The return of McDonald’s Halloween buckets, ‘Superfly’ actor sentenced to 50 years for rape, and more trending news
Here’s a look at some trending topics for today, Oct. 18.
McDonald’s Halloween buckets
What’s spookier than a bit of Halloween-themed nostalgia?
McDonald’s has announced the return of its retro Halloween Pails, a long-standing tradition first released by the fast-food chain in 1986. The cute buckets will return to stores on October 18, according to a news release published by McDonald’s on Thursday. There are three variants: white McBoo, orange McPunk’n and green McGoblin.
They’ll be in stock until October 31 while supplies last, McDonald’s said. You’ll have to purchase a Happy Meal if you want one.
The adorable, retro-style buckets are good for more than just storing candy during trick-or-treating, according to the McDonald’s.
Find out more about them here:
‘Superfly’
A Los Angeles-based rapper who acted in the 2018 movie “SuperFly” was sentenced Monday to 50 years to life in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting seven victims — including three minors.
Kaalan Walker, 27, was also ordered to register as a lifetime sex offender for the series of crimes dating back to 2013, according to City News Service.
The performer was convicted of three counts of forcible rape, two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, two counts of rape of an intoxication victim and one count of assault with intent to commit oral copulation by a Van Nuys jury on April 18.
NIAID-RML/TNS/TNS
An image from an electron microscope shows SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. (NIAID-RML/Zuma Press/TNS)
Boston University COVID strain
Boston University COVID researchers have combined the omicron variant spike protein with the original virus, testing the created strain on mice “to help fight against future pandemics,” according to BU.
The scientists in BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories found that all mice infected with only the BA.1 omicron variant had mild cases and survived, while the combined omicron spike protein with original COVID-19 virus strain inflicted severe disease with an 80% mortality rate.
When mice were infected with just the original, ancestral virus strain, 100% of the mice died.
Get more info about it here:
