***DUPLICATON ALERT: FEATURES: Note ugliest dog obit brief***
NEW JERSEY
Snub leads to machete threat
A northern New Jersey man used a machete to threaten a family who excluded him and his son from their Thanksgiving Day celebrations, authorities say. New Milford police said Joseph Hoo, 48, was charged with weapons offenses and making terroristic threats. Police responding to the family’s home about 2 p.m. Thursday stopped a van leaving the residence. Police said Hoo and his 18-year-old son were in the vehicle, and officers found an 18-inch machete and two baseball bats inside the van. Hoo was released on his own recognizance but ordered to not have contact with the family.
LIBYA
40 inmates escape from prison
Forty inmates escaped from a prison in the southern city of Sabha after it came under attack by unknown gunmen, a Libyan security official said Saturday. The gunmen opened fire on the prison a day earlier and helped the inmates escape after threatening the guards. Libya’s state news agency LANA quoted prison director Shaaban Nasr as saying that some detainees later handed themselves in.
INDIA
Editor accused in sex assault
The editor of an Indian magazine known for exposing abuses of power was arrested Saturday in a sexual assault case that has fueled fresh outrage over the treatment of women in the country, police said. Police took Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal into custody within an hour of Judge Anuja Prabhudesai rejecting his bail petition, police said. The allegations against Tejpal by a female colleague have touched a nerve in part because he is the face of a publication that has pushed Indian society to vanquish corruption and confront the scourge of sexual violence. The woman alleged that Tejpal cornered her in a hotel elevator and assaulted her twice, on Nov. 7 and 8.
NEW JERSEY
2007’s ugliest dog winner dies
A canine that was crowned the world’s ugliest dog in 2007 and later became the topic of a children’s book preaching acceptance has died. Elwood was 8. His owner, Karen Quigley, of Sewell, N.J., said the Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix died unexpectedly on Thursday morning. Quigley said Elwood had been dealing with some heath issues in recent months but appeared to be doing well. He was often referred to by fans as Yoda or E.T. for his resemblance to those famous science-fiction characters. Elwood won his crown at the annual ugly dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California a year after he had finished second. Quigley rescued Elwood in 2005 when he was about nine months old.
CUBA
Heavy rains collapse buildings
At least two people died during torrential rains that lashed Cuba for more than 24 hours, island authorities said Saturday. The deluge caused multiple collapses in dwellings in Havana, Communist Party newspaper Granma reported. A man and a woman were killed in one structure that caved in. The rain arrived early Friday and fell throughout the day. Cuba’s Meteorological Institute recorded 2.8 inches of precipitation during a three-hour period in the afternoon in Havana, with accumulations of up to 7.8 inches overnight.
MASSACHUSETTS
Bulger’s stuff could be auctioned
Former Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger could soon see some of his jewelry, clothes and other belongings on the auction block. The U.S. Marshals Service will auction many of the items seized from Bulger’s California apartment after his arrest two years ago, The Boston Globe reported Saturday. Authorities said the profits will be split among the families of those who were killed by Bulger. The 84-year-old Bulger was sentenced in November to life in prison.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Migrant children plan underway
The Dominican Republic on Saturday launched a plan putting into motion a recent court ruling that could strip the citizenship of children born to migrants living there illegally. The plan gives those affected by the ruling 18 months to request Dominican citizenship starting in June 2014. The plan does not provide details on what kind of requirements or conditions should be met. The ruling states that those born in the Dominican Republic since 1929 to foreigners living illegally in the country are not automatically granted citizenship. Human rights groups say an estimated 200,000 people could lose their citizenship, the majority of those of Haitian descent.
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