Protests erupt in Havana as Cuba struggles to restore electricity

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By Dave Sherwood and Ayose Naranjo Reuters Scattered protests broke out across Havana on Tuesday evening, with residents banging pots, honking horns and shouting “turn on the lights” as millions ‌of Cubans remained without power amid a six-month-long U.S. fuel blockade. Cuba experienced a nationwide outage on ‌Monday — its third this year — but while authorities said most of the country had been reconnected to the island’s grid by late ​Tuesday, many remained in the dark and without electricity as the island doesn’t have enough fuel. The country’s grid operator UNE said it had reconnected the grid from Pinar del Rio, in far western Cuba, to Holguin in the east. Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city, remained disconnected and without power, authorities said. The U.S. in January ‌cut off Cuba’s fuel supply, then ⁠imposed fresh sanctions that have prompted an exodus of foreign businesses and a near-complete collapse o...
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Belleville man sentenced for producing, distributing explicit images of kids

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EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A Belleville, Illinois, man was sentenced last week in federal court for producing and distributing sexually-explicit images of children.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois said Brandon Lepper, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of distribution of child pornography.

“The defendant hid his cell phone and set it up to record in a bathroom he knew a minor would be using to undress in for his own sick pleasure, but then also proceeded to violate and humiliate his victim further by sending their images out into the hands of other pedophiles,” U.S. Attorney Rachelle Aud Crowe said.

According to court documents, FBI agents interviewed Lepper in April 2021 for distributing child sexual abuse material on social media. While searching Lepper's phone, investigators found illicit material on the device's camera roll, in an online folder drive, and in chats sent from the phone.

Agents later discovered Lepper took pictures of an unsuspecting child while they were undressing, and distributed those images to others. Investigators said Lepper personally knew the child.

Lepper's collection of sexually-explicit material included nearly 3,000 images.

A U.S. District Court judge sentenced to Lepper to 262 months in federal prison on exploitation and 240 months on the distribution count. Both sentences will run concurrently. Lepper was ordered to pay $27,500 in restitution, and must serve 15 years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence.



from FOX 2 https://ift.tt/RAUd6z0

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