Ruby Franke hearing - live: YouTube parenting influencer in Utah court over child abuse as 911 call revealed
Utah mother of six Ruby Franke who gave parenting advice via a once-popular YouTube channel called “8 Passengers” will make an initial virtual court appearance today on charges that she and the owner of a relationship counseling business abused and starved her two young children. Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt were charged with six felony counts of aggravated child abuse after their arrests on 30 August at Ms Hildebrandt's house in the city of Ivins. Ms Franke's 12-year-old son escaped the house that morning and asked a neighbour to call police, according to the 911 call released by the St George Police Department. “I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help,” the neighbour says, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC. “He is emaciated. He’s got tape around his legs. He’s hungry and he’s thirsty,” the neighbour told police, his voice shaky and distraught. “He has duct tape around each ankle. There’s sores around them. He has them around his wrists as well,” the neighbour continued: “This kid has obviously... he’s been detained. He’s obviously covered in wounds.”
1970-01-01 08:00
iPhone Hacked Using NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware
An iPhone belonging to a staffer at a Washington-based civil society organization was hacked remotely with spyware created
1970-01-01 08:00
‘Weak’ Putin killed Wagner mercenary chief Prigozhin, Zelensky says
Vladimir Putin orchestrated the killing of Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin thanks to his own weakness, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The Ukrainian president made the off-hand remark during a conference in Kyiv on Friday, without providing any additional evidence. Mr Prigozhin died in an unexplained crash when a plane carrying himself and some of his top lieutenants went down when flying between Moscow and St Petersburg in late August. Mr Prigozhin offered the most severe challenge to the Russian president’s authority in more than 20 years in power when he and his Wagner fighters rose up against Moscow in June. The mutiny began when Mr Prigozhin’s forces left their base in southern Russia and marched on Moscow. It prompted the Kremlin chief to accuse Mr Prigozhin of "treason" and a "stab in the back". Mr Prigozhin and his troops were eventually halted 24 hours later, about 125 miles from the Russian capital, when a deal was brokered between the Kremlin and Mr Prigozhin by the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko. See our live blog for the latest developments in Ukraine Mr Prigozhin had been in a public feud with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov for months about the direction of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its 18th month. There has been a crackdown on dissent against the war across Russian society, with dozens facing prison sentences. Western leaders have suggested that little of note happens in Russia without Mr Putin’s sign-off and that he would be unlikely to let the embarrassment of the mutiny go without sending a message to others looking to undermine his presidency. Mr Zelensky said on Friday: "The fact that he killed Prigozhin - at least that’s the information we all have, not any other kind - that also speaks to his rationality, and about the fact that he is weak.” He made the statement in answer to another question about the Russian president. The Kremlin says all possible causes of the crash will be investigated, including the possibility of foul play. It has called the suggestion that Putin ordered the deaths of Mr Prigozhin and his men an "absolute lie". Many critics of Mr Putin have died in unclear circumstances during his 23 years in power, or narrowly escaped dying. Russia’s most recognisable opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, is facing decades in prison over various charges that are widely considered to be politically motivated. He was arrested in 2021 upon returning to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from what is believed to have been nerve agent poisoning. He has blamed that poisoning on the Kremlin, as did a number of Western nations. The Kremlin has denied involvement. Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky’s hometown Kryvyi Rih was one of several sites in Ukraine to be hit by Russian missiles overnight into Friday. Three people were also killed after a Russian bomb struck the village of Odradokamianka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. The strikes come as Ukraine is trying to push back Russian troops and reclaim its territory as part of a summer offensive. However, Mr Zelensky said that his nation is finding it harder and slower to secure sanctions on Russia and weapon supplies to help fend off Moscow's forces. He said Ukraine's three-month-old counteroffensive would make faster gains in the south and east if Kyiv's military received more powerful weapons. "The war is slowing down. This is true, we recognise this. All the processes are becoming harder and slowing down: from sanctions to the delivery of weapons," he said. Read More Wagner Group set to be declared a terrorist organisation The UK says it will declare Russia’s Wagner mercenary group a banned terrorist organization Wagner to be declared a terrorist organisation, Home Office says Sunak pledges to ‘put pressure’ on Moscow as he arrives in India for summit Cuba arrests 17 for allegedly helping recruit some of its citizens to fight for Russia in Ukraine Ukraine-Russia war – live: Four dead as Putin’s forces strike Zelensky’s hometown and Kherson
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Chilling 911 call that led to Ruby Franke’s arrest revealed
A newly released 911 call reveals the chilling details of the incident that led to Youtube influencer Ruby Franke’s arrest, when her 12-year-old child sought food and water from a neighbor. Court documents previously showed that Ms Franke’s child, who was reportedly also in the care of her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, “climbed out of the window of an Ivins residence belonging to Jodi Hildebrandt and ran to a neighbor’s home” on 30 August. The child reportedly showed up at the neighbor’s home with “duct tape” covering his ankles and wrists as the he begged for food and water. Alarmed, the neighbor called the police. Now, the neighbor’s side of the story is revealed. “I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help,” the neighbor says, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC. “And he’s said he had just come from a neighbor’s house and we know there’s been problems at this neighbor’s house,” the person said of Ms Franke’s home. The neighbor continued, “He is emaciated. He’s got tape around his legs. He’s hungry and he’s thirsty.” “He has duct tape around each ankle. There’s sores around them. He has them around his wrists as well,” the neighbor told 911. “This kid has obviously... he’s been detained. He’s obviously covered in wounds.” Following the call, officials determined the 12-year-old to be severely malnourished, according to the probable cause statement, and was transferred to a nearby hospital. The child was placed on medical hold after it was discovered that he was also suffering from “deep lacerations” due to “being tied up with rope,” arrest records said. Police then searched Ms Franke’s house, where they found a 10-year-old girl who was also allegedly malnourished and suffering from wounds. This child was also taken to the hospital. Ms Franke faces six felony child abuse charges. Four of her children wound up in the custody of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, KUTVreported. Read More Parenting advice YouTuber Ruby Franke and business partner due in court on child abuse charges Ruby Franke charging documents reveal son’s chilling escape that led to child abuse arrest Influencer Ruby Franke is formally charged with felony child abuse
1970-01-01 08:00
Man arrested for using drone to drop green dye into New Jersey pools
A bizarre mystery where several swimming pools near Atlantic City in New Jersey suddenly turned green has apparently been solved. Patrick Spina IV, 45, was arrested last week when police tracked a drone dropping dye into pools in neighbourhoods in Absecon back to his business. He is facing multiple charges of criminal mischief. Mr Spina’s peculiar pastime was first spotted in late June by a local hotel manager who noticed the pool used by guests had turned a neon colour. "I saw it totally green and I was like, ‘Oh wow what is going on?’ So we saw a dye pack in the bottom of the pool and we didn’t know what it was," Sandra Woolstion, general manager of a Quality Inn in Galloway Township, told ABC. Ms Woolstion said she knew it was not green algae, but even after having the pool drained and cleaned, the dye kept being dropped by the drone bandit at least a dozen times over the summer. The pool was very expensive to clean every time, she said, costing tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance, and guests were often very disappointed by the closure of the pool. "The girls are standing here like, ‘Oh my God we want to go swim.’ Some of them were crying," Ms Woolstion said. "I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?!’ I myself cried. I went into my office and I had a meltdown." Not only were there bills for refurbishments to the pool, but she also took on losses because of pool closures and also had to give her staff overtime pay to monitor the pool. “It was just more than we bargained for,” she told The New York Times. “I was like, ‘I can’t deal with this anymore. This is crazy. This is costing me too much.’” Police also started to receive other calls that reported the same incident happening to their home pools. "We had a resident who was enjoying time in his pool and saw a drone over top and the drone actually dropped something in his pool and it turned green immediately," said Absecon Police Chief James Laughlin. However, Mr Spina’s drone had now been on too many outings for it to fly under the radar. When the drone holding the green dye was seen hovering over the Quality Inn again last Friday, the police brought in staff from the Federal Aviation Administration to track the drone back to a nearby business, Comfort Solutions Heating and Cooling. With this information, police arrested the business owner, Mr Spina. The green pigment turned out to be sea dye that is usually used by search and rescue teams, and which can have a damaging effect on pools. Police say they are still unsure of Mr Spina’s motive for dyeing the pools. Meanwhile, the FAA is investigating the crimes and said that people who use drones in an unsafe manner could face up to $30,000 in fines and have their drone license suspended or revoked. In a statement on Tuesday the agency warned: "FAA regulations prohibit the unsafe or unauthorized operation of any aircraft. We encourage the public to report unauthorized drone operations to local law enforcement to help discourage this dangerous illegal activity." Read More Drone helps ‘adventurous’ 93-year-old ‘go out in style’ Mother charged after New Jersey investigators solve 1984 ‘Baby Mary’ cold case New Jersey failed veterans in state-run homes hit by dozens of COVID-19 deaths, federal report says
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US Releases Environmental Study for Dakota Access Oil Pipeline
The Biden administration released a draft of an environmental study that a judge ordered for Energy Transfer LP’s
1970-01-01 08:00
CFTC Focuses on DeFi Platforms in Latest US Crypto Crackdown
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission brought enforcement actions against three decentralized finance firms and signaled that more
1970-01-01 08:00
Bernard Arnault Has Spent €215 Million Buying Dip in LVMH Stock
Billionaire Bernard Arnault has bought €215 million ($230 million) of LVMH shares since the luxury conglomerate’s disappointing earnings
1970-01-01 08:00
John Lennon’s Missing Patek Philippe Wristwatch Found in Geneva
A Patek Philippe watch given to John Lennon by his wife Yoko Ono shortly before his assassination in
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UK Has Hottest Day of the Year as September Heat Tops Record
The UK had its hottest day of the year on Thursday, and the autumnal heat wave that’s baking
1970-01-01 08:00
California Shows an Electric-Car Uprising Headed for the US
If you want to know how quickly electric vehicles might spread across the US, just look at California.
1970-01-01 08:00
Full list of Atlanta Braves retired numbers -- and when they were retired
The Atlanta Braves are one of the most storied franchises in baseball and a slew of legends have worn their uniforms. Here are the ones who have earned the honor of a retired jersey.
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