Tag: news

Texas woman smuggled monkey in ‘beer’ box at Mexican border

A Texas woman has pleaded guilty to some monkey business at the US-Mexico border.

Savannah Nicole Valdez, 20, was accused of smuggling a live spider monkey into the United States inside a beer box, running from border guards and then being busted when she tried to peddle the simian online, officials said.

The Katy, Texas, woman was first spotted trying to pull her scheme on March 21 at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, when authorities noticed the suspicious box in her car.

She told them she was carrying beer that she bought in Mexico, but the border agents weren’t fooled – noticing holes in the wooden box.

When they opened the enclosure, they discovered the live spider monkey inside and instructed Valdez to pull over.

But the woman refused and sped off, running a traffic light and “nearly colliding with officers and other vehicles,” officials said.

“Later that day, agents found multiple online postings advertising the sale of the spider monkey in the Katy and Houston areas with Valdez’s phone number listed in the advertisements,” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

Savannah Nicole Valdez, 20, of Texas, tried to smuggle this spider monkey into the US by claiming the box it was in was carrying beer.
ICE
“The monkey was ultimately recovered and placed with an animal shelter in the Central Florida area,” officials said.
ICE

A week later, she tuned herself in and admitted that she had smuggled the primate and fled the scene.

“The monkey was ultimately recovered and placed with an animal shelter in the Central Florida area,” officials said.

Valdez pleaded guilty this month to smuggling wildlife into the US without first declaring and invoicing it, as well as  fleeing an immigration checkpoint.

“Smuggling in endangered species for commercial gain is a tragic crime against nature’s precious resources,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee said in a statement.

Valdez faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine when she is sentenced Jan. 25.

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Iranian actresses, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi arrested after defiant stand against government

High-profile Iranian actresses Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi have been arrested after publicly sharing their solidarity with anti-Iranian government dissenters,

As reported by the BBC, via Iran’s state news agency Irna, the women were accused of colluding and acting against Iran’s authorities.

On Sunday, Ghaziani shared an Instagram video of herself on a public street in the country’s capital, of Tehran without her headscarf. The act is considered illegal in the highly conservative Islamic country.

This comes as Iran has exploded with protests contesting the country’s morality police after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by police for not wearing her head covering. The government response has also seen demonstrators killed.

“This may be my last post. From this moment on, if anything happens to me, know that I will always be with the people of Iran until my last breath,” the 52-year-old captioned her Instagram post.

Fellow celebrated actress Riahi was also detained under orders from Iran’s prosecutor’s office on Sunday.

BBC journalist Ali Damedani said she was “one of the first actresses who appeared in public without mandatory hijab after the killing of Mafsa Amini”.

Hengameh Ghaziani receives the Crystal Simorgh for best actress in the film "Days of Life" during Day 9 of the 30th International Fajr Film Festival on February 12, 2012 in Tehran, Iran.
Ghaziani receiving the Crystal Simorgh for best actress in the film “Days of Life” on Day 9 of the 30th International Fajr Film Festival on February 12, 2012 in Tehran, Iran.
Getty Images

Displays of defiance from furious citizens have haunted the government since September, after the death of Ms Amini.

The young Kurdish woman was allegedly killed three days after she was placed in the custody of Iranian morality police.

The dissent has even extended to the FIFA World Cup. Ahead of their match against England, the Iranian team staged a remarkable protest when every player remained silent as their national anthem played prior to the game.

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Biden tells boy to ‘go steal a pumpkin’ during ‘boring’ speech

President Biden on Monday told a boy that he could “go steal a pumpkin” to avoid his “boring” speech about Thanksgiving to Marine Corps members in North Carolina.

Biden, 80, made the surprising stab at humor when he approached the eldest of four children whose Marine Corps mother had just introduced the president.

The well-behaved boy had been minding two of his three younger siblings as his mother spoke and his father held the family’s squirming infant.

“This has to be boring, boring, boring for these kids who are standing up here,” Biden said, grasping the boy’s shoulder. “You’re allowed to do anything you want to do, including go steal a pumpkin if you want — anything you want to do.”

The boy chose instead to listen politely to the president.

There were pumpkins decorating the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, NC, and Biden’s attempts at humor continued — on the heels of his morning turkey pardon — as he told the troops that “the reason we came is the chef’s not bad.”

Biden more seriously recounted to the soldiers his family’s experience with his late son Beau Biden working overseas in the military and praised the families of troops who have to endure their absence.

President Biden speaking at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina during a Thanksgiving dinner with military members and their families on November 21, 2022.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

“Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you’ve done. By the way, I’m serving mashed potatoes so come to my place,” Biden said.

After wrapping up, the president snapped a cellphone selfie with the family and whispered something into the baby’s ear — before donning an apron and scooping mashed potatoes as first lady Jill Biden handled stuffing for an assembly-line buffet.

The president was then swiftly handed a bowl of what appeared to be ice cream before he and the first lady greeted troops, including sitting for conversation and posing for photos.

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‘After Ever Happy’ Is Coming to Netflix on Christmas

It’s a Christmas miracle! After hitting theaters in early September, the fourth film in the After franchise, After Ever Happy, finally has a Netflix release date. And what better way to spend the holidays than to obsess over Tessa (Josephine Langford) and Hardin’s (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) star-crossed relationship?

The movie, which is set to premiere on the streaming platform on Dec. 25, picks up where After We Fell left off: Hardin just found out that his biological father is actually a close family friend who also happens to be his girlfriend’s boss. Messy!

While Hardin lashes out after hearing the news, Tessa has her own drama, and must cope with a loss in her life, leading them to separate for the majority of the film.

What happens next is a question only the movie (and the upcoming fifth installment) can answer — since, of course, Tiffin teased the next chapter, which will be called After Everything, in a video posted to Twitter last summer.

In the meantime, you can catch up with all the toxicity in the first three movies — After, After We Collided, and After We Fell — which are currently streaming on Netflix.

And if you find some time between opening gifts and spending time with family, After Ever Happy will be available in your Netflix queue to fill you in on the next part of the saga on Christmas Day.



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Alleged Colorado gunman Anderson Lee Aldrich evaded red flag law

The gunman who allegedly opened fire inside a Colorado LGBTQ club Saturday night, killing five people, had prior run-ins with the law including reportedly threatening his own mother with a homemade bomb.

Anderson Lee Aldrich — who was recovering in a hospital after the attack — had been arrested and charged with menacing and first-degree kidnapping in June 2021 for allegedly making a threat to detonate an explosive, according to police records.

Aldrich had “multiple weapons” and ammunition in his possession when he allegedly threatened to unleash carnage — causing ten homes in the area to be evacuated.

People hold a vigil at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on Nov. 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs.
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A little girl is spotted holding a candle near a makeshift memorial created for the Club Q nightclub victims on Nov. 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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A message to visitors sits at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on Nov. 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
AFP via Getty Images

Police did not find any homemade explosives.

His mother had refused to cooperate with investigators in the case. Aldrich was not prosecuted, according to local Fox-affiliate station KDVR.

The records were sealed, helping him evade any “red flag” laws and potential seizure of weapons, according to the Associated Press.

Aldrich himself said the case was dropped in a voicemail he left to the paper after calling an editor asking for the story to be removed or updated.

“There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I’m asking you either remove or update the story,” he said in a voice message to The Gazette. “The entire case was dismissed.”

A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said its investigation into the night club shooting will also include a probe of the bomb threat.

Gun control activists wondered if the red flag law had been utilized if the deadly tragedy could have been prevented or if it could at least have flagged Aldrich to authorities.

“We need heroes beforehand — parents, co-workers, friends who are seeing someone go down this path,” said Colorado state Rep. Tom Sullivan, whose son was killed in the Aurora theater shooting and sponsored the state’s red flag law passed in 2019. “This should have alerted them, put him on their radar.”

Law enforcement personnel stand outside Club Q following the shooting in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Nov. 20, 2022.
AP

Aldrich allegedly entered Club Q in El Paso County with a long gun just before midnight and immediately opened fire on patrons and employees — until several customers were able to stop the bloodshed and subdued him.

Five people died and 18 were injured — seven critically, police said. Investigators are looking into a possible motive and if hate crime charges are appropriate. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.

With Post wires.

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Kanye West says he’s running for president in 2024

Kanye West said he’s planning a 2024 presidential run and has tapped far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos in a video posted to Twitter Sunday.

The video, in which West says Yiannopoulos is working on his campaign, comes as the rapper’s Twitter account was restored after he was banned from the app in the wake of vile, anti-Semitic remarks he made last month.

“This is Milo right here, working on the campaign,” West, 45, said in the video posted by “PatriotTakes” Twitter account.

“Is that an announcement?” one of the men asks as they both laugh.

“I guess it is,” Yiannopoulos — who most recently worked as an unpaid intern for right-wing firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — replied chuckling. “Thanks, I accept.”

The cameraman then asked West, “So you are running?”

The news comes after Kanye West’s Twitter account was restored after he was banned from the app following his anti-Semitic remarks last month.
Getty Images

“Yes,” Ye answered with a laugh. “It’s simple ’cause ain’t nobody can tell me, you know, ‘you should say this, you shouldn’t say that,’ you know? It’s just we’re moving towards the future.”

West and Yiannopoulos have a shared experience of making horrific remarks and quickly being slammed by the public.

West, who changed his legal name to Ye, tweeted about going “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” in early October and was subsequently banned from the social media platform.

Earlier Sunday, the musician-turned-designer posted a message to his Twitter profile to see if his account was reinstated since Elon Musk took over the company.

“Testing Testing Seeing if my Twitter is unblocked,” West wrote to his nearly 32 million followers.

Musk, who bought the company for $44 billion, said last month that West’s account was restored before the acquisition and he was not consulted beforehand.

The billionaire restored former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account a day earlier after polling users. Trump, who also announced a 2024 White House run, was dumped from Twitter in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Kanye West stands as he talks with real estate developer and US President Donald Trump in the White House’s Oval Office in Washington D.C. on Oct. 11, 2018.
Getty Images

Yiannopoulos, who remains off Twitter, had largely disappeared from the public eye since 2017 when he made comments allegedly advocating for pedophilia — stating that sex between 13-year-olds and older men can be “life-affirming.”

He made headlines over the summer with the announcement of his humble, unpaid gig working for Taylor Greene.



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Vanessa Mark ID’d as Brandeis University student killed in bus crash that injured 27 others

An undergraduate student at Brandeis University was identified Sunday as the person killed in a shuttle bus crash near the college that left 27 other students injured.

Vanessa Mark, 25, died after the bus taking the group back to campus from a hockey game at Northeastern University crashed into a tree Saturday night and rolled over several times, the Waltham Police Department said.

“While Vanessa was currently on leave, she was living in Waltham and was an active and cherished member of the Brandeis community,” university president Ron Liebowitz said in a letter to the school community.

Brandeis canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday, allowing students to process the incident with loved ones ahead of Thanksgiving.

Additional support for students remaining on campus will be made available throughout the week, the university said.

Officials have not shared what caused the bus to crash in Waltham, or the severity of the injuries sustained.

Police have identified Vanessa Mark as the Brandeis University student killed in a shuttle bus crash near the college on November 19, 2022.
@MassFireChaser via Storyful

The university said in a statement that 17 of the injured students had been released from the hospital while the rest remained for further treatment.

Video from the scene showed the mangled bus upright in a residential neighborhood with debris scattered around it. The roof of the bus appeared to be heavily damaged and several windows were smashed, the video showed.

Other video showed victims being treated for their injuries, some being carted off in stretchers.

The crash injured 27 other students on the way back to campus after a hockey game at Northeastern University.
@MassFireChaser via Storyful

The bus was towed away from the scene around 6 a.m. – over seven hours after the crash took place.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. No charges have been filed.

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Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez reveal space travel plans as they praise each other in first joint interview

Teamwork makes the romance work, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and longtime girlfriend Lauren Sánchez gush in their first interview as a couple.

Bezos, the fourth wealthiest person in the world, and journalist Sanchez shared their mutual adoration during a sit-down interview with CNN.

“We’re really great teammates, and we also have a lot of fun together,” Sánchez said. “And we love each other … We always look at each other and we’re the team.”

Bezos added that “it’s easy.”

“We bring each other energy, we respect each other. So, it’s fun to work together,” the online retail titan said.

Bezos, 58, who also is founder of the spaceflight company Blue Origin, said he hopes to make space travel accessible for everyone — and believes in his lifetime everyone who wants to should be able to travel to space.

“Let me give you an example. The Wright brothers flew this tiny little plane, just a couple hundred feet. And if you told the Wright brothers a hundred years from now, there’s going be a 787 that carries 400 people, they’d laugh,” Bezos said.

“We bring each other energy, we respect each other. So, it’s fun to work together.” Jeff Bezos said.
CNN

Sánchez, 52, an Emmy-award-winning journalist, asserted she plans on flying to space in 2023 on a flight accompanied by a “great group of females.” Sánchez is also a licensed pilot and founder of Black Ops Aviation, the first female-owned and operated aerial film and production company.

“I’ve also learned how to fly the helicopter,” Bezos said, prompting a laugh from Sanchez. “And she’s a horrible backseat pilot. She’s terrible!”

Sánchez countered she “realized that when I’m in the back of the helicopter when he’s flying, I just kind of have to look out the window, just kind of enjoy the scenery.

During the interview Jeff Bezos revealed he plans to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime.
CNN

“I’m like, ‘No, no. Pull up. Okay. Okay, Slow down.’ But he’s very good.,” she said.

The normally-private pair also spoke about their typical weekends, admitting Saturday nights consist of watching movies and spending time with their families.

“We can be kind of boring,” Sánchez said. “I would say normal. We have dinner with the kids. That’s always fun and a great conversation. There’s seven between us, so there’s a lot of discussion. And then we watch a movie … by committee. It takes a long time to find that movie.”

“We probably spend more time picking the movie than we need to,” Bezos added.

During the interview Bezos also revealed he plans to give away most of his wealth during his lifetime, admitting he doesn’t yet have a plan on how to unload his billions on issues like climate change.

Lauren Sánchez is an Emmy-award winning journalist and licensed pilot.
Instagram/@laurenwsanchez

He said he plans on taking his time doing so.

“It’s not easy,” Bezos said. “Building Amazon was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, a bunch of very smart teammates, hard-working teammates, and I’m finding — and I think Lauren is finding the same thing — that charity, philanthropy, is very similar.”

“There are a bunch of ways that I think you could do ineffective things, too,” he added. “So you have to think about it carefully and you have to have brilliant people on the team.”

Bezos’ ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has given away nearly $4 billion to 465 organizations in less than a year and twice that amount over the past two years.

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1 dead, 1 injured in University of New Mexico shooting

A 19-year-old University of New Mexico student was shot dead during a gunfight with a New Mexico State University basketball player Saturday morning.

The 21-year-old player was injured and hospitalized following the shooting, which took place outside a dormitory on the University of New Mexico’s main campus in Albuquerque, the New Mexico State Police said in a press release.

Police responded to an altercation involving four people around 3 a.m. Saturday, which led to shots being fired.

The shooting took place several hours before a men’s basketball game was scheduled to take place at the University of New Mexico between the two rival schools. The game was postponed as a result of the shooting.

Neither of the students involved have been identified.
KOB

“Our thoughts are with all of those impacted by this tragedy,” UNM’s basketball team tweeted.

Police are still searching for two other individuals believed to have been involved. There is currently no threat to the campus community, police said.

“This investigation is in the very preliminary stages as investigators and crime scene agents work to process the evidence and identify witnesses to learn what lead up to the shooting,” NMSP said Saturday.

A men’s basketball game between the rival schools has been postponed as a result of the shooting.
KOB

Neither victim has been identified by police, and the condition of the player who was injured is currently unknown.

The investigation is ongoing and being led by the New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau with assistance from the New Mexico State Police Crime Scene Team and the University of New Mexico Police Department. 



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Matthew Mahrer, who made threats against NYC synagogue, is Jewish, kin of a Holocaust survivor: lawyer

One of two men accused of plotting to attack New York City synagogues is Jewish and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, his attorney claimed in court Saturday.

Matthew Mahrer, 22, was ordered held on $150,000 bail at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of criminal possession of a weapon though his lawyer asked that he be released on his own recognizance.

“There are a lot of questions here,” defense attorney Brandon Freycint said of Mahrer, who has allegedly been diagnosed with autism, bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADHD.

“My client is of Jewish heritage. He resides with his parents and his grandfather is actually a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor — and my client is a part-time caretaker,” Freycinet said.

Mahrer and pal Christopher Brown were busted Friday on the Long Island Rail Road with brown carrying weapons and a Nazi armband, according to police sources. 

Cops searched Maher’s searched seized a loaded handgun with an extended magazine and a bulletproof vest from Mahrer’s Upper West Side apartment that he and a buddy allegedly planned to use in a synagogue attack, prosecutors said.

Christopher Brown, who has a history of mental illness, made recent threats to synagogues in the New York area with Mahrer.
NYPD

Mahrer’s defense attorney, Brandon Freycinet, argued that his client has no criminal history and said he’s of “Jewish heritage.”

But Mahrer had no criminal record and his parents had cooperated with cops, his attorney said. The accused had spent time in homeless shelters before moving in with his parents about a year ago, the attorney added.

“Based on that, judge, my client should not be implicated in anything involving hatred towards his own people and his own religion,” he said.

Assistant District Attorney Emilio Hernandez said Mahrer and Brown traveled to Pennsylvania together and bought the gun “with intent to use it in an attack at a synagogue.”

The FBI and NYPD had been on the trail of Mahrer and Brown, a “diagnosed schizophrenic” who recently told family members that he wanted to go to New York and buy a gun, sources said.

“The parents of this defendant alerted police officers to the existence of a firearm within the backpack of the defendant inside the defendant’s apartment,” Hernandez said.

Prosecutors claimed the pair were aware that police were looking for them and decided to leave the firearm in the backpack in the apartment.

Mahrer’s parents were in the gallery for the arraignment. As the defense attorney spoke of her son, her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulder. 

“He’s not what they are saying he is,” his mom told The Post outside the court. His father declined to comment.

Mahrer is due back in court Wednesday.

Brown, 21, is charged with making terroristic threats, aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD said. He was not arraigned Saturday.

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