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Oklahoma firefighters rescue suspected burglar trapped in chimney for hours

The lesson is clear: leave the chimney work to the professionals. Like Santa.

And that note of caution is particularly true for those climbing in with bad intentions -- such as a would-be burglar who got caught at an Oklahoma business Monday after becoming trapped in a chimney for hours, officials said.

The Tulsa Fire Department told FOX23 the man had cut the electricity lines of an air conditioner and attempted to shimmy down the chimney of the business when he became stuck.

Eva Sigala, who works at the Durango Auto Center, said her boss raised the alarm when he heard noises emanating from the chimney early in the morning.

NEW YORK CITY BABY SITTER STABBED MOM OF TWO BECAUSE SHE ‘DON’T WORK FOR FREE,’ REPORTS SAY

"Well he came in this morning and he heard a whining and crying noise and at first he thought it was a pigeon, because we get pigeons stuck in there all the time and he listened closer and heard 'help', that's when he left, closed the door and called the cops," she told FOX23.

2 NYPD OFFICERS SUSPENDED DUE TO ALLEGED SLOW RESPONSE DURING HORRIFIC AX ATTACK, REPORT SAYS

Firefighters said surveillance video showed the man trying to Kris Kringle his way down the chimney around 12:30 a.m. Monday.

The man, who was not immediately identified, ended up stuck there until rescuers pulled him out around 9:45 a.m. Fire officials had at one point considered dismantling the entire chimney but eventually extracted the man via a pulley system.

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The man did not sustain any injuries during the incident.

Source: Fox News National

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AP Was There: Teen boys unleashed terror, chaos at Columbine

On April 20, 1999, two teenage boys dressed in black trench coats went on a killing rampage at Columbine High School in suburban Denver. They shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded two dozen others before taking their own lives.

Twenty years later, The Associated Press is republishing this story about the attack, the product of reporting from more than a dozen AP journalists who conducted interviews in the hours after it happened. The article first appeared on April 22, 1999.

___

A moment of surprise, then hours of terror

By TED ANTHONY

AP National Writer

LITTLETON, Colo. — Her favorite lunchtime meal was ready — "my only meal," jokes Sarah DeBoer. So, nachos in hand, she headed toward the commons area of the Columbine High School cafeteria.

It was a sunny Tuesday morning, maybe 60 degrees, only 17 school days before graduation, and a spring mentality was afoot — the kind that says summer is on the horizon.

Outside, two disaffected young men knew something their classmates didn't. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris had endgame in mind.

Ms. DeBoer, who knew the pair in passing, had talked to them Friday. True, they liked to bluster about guns and vengeance and Adolf Hitler. But they seemed — for them, at least — fine.

Upstairs in the school library, four dozen students were studying their way through the lunch period.

Down the hall, Dave Sanders, a popular instructor and coach, was teaching a science class. Nearby, Stephanie Williams, 16, a junior, was in the choir room singing.

Then, at about 11:15 a.m., a sound from outside: pop-pop-pop-BANG.

In the cafeteria, they thought it was a lunchtime prank. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.

Sarah DeBoer, a 16-year-old sophomore, hit the floor with her lunch companions. As realization washed over her, she uttered one thing. Whether it was aloud or just to herself, she doesn't quite remember.

"I think that I'm going to die."

___

In moments of chaos and hours of confusion, memories can cloud. But, through myriad interviews and briefings, an intelligible if still imprecise portrait emerges of what unfolded behind a suburban school's pale brown walls.

Just after lunch period begins, two young men in black trench coats open fire in the parking lot. Senior Wade Frank, 18, outside in the parking lot next to a picnic area, hears popping sounds and sees a girl lying against a curb, shot in the leg. As he watches, another youth is shot in the back and falls forward.

Then one gunman throws a bomb into the parking lot and heads inside.

"He was just casually walking. He wasn't in any hurry," says Frank.

Sophomore Denny Rowe, 15, is outside having lunch with friends. "These guys opened fire on everything that looked human," says Rowe. Bullets are bouncing everywhere.

"One boy was running and suddenly his ankle just puffed up in blood," says sophomore Don Arnold, 16. "A girl was running and her head popped open."

As the gunmen walk into the school, two students lie dead outside. Still shooting, the two walk to the cafeteria, where food server Karen Nielsen hears someone yell, "Get down!"

Klebold, 17, and Harris, 18, are heavily armed — an assault rifle, sawed-off shotguns, handguns. In the cafeteria, one removes his trench coat to reveal home-made grenades. He tosses a pipe bomb.

Gunshots echo. Students fall. One gets up to run and others follow.

Word spreads: The "Trenchcoat Mafia" has gone nuts. Many of the 900 students in the building duck into closets and bathrooms, under tables and chairs. A couple call 911 with cellular phones. Dozens flee the building and hide in brush around the school.

Senior Nick Foss, 18, and a friend push two teachers, a cook and another woman into a bathroom. "I heard people praying for their husbands and their children," says Foss. The attackers bang on doors, yelling: "We know you're in there."

Casey Brackley, 15, is in the gym when an administrator herds kids into the equipment room.

"I hit my knees and prayed," Ms. Brackley says. They stay for 15 minutes before the administrator directs them outside.

Neil Gardner, the Jefferson County sheriff's deputy assigned to the school full-time, hears shots and spots one of the gunmen in a first-floor hallway. He radios for backup and returns fire as bullets ricochet off lockers. Within minutes, seven officers arrive and begin pulling students, including a few shooting victims, from the building.

In the choir room, above the commons, Stephanie Williams and her classmates hear the sounds.

Someone comes to the door and, with a thumb-forefinger gesture, gives them a warning: gun.

Her teacher tells everyone to sit. But in moments, the school's two-level auditorium next door seems a safer place, so some go; then, after about 10 minutes, they run into the main hall.

"The group I was in headed straight for the door. He was shooting at us," Stephanie says. "All we knew was to run."

As they flee, a door behind them explodes in gunfire.

Sarah DeBoer, separated from her friend who had run into the weight room, lies on the cafeteria floor until she hears a car explode outside. Then she runs into the auditorium and lies down between seats.

There she stays for some time. Fellow students — 15, maybe 20 — cry softly. Teachers warn them to be silent. In the distance, they hear sharp reports and dull explosions. Finally, a janitor enters and tells them: Go!

They run, and gunfire follows.

"I turned, and I saw Dylan was the one who turned and shot at me," Sarah says. "He didn't know it was me; we were just running out of the auditorium."

The gunmen head upstairs toward the library.

___

"All jocks stand up! We're going to kill every one of you," one gunman yells in the library.

Student Aaron Cohn, a ballplayer, is spared because a girl leaps onto his back while he lies on the floor, covering the baseball slogan on his shirt.

"They were laughing after they shot," Cohn says. "It was like they were having the time of their life."

Some students are slain at their desks, one with pencil still in hand. The gunmen play "peek-a-boo" with others, finding them cowering under desks and opening fire. Isaiah Shoels, who is black and has tangled with the gunmen before, is one of those to fall.

Says one assailant: "Oh, my God. Look at this black kid's brain. Awesome, man!"

Some kids play dead. By the time it is over, 12 aren't playing.

Klebold and Harris leave behind shattered windows, bloody floors and a quiet unlike any the library has ever heard. Elsewhere upstairs, Sanders, the teacher, has been shot twice in the chest but manages to get students down a hallway away from danger. He stumbles into a science room, bleeding and coughing blood.

Outside, the first SWAT team is on the scene 20 minutes after the first 911 calls, joining the sheriff's deputies. It finds several explosive devices around the school and treads cautiously.

"We had initial people there right away, but we couldn't get in," Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone says. "We were way outgunned."

About 45 minutes after the shooting begins, at noon, ambulances take the first wounded students — the ones who managed to run outside — to hospitals. Bomb teams, firetrucks, more SWAT units and paramedics arrive.

Nick Foss and other students manage to crawl into a space between the ceiling and acoustic tiles. Foss falls through a tile, crashing onto the floor of the teacher's lounge. He runs.

Kammi Vest, 18, hides in the choir-room closet with up to 60 other students. Others try to crawl through heating vents to safety.

In the science room, Dave Sanders is dying. Students cover the 47-year-old teacher with their shirts and a blanket and keep him talking. But his pulse slows, and he grows cold.

Shots are heard until almost 12:30. About that time, in the library, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris turn their guns on themselves, though no one will be sure of this for hours.

As 12:30 passes, after no shots echo for several minutes, SWAT teams begin sweeping the building room by room. It is, quite literally, a minefield: Dropped backpacks are everywhere, each a potential bomb. In the coming days, bombs will turn up in various shapes and sizes. They include two 35-pound propane bombs hidden in the school's kitchen.

At about 2:30, SWAT teams begin freeing those in hiding. In small groups, hands behind their heads, they run from the school to a holding area. They are frisked, questioned, offered medical care and bused to Leawood Elementary School to be reunited with parents.

By now, the world is seeing it all on TV. Escaped students cling to each other. Tears flow freely for some; for others, it will take time. Even the tough guys, the ones with the backward baseball caps and the baggy camo pants, cry.

At 4:30, with the gunmen's bodies found, authorities declare the school under control. In goes Dr. Chris Colwell, summoned for a medical synopsis. In the sun-dappled, silent library is the worst sight he has ever seen.

"You walk in there with that hope that there might be somebody who's still alive and still salvageable," Colwell says. "It didn't take long to see that wasn't the case."

He pronounces them all dead — 10 students and two alienated schoolmates who let their anger consume them.

The bodies will stay there for an entire day, until the known bombs are cleared.

___

By the following afternoon, nearby Clement Park has become a place of mourning. Students and teachers and gawkers, they come to commiserate, to speak of faith and perseverance, to see the spectacle and talk to the press.

Among the pilgrims: Sarah DeBoer, wearing her Columbine football jersey, and Stephanie Williams, accompanied by a friend to comfort her. They stand together, yards from the scene of their lives' greatest terror, and they try to process the scenes running through their mind.

"Yesterday I was so scared," Ms. DeBoer says, her voice falling.

"They ruined the school, but I think we should definitely go back," she says. "If you don't go back, they'll win."

Source: Fox News National

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Ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod condemns 'weird turn' in Jussie Smollett case

In a thread on Twitter, ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod condemned “this weird turn in the (Jussie) Smollett case.”

He tweeted Tuesday afternoon: “Unless some better explanation surfaces, here’s the lesson of this weird turn in the Smollett case: You can contrive a hate crime, make it a national news, get caught and-if you are a well-connected celebrity-get off for $10K and have your record expunged and files sealed.”

JUSSIE SMOLLETT'S ALLEGED HATE CRIME ATTACK: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

In an astonishing reversal, prosecutors on Tuesday abruptly dropped all charges against Smollett, abandoning the case barely five weeks after the “Empire” actor was accused of lying to police about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago.

Smollett’s attorneys said his record had “been wiped clean” of the 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was assaulted by two men. The actor insisted that he had “been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one.”

Axelrod, who majored in political science at the University of Chicago and now is a political consultant and analyst, added on Twitter, “No. Sorry, folks. The brief statement offered by the prosecutor didn’t dispute the basic facts in the original charge. That’s why he was compelled to sacrifice his bond. They simply said that in light of his voluntary work in the community, this was a just resolution.”

The former political writer for the Chicago Tribune concluded: “Hate crimes are loathsome. Faking them is insidious and shouldn’t be excused. Despite Smollett’s denials, nothing the prosecutor said in dismissing the case supports that. If prosecutors have evidence that contradicts the indictment THEY brought, they should share it today.”

The mayor and police chief blasted the decision and stood by the investigation that concluded Smollett staged a hoax. A visibly angry Mayor Rahm Emanuel called it “a whitewash of justice” and lashed out at Smollett, asking, “Is there no decency in this man?”

Emanuel, who is in his final weeks in office after two terms, said the city saw its reputation “dragged through the mud” by Smollett’s alleged plan to promote his career. The hoax, the mayor said, could endanger other gay people who report hate crimes.

“Now this casts a shadow of whether they’re telling the truth, and he did this all in the name of self-promotion,” he said.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson stood by the department’s investigation and said Chicago is “is still owed an apology.”

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It was not immediately clear what prompted the decision to dismiss the case. In a statement, the Cook County prosecutors’ office offered no detailed explanation. The city will keep the $10,000 in bail money that Smollett paid to get out of jail after his arrest.

“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” said the statement from spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Typically, a minimum condition of dropping cases is some acceptance of responsibility.

Outside court, neither Smollett nor his legal team appeared to concede anything about his original report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Uganda holds 3.6 tons of gold possibly from Venezuela

A gold refinery primarily owned by a Belgian is facing Ugandan sanctions over the questionable importation of 7.4 tons of gold earlier in March.

Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga told The Associated Press that the company, African Gold Refinery, had already exported 3.8 tons of the gold that may have originated from South America.

Enanga said police are protecting the remaining 3.6 tons as they await advice from the attorney general on whether to seize the gold and criminally charge the company's directors.

He said the company, which is licensed to deal in raw gold, is yet to reveal the source of the disputed consignment.

The company didn't immediately respond to e-mailed questions.

Government-owned media, citing local police, reported that the gold came from Venezuela, which is under U.S. sanctions.

Source: Fox News World

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Supreme Court turns away families of dead USS Cole sailors in Sudan suit

FILE PHOTO: THE U.S NAVY WARSHIP, COLE, FLOATS IN THE IN THE PORT OF ADEN.
FILE PHOTO: The U.S Navy warship USS Cole floats in the in the port of Aden, Yemen, four days after it was attacked and damaged, October 15, 2000. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby/File Photo

April 1, 2019

By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court on Monday turned away a bid by family members of 17 U.S. sailors killed in the 2000 al Qaeda bombing of the Navy destroyer USS Cole to collect some $35 million in damages from Sudan for its alleged role in the attack, six days after also ruling against Americans injured in the attack.

The justices declined to hear the relatives’ appeal of a lower court decision in favor of Sudan. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit had not been properly initiated in 2010 because the claims were sent to Sudan’s embassy in Washington instead of directly to its foreign minister in Khartoum, the African country’s capital.

The high court last Tuesday ruled that the improper mailing violated the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a U.S. law governing when foreign governments may be sued in American courts, tossing out more than $314 million in damages from Sudan for a group of injured sailors and their spouses.

President Donald Trump’s administration sided with Sudan. It said the United States rejects judicial notices at its embassies abroad and that allowing notices to be sent to a foreign embassy in Washington could harm U.S. foreign relations and American treatment in foreign courts.

The Virginia lawsuit included 56 spouses, siblings, parents and children of the 17 Americans killed in the Cole attack. They accused Sudan of providing material support to the al Qaeda Islamist militant group, including funding and training, that helped facilitate the bombing. Sudan has denied the allegation.

On Oct. 12, 2000, two men in a small boat detonated explosives alongside the Navy guided missile destroyer as it was refueling in the southern Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 sailors, wounding more than three dozen others and blasting a gaping hole in its hull. The vessel was repaired and later returned to full active duty.

The bombing came 11 months before al Qaeda’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The relatives sued under the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally bars suits against foreign countries except those designated by the U.S. as a sponsor of terrorism, as Sudan has been since 1993.

Sudan did not defend against the claims in court. In 2014, a trial judge found that Sudan’s aid to al Qaeda “led to the murders” of the 17 Americans and awarded the families about $35 million, including $14 million in punitive damages.

Sudan then sought to void the judgments, arguing that the lawsuit was not properly served on its foreign minister, violating notification requirements under U.S. and international law.

The 4th Circuit sided with Sudan last year, but said the families could have another chance to properly serve Sudan’s government with the lawsuit. They did so last October, with the help of U.S. diplomatic channels.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: OANN

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Killer French farm chickens gang-up to kill fox that sneaked into henhouse

A fox in a henhouse got way more than it bargained for when a group of killer chickens turned the tables on their traditional foe and pecked it to death.

‘ZOMBIE DEER’ DISEASE KEEPS SPREADING ACROSS COUNTRY, HUNTERS FEAR IT COULD IMPACT INDUSTRY

The henhouse was located at an agricultural school in France and the fox likely entered the coop at dusk last week and got trapped inside as hatch doors close when the sun goes down, AFP reported.

The body of the fox was discovered the following morning by students at Le Gros Chêne school in Brittany when making a routine check on the creatures.

NEW JERSEY POLICE SHOOT, KILL BULL ATTACKING OWNER AFTER IT POUNCED ON PATROL VEHICLE: REPORT

“There, in the corner, we found this dead fox,” Pascal Daniel, the head of farming at the school, told AFP. “There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks.”

The organic farm said the chicken coop is open all day and the hens typically spend most of the day outdoors, except when they are laying eggs.

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Source: Fox News World

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Foreign interference in 2019 Canada election very likely: Ottawa

Canada's PM Trudeau listens to a question the Daughters of the Vote event on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to a question during the Daughters of the Vote event in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 8, 2019

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) – It is very likely that foreign actors will try to meddle in Canada’s October federal election, with the focus on political parties, voters and candidates, Canada’s electronic signals spy agency said on Monday.

The Communications Signals Establishment (CSE) did not mention any specific threat from Russia.

U.S. intelligence officials and the governments of some European Union countries have accused Russia of interfering in their elections in recent years, allegations denied by Moscow.

“It is very likely that Canadian voters will encounter foreign cyber interference ahead of, and during, the 2019 general election,” said the CSE, which noted democratic governments around the world were experiencing more cyber attacks.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said last week she was “very concerned” by possible Russian interference in the vote and said there “have probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy”.

CSE said it was unlikely a foreign cyber campaign would be as major as the one Russian actors launched against the 2016 U.S. election, in part because public awareness of the potential threats was now much greater.

A U.S. intelligence report in January 2017 said Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a sophisticated influence campaign including cyber attacks to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and support Donald Trump.

The chances of an adversary actually overturning the results of a Canadian election are almost non-existent, given that voters use paper ballots.

Outside actors would try to focus on polarizing social and political issues, promoting the popularity of one party over the other or trying to shape the statements and policy choices of candidates, said CSE.

As part of official attempts to combat cyber interference, the agency has reached out to all the political parties contesting this October’s federal election.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s foreign minister and a Venezuelan judge, according to a statement on the department’s website.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla, were targeted over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said, the latest in a list of officials blacklisted by U.S. authorities for their role in President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attends the funeral service for murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland April 24, 2019. Brian Lawless/Pool via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday he had turned down an invitation to a state dinner which will be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in June.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honor a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

He said maintaining the relationship with the United States did not require “the pomp and ceremony of a state visit” and he said he would welcome a meeting with Trump “to discuss all matters of interest.”

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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A bedridden 67-year-old woman and more than a dozen animals were rescued Thursday after a welfare check found that they were living in a home filled with trash, urine, and feces, Florida police said.

Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies said when they arrived at the home in Dunedin around 7:20 p.m. Thursday, they could smell the odor of rotting trash and animal feces as they walked up to the driveway.

“Inside the residence, the odor of feces and urine was so overwhelming that deputies had to don masks,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

FLORIDA SHERIFF ON BORDER CRISIS AFTER MAJOR DRUG BUST: ‘IT MAKES ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Walking throughout the residence, the deputies found 10 emaciated dogs and puppies living in bins filled with their own feces, five large Macaw birds flying freely, rats, bugs and overall squalor.

Puppies discovered living in their own feces inside a Florida home that was filled with trash, urine, and feces.

Puppies discovered living in their own feces inside a Florida home that was filled with trash, urine, and feces. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

Deputies said due to the large amounts of trash in the home, they had to clear a path to reach the victim’s bedroom.

“None of the home’s toilets were working and all were found to be overflowing with feces,” deputies said. “The only working sink was located on the opposite end of the house from the victim’s bedroom.”

They said there was no food or water for the victim or the animals.

FLORIDA MAN IN EASTER BUNNY COSTUME CAUGHT IN VIRAL BRAWL IS WANTED IN NEW JERSEY, HAS HISTORY OF ARRESTS

The victim was transported to a local hospital for injuries that were non-life threatening, while the animals were transported to shelters.

The woman’s caretaker, Richard Lawrence Goodwin, 65, was arrested and charged with abuse and neglect of an elderly person, disabled person, and cruelty to animals.

Richard Goodwin, 69, was arrested for abuse and neglect of an elderly and disabled person after deputies found she was living in deplorable conditions.

Richard Goodwin, 69, was arrested for abuse and neglect of an elderly and disabled person after deputies found she was living in deplorable conditions. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

The sheriff’s department said this was Goodwin’s second arrest for abuse and neglect of the same victim. He was previously arrested in May 2018.

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Neighbor Victoria Muenzerbeer told FOX 13 that Goodwin and the victim were hoarders and the conditions inside the home were horrible years ago when she visited once.

“I went in and it was absolutely, a human being couldn’t live there,” she said. “The kitchen wasn’t usable and part of the wall was falling in.”

Source: Fox News National

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Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli
Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli, Libya April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s U.N.-recognized government has budgeted up to 2 billion dinars ($1.43 billion) to cover costs of a three-week-old war for control of the capital, such as treatment for the wounded, to be funded without new borrowing, the economy minister said.

Ali Abdulaziz Issawi suggested the government hoped for business to continue more or less as usual despite the assault on Tripoli, in the country’s northwest, by forces tied to a parallel administration based in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Once Africa’s third largest producer of oil, Libya has been riven by factional conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country now broadly split between eastern-based forces under Khalifa Haftar and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, in the west, under Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Still, with Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces unable so far to pierce defenses in Tripoli’s southern suburbs, normal life and business activities continue in much of the capital and western coastal towns.

Issawi, in an interview with Reuters in his Tripoli office, also said Libya’s commercial ports and wheat imports were still functioning normally, although some roads have been blocked.

He said the Serraj government estimates it will spend up to 2 billion dinars extra on medical treatment for wounded, aid for displaced people and other “emergency” war costs.

He said this was not military spending but analysts believe that the sum will also cover expenditures such as pay for allied armed groups or food for fighters.

“We could actually spend less,” he added, in comments that gave the first insight into the economic impact of the fighting.

Issawi said the Tripoli government, which controls little territory beyond the greater capital region, would not incur new debt to fund the war costs, sticking to a plan to post a 2019 budget without a deficit.

Tripoli derives revenue largely from oil and natural gas production, interest-free loans from local banks to the central bank, and a 183 percent surcharge on foreign exchange transactions conducted at official rates.

But with centralized tax collection greatly diminished, public debt has piled up – to 68 billion dinars in the west, including unpaid state obligations such as social insurance.

Some analysts expect Serraj’s government will be forced to raise new debt if the war for control of Tripoli drags on.

With much of Libya dominated by armed factions that also act as security forces, the public wage bill for both the western and eastern administrations has soared as fighters have been made public employees in efforts to buy their loyalty.

The east has sold bonds worth 35 billion dinars outside the official financial system as the Tripoli central bank does not fund the parallel government apart from some wages.

Despite its limited reach, the Tripoli government still runs an annual budget of around 46.8 billion dinars, mainly for public salaries and fuel subsidies.

“This year we cannot finance via debt…we will not borrow (by agreement with the central bank),” Issawi said.

According to International Monetary Fund data, Libya’s central government debt-to-GDP ratio is 143 percent, making it one of the most heavily indebted in the world on that measure.

Issawi declined to say what parts of the budget would be trimmed to support the extra outlay for war costs.

However, with some 70 percent of the budget allocated to public wages, fuel subsidies and other welfare benefits, a portion devoted to infrastructure is most likely to be axed.

Widespread lawlessness has meant there have been no major infrastructural projects since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi, leaving schools, hospitals and roads in acute need of restoration.

FOREX SURCHARGE

Issawi said the government planned to raise as much as 30 billion dinars by the end of 2019 from hard currency deals after imposing in September a 183 percent surcharge on commercial and private transactions done on the official rate of 1.4 to the U.S. dollar. That fee has effectively devalued the official rate to 3.9, much closer to the black market equivalent.

Some 17 billion dinars have been raised since then, with hard currency allocated for import credit letters now issued without delays, Issawi said. The forex fee has helped the government forecast a budget in the black for 2019.

Despite the narrowing spread between the two rates, the black market continues to thrive. Dozens of traders remained at their favorite spot behind the central bank headquarters in Tripoli when Reuters reporters visited it last week.

But traders said it could take time for the Serraj government to register the extra forex receipts as official banking channels were taking up to six months to approve import financing, keeping the black market in play for dealers.

Issawi said authorities planned to lower the forex fee from 183 percent, without saying when. The black market rate has dropped from 6 to around 4.1 since September but it has hardly moved of late as demand for black market cash remains high.

The Tripoli government has stopped subsidizing food and bread, which used to be cheaper than drinking water in Libya. Wheat imports are now being arranged by private traders and there are surplus stocks of flour at the moment, Issawi said.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing in Tripoli with additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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