News of the World

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US NEWS

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'Rogue' daycare workers busted for allegedly running child fight ring

Two South Carolina daycare teachers face multiple charges for allegedly directing 3 and 4-year-olds in their care to fight each other and "allow[ing] the violence to proceed without correction," police said.

Kids Unlimited of Prosperity day care employees Ericka Jones, 27, and Serena Caldwell, 56, turned themselves in to authorities on Thursday after warrants were issued for their arrest, per the Newberry County Sheriff's Office.

Both are charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful conduct to a child, according to the department's Friday press release. Jones faces 14 counts of each charge, while Caldwell faces 15.

Daycare owner John David Dawkins wrote in a statement provided to local outlet WIS-TV that Jones and Caldwell were "immediately terminated" after staff reported their behavior and security footage was viewed.

The facility immediately notified the South Carolina Department of Social Services and the Newberry County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff Lee Foster told WLTX the daycare had cooperated fully in their subsequent investigation.

Investigating deputies discovered that the two women instructed children to shove, pull and hit each other, per the outlet.

A very similar case had come about in Saint Louis, Missouri back in 2018.

ICE deports illegal immigrant wanted for murder, had been detained seven times at border

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported an illegal immigrant who is wanted for murder in Mexico and had been living illegally in the U.S. despite having been stopped at the border more than half a dozen times previously.

Juan Martinez Merida, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was deported in October, authorities said in a recent press release.

He had previously been detained at least seven times at the border, and had been allowed to depart voluntarily — where an illegal immigrant is allowed to leave the country by themselves and therefore avoid being given a final order of removal. He then escaped into the country as a got-away at an unknown time, according to ICE.

He was arrested in August by ICE’s branch in Philadelphia, and was charged with inadmissibility. Last month an immigration judge ordered his removal to Mexico, since there is an active warrant for his arrest.

In a statement, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) said Merida was wanted for murder in Mexico.

Fourth Circuit Appeals Court: Maryland Handgun License Requirement Unconstitutional

On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found that Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License requirement violated the constitution.

Plaintiffs in the case include Maryland Shall Issue, Inc., Atlantic Guns, Inc., Deborah Kay Miller, and Susan Brancato Vizas.

The case reached the Fourth Circuit panel on appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore
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Richardson wrote the majority opinion, noting numerous gun controls surrounding firearm purchases in Maryland and then pointing to a specific gun control — the Handgun Qualification License — pertaining to handguns:

For handguns specifically…there is an additional, preliminary step: You must also obtain a “handgun qualification license.” … Getting that license requires, among other things, submitting fingerprints to undergo a background “investigation” and taking a four-hour-long “firearms safety training course” in which you must fire at least one live round. Then, after submitting your application for this extra license, you must wait up to thirty days for approval before you can start the rest of the process.
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Plaintiffs seek to enjoin the state from enforcing only this additional, preliminary handgun-licensure requirement. And Plaintiffs’ challenge must succeed. The challenged law restricts the ability of law-abiding adult citizens to possess handguns, and the state has not presented a historical analogue that justifies its restriction; indeed, it has seemingly admitted that it couldn’t find one. Under the Supreme Court’s new burden-shifting test for … these claims, Maryland’s law thus fails, and we must enjoin its enforcement.

U.S. Navy Plane Overshoots Hawaii Runway, Splashes into Sea: All Crew Safe

A U.S. Navy plane with nine crew aboard overshot a runway Monday at a military base in Hawaii and ended up in the shallow waters of Kaneohe Bay. No injuries have been reported, authorities said.

UPI reports the P-8A Poseidon multi-mission aircraft came to grief around 1:57 p.m. The plane was seen sitting upright off Marine Corps Base Hawaii on the island of Oahu.

“All nine passengers aboard the aircraft at the time of the incident are accounted for, and no injuries are reported,” base spokesman Marine Maj. Jordan Fox said.

Images posted on Hawaii News Now show the white airplane surrounded by water some 50 yards offshore. The bay’s depth in that area ranges from 5 to 25 feet, according to nautical charts. Sand, mud and coral cover much of the bottom of the picturesque bay.

The Navy’s P-8A Poseidon aircraft is a surveillance jet with the airframe of a Boeing 737 passenger plane, according to Marine Corps spokesperson 1st Lt. Hailey Harms.

The crew, assigned to Whidbey Island in Washington, was performing “routine training” at the time of the crash which is still under investigation, the UPI report sets out.

ASIAN NEWS

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China Warns Argentine President-Elect Javier Milei: Your Country Is Too Poor to Cut Ties with Us

Chinese state media commentators declared it “impossible” on Monday for Argentina to cut ties with Beijing following the election victory this weekend of anti-communist libertarian president-elect Javier Milei, who vowed not to promote cooperation with the Communist Party in favor of “civilized” nations.

Milei won Sunday’s presidential election in a landslide, besting opponent Sergio Massa, the socialist current economics minister, by over 11 percentage points. As a candidate, Milei vowed to dramatically limit the size of Argentina’s federal government, curb inflation by making the U.S. dollar an official national currency, and reorient the nation’s foreign policy towards the United States and Israel.

Under current President Alberto Fernández and several similar Peronist socialist governments, Argentina has dramatically increased cooperation with China, Russia, Iran, and other rogue nations. Argentina is a member of China’s predatory Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and received approval for membership in the China-led BRICS coalition, scheduled to begin in January.

Milei has referred to China as a “murderer” regime and his aides have indicated he has no interest in joining BRICS, an economic and security bloc including China, Russia, India, Brazil, and South Africa. Diana Mondino, the likely Argentine foreign minister under Milei, reportedly told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the Milei administration would “stop interacting with” China.
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“It would be a huge foreign policy mistake for Argentina to cut ties with major countries like China or Brazil. China is Argentina’s important trading partner,” Mao said, according to the transcript of her regular press briefing on Tuesday. “The newly elected Argentine government values its relations with China, especially the business ties between the two countries.”

China Hosts Pro-Hamas Arab Dialogue Summit on Israel

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a group of Arab foreign ministers in Beijing on Monday for a discussion of the Gaza war.

The meeting was decidedly pro-Hamas in tone, with China demanding an immediate ceasefire to protect the terrorist organization, demanding a state for the Palestinians, and criticizing Israel’s counter-terrorist operation in Gaza.

The meeting included the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan, plus the Palestinian Authority and Indonesia. 

“China is a good friend and brother of Arab and Islamic countries. We have always firmly safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of Arab (and) Islamic countries and have always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people,” Wang said when he convened the meeting, as quoted by the Associated Press (AP).

The AP noted that China has “long backed the Palestinians” and has stubbornly refused to criticize the hideous atrocities perpetrated against Israeli civilians on October 7. No denunciation of the Hamas atrocities was reported at the dialogue in Beijing.

MIDDLE EASTERN NEWS

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Israeli Government Approves Deal: 4-Day Pause for 50 Hostages

The Israeli government approved a deal Tuesday night that will see the Palestinian Hamas terror group release at least 50 female, child, and elderly hostages over four days, in return for a pause in the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

In return, Israel will release a greater number of convicted Palestinians — though none who have been convicted of murder. Israel will resume the fight as soon as the hostages are delivered and the four-day period is over, as it works to destroy Hamas.
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According to the developing deal, Hamas will release at least 50 Israeli hostages, mainly women and children, in exchange for a ceasefire of four days, the release of between 150 and 300 Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of fuel and other goods into Gaza.

Some 12-13 hostages will be released per day as the ceasefire takes effect, the source says, adding that Israel will release women and minor prisoners, with each returning to the city or town where he lived prior to imprisonment, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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Update: Israel’s Army Radio reports that up to 80 hostages will be released, with Hamas able to secure an additional day of relief from fighting for every 10 additional hostages it releases.

Israel Bans Pakistan-Based Terrorists, Gaining India’s Favor

Israel on Tuesday banned the Pakistan-based terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), perpetrators of the horrific Mumbai massacre in November 2008.

The Indian government did not request Israel’s action but appeared to heartily approve of the decision. Israel has likewise asked India to ban Hamas, which tortured, raped, and slaughtered 1,200 Israeli civilians on October 7.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose name means “Army of the Righteous,” is a Salafist jihadi organization like the Islamic State. The group became active in the late 1980s as a proxy force for the Pakistani government to oppose India in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir regions.

By the mid-1990s, LeT had expanded from paramilitary operations against Indian military targets to suicide bombings and murdering Hindu and Sikh civilians, and it began launching attacks outside Kashmir in the early 2000s. Pakistan responded to intense international pressure by banning LeT and freezing its assets in 2002. Most of the group’s members are Pakistani nationals, and its training camps and headquarters are located in Pakistan.
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Gilon noted that most of India’s key allies, including the United States, Canada, European Union, and Australia, have designated Hamas as terrorists. The Indian government has not yet taken that step, although it does officially describe the October 7 Hamas atrocity as a terrorist attack.