Two Canadians die in shooting at Mexican Caribbean resort

Two Canadians died of gunshot wounds after an argument turned violent at a resort near Cancun on Mexico's Caribbean coast, authorities said on Friday. Both guests at the upscale resort on the Riviera Maya of Quintana Roo state had criminal records, said Mexican officials, citing information from the Canadian police. Mexican police are searching for another person thought to have fired the shots who had a "long" criminal record in Canada, said the attorney general's office in Quintana Roo, home to a stretch of white-sand beach resorts and lush jungles.

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  Two Canadian tourists shot dead at Mexican resort

  The Independent
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  Two Canadians shot dead at upscale Mexican resort

  BBC

A 73-year-old New York grandmother outsmarted scammers who pretended to be her grandson and said he needed $8,000 to be bailed out of jail

A Long Island grandmother outsmarted a group of scammers who wanted $8,000 from her. The woman said a man called her and pretended to be her grandson, claiming he needed $8,000 in bail money. A Long Island grandmother outsmarted scammers who tried to steal thousands from her.

A Pennsylvania woman rescued a ‘scared’ animal. No one knows what it is

A woman in Pennsylvania has experts flummoxed by the animal she discovered outside of her home. Christina Eyth rescued the animal earlier this week near her home in Fairfield Township after finding paw prints outside of her door. Eyth followed the tracks, assuming they had belonged to her neighbor's dog after they had gotten loose.

'Whoa, that's not right': Georgia towns lead census appeals

When officials in Chester, Georgia, heard that the 2020 census had pegged their small town at 525 people, their jaws dropped. “I said, 'Whoa, that's not right,'” City Clerk Melanie McCook said. Chester and two other small, rural municipalities in Georgia are the first communities in the U.S. to challenge the accuracy of their numbers from the once-a-decade head count.

Column: Here's what happened after $1,200 was drained from an 11-year-old's bank account

In response to Chase's refusal to restore even a portion of his daughter's money, Golden said he closed his five Chase accounts and moved about $160,000 in assets to another bank. "I was amazed," he told me. "They showed no remorse whatsoever.

I Work With Dying Veterans. Here's Why I Don't Automatically Thank Them For Their Service.

A smiling intern approaches with a flag pin intent on thanking him for his military service whether he likes it or not. Earlier that morning, I noticed James standing apart from the milling crowd gathered for a workshop on terminally ill veterans who have “combat-related psychological challenges” like post-traumatic stress disorder, moral injury and complicated bereavement. With his straight back and hair cut in the style of a Marine, James was a stark contrast to the business card-exchanging group of social workers and psychologists with whom I'd been chatting.

German government distances itself from navy chief's comments on Putin

The German government on Saturday distanced itself from comments made by its navy chief after video footage emerged in which the vice-admiral said Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow. German Navy Chief Kay-Achim Schoenbach apologized for his "rash" comments, published on YouTube and widely circulated on German media, and called them a mistake. In a Twitter post, Schoenbach said his remarks at a thinktank discussion in India expressed a personal opinion and not the official position of the defence ministry.

Brian Laundrie texted between his and Gabby Petito's phone to trick law enforcement into thinking she was still alive, FBI says

Brian Laundrie sent texts between his and his fiancé's phones to trick police into thinking she was alive, per the FBI. Gabby Petito's body was discovered at a Wyoming campsite in September. Laundrie's remains were found in a Florida reserve in October, along with his backpack and notebook.

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  FBI: Laundrie admitted killing Gabby Petito in notebook

  Associated Press
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  Brian Laundrie sent text messages to try and make police think Gabby Petito was still alive, says FBI

  The Independent

The problem with Joe Rogan…and white boys

However, I cannot, in good conscience, declare that I am unbiased when it comes to Spotify's $100 million white man because of one fact: I like Joe Rogan. Perhaps “like” is too austere a word. I've paid to see him perform live.

Mother: teachers manipulated child to change gender identity

A mother who claims teachers secretly manipulated her 11-year-old daughter into changing her gender identity and name has filed a legal case against a tiny California school district. Spreckels Union School District was responsible for “extreme and outrageous conduct” that led the student on a path toward transitioning as a boy and drove a wedge between mother and child, according to the claim filed Wednesday by a conservative legal group. Jessica Konen said two middle school teachers who ran the school's Equality Club — later known as UBU (You Be You) — planted the seed that her daughter was bisexual in 6th grade and then introduced the idea she was transgender.

Toddler clears out mom's online shopping cart, orders $2K worth of items from Walmart

A New Jersey woman was browsing furniture on Walmart's website and adding items to her cart, but had not yet purchased any of them. Madhu Kumar said she asked her husband and two older children if they had bought the items, but they said it wasn't them. Ayaansh, who is most likely still learning how to count, was playing on his mother's phone when he ordered the items totaling almost $2,000.

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  Toddler orders $2,000 worth of items at Walmart while playing with mom's phone

  USA TODAY
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  15 Items That Are Always Cheaper at Walmart

  GOBankingRates

Missouri jail officer wore Confederate flag to prom. She calls it ‘southern heritage’

The Lafayette County Sheriff's Office is defending one of its jail employees for her decision to wear attire featuring the Confederate flag years before she began working for the agency. Sgt. Samantha Bell, an employee with the jail division for the sheriff's office, wore a red dress with the stars and bars to her senior prom at Wellington-Napolean High School in 2013. Bell has been employed with the sheriff's office for the past five years.

Kansas teen's death has spotlight on 'stand your ground' law

Kansas lawmakers were thinking of homeowners facing down burglars and people attacked on the street when they wrote a “stand your ground” law more than a decade ago allowing use of deadly force in self defense. Now even some Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature who support the idea behind the law want to revisit it. Police took 17-year-old Cedric Lofton to the center after a foster care agency said he needed a mental health exam for increasingly erratic behavior.

Jimmy Kimmel Reveals the Unlikely Guy Who Could Bring Down Trump

On Thursday night, Jimmy Kimmel gleefully ran down the significant legal problems facing former President Donald Trump during his monologue. “The legal woes for Trump are piling up,” said Kimmel. Yes, according to Trump's former press secretary Stephanie Grisham, Trump held top secret closed-door meetings at the Executive Residence of the White House just prior to the Jan. 6 insurrection, and attendees were not officially recorded to keep it off the books.

Texas attorney general refuses to hand over Jan. 6 records

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has rejected a prosecutor's demand for records of his appearance at a pro-Donald Trump rally that preceded the assault on the U.S. Capitol. Last week, the Travis County district attorney's office had set a four-day deadline for Paxton to turn over the records involving the Jan. 6, 2021, rally or face a lawsuit accusing him of violating the state open records law. But in a letter to the district attorney's office Friday, the attorney general's office denied any violations and rejected the office's demands.

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  Texas AG rejects demands to hand over documents related to Jan. 6

  The Hill
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  AG Ken Paxton denies violating open records law in newspapers' request for Jan. 6 communication

  Austin American-Statesman

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sold up to $15,000 worth of Activision Blizzard stock on the day Microsoft announced plans to buy the video game company

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a stock disclosure that she sold up to $15,000 worth of Activision stock on January 18. Microsoft's announced plans to acquire video-game giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion on the same day. Activision's stock soared that day, and Greene reported at least $200 in capital gains from the sale.

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  What Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard means for racing games | Gaming Roundup

  Autoblog
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  Raven Software testers at Activision Blizzard form the first union at a major US gaming company

  TechCrunch

Illegal firearms and ammunition seized from Ravenna Township home Friday

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with the Portage County Sheriff's Office and its Drug and Violent Crime Unit seized 20 firearms and approximately 5,000 rounds of ammunition while executing a federal search warrant at a Ravenna Township residence on Friday, according to a sheriff's office press release. Numerous high capacity magazines were also recovered. An individual in the residence is prohibited from possessing firearms due to previous felony drug trafficking and drug possession convictions in the Portage County Court of Common Pleas.

Police: Truck with 100 monkeys crashes, some of them missing

A truck carrying about 100 monkeys was involved in a crash Friday in Pennsylvania, state police said as authorities searched for at least three of the monkeys that appeared to have escaped the vehicle. The truck carrying the animals crashed with a dump truck in the afternoon in Montour County, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Andrea Pelachick told the Daily Item. Authorities have asked residents who might see the monkeys to call state police at 570-524-2662.

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  Police searching for monkeys who escaped after highway crash

  The Independent
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  A truck carrying 100 monkeys crashed on the way to a laboratory, and police are still looking for 1 of the 4 that escaped

  INSIDER

US man found dead surrounded by deadly pythons and cobras

A US man has been found dead at his home surrounded by dozens of snakes - many of them venomous. Neighbours alerted police after going to the house in the US state of Maryland and discovering him lying on the floor, apparently unconscious. When officers arrived, they found 124 venomous and non-venomous snakes including pythons, cobras and rattlesnakes.

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  Dead man — and 100-plus snakes — found in rural Maryland home. Some were venomous

  State College Centre Daily Times
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  124 snakes found with body of dead man in Maryland home

  The Independent

My Gentle, Intelligent Brother Is Now A Conspiracy Theorist And His Beliefs Are Shocking

In Australia, there's [a tunnel] all the way around the continent and it's being used for human trafficking and organ harvesting and basically using human beings like cattle. JFK found out about it 50 years ago, and it's taken 50 years to drive them out. And it's now over.

U.S. suspends 44 U.S flights by Chinese carriers after China action

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government said on Friday it would suspend 44 China-bound flights from the United States by four Chinese carriers in response to the Chinese government's decision to suspend some U.S. carrier flights over COVID-19 concerns. The suspensions will begin on Jan. 30 with Xiamen Airlines' scheduled Los Angeles-to-Xiamen flight and run through March 29, the Transportation Department said. The decision will cut some flights by Xiamen, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.

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  US blocks flights by Chinese airlines in escalating dispute

  Associated Press
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  China Southern Airlines completes Boeing 737 MAX test flight

  Reuters

Canadian Guests Killed After Gunfire Erupts at Ritzy Playa del Carmen Resort

The shooting is the latest in a spate of horrific violence in the vacation hotspot. A man wielding a gun was caught on CCTV at the five-star Xcaret Hotel, located at popular Playa del Carmen, in a gray sweatsuit by the pool. Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez, the Public Secretary of Defense for the state of Quintana Roo, said gunfire broke out after a group of Canadian guests got into an argument.

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  One Dead, Two Injured After Dispute at Hotel at Mexico's Playa Del Carmen

  Storyful
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  Two Canadian tourists shot dead at Mexican resort

  The Independent

Bill Maher pushes back on Fauci: 'Don't sit there in your white coat and tell me "just do what we say"'

"That's not a criticism of them like they're being corrupt, although there certainly is plenty of corruption in the medical establishment," the "Real Time" host said in an interview with Deadline published Friday, when asked if he believes Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease doctor, or the medical establishment "really know what they are doing." The medical community, the controversial HBO host said, has been wrong "a lot" throughout history. Despite the country seeing more than 860,000 deaths from COVID-19 since 2020, Maher said he was "never scared" of the pandemic.

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  Is ‘Real Time With Bill Maher’ New Tonight?

  The Wrap
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  Dr. Fauci Just Issued New Rules for Staying Safe

  Eat This, Not That!