boric flew over some of the areas burned by the fires Sunday and visited a school that has been turned into a shelter for the displaced. He said that a presidential vacation home on the shores of Viña del Mar that is surrounded by large gardens would be temporarily converted into a leisure center for the children of families affected by the fires.

The president declared two days of national mourning.

“All of Chile is suffering” Boric said. “But we will stand up once again.”

Officials asked people in areas affected by the fires to evacuate their homes as quickly as possible, while those farther from the fires were told to stay at home in order to facilitate the transit of fire engines and ambulances.

Curfews were declared in Viña del Mar and the neighboring cities of Quilpé and Villa Alemana as part of an effort to prevent looting.

The fires broke out during a week of record high temperatures in central Chile. Over the past two months, the El Niño weather pattern has caused droughts and high temperatures in western South America that have also increased the risk of forest fires.

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Rueda reported from Bogotá, Colombia

BY CHRISTOPHER WEBER, JOHN ANTCZAK AND JULIE WATSON from the Associated Press

A storm of historic proportions unleashed record levels of rain over parts of Los Angeles on Monday, sending mud and boulders down hillsides dotted with multimillion-dollar homes, posing grave dangers for the city’s large homeless population and knocking out power for more than a million people in California.

The storm was the second one fueled by an atmospheric river to hit the state over the span of days. About 1.4 million people in the Los Angeles area, including the Hollywood Hills and Beverly Hills, were under a flash flood warning Monday morning. Up to 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain had already fallen in the area, with more expected, according to the National Weather Service, which called the flash flooding and threat of mudslides “a particularly dangerous situation.”

Already crews were rescuing people from swift-moving water in various parts of Southern California.

Gushing rivers carried mud, rocks and objects from people’s multimillion-dollar homes, including coolers, ladders and plastic crates, in Studio City, an area named after a movie studio lot, on the backside of the Hollywood Hills. Several homes were damaged, including one with a crumpled garage door from the debris slide.

A text late Sunday alerted Keki Mingus that a neighbor’s house at the top of a hill was in trouble.

“Mud, rocks and water came rushing down through their house and another neighbor’s house and into our street,” Mingus said as water continued to rush down the road around dawn on Monday. “I can’t believe it. It looks like a river that’s been here for years. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

A record 4.1 inches (10.41 centimeters) of rain fell Sunday in downtown Los Angeles, blowing past the previous record of 2.55 inches (6.48 centimeters) set in 1927, the National Weather Service said.

That didn’t stop the Grammy Awards on Sunday night from continuing as planned at downtown’s Crypto.com Arena.

The weather service forecast up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rainfall across Southern California’s coastal and valley areas, with 14 inches (35 centimeters) possible in the foothills and mountains over the next two days.

More than 474,061 homes, businesses or other locations were without electricity statewide on Monday morning, according to poweroutage.us. Commuters stepped through several inches of floodwater as they rushed to catch trains at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

The havoc on Monday in Southern California came after the storm over the weekend inundated streets and brought down trees and electrical lines throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, where winds topped 60 mph (96 kph) in some areas. Gusts exceeding 80 mph (128 kph) were recorded in the mountains.

Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of the windows of a car that was stranded by flooding and rescued people from a homeless encampment alongside a rising river.

In Yuba City, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, police said they were investigating the death of a man found under a big redwood tree in his backyard Sunday evening. A neighbor heard the tree fall, and it was possible the man was using a ladder to try and clear the redwood when he was killed, police said on Facebook.

The weather service issued a rare “hurricane force wind warning” for the Central Coast, with wind gusts of up to 92 mph (148 kph) possible from the Monterey Peninsula to the northern section of San Luis Obispo County.

The storm then moved into Southern California, where officials warned of potentially devastating flooding and ordered evacuations for canyons that burned in recent wildfires and that are at high risk for mud and debris flows.

Nineteen people were rescued Sunday in Long Beach after the 40-foot sailboat they were traveling in lost its mast, said Brian Fisk, a firefighter and paramedic for the Long Beach Fire Department.

Another vessel heard the distress call on the marine radio and helped rescue eight people while 11 were able to get onto the rocky breakwater by Alamitos Bay where they were rescued by lifeguards, he said. One person was treated for injuries.

“They went out sailing in gale-force winds and stormy weather,” Fisk said. “They’re very, very lucky.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services activated its operations center and positioned personnel and equipment in areas most at risk.

Evacuation orders were issued in many parts, stretching from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles Counties where emergency shelters were in place.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest, said its schools would be open Monday, with the exception of Topanga Elementary Charter School and Vinedale College Preparatory Academy.

But classes were canceled Monday for schools throughout Santa Barbara County, where numerous streets were flooded Sunday. The area in 2018 was devastated by deadly mudslides.

Palisades Tahoe, a ski resort about 200 miles (320 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, said Sunday it was anticipating the heaviest snowfall yet this season, with accumulations of 6 inches (15 centimeters) per hour for a total of up to two feet (60 centimeters). Heavy snow was expected into Monday throughout the Sierra Nevada and motorists were urged to avoid mountain roads.

Much of the state had been drying out from the initial atmospheric river-powered storm that blew in last week. Atmospheric rivers are relatively narrow plumes of moisture that form over an ocean and can produce torrential amounts of rain as they move over land.

Both atmospheric rivers were called a “Pineapple Express” because the plume of moisture stretches back across the Pacific to near Hawaii.

“We’ve had flooding. We’ve had gusty winds,” said Todd Hall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service near Los Angeles. “We’ve had the whole gamut here.”

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Watson reported from San Diego and Amy Taxin in Orange County contributed to this report.