The Trump administration has admitted to mistakenly deporting a father to El Salvador’s infamous mega prison, and claims it is unable to bring him back into the US.

Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia was granted protected status by a US immigration judge in 2019 and was living in Maryland. On March 12, as he picked up his son after work, Abrego Garcia’s car was stopped by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who told him his protected status had changed.

Three days later, Abrego Garcia was one of more 200 alleged members of Salvadoran and Venezuelan gangs that the Trump administration deported by plane to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).

ICE declared it removed Abrego Garcia ‘due to his prominent role in MS-13’. Meanwhile, his attorneys said he is not linked in any way to the gang, and that he originally fled his home country to escape gang violence.

But in a court filing on Monday, lawyers with the US government acknowledged that deporting Abrego Garcia had been a mistake.

‘Although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,’ wrote the government in the filing obtained by The Atlantic.

Since the dad is in Salvadoran custody, Trump administration lawyers said they are not able to get him back.

‘Oopsie… Too late,’ wrote Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on X (formerly Twitter) on the morning of March 16.

Asked about the court filing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday acknowledged the mistake, but claimed without evidence that Abrego Garcia has ties to MS-13.

‘The error that you are referring to was a clerical error. It was an administrative error,’ said Leavitt.

‘The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang.’

Questioned about the evidence, Leavitt insisted: ‘There’s a lot of evidence, and the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence, and I saw it this morning.’

Abrego Garcia’s case appears to be the first time the administration has conceded to accidentally deporting someone with the right to stay in the US, after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allowing him to remove people from the country during war times.

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Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest man on Forbes’ billionaires list, despite some financial hits and scrutiny he’s taken for serving the Trump administration.

Meanwhile President Donald Trump, who put Musk in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), more than doubled his own net worth.

Forbes’ 39^th annual World’s Billionaires list features 3,028 billionaires, which is the highest number since the ranking started in 1987. The list released on Tuesday has a record 15 individuals with 12-figure wealth, up one from last year.

The billionaires together have a $16.1trillion collective net worth.

Musk, who is a Tesla and SpaceX chief executive and owns X (formerly Twitter), grew his net worth by 75% to about $342billion. He is the first person ever to exceed $300billion in worth.

The DOGE head also retook the top spot on the list from Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of the world’s largest luxury goods company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA.

Musk enjoyed a jump with new valuations for SpaceX and xAI, and Tesla stock climbing for 12 months. For the 2025 list, Musk did not take a big hit from Tesla stock taking its biggest plunge in the first three months of this year – 36% – since 2022.

DOGE’s recommendations to cut excess spending in the federal government have been unpopular among some Democrats and unions, and there have even been acts of violence against Tesla including shots fired at a dealership in Oregon last month.

Trump, whose 2024 campaign accepted more than $277million from Musk, last month bought a new Tesla on the White House driveway in a bid to boost Tesla’s tumbling sales and stocks.

The US president’s net worth grew to about $5.1billion with shares of the Trump Media & Technology Group and successful new cryptocurrency ventures. He ranks No 700 on the list.

‘Donald Trump has presided over the most lucrative post-presidency in American history, selling his supporters NFTs, coffee-table books and, most importantly, shares of a money-losing social-media venture,’ states the Forbes list.

In second place is Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg worth $216billion, in third Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos worth $215billion, in fourth Oracle chairman Larry Ellison worth $192billion, and in fifth Arnault and his family worth $178billion.

‘It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise,’ stated Forbes Senior Editor of Wealth, Chase Peterson-Withorn.

‘And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the other billionaires taking over the US government, they’re growing more and more powerful.’

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The American restaurant chain known for skimpily dressed waitresses, Hooters, has filed for bankruptcy and plans to sell 100 US locations in order to stay in business.

Hooters of America LLC on Monday announced it is signing a restructuring support agreement with a Buyer Group that already owns and operates more than 30% of franchised Hooters restaurants in the country.

The company plans to offload the locations to the group of Hooters franchisees under a voluntary Chapter 11 protection filing made with the North Texas Bankruptcy Court in Dallas on Monday.

It comes after reports in late February that Hooters was heading for bankruptcy.

‘Our renowned Hooters restaurants are here to stay,’ stated Hooters of America CEO Sal Melilli.

‘Today’s announcement marks an important milestone in our efforts to reinforce Hooters’ financial foundation and continue delivering the guest-obsessed hospitality experience and delicious food our customers and communities have come to expect.’

After the Chapter 11 process, all Hooters locations will be owned by franchisees.

Speaking for the Buyer Group, Hooters Inc CEO Neil Kiefer said they have more than 30 years of experience working with Hooters and know what it takes to exceed customers’ expectations.

‘As we look toward the future, we are committed to restoring the Hooters brand back to its roots and simplifying HOA’s operations by adopting a pure franchise model that will maximize the potential for sustainable, long-term growth,’ stated Kiefer.

The chain is famous for Hooters Girls waitresses, who wear low-cut tight tops with the brand’s owl logo and orange shorts. The first location opened in Clearwater, Florida, in 1983 and the company also became known for its wings and sports bar-style food.

Hooters of America grew to become the franchisor and operator of more than 410 restaurants in 38 US states and 24 countries. The company’s existing franchise operations and locations outside of the US will not be affected by the bankruptcy process.

‘I’ve seen firsthand the incredible value and opportunities our brand brings to life,’ Melilli stated, ‘And I look forward to continuing that momentum well into the future.’

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US prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate accused of shooting dead a UnitedHealthcare CEO.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday morning directed prosecutors to pursue capital punishment for Mangione, 26, who has a sizable fanbase supporting his alleged anti-insurance company greed message.

‘Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson – an innocent man and father of two young children – was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,’ stated Bondi.

‘After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.’

One federal charge that Mangione faces, murder through use of a firearm, carries the death penalty if convicted. Federal prosecutors had been mulling whether to seek it since Mangione was accused of killing Thompson, 50, outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on December 4.

Mangione has not entered a plea to the federal charges, but has pleaded not guilty to state charges which do not make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Mangione faces possible life in prison without parole for a first-degree murder charge brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term signed an executive order for the Justice Department to seek the death penalty for ‘crimes of a severity demanding its use’. By contrast, former President Joe Biden in 2021 placed a moratorium on executions at the federal level.

Mangione’s lawyers did not immediately comment on Bondi’s announcement.

A fundraiser for Magione’s legal defense has received more than $720,000 in donations.

Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after Thompson was gunned down while walking to his company’s investors’ conference at the New York Hilton Midtown.

Federal prosecutors in murder charges filed on December 14 alleged that Mangione ‘meticulously’ plotted the shooting. Authorities recovered a manifesto and notebook writings in which Mangione allegedly wrote of his intent to ‘wack’ an insurance company chief executive.

Mangione’s state case was expected to go to trial before his federal one, and it is not immediately clear if Bondi’s decision will affect that plan.

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A woman survived a car crash but mysteriously went missing and was found dead at the bottom of a deep well.

Shirley Obert, 67, got into a car accident on Saturday morning while wearing a Chick-fil-A uniform red shirt and black pants.

Amid an active search for her, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that she was last seen around Abercrombie and Oxford Road in Georgia.

A GPS Aviation Unit as well as the Department of Natural Resources joined in the search in the county near Atlanta.

On Sunday afternoon, the sheriff’s office provided a tragic update stating that they located Obert.

‘It is not the outcome that we were hoping for,’ wrote the agency.

‘She was found deceased at the bottom of a deep well that was surrounded by very thick brush, near where her car was found.’

A GoFundMe page for her states that ‘she was found deceased in a deep, unmarked well that was covered in thick brush nearby the area where her car went off the road’.

Images from the scene showed rescue crews gathered around a hole in a wooded area, with one man wearing a helmet getting hoisted down.

It appeared that Obert had ‘been trying to go for help when this accident occurred’, added the sheriff’s office.

‘This appears to be a tragic accident,’ wrote the agency.

‘Please keep her family and her co-workers in your thoughts and prayers.’

Anyone with information on Obert’s death is urged to contact the sheriff’s department.

Obert was a ‘devoted Christian, wife, mother, and friend to many’, according to the GoFundMe page.

She is survived by her husband, whom she was the sole provider for, four sons and a daughter. She did not have life insurance for her husband.

The GoFundMe had raised more than $7,700 as of Monday evening.

Obert died a few months after a grandmother is believed to have fallen into a sinkhole after parking her car to look for her cat in Pennsylvania.

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President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock to the Oval Office to watch him sign an executive order concerning the music industry – but almost forgot to sign the document.

The American signer and rapper on Monday evening stood next to Trump, who sat at the resolute desk to sign the order aimed at stopping exploitive ticket scalping that often involves bots buying sections of seats and reselling them to fans for more.

Kid Rock’s visit started with the musician explaining that scalpers often buy tickets in bulk and prevent loyal fans from getting them at reasonable prices and that artists do not make any additional money. He also mentioned that for decades, fans buying tickets will see exorbitant fees at checkout.

Trump appeared engrossed with Kid Rock, who wore a flashy American flag suit celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary. The outfit included red, white and blue designs including eagles and a white hat with a matching ribbon. It was so extravagant that a reporter asked Trump if he would ever wear one.

‘I don’t know, I was thinking about wearing it tomorrow,’ said Trump jokingly of April Fools Day. ‘We’ve got a big day coming up.’

Trump then took questions from reporters and addressed a wide range of topics including his plan to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar as his first foreign trip.

After numerous questions the session was cut off and as reporters started to leave and say thank you to Trump, someone could be heard asking him if he was going to sign the executive order – which was the purpose of Kid Rock’s visit.

Trump threw both of his hands up and immediately picked up his signature thick black marker.

‘Boy, that was good,’ the president said. ‘OK ready everybody?’

Trump signed the document and passed the folder over to Kid Rock.

‘Oh you better do well with this,’ Trump told him. ‘He’s going to do it, make sure everything is nice and clean.’

Kid Rock replied: ‘Make America Fun Again.’

‘You’re not in a clean industry,’ Trump continued. ‘Hold that up. OK? Thank you everybody.’

In his remarks earlier, Kid Rock thanked Trump for getting the executive order in motion ‘at lightning speed’. He added that he hopes the US government can one day set a cap on the resale of tickets.

‘I can’t control the ticket prices right now, so hopefully this is a step to be able to make that happen,’ the singer said.

Amidst an eventful first two months back at the White House, Trump has invited multiple celebrities to the Oval Office who support his policies.

Earlier this month, UFC champion Conor McGregor visited Trump in the Oval Office as part of St Patrick’s Day celebrations and embarked on an unexpected anti-immigrant rant. Days later, he announced he would run to be the Irish president and donned a green ‘Make Ireland Great Again’ hat.

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A Mega Millions lottery winner scored a $349million jackpot but has not come forward to claim the prize with a deadline to collect coming fast.

The jackpot, which has been updated from the initial estimate of $344million, was won by the mystery player who matched six numbers on March 25, according to Mega Millions.

Matching the white balls 1, 5, 17, 39 and 62, and the gold Mega Ball 8, the ticket was purchased at Casey’s General Store in Cortland, Illinois.

State lottery laws dictate that a winner has one year from the drawing date to come forward and take home the money.

Under the law in Illinois, a winner will have until May 24 to contact Mega Millions officials in order to choose between annuity payments for the full amount or a lump sum of $161.4million.

After that 60-day period, the winner will have the option to receive annuity payments. If a year passes and no one steps forward, the prize could go to education.

State law allows lottery winners to request to remain anonymous.

The jackpot had been building since January 17 with a win in Arizona.

A winning ticket was recorded only two weeks before Mega Millions switches to a new version that ‘will feature bigger prizes at every non-jackpot prize tier, better odds to win the jackpot, better odds overall, larger starting jackpots, and faster-growing jackpots’, according to the game. The first drawing under the new format will be on April 8.

Illinois, which was one of the Mega Millions founding members back in 2022, has seen 16 jackpot wins including the very first two. The last time a jackpot winner came out of the Prairie State was in June 4 of last year.

The latest Mega Millions winner is not the only player who has not claimed a jackpot right away.

A year ago, a Mega Millions winner in New Jersey who won $1.13billion, which was the fifth largest jackpot in the game’s history, had lottery officials stating: ‘We wait for the winner to come forward to file their claim.’

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened the US against making any ‘encroachments’ on the Arctic as President Donald Trump continues to pursue Greenland.

Putin raised Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland and said Russia will not stand idly and allow NATO to make advances in the Arctic.

‘We will not allow encroachments on the sovereignty of our country and will reliably protect our national interests,’ Putin said at the Arctic Forum in Russia on Thursday.

Putin said that Trump’s plan to annex Greenland is by no means new or unique to his administration.

‘It can look surprising only at first glance and it would be wrong to believe that this is some sort of extravagant talk by the current US administration,’ Putin said. 

‘It’s obvious that the United States will continue to systematically advance its geostrategic, military-political and economic interests in the Arctic.’

Trump has expressed time and time again his plans to acquire Greenland, and even refused to rule out using military force. He has argued that the world’s largest island is at a key geographic location for the US and that it holds a large source of natural resources that have been untapped.

Putin mentioned that Finland and Sweden are part of NATO and made it known that possible conflict in the Arctic region is on his radar.

‘Russia has never threatened anyone in the Arctic, but we will closely follow the developments and mount an appropriate response by increasing our military capability and modernizing military infrastructure,’ he said.

Putin vowed to boost his country’s military presence in the Arctic region. At the same time, he urged joint projects with the West.

‘The stronger our positions will be, the more significant the results will be and the broader opportunities we will have to launch international projects in the Arctic involving the countries that are friendly to us, and, possibly, Western countries if they show interest in joint work,’ he said.

Putin spoke on the issue a day before Vice President JD Vance and his wife were scheduled to visit a US military base in Greenland. 

A dad crashed his car while driving with his wife and kids before he ran off ‘trampling’ over them as he escaped, witnesses said.

The unknown man was speeding and turned into a gas station at 100mph before flipping the SUV on Yale Street in north Houston on Tuesday night.

CCTV footage shows another car making a right turn onto the forecourt before cutting the car off.

The driver of the other car said the driver then got out, leaving five members of his family behind.

The other driver, John McCoy told KTRK:’No lights. I looked at my mirror before I was going to turn.

‘I ain’t see nothing. Next thing I know, I got ready to turn, bang!

‘They drive up and down the road like it’s the freeway.’

He added: ‘Once I went down there to help, he came out of there. He trampled over the babies and the momma and all.’

‘She was bleeding everywhere. He took off running. He met another car down the street and got in the car and took off.’

All victims were taken to a nearby hospital in serious or critical condition. Emergency services said they are all expected to survive.

The father had another car pick him up, police said, and remains at large.

Police Captain Ryan Watson said: ‘I have no idea what’s going through his mind at the time.

‘I don’t know if there was some other reason that he felt he needed to flee.’

‘The investigators here are following down leads and they are going to track that down and see if they can talk to him and get some answers, find out what’s going on.’

Anyone with information on the crash and dad is urged to contact the police department.

It happened nearly six years after a South Carolina father left his one-year-old daughter to die in a burning car while he tried to escape from police.

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A babysitter checked underneath a bed after a child said there was a ‘monster’ there and made a shocking discovery.

The woman was watching over children at a Kansas home on Monday night.

‘When putting the children to bed, one child complained there was a “monster” under their bed,’ stated the Barton County Sheriff’s Office.

‘When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there.’

The babysitter and the male intruder got into an altercation and a child was’knocked over in the struggle’, according to the sheriff’s office. The man then fled the home.

Deputies responded to the home on the 2000 block of Patton Road near Great Bend around 10.30pm.

The babysitter identified the man as Martin Villalobos Jr, 27. She said he previously lived at the home but was under a protection from abuse order to stay away.

Deputies looked for the suspect that night but were not able to find him. They spotted him the next morning on the same block of the residence and arrested him after a brief foot chase.

Villalobos has been charged with child endangerment, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and violation of a protection from abuse order.

He is being held at Barton County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

It was not immediately known what Villalobos’ relationship was to the child and the babysitter, who has not been named. It was not clear what if any injury the child who was knocked down suffered.

The incident happened nearly a decade after a Nashville woman who filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend found him under her bed with his two feet sticking out. She allegedly shot the man, who previously said ‘I will kill you, you stupid c***.’

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A missing teenage girl was discovered murdered with her hands cut off and her father has been arrested after speaking about her on TV.

Keimani Latigue’s body was found in an abandoned and burned home in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday.

Cops who discovered her six days after her family reported her missing said it was ‘one of the most horrific cases’ they have seen.

Keimani’s hands were detached from her body and her head was almost completely severed, according to Columbus Police Lt Brian Steel.

‘This is an absolute animal that came into our town,’ Steel told WCMH.

Her dad, Darnell Jones, 33, was found by cops on Tuesday and he allegedly pulled a gun. An officer opened fire several times. He was hospitalized and underwent surgery and is in stable condition. It was not clear if Jones fired back.

‘You pull a gun at officers, as we’ve said many times, this is the outcome you could expect,’ Steel said.

Jones has been charged with murder in connection with her death.

Keimani’s autopsy died of multiple ‘incised wounds of the neck’, according to the Lucas County Coroner’s Office.

Keimani was days away from turning 14 years old. Her mother, Tiara Kasten, said she spent most of her time going to school, playing basketball and staying home.

‘I seen her on the 15th. Her dad brought her down to my house,’ Kasten toldWTVG.

‘Apparently my mother gave him permission and honestly it was just loving on my kid. We play video games,’ Kasten said.

She was a student at Spring Elementary School.

‘The students and staff at Spring Elementary are saddened by the loss of their friend and classmate, Keimani Latigue,’ a Toledo Public Schools spokesperson told the TV station.

‘Keimani will be remembered as being very personable and someone who got along well with others.’

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A woman allegedly left two children in a hot car while using a checkout trick to steal more than $80 worth of items from a Walmart.

Katherine Leone Gordon, 65, is accused of using a ‘banana trick’ to pay less for groceries at a store in Sebastian, Florida.

Loss prevention officers saw Gordon walking to the self-checkout and scanning items with the wrong barcodes and walking away to try to avoid paying full price, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by CBS12.

She allegedly placed lower priced barcodes over the original ones, and tried to get away with $83.67 in merchandise from the discount retail chain.

Cops arrested Gordon outside of the Walmart and refused to speak with officers. But one of the Loss Prevention Association officials mentioned that children were inside her car and cops went and found two kids inside of it with the windows rolled up.

Officers opening the vehicle felt a ‘rush of heat’ coming from inside and there was heavy moisture inside the windows due to carbon monoxide build-up and the lack of air flow, police said.

Both children were sweating profusely, according to the affidavit.

The local temperature on Thursday was around 85 degrees Fahrenheit between 5pm and 6pm.

Asked about her kids, Gordon allegedly said she ‘did not think it was a problem leaving the juveniles in the vehicle as long as it was not running, further adding that the juvenile’s parents do it all the time’, stated the affidavit.

When an officer told Gordon that the children appeared to be too weak to open the vehicle doors themselves, Gordon allegedly said, ‘They were fine.’

Her relationship to the children and their ages and identities were not immediately known.

Gordon has been charged with two counts of child neglect and a count of second-degree petit theft. She is being held on a $3,000 bond at Indian River County Jail.

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Nato was forced into a U-turn after four US Army soldiers on a training exercise in Lithuania were falsely declared dead.

A major search and rescue operation has been ongoing since Tuesday to find the group who vanished near the border with Belarus with a Hercules armoured vehicle.

The vehicle was discovered submerged in a body of water, but there was no trace of the troops.

Nato secretary general Mark Rutte had confirmed that they had died, but his comments were later retracted.

‘The search is ongoing,’ said a statement posted on X on Wednesday. ‘We regret any confusion about remarks Rutte delivered on this today.

‘He was referring to emerging news reports and was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown.’

‘The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the four missing US Soldiers were operating during a training exercise has been located in Lithuania,’ stated the US Army.

No bodies have been discovered, according to Lithuania’s defence minister Dovile Sakaliene, who visited the training site on Wednesday.

The US embassy in Vilnius said that the troops vanished in the area of the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground near the city of Pabrade, but did not confirm when it happened.

‘The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident,’ it said.

‘Search and recovery efforts are underway.’

Helicopters from Lithuania’s Air Force and the State Border Guard Service have been searching the area since yesterday.

Authorities have identified a possible location of the incident and a force has been deployed to search for them.

The city of Pabrade is only about seven miles from the border with Belarus and has previously hosted large-scale Nato military drills to strengthen the Baltic borders.

President Gitanas Nausėda and prime minister Gintautas Paluckas said they were constantly receiving information about the operation.

But it is understood that the US and Lithuanian militaries have requested that no more information is released about the incident.

Fifth Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, said in a statement: ‘I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian military and first responders who quickly assisted us in the search operations.

‘It is this kind of teamwork and support that demonstrates the importance of our partnership and humanity, regardless of what flags we carry on our shoulders.’

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US Vice President JD Vance is visiting Greenland with his wife this week in the latest show of power since Donald Trump said he wants to buy the Arctic island.

Second lady Usha Vance was due to pop over with US officials to ‘celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity’ by seeing historical sites and a dogsled race.

That already drew the ire of politicians from this territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Outgoing Prime Minister Múte Egede called it ‘highly aggressive’, while his like successor called it ‘a lack of respect’.

But now Trump’s team are turning up the heat after JD Vance decided to tag along.

In a video posted to social media, he said: ‘I didn’t want [Usha] to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her.

‘I’m going to visit some of our guardians in the space force on the northwest coast of Greenland, and also just check out what’s going on with the security there of Greenland.’

Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?

Although the world’s largest island is home to just 57,000 – mostly indigenous Inuit – people, its natural resources and geographic position make it increasingly alluring for global powers.

‘I think Greenland is going to be something that maybe is in our future’, Trump recently said. He has refused to rule out using military force.

Trump has been eyeing up the island since 2019, but he’s not the first US President to want it.

The United States tried buying it in 1846, and again for the modern equivalent of £970million in 1946 when the Cold War was gathering pace.

Both times they were knocked back, but Greenland was seen has having such strategic importance in countering the Soviet Union, the US maintained a military presence there anyway.

With Denmark’s agreement, the US operate Thule Air Base, capable of sending American bombers across the Artic to strike the Soviet Union, and to detect missiles coming the other way.

There was also another base, a secret one, buried in a glacier 150 miles away.

Supposedly a research facility, Camp Century was actually supposed to house nuclear weapons able to launch through the ice sheet.

They were never put there in the end, and this outpost has since been abandoned.

While Thule still exists – albeit now called Pituffik Space Base – the fact Camp Century was lost 100 feet below the surface, until a team of Nasa scientists found it again last year, says something about changing international relations.

Even as the Cold War ebbed and flowed, maintaining nuclear weapons this far north wasn’t seen as vital.

But now the ice sheets are melting, making the surrounding waterways more navigable, and easing access to resources – uranium, iron, fossil fuels – hidden beneath.

Meanwhile tensions with Russia are higher than any time since the Cold War, and China – the USA’s new main rival – is seeking to invest in Greenland.

That might explain why Vance, ahead of his visit, said: ‘A lot of other countries have threatened Greenland, have threatened to use its territories and waterways to threaten the United States, to threaten Canada and of course to threaten the people of Greenland, so we’re going to check out how things are going there.

‘And I say that, speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.

‘Unfortunately, leaders in both American and in Denmark I think ignored Greenland for far too long.

‘That’s been bad for Greenland, it’s also been bad for the security of the entire world. We think we can take things in a different direction, so I’m going to go check it out.’

Who owns Greenland?

Trump might be insistent about buying Greenland for ‘national security’, saying in January: ‘I think Greenland will be worked out with us. I think we’re going to have it. And I think the people want to be with us.’

But the people of Greenland aren’t so keen. Roughly 85% oppose joining the USA, with nearly half seeing Trump’s interest as a threat.

‘What is the national security adviser doing in Greenland’, Prime Minister Múte Egede said in relation to US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz joining the Vance visit this week.

‘The only purpose is to demonstrate power over us. His mere presence in Greenland will no doubt fuel American belief in Trump’s mission – and the pressure will increase’

His party may have lost this month’s election, but his likely successor Jens-Frederik Nielsen agrees.

Nielsen said: ‘The fact that the Americans know very well that we are still in a negotiating situation and that the municipal elections have not yet concluded, they still capitalize on the moment to come to Greenland, once again, which shows a lack of respect for the Greenlandic population.’

Although Greenlanders are largely united in their opposition to US interference, they aren’t the only ones with a say.

Greenland has been ruled by Denmark – nearly 3,000km away – since several waves of colonisation in the 1700s.

Now a largely automous self-governing territory with representation in Denmark’s national parliament, Greenland has controlled its own internal affairs for decades.

But foreign relations are still overseen by Denmark, despite recent pushes for Greenlandic independence,

Denmark then, is likely to have some say in Greenland’s future. According to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, that future appears not to be with the US.

‘Greenland is not for sale’, she said in a TV interview. ‘I want to make it very clear, that seen with the eyes of the Danish government, Greenland is for the Greenlandic people.

‘It is a very proud people, a language and culture, it is a people that is their own.’

Is Greenland part of NATO?

Yes. Greenland is a part of NATO, because it is a part of Denmark – which is a NATO member.

This means if Trump were to ‘not rule out military action’, as he’s previously said, and take Greenland by force, it could spark a war.

Article Five of the NATO treaty says if a member state is attacked, it’s considered an attack on all members – who will then assist the attacked member in the fight.

Is there a US base in Greenland?

Yes. Previously known as Thule Air Base, the US-operated Pituffik Space Base is one of the most remote US military bases and the only one in Greenland.

With 150 Air Force and Space Force personnel permanently stationed here, it has radar capable of detecting ballistic missiles almost as soon as they have taken off.

Sat on the northwest of Greenland, where temperatures drop below -34°C in winter, the closest settlement is 70 miles away in Qaanaaq, home to no more than 650 people.

What is ‘Red White and Blueland’?

A Republican Congressman introduced legislation that would authorize Trump to enter into negotiations to acquire the autonomous territory of Denmark and rename it based on the US flag.

‘America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and Blueland,’ stated Rep Buddy Carter, 67, of Georgia.

‘President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority, and we will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation to ever exist when our Negotiator-in-Chief inks this monumental deal.’

The Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025 directs the Secretary of the Interior to oversee that Greenland is renamed in federal documents and maps within 180 days.

‘Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to Greenland shall be deemed to be a reference to
13 ‘‘Red, White, and Blueland’’.

The bill must first be studied by a committee before it can go for a vote in the House. It would then go to the Senate.

It is being considered by lawmakers even as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly said that the Arctic island is ‘not for sale’.

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A Democratic lawmaker suggested that President Donald Trump consider deporting his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, during a march protesting his immigration and other policies.

Rep Maxine Waters of California suddenly brought up Melania while ranting against cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

‘When he talks about birthright, and he’s going to undo the fact that the Constitution allows those who are born here, even if the parents are undocumented, they have a right to stay in America,’ said Waters of the president.

‘If he wants to start looking so closely to find those who were born here and their parents were undocumented, maybe he ought to first look at Melania.’

As the crowd at a Los Angeles rally cheered, Waters continued: ‘We don’t know whether or not her parents were documented. And maybe we better just take a look.’

The Congresswoman’s remarks from Saturday went viral among conservatives and continued to be a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

A parody account for Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, wrote: ‘Maxine Waters is now calling for Melania Trump, an American citizen, to be deported for standing against her! Is anyone really surprised? Democrats are anti American POS traitors.’

Another X user said about liberals, ‘They can’t fix the economy. They can’t stop crime. So Maxine Waters wants to deport Melania? That’s where we’re at now.

‘Crazy ghetto-a** trash!’ a user remarked.

The first lady, who is accustomed to keeping a low profile but has made numerous official appearances over the past two months, did not immediately comment publicly or on X on Waters’ suggestion.

Melania was born in present-day Slovenia and moved to the US to pursue her modeling career. She became a naturalized US citizen in 2006 after marrying Donald, according to her government biography. Once she was granted American citizenship, Melania sponsored her parents for green cards and their citizenship.

Waters over the weekend bashed the president’s executive order signed on the first day of his second term banning birthright citizenship. The order attempts to cut out birthright citizenship to people born to illegal immigrant parents, and only give it to those born to parents in the US legally or on temporary non-immigrant visas.

The Democratic lawmaker spoke before hundreds who protested moves to downsize the federal government by Elon Musk’s DOGE, and marched to the VA hospital on Wilshire Boulevard.

‘We are here because we are not going to let Trump, we’re not going to let Elon Musk, his co-president, or anybody else take the United States Constitution down,’ stated Waters.

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More than 1,000 bottles of a popular imported shampoo have been recalled for having a bacteria that can be deadly.

Henkel recalled 1,068 units of its Tec Italy branded shampoo conditioner for dry and damaged hair after it tested positive for contamination by the Klebsiella oxytoca bacteria.

Klebsiella oxytoca is found naturally in the intestinal tract, nose and mouth and are considered healthy, but outside of the gut can lead to serious infections, according to Healthline. A study of patients very ill from the bacteria found a 21% mortality rate at 14 days, Medscape reported.

The company based in Germany sent the affected 33.81-ounce bottles to three distributors in the US – C & R Beauty, Caesar’s Professional Products Inc and Vero Beauty Distributors, according to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcement.

Those distributors then provided them to salons that sold them to customers.

‘Firm is working with 3 importer/distributors to obtain downstream customer sales info,’ wrote the FDA.

Henkel issued the voluntary recall on February 12 and the FDA on Thursday gave it Class II designation, indicating that consumers in contact with the product can experience temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.

Affected products were shipped from the company’s facility in Huisquilucan, Mexico. The brand is sold by retailers including Walmart, Target and Amazon.

They have the universal product code 7501438375850, lot code 1G27542266 and expiration date of May 27, 2027.

Tec Italy states on its website: ‘We dreamed, developed and created a strong brand on a highly competitive industry.

‘Through innovative strategies and total support to our clients, we achieved a dynamic and different hair care line that combines the highest technology and best value.’

The announcement comes just weeks after L’Oreal recalled its Effaclar Duo acne treatment cream and cleanser sold under the La Roche-Posay brand, for possibly containing benzoyl peroxide, which can break down into benzene. Benzene can cause cancer and high levels of exposure for long periods of time can lead to leukemia.

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A woman who won a $83.5million lottery jackpot may end up empty-handed because of an app she used to purchase her ticket.

The woman used the Jackpocket app, which lets users purchase lottery and scratch-off tickets remotely and charges a service fee.

She bought $20 worth of Texas Lotto tickets and won the jackpot for the drawing on February 17.

But shortly afterward, Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate her win and a $95million jackpot won in 2023.

‘Sometimes there are reasons to investigate things, but I don’t think mine is one of them,’ the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, told Nexstar this week.

‘I’m being treated as the bad guy.’

The woman is arguing that her case and the older winner are far different.

In 2023, a group purchased more than $25million in tickets using courier services and entered the drawing with nearly every combination of numbers. They bought the tickets from four retailers. At the time, local lawmakers were concerned over how many tickets were printed within 72 hours and the group was suspected of money laundering.

The Texas Lottery Commission did pay out the $95million jackpot to the Rock TX entity and moved to stop bulk purchasing – but did not shut down the courier services.

‘We played by all the rules, and we’re still playing by all the rules and we expect that my client should be paid,’ the woman’s lawyer, Randy Howry, told the news outlet.

The woman presented her ticket to the commission in Austin on Tuesday and was told that the organization’s general counsel would not decide on paying out the money until the Texas Rangers finished the investigation.

A Jackpocket spokesperson said they are suspending their lottery courier operations in the Lone Star State.

‘Despite our proven track record of compliance and commitment to responsible gaming, the Texas Lottery Commission has issued a new policy prohibiting our services, effective immediately,’ the spokesperson told Nexstar.

The woman was considering taking legal action if the jackpot was not paid within three days, according to her lawyer.

‘If they had any qualms about that they should have done something then,’ the woman said.

‘This is an opportunity for me to do other things with my life and I want to be able to go do those.’

It comes less than a year after the family of a Maine man who won a $1.35billion lottery jackpot sued him claiming he broke a promise to share the money.

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More than 10,000 cans of Coca-Cola have been recalled over concerns that they contain a ‘foreign object’.

Plastic contamination was identified in 864 packs of 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola Original Taste, according to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforcement report.

Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling initiated the recall on March 6 and the FDA on Monday designated it as a Class II recall, meaning that consuming the product could lead to temporary and medically reversible health affects.

‘Hard or sharp foreign objects in food may cause traumatic injury including laceration and perforation of tissues of the mouth, tongue, throat, stomach and intestine as well as damage to the teeth and gums,’ stated the FDA.

Affected batches were distributed by the Milwaukee-based company only in Illinois and Wisconsin.

‘The cases are being withdrawn because they did not meet our high-quality standards,’ a Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling spokesperson told Newsweek.

‘We are taking this voluntary action because nothing is more important to us than providing high-quality products to the people who drink our beverages.’

It was not immediately known if anyone has been sickened by drinking the soda.

The impacted items have the date code SEP2925MDA and time stamps from 11:00 to 12:53. The universal product codes for the single can and 12-pack are 0 49000-00634 6 and 0 49000-02890 4, respectively.

Purchasers are advised to not consume the cans and throw them away or return them for a refund if they have not been used.

It comes about two months after Coca-Cola issued an urgent update after recalling its Coke, Sprite, Fanta, Tropico and Appletiser products in the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands.

The company found excessive levels of chlorate, a byproduct of chlorine. At high levels of exposure, the chemical can lead to thyroid issues, kidney failure and can even be deadly.

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Dollar General has announced it is closing almost 100 locations across the US this year.

The chain of discount stores in its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 report stated that it conducted a portfolio optimization review of its Dollar General and pOpshelf stores to identify ones to shutter or re-banner based on their current and expected performance and operating conditions.

In the report released this month, the company revealed that it plans to shutter 96 Dollar General stores and 45 pOpshelf stores, and convert six pOpshelf locations into Dollar Generals.

‘As we look to build on the substantial progress we made on our Back to Basics work in fiscal 2024, we believe this review was appropriate to further strengthen the foundation of our business,’ stated Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos.

‘While the number of closings represents less than one percent of our overall store base, we believe this decision better positions us to serve our customers and communities.’

All closures are expected to happen in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending January 30, 2026.

The company did not immediately disclose the locations of the affected stores.

It comes after Dollar General in 2021 unveiled plans to open about 1,000 pOpshelf stores through the end of fiscal year 2025 in light of their popularity. They are focused on home decor, cleaning supplies and party items and are meant to ‘engage customers with a fun, affordable and stress-free shopping experience’.

The company based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, runs more than 20,000 Dollar General, pOpshelf, DG Market and DGX stores in 48 states, according to its website.

It comes just a couple months after a research group reported that store closures are expected to double from 2024 to roughly 15,000 this year across America.

Earlier this year, department store chain Kohl’s announced that it would close 27 locations by April of this year.

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A babysitter has been arrested for allegedly leaving a toddler in a car unattended for hours.

Aimee Cotton, 41, called the Dukes County Regional Emergency Communications Center to say that the two-year-old boy she was babysitting ‘was not breathing and turning blue’, according to the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office.

‘Upon the arrival of first responders, they found the Ms Cotton preforming CPR on the young toddler in the 2nd row passenger seat area,’ stated the office on Thursday.

First responders took over lifesaving efforts on March 13 and rushed the young toddler to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital emergency room. He was then airlifted by Boston Medflight in critical condition to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Also in the vehicle for three hours was a one-year-old girl, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Daily Mail.

Cotton, of Martha’s Vineyard, was charged with reckless endangerment of a child and arraigned in the Edgartown District Court on March 14. She was held on a $2,800 bail with conditions of release.

Five days later, the toddler died at the hospital from injuries he suffered in the vehicle. He was from West Tisbury and his mother teaches at Oak Bluffs Elementary School.

Cotton’s charges have been upgraded to manslaughter ‘following a thorough investigation into her involvement of leaving a young child unattended in her vehicle that was in her care’, stated the district attorney’s office.

She is being held on a $21,000 bail with GPS tracking and is scheduled to appear at the district court on April 3 for a probably cause hearing.

‘District Attorney Galibois’s thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the young toddler during this incredibly difficult time,’ stated the agency.

Martha’s Vineyard is an island south of Cape Cod. Its community of Vineyard Haven was named as having the most expensive real estate among America’s towns last year by LendingTree.

Cotton was charged more than a year-and-a-half after a Florida babysitter was arrested after leaving a 10-month-old child she was caring for to die in a hot car.

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Two French bulldogs that were missing for a month were found in a pair of crab pots dead.

Brothers Yoda and Whiskey, who were about one year old, vanished the day before Valentine’s Day in Thorne Bay, Alaska, and their owners had been frantically looking for them ever since.

‘While conducting routine shellfish pot inspections near Thorne Bay, AWT (Alaska Wildlife Troopers) Ketchikan located two crab pots near the Thorne Bay Harbor,’ wrote the State of Alaska Department of Public Safety on March 14.

‘Each crab pot both contained the remains of a domesticated dog.’

Yoda’s owner, Esther Martin, said, ‘Honestly, I’m still a little in disbelief.’

‘They were the sweetest dogs you’d have ever met,’ she told KTUU on Thursday.

‘They would have jumped in a vehicle with anybody.’

Martin said that she, her husband and brother-in-law brought the pups to an active logging unit where they were working and that they realized they disappeared when they took a break at 9.30am.

‘We were immediately suspicious but had hoped that they would return on their own, and it just took longer and longer,’ she said.

Her husband, Kane, said the dogs would go to work with them daily and run back and forth.

‘We figured they just went up and stayed at the pickup but they didn’t. Somebody came by and picked them up,’ he told KTOO.

He suspects that someone kidnapped the dogs at Sandy Beach Road nearby.

‘My brother-in-law searched throughout the night. He went back to the same area multiple times after they got done working,’ Esther said.

‘We left items of clothing, we left their dog beds, we left food. We rode around on the quad for days just searching every road, every muskeg, every trail and they were just gone.’

The Martins posted flyers on their missing dogs with a $500 reward, and doubled it a couple of weeks later.

Anyone with information on the crime is urged to contact the Price Of Wales AWT Post. Kane said he is offering a $2,500 reward for tips on the culprits.

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Elon Musk donned a new MAGA hat with the greatest praising message for President Donald Trump yet to a Cabinet meeting.

The head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) wore a red baseball cap with ‘Trump Was Right About Everything!’ in all-capital white lettering and ’45-47′ stitched on the side.

Musk was the only attendee at the Cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon to sport the hat with the big statement.

He also wore a black suit jacket over a black shirt, similar to his attire at a Cabinet meeting last month when he wore a ‘tech support’ shirt under a suit jacket and a dark MAGA hat.

During the meeting, Trump said, ‘Elon’s a patriot, we want to thank you very much for the job you’re doing, thank you very much.’

The Tesla CEO and X (formerly Twitter) owner remarked: ‘Just trying to the right thing for the American taxpayer and for the American people.

State Secretary Marco Rubio and US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who flanked Trump at the table, and other members clapped for the tech billionaire.

‘Just a thank you to the DOGE team who are likely going to get threats and being accosted. A lot of them are just kids, you know, they’re just trying to help out. And they’re very talented, they could get jobs and earn millions of dollars a year. Instead, they come here to earn peanuts and get death threats, so thanks to the DOGE team.’

Cabinet members clapped for him again.

Musk also brought up a ‘good case of fraud’ of the Small Business Administration handing out $330million worth of loans to people under age 11.

‘Very precocious baby we’re talking about here,’ he said with a laugh.

Musk was the only one at the table without a title on his name card.

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He appeared at the meeting with Trump’s top advisers hours after a federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing Americans’ public data with the Treasury Department, Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management.

US District Judge Deborah Boardman found that the Trump administration likely violated federal law by giving DOGE ‘seemingly unfettered access’ to records from those departments. She stated that the government did not sufficiently explain why it needed to access ‘millions of records’ and that the administration could carry out its duties without viewing them.

‘They trusted the federal government to safeguard their information. That public trust likely has been breached,’ wrote Boardman wrote.

The White House has been questioned about Musk’s casual attire in the West Wing, particularly in light of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky receiving criticism for not wearing an suit during his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.

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Over 14 tons of beef sticks have been recalled for possible contamination with metal.

Idaho Smokehouse Partners, LLC, is recalling about 29,541 pounds of ready-to-eat beef sticks, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Thursday.

Vacuum-sealed packages of Chomps Original Beef Stick Mild in the 1.15-ounce size are subject to the recall.

‘The problem was discovered after the firm notified FSIS that it received two consumer complaints reporting that pieces of metal were found in the product,’ stated the FSIS.

There have not yet been any reports of adverse health effects from consuming the beef sticks. Anyone who feels they are experiencing sickness from eating then should contact a physician.

The affected items were produced from January 13 to 15 of this year, had the lot code 25016 and had the expiration date of February 10, 2026. They had the establishment number 6220A inked on.

They were shipped to retailers in California and Illinois.

On Friday, Smokehouse Partners said it was aware of customer complaints.

‘Out of an abundance of caution, we worked with regulatory authorities on the best way to protect consumers from this issue,’ the company told Fox News Digital.

‘We are taking this action because we are committed to the highest food safety standards for the consumers of our products,’ it stated.

Consumers are urged to dispose of or return the products. They should contact the Shelley, Idaho-based company with any questions or concerns.

‘FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers,’ stated the agency.

The recall comes a month after Karma Sauce LLC recalled more than 50,000 bottles of Hot Ones brand Los Calientes Hot Sauce by Heatonist for possible contamination with plastic.

It is under a Class II recall, meaning serious health consequences from ingesting it are unlikely but temporary and reversible effects are possible.

‘Foreign objects, such as plastic in food products, can pose risks including choking, mouth or throat injury, or gastrointestinal discomfort if ingested,’ stated a notice by the US Food and Drug Administration.

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A 16-year-old boy has been busted for allegedly stabbed a younger teenager to death at a McDonald’s restaurant on Valentine’s Day.

Teens from two different high schools gathered at the McDonald’s in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens, New York, mid-afternoon that day, according to the Queens County District Attorney’s Office.

During the melee at the fast food joint on Queens Boulevard, the defendant is accused of using a knife to fatally stab Julian Corniell, 14, in his left torso.

Julian fled, crossed Queens Boulevard, and collapsed on the street. He was rushed to nearby hospital, where he died.

‘Any homicide is heartbreaking for the family of the victim. This death in particular is tragic because of the ages of all involved,’ stated District Attorney Melinda Katz on Friday.

‘Teenagers as defendants and teenagers as victims sends a message that we need to do more. 

‘The attack on Julian Corniell was made even more tragic because it happened, as alleged, at the hands of a fellow teen.’

Corniell’s family described him as a ‘bright, kind-hearted young boy with a future full of promise’.

‘He was a loving son, a caring brother, a cherished friend, and a source of joy to everyone who knew him,’ stated a GoFundMe page for his family.

‘His warm smile and gentle spirit touched countless lives, and his sudden passing has left his family and community heartbroken.’

On Thursday, the unnamed boy was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree gang assault and other crimes.

‘A grand jury has now returned serious charges against the defendant and my office will seek justice,’ stated Katz.

The GoFundMe page had raised more than $21,000 as of Friday evening.

He was charged four days after a grandfather entered a McDonald’s in Texas to buy Happy Meals for his grandchildren and was shot dead in crossfire.

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Three adults have been busted for leaving a dead puppy in a pizza box and animals emaciated while living with a nine-year-old boy.

Charles Ashbaker, 38, Kelly Walker, 29, and Douglas Nelson, 47, are accused of starving dogs and keeping dead ones around the Michigan house in ‘deplorable’ conditions.

They were discovered after AT&T workers got to a work site in Flint and found $30,000 in wireless cable stolen, said Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson on Wednesday.

Deputies involved in that investigation got to a home and spotted a cage in the front yard with a dead dog inside, he said. They saw an emaciated dog walking around it and inside the house, another emaciated dog.

Swanson, who shared horrific photos during a press conference, said: ‘If you look a little farther, you’ll see inside the house that these dogs are not the only ones that are being emaciated and hadn’t eaten inweeks and there was no water there.

‘There was a puppy that was alive and another one that was dead in a pizza box.’

The refrigerator was not connected to power and had rotted food inside.

‘Three adults, two dead dogs, two emaciated dogs and a nine-year-old boy,’ Swanson said.

Deputies took the boy to Child Protective Services and saved the two starving pups.

Ashbaker and Walker were charged with killing and torture of an animal and cruelty to animals. Ashbaker faces additional charges of fire abuse and felony firearm possession.

Nelson has been charged with drug possession, theft and resisting arrest.

Ashbaker and Walker are being held on $10,000 bonds and Nelson is being held on a $5,000 bond, court records show. Their relationship to the boy was not immediately disclosed.

The sheriff said the gruesome scenes were shared with the public because criminals who torture animals can easily torture humans.

‘You don’t treat animals this way,’ Swanson said. ‘You don’t treat people this way.’

It comes more than four years after a Louisiana woman was charged with starving her six dogs until their bones showed.

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President Donald Trump said the US is ‘very well-equipped to handle’ a potential war with China, while denying reports that Elon Musk was set to be briefed on the matter.

Trump brought up the US’s preparedness when a reporter questioned him about Musk’s visit to the Pentagon and how the agenda for it may have changed.

‘I don’t want anybody seeing potential war with China,’ said Trump on Friday afternoon.

‘We don’t want to have a potential war with China, but I can tell you if we did, we’re very well-equipped to handle it.’

Trump continued that he would not want to share such information with Musk.

‘Certainly you wouldn’t show it to a businessman who is helping us so much, he’s a great patriot,’ the president said.

‘He’s taken, he’s paying a big price for helping us cut costs and he’s doing a great job, he’s finding tremendous waste, fraud and abuse.’

Trump pointed out that ‘Elon has businesses in China and he would be susceptible perhaps to that’.

Earlier on Friday, Musk had an 80-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Pentagon.

The New York Times reported ahead of the meeting that Musk was expected to be at a briefing in the Tank secure conference room with military leaders about the US’s plans on any war that could start with China. Instead, he met in Hegseth’s office.

The top-secret briefing on the war plan is 20 to 30 slides long, and Hegseth reportedly received part of it last week and another portion on Wednesday.

Trump called the Times report, which was confirmed by The Wall Street Journal, ‘such a fake story’.

Hegseth, who stood next to Trump in the Oval Office, also denied the report.

Trump said of Musk’s visit: ‘He’s there for DOGE, not there for China. And if you even mentioned China, I think he’d walk out of the room.’

Outside the Pentagon, Musk shook hands with Hegseth and told him, before departing: ‘If there’s anything I can do to be helpful, I’d like to see you.’

China in early March after Trump imposed additional 10% tariffs on imports, making them 20%, stated it is prepared for war with the US.

‘If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,’ wrote the Chinese Embassy in the US on X (formerly Twitter).

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A couple who rented their home on Airbnb to a teacher and her one-year-old daughter have been hit with charges after a fire at the home killed the guests.

Dennis Darcy, 57, and his wife Meredith, 55, are accused of lying that their home in Westchester County, New York, had smoke detectors after the deadly inferno.

Four guests were staying at the couple’s home on October 14 when a blaze broke out and they became trapped inside. Shannon Hubbard, 35, her husband John Hubbard, 40, and their two children aged 1 and 3 were rushed to nearby hospitals, according to New York State Police.

Shannon, a Cape Cod teacher from Brewster, Massachusetts, and her 1-year-old child died of their injuries.

Investigators determined that the fire started in the chimney and was not set off intentionally.

‘A comprehensive investigation determined that the residence, which was being rented by the victims, was not properly equipped with functional smoke detectors, in violation of New York State fire, building, and residential codes,’ stated the police agency.

Their Airbnb listing stated that the home on Clinton Hollow Road in Salt Point had smoke detectors.

The Darcys, of Hastings-on-Hudson, were arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter earlier this week.

‘This devastating tragedy could have been prevented,’ stated Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi, according to CBS 6.

‘The deaths of Shannon Hubbard and her young daughter in this senseless fire serve as a tragic reminder of the critical role smoke detectors play in safeguarding lives.’

A judge set bail for each defendant at $50,000 cash, $100,000 secured bond and $200,000 partially secured bond. Records indicated that both are out on bond and are scheduled to appear in court on April 7.

The Darcys were charged more than seven years after an Atlanta Airbnb host almost wound up in prison because her secluded treehouse – which was the most popular listing on the home-sharing platform – was found to be a ‘death trap’ with a fire extinguisher that had not been tested since 2002.

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A woman allegedly drowned her pet dog in a toilet and dumped it in the trash in order to make her flight.

Alison Agatha Lawrence, 57, was trying to board her plane at Orlando International Airport in Florida but did not have the proper paperwork for her pup to travel with her, WFTV reported.

Lawrence is accused of then taking her small white poodle to the bathroom and killing it on December 16. Airport cleaning staff discovered it later, sources told the TV station.

Police issued a warrant for Lawrence’s arrest and deputies took her into custody at her home in Clermont on Tuesday.

Lawrence has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty, which is a third-degree felony. She was booked into jail and hours later posted a $5,000 bond, according to court records.

Shocked neighbors on Wednesday said they would see Lawrence walking her dog, but not recently. They described her as reserved.

‘Someone that would do such things has got to be disturbed upstairs,’ one neighbor told WFTV.

A woman who claimed to be Lawrence’s sister told the news outlet that she did not know where her sibling was and that she did not have a phone. She added that she did not know about allegations against Lawrence.

It was not immediately clear where Lawrence was flying to and when she returned home to Clermont, which is about 35 miles northwest of the Orlando airport.

Airport officials declined to comment due to an ongoing police investigation.

Most US airlines require health certificates and a pet carrier for animals traveling in cabins with their owners, and some charge a fee.

The horrific incident happened about a year-and-a-half after a woman was detained at an Atlanta airport because her tourist visa did not meet requirements and was told she would be reunited with her dog after landing back in the Dominican Republic. Her dog wound up lost and she took great pains to find him, with her lawyer saying that Delta Air Lines’ $1,800 offer in compensation was an insult.

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the US Education Department in front of a dozen students sitting at staged desks.

Trump delivered remarks on why he is ‘eliminating the federal Department of Education once and for all’ and then walked past more than a dozen young children in East Room of the White House.

‘Good looking people here,’ he said, gesturing at the students, and patted one of them on the shoulder.

Trump then asked the students sitting at both sides of his desk if he should do it, and some of them nodded and smiled.

The president took a seat and joked if anyone was superstitious. He used his usual, thick black marker to sign his name on the document, as the students signed replica papers on their desks simultaneously.

Trump held up the document and smiled widely, and the students followed suit. One of the older students signed his document with a heart. A boy wrote on his, ‘You’re the best president ever! MAGA!!’ A girl wrote, ‘Thank you for all you are doing for ISRAEL’ and included a heart.

Most of the students smiled, but one young boy was pictured yawning during the dedicated event on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking at a podium moments earlier, Trump said, ‘We’re going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible.’

‘We want to return our students to the states. Governors are so happy about this, they want education to come back to them,’ he said.

His order directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who is co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, to start shrinking the $100billion department. But critical programs it has been overseeing will be taken over by federal departments, including Pell Grants federal student loan payments, Title I funding for low-income schools and money for students with disabilities.

‘They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them,’ Trump said.

Trump thanked McMahon for ‘presiding over something that’s so important’.

‘Hopefully, you won’t be there for too long,’ he said.

‘But we’re going to find something else for you, Linda.’

Trump acted on his campaign promise to undo the department which he has called wasteful, and send education work back to the states. The president said the US spends the most per pupil but ranks near the bottom in education compared to other countries.

His administration had already cut the department’s workforce in half.

The Education Department was created in 1979 when Democratic then-President Jimmy Carter signed legislation to form it as a Cabinet-level agency. In doing so, Carter fulfilled a campaign promise to the National Education Association, which was the nation’s biggest teachers’ union.

Republican presidents have sought to get rid of it since the 1980s, and many parents who were against the coronavirus pandemic shutdown and other federally dictated school policies got behind it.

‘That was 45 years in the making,’ Trump said.

Trump is the first modern president to move to shutter a federal department.

Completely dissolving the department requires an act of Congress.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he would introduce legislation to back the shutdown.

‘I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission,’ said Cassidy.

‘Since the Department can only be shut down with congressional approval, I will support the President’s goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.’

The union representing the Education Department, the American Federation of Government Employees, stated it was ‘outraged’ at Trump’s directive.

And the nonprofit legal organization Democracy Forward vowed to challenge the order.

‘We will be filing litigation against this action and will use every legal tool to ensure that the rights of students, teachers, and families are fully protected,’ stated the organization’s CEO, Skye Perryman.

A Quinnipiac poll in March found that six of 10 registered voters were against Trump’s then plan to do away with the Education Department. Almost all Democratic voters opposed it, compared to only two of 10 Republican voters.

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More than 50,000 bottles of hot sauce have been recalled over possible contamination with foreign objects.

Karma Sauce Company LLC is recalling 50,654 units of its Hot Ones brand Los Calientes Hot Sauce by Heatonist, including the Rojo and Verde flavors, because they could contain plastic.

The affected 5-ounce bottles, 1-gallon jugs and 4-gallon buckets are under a Class II recall, which means serious health consequences from consumption are unlikely, but there is still a potential for temporary or reversible effects.

Universal Product Codes for the Verde and Rojo brands are 8-51444-00803-5 and 8-51444-00810-03, respectively. The best by dates range from December 2027 to February 2028 and they were sold in Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio.

The Rochester, New York-based company issued the recall on February 14 and it is ongoing, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

‘Foreign objects, such as plastic in food products, can pose risks including choking, mouth or throat injury, or gastrointestinal discomfort if ingested,’ stated the notice posted by the FDA.

‘While the Class II classification suggests any health effects would likely be minor and temporary, consumers experiencing symptoms such as irritation, pain, or digestive issues after consuming these hot sauces should seek medical attention promptly.’

Karma Sauce Company describes itself as an ‘Indie Food Business’ that was founded with ‘the mission of providing you with the highest quality healthy and delicious foods’.

‘We prep all our products in our own micro factory and grow most of our own veggies (especially peppers) on the Karma Sauce Farm,’ states its website.

‘Most everything else comes from within 50 miles. We keep our eye on quality every step of the way.’

It comes after Tri-Union Seafoods recalled canned tuna sold under the Trader Joe’s, H-E-B, Genova and Van Camp’s brands in 26 US states over the risk of fatal food poisoning with botulism.

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