Feds process asylum-seekers from caravan criticized by Trump

TIJUANA, Mexico –  U.S. border inspectors allowed some of the Central American asylum-seekers to enter the country for processing, ending a brief impasse over lack of space. Now, the migrants who crossed Mexico in a caravan may face a long legal path.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection didn't say how many caravan members were allowed in Monday, but organizers said there were eight.

About 140 others were still waiting in Mexico to turn themselves in at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing, the nation's busiest, said Alex Mensing, project organizer for Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which is leading the caravan.

"The spirits are high, there was good news for everybody," Mensing said on the Mexican side of the crossing, moments after learning that some were allowed in.

American attorneys who volunteered advice in Tijuana last week warned the Central Americans that parents may be separated from their children and be detained for many months while their asylum cases are pending.

Asylum-seekers are typically held up to three days at the border and turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If they pass an asylum officer's initial screening, they may be detained or released with ankle monitors while their cases wind through immigration court, which can take years.

Nearly 80 percent of asylum-seekers passed the initial screening from October through December, but few are likely to win asylum.

The denial rate for El Salvadorans seeking asylum was 79 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Action Clearinghouse. Hondurans were close behind with a 78 percent denial rate, followed Guatemalans at 75 percent.

Trump administration officials have railed against what they call "legal loopholes" and "catch-and-release" policies that allow people seeking asylum to be freed while their cases are adjudicated. The president tweeted Monday that the caravan "shows how weak & ineffective U.S. immigration laws are."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pledged to send more immigration judges to the border if needed and threatened criminal prosecution. On Monday, the Justice Department said it filed illegal entry charges against 11 people identified as caravan members.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it processed hundreds of asylum-seekers in the previous week, many of them Mexican, which contributed to a bottleneck that led inspectors to turn away caravan members since they arrived late Sunday afternoon.

Asylum-seekers didn't appear to be thrown off the by the delay.

Elin Orrellana, a 23-year-old pregnant woman from El Salvador, said she is fleeing the violent MS-13 street gang, a favorite target of both Sessions and Trump because of their brutal killings in communities in the United States. She said her older sister had been killed by the gang in El Salvador, so she is attempting to join other family members in the Kansas City area.

"Fighting on is worth it," she said as she camped out Sunday for chilly night outside the border crossing.

Customs and Border Protection has room for about 300 people at the San Diego border crossing.

"As in the past when we've had to limit the number of people we can bring in for processing at a given time, we expect that this will be a temporary situation," the agency said.

During a surge of Haitian arrivals at the San Diego crossing in 2016, Customs and Border Protection required people to wait more than five weeks in Mexico. Since then, smaller upticks of Mexican asylum-seekers have caused delays of several hours.

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Associated Press videographer Gerardo Carrillo in Tijuana and reporter Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.

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San Francisco announces needle cleanup team amid crackdown on street littering

The Mayor of San Francisco announced Monday the hiring of 10 workers who will clean up needles strewn in the streets.

San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell said the needle-cleanup team will focus solely on responding to resident complaints and remove needles and syringes from "hot spots" daily.

He told The San Francisco Examiner that city residents will feel the impact of the new team "without a doubt" and assured that "If they don't, we will fund more."

About 275,000 needles are collected every month by the Public Health Department and nonprofit organizations focused on providing syringes and safe disposal.

The mayor said discarded syringes are among the top litter complaints in the city with a growing problem of homelessness.

The city will give $750,000 to the AIDS Foundation, which will hire the new team of cleaners, Barbara Garcia, the public health director, said. The cleaners will begin their work sometime in June.

The new initiative is part of a larger effort by the mayor to fix the state of city streets. He recently vowed to combat the problems of tent camps, and stinky urine and trash across the city.

Farrell is expected to present a street-cleaning effort in his June 1 city budget proposal. Last week, the city board approved an additional $1.1 million funding increase for street cleaning, but Farrell said he will veto the proposal because he's in favor of a comprehensive citywide plan, the Examiner reported.

"The trash, our homeless, the needles, the drug abuse on our streets, I've seen it all in our city and it's gotten to the point where we need to really change course," Farrell said in a recent interview.

"We've gone away from just being compassionate to enabling street behavior and that, in my opinion, is a shift that's unacceptable."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lukas Mikelionis is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @LukasMikelionis.

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UN Security Council delegation visiting northern Rakhine

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar –  The U.N. Security Council delegation is visiting part of northern Rakhine state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled military-led violence.

The 15-member delegation co-led by Security Council President Gustavo Meza-Cuadra was joined by Rakhine state and central government officials on Tuesday's visit to Maungdaw in northern Rakhine state where the Myanmar government has built reception camps for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

"The delegation will be visiting Taungpyo and Hla Phoe Khaung reception camps in Maungdaw region," said Myint Khine, a township administrator of Maungdaw.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to begin repatriations, but the Rohingya and others are concerned about their safety in Myanmar.

Myanmar's government agreed to allow the delegates' visit after previously rejecting U.N. requests for a visit by a special fact-finding committee.

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In blow to Taiwan, Dominican Republic forges ties with China

BEIJING –  The Dominican Republic established diplomatic relations with China on Tuesday, breaking ties with Beijing's rival Taiwan in the latest blow to the self-ruled island democracy China has been trying to isolate on the global stage. Taiwan said it was "deeply upset" by the move.

Officials from China and the Dominican government signed a joint communique at an event in Beijing announcing the establishment of ties. The Dominican Republic "breaks diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which is an inalienable part of China, and will not maintain any kind of official relations or contacts," said foreign minister Miguel Vargas, who sat alongside Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi.

The decision was the latest setback for Taiwan in the Caribbean and Latin America. Panama dropped its longtime ties with Taiwan last year and established relations with China, which considers Taiwan to be Chinese territory. The island is recognized as a sovereign nation by only 19 mainly small, developing countries.

Taiwan criticized what it called China's "dollar diplomacy" and announced it would terminate ties with the Dominican Republic immediately, including all projects and assistance it provides to the Caribbean nation.

"This is an unfriendly and destructive approach to cross-strait relations," Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters at an event in Taipei, referring to China's action. "These actions will make the people in Taiwan feel disappointed and increase the variables in cross-strait relations."

The announcement came just a day after Tsai had met with the foreign minister of Haiti, one of Taiwan's allies, in Taipei.

Beijing has been seeking to increase pressure on Tsai, whose independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party says it wants stable relations with China, but refuses to endorse the "one China" principle.

Some analysts say Chinese President Xi Jinping, one of the most powerful Chinese leaders in decades, seems determined to bring Taiwan under Beijing's control during his time in office, something that would place him in the history books alongside Mao Zedong.

The island's 23 million residents are strongly in favor of maintaining their de facto independent status, but Xi has previously warned a Taiwanese envoy that the issue of unification cannot be put off indefinitely.

Wang, China's foreign minister, hailed "a new page in the history of bilateral ties" between Beijing and the Dominican Republic. "From now on, China has one more good friend in Latin America with whom we could help each other," Wang said.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Beijing had offered "vast financial incentives" to the Dominican Republic to get it to end 77 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Wu warned that Beijing has failed to deliver on hundreds of millions of dollars in pledges to some of Taiwan's former diplomatic allies. He said the Taiwanese government was "deeply upset by China's actions."

Taiwan "strongly condemns China's objectionable decision to use dollar diplomacy to convert Taiwan's allies," Wu said.

"While Taiwan faces serious diplomatic challenges, the government will not bow down to pressure from Beijing," Wu said.

Flavio Dario Espinal, legal consultant to the Dominican presidential office, said at a news conference Monday in Santo Domingo that the change in foreign policy was based on the "needs, potential and future prospects" of his Caribbean nation.

"History and socioeconomics reality now force us to change course," he said.

Espinal said that even without formal diplomatic relations with China, trade between the two countries "has grown year after year to the point that today China is the second biggest supplier of our imports."

After Panama cut its ties with Taiwan, then-Taiwanese Foreign Minister David Tawei Lee visited the Dominican Republic last July as part of a campaign to shore up its relations and propose new cooperation projects. During his stay in Santo Domingo, Lee also met with Taiwan's ambassadors in Latin America to discuss strategies for not losing more allies.

The Dominican Republic has received millions of dollars in donations for development programs from Taiwan, but the government also started commercial and political contacts with China beginning in the middle of the past decade.

According to the Dominican government, bilateral trade with China has reached $2 billion a year, making the Dominican Republic the second-largest trading partner for China among the Caribbean and Central American nations.

Espinal said the government informed Taiwan of its move earlier Monday and thanked the Taiwanese for "the cooperation that we have shared for years." He said that had allowed "the development of very important programs" for the Dominican Republic.

Taiwan split from mainland China amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing campaigns relentlessly to isolate the island globally. It cut off relations with Tsai's government shortly after she took office in 2016 and has been steadily ratcheting up both diplomatic and economic pressure. Chinese analysts say Beijing will likely continue to use its economic and political clout to lure away other Taiwanese allies until Tsai accedes to China's demands.

Tsai said Beijing's actions against Taiwan — including ramped up military drills around the island — have increased tensions.

Beijing's actions have "unilaterally undermined the peaceful status quo across the strait and are not what a responsible member of the international community should be doing," a statement from her office said. "Such mistakes should be stopped immediately."

Beijing insists that only it has the right to represent China in international society. The island is excluded from the United Nations and other multinational bodies that require official governmental recognition at China's insistence.

___

Lai reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Associated Press reporter Ezequiel Abiu Lopez contributed to this report from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

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Tonya Harding sobs after 'DWTS' premiere, 'I haven't felt this alive in so long'

Former figure skater Tonya Harding arrives at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills.  (Reuters)

Former ice skater Tonya Harding made an emotional comeback on Monday night's season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars."

On the season-- featuring athletes only-- Harding had elicited the most curiosity of all 10 contestants. And she didn't disappoint, tying for second place for her foxtrot with partner Sasha Farber with a score of 23 out of 30.

Her fellow ice skater Mirai Nagasu also scored 23, while male ice skater Adam Rippon and football player Josh Norman tied for first place with 24 points each.

Although Harding was put "in jeopardy" at the end of the double elimination show, two other dancers in the abbreviated season—baseball player Johnny Damon and snowboarder Jamie Anderson, were sent home instead.

Harding, because of her scandal-plagued past involving Nancy Kerrigan leading up to the 1994 Winter Olympics, was the biggest ballroom question mark.

First, fans saw her getting choked up on camera in rehearsal footage, as she recalled, "I was the best figure skater in the world and then I had it taken away from me. And it just wasn't my career. It was my life. I wasn't allowed to compete…you have people looking at you like you're nothing. You start to believe that you are nothing. I just wanted to do what I was good at."

Harding, now 47, sobbed to the cameras about doing DWTS, "I want people to see that I deserve to be here. I don't like failure."

Her foxtrot with Farber was anything but cold as ice. Wearing a ladylike sparkly dress, she pulled off some graceful moves and then, in a dramatic moment, Farber spun her around like a spinning top as she lay on her back on the ballroom floor!

Audience members gave her a standing ovation and threw roses on the floor, and the judges raved. Carrie Ann Inaba gushed, "You are a beautiful dancer," while Len Goodman called it a "charming" performance.

"I feel like a princess," Harding told "DWTS" co-host Erin Andrews.

After the show, Harding, whose life story was recently told in the acclaimed movie "I, Tonya," said to reporters, "I was very excited. I was wanting to go out and do the best that I could, have fun doing it, and I did. Sasha turned me into a graceful lady on the dance floor and I showed America that I deserve to be part of this amazing event with other great, truly amazing athletes."

Actress Allison Janney, who won an Oscar for playing Harding's mother in the film, and Mckenna Grace, who portrayed her as a little girl, cheered her on as audience members.

"I've always wanted to do this show. Who wouldn't?" Harding told reporters. "But the movie has changed my life. I didn't expect anything from it but when I asked Allison and [the film's writer] Steven Rogers to come to the show and be here with me and support me they said absolutely. It was really awesome to be here and have this new start and show myself that I can do it."

When she got the standing ovation, Harding said she thought, "Holy crap!"

The ice skater got choked up again and told reporters, "I was crying like this. It was amazing."

Harding promised she was "going for it," as all the athletes compete for the mirror ball trophy.

"I just thank God for having me make it through to the second round and I'm ready to go."

Harding said it was "really scary," being in the bottom three. "I'm like, no, not already."

But she survived and will be competing again next week!

"I haven't felt this alive in so long except when I found out that I was gonna have my son," said Harding, who raises the boy, named Gordon, with third husband Joseph Price.

Harding called "DWTS," "my new beginning, a fresh start" that started with the big screen biopic.

The ice skater's husband and son didn't attend the live taping, but she told Fox News, "I love them," adding, "Now that I've made it to second round, my husband will be here [next week] but we chose to keep my son out of the public eye. It's for his safety. I'm sorry, but this world can sometimes be cruel."

Among the other competitors, Olympics luge star Chris Mazdzer and softball player Jennie Finch-Daigle scored 21 points, basketball player Arike Ogunbowale got 20, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar earned the night's lowest score of 17, and Anderson and Damon were eliminated with scores of 19 and 18, respectively.

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Nearly 200 caravan migrants to seek asylum, in direct challenge to Trump administration

Almost 200 migrants parked at the nation's busiest border crossing are planning to seek asylum in the U.S. following their dramatic journey in a caravan through Mexico, setting up a showdown with the Trump administration over immigration and asylum policy.

Eight women and children entered a border facility on Monday to formally file asylum papers, with the rest to follow soon, organizers said. Immigration officials confirmed the facility had begun "processing undocumented arrivals again."

The caravan, which reached the border with San Diego after an approximately 2,000-mile trip, once included more than a thousand people. It is now down to a few hundred.

The migrants' decision to seek asylum comes just one day after U.S. officials closed the border facility there because it was at capacity.

White House officials have long said many claims for asylum are fraudulent, and that illegal immigrants can take advantage of the sometimes years-long asylum process by living in the U.S. while their claims are adjudicated.

Most asylum claims by Central Americans are unsuccessful, Reuters reported, with the majority resulting in immediate detention and eventual denial and deportation.

Asylum claims require a well-founded showing by the applicant of a risk of physical harm, economic retaliation, or imprisonment by the government if an applicant is returned to his home country.

Clearing that high legal bar is challenging, especially because courts do not consider the risk of persecution by most non-state actors, such as criminal groups -- which are the predominant threat in Central America. 

Hundreds of caravan members are reportedly seeking asylum after their arrival at the border.  (AP)

"We can close loopholes and clarify our asylum laws to ensure that they help those they were intended to help," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in October. "As this system becomes overloaded with fake claims, it cannot deal effectively with just claims."

Sessions has since called the caravan "a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system."

He has vowed to send more immigration judges to the border to resolve cases if needed.

And President Trump and members of his Cabinet have been tracking the caravan of migrants, calling it a threat to the U.S. since it started March 25 in the Mexican city of Tapachula, near the Guatemala border.

The caravan of Central American migrants was photographed heavily on its way to the US.  (AP)

"The migrant 'caravan' that is openly defying our border shows how weak & ineffective U.S. immigration laws are," Trump tweeted Monday night. 

NEARLY A DOZEN SUSPECTED CARAVAN MEMBERS FACE DOJ COMPLAINTS

"Yet Democrats like Jon Tester continue to support the open borders agenda – Tester even voted to protect Sanctuary Cities," he added, taking a shot at the West Virginia senator who released a report detailing allegations against ex-Veterans Affairs nominee Adm. Ronny Jackson. "We need lawmakers who will put America First."

But caravan organizers disputed the White House's characterizations, saying the nearly 200 migrants, many traveling with children, decided to apply for protection at the nation's busiest border crossing after many fled violence in their home countries.

Wendi Yaneri Garcia told The Associated Press she's confident she will be released while her asylum case winds its way through the courts because she's traveling alone with her 2-year-old son, who has been sick.

"All I want is a place where I can work and raise my son," the 36-year-old said.

She said police in her hometown of Atlantida, Honduras, jailed her for protesting construction of a hydroelectric plant and that she received death threats after being released.

The caravan's arrival at San Diego's San Ysidro border crossing marked the end of a monthlong journey by foot, freight train and bus for the migrants.

Nefi Hernandez, 24, told the AP a gang in his hometown of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, threatened to kill him and his family if he did not sell drugs. He intended to seek asylum with his wife and baby daughter, who was born on the journey through Mexico.

And Jose Cazares, 31, said he faced death threats in the Honduran city of Yoro because a gang member suspected of killing the mother of his children learned one of his sons reported the crime to police.

But the travelers faced an uncertain future as they asked for asylum. U.S. immigration lawyers warned them that they face possible separation from their children and detention for many months.

CARAVAN PARKS AT BORDER FACILITY AFTER US OFFICIALS REFUSE ENTRY

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said asylum claims will be resolved "efficiently and expeditiously." But she warned that any asylum seekers making false claims could be prosecuted, as could anyone who assists the migrants in doing so.

The San Ysidro crossing can hold about 300 people temporarily, Pete Flores, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's San Diego field office director, said earlier this month.

Asylum seekers are typically held for up to three days at the border and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If they pass an asylum officer's initial screening, they may be detained or released into the U.S. with ankle monitors.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Gregg Re is an editor for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @gregg_re.

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Death penalty decision due in fatal Florida airport shooting

MIAMI –  A decision is due on whether federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the case of an Alaska man accused of killing five people and wounding six in a Florida airport shooting.

Miami U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg says the decision will be announced Tuesday morning in the case of 28-year-old Esteban Santiago. There is also a court hearing Tuesday.

Santiago pleaded not guilty to a 22-count indictment in the January 2017 shooting in a baggage claim area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Authorities say he got a handgun from checked luggage, loaded it in a bathroom and came out firing.

Since his arrest, Santiago has been treated at a Miami jail for schizophrenia. He complained of mental problems before the shooting but was not barred from possessing a gun.

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Pentagon: Claims of retaliation for complaints on rise

WASHINGTON –  Retribution for filing sexual assault or sexual harassment complaints has risen among U.S. service members.

An annual Pentagon report also notes a growing number of sexual misconduct cases.

The report for 2017, released on Monday, finds that there were 146 reports of retaliation last year, compared to 84 in 2016. The number of sexual harassment complaints rose by 16 percent and the number of sexual misconduct cases by about 10 percent.

There were 6,769 reports of sexual assault in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

Pentagon officials say the increase in reporting reflects a broader confidence in the system and is a positive trend because sexual assault is a highly underreported crime.

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Rapper with ties to Snoop Dogg issues 'Crip alert' for Kanye West

December. 13, 2016: then-President-elect Donald Trump and Kanye West pose for a picture in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York.  (AP)

A California rapper on Sunday ordered local gang members to attack Kanye West reports said.

Daz Dillinger, a cousin of legendary rapper Snoop Dogg, issued a "Crip alert" for gang members in an Instagram video.

"Yo national alert, all the Crips out there, y'all f--- Kanye up," he said in the now-deleted clip, referring to the infamous Crips gang in California, Page Six reported. "Better not ever see you in concert; better not ever see you around the LBC; better not ever see you around California."

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

The rapper went on to mention the city where West lives, saying: "Stay in Calabasas, ya hear me? 'Cuz we got a Crip alert for Kanye … All the Crips out there — you see him, bang on his ass, f--- his a-- up. "

Dillinger did not state what prompted the "alert." West has recently been vocal in his support for President Trump.

The backlash shortly followed with numerous people expressing concern about the rapper ordering violent gang members to attack West. Dillinger reportedly also made other messages directed at West over Sunday and Monday.

Other rappers also weighed on the topic, according to Page Six. "What the f--- is going on," 50 Cent wrote on Instagram. "Daz Told the crips to f--- Kanye up…Crips Vs Kardashian's…get the strap."

Snoop Dogg's cousin responded to backlash on Monday, posting on Instagram: "FREEDOM OF SPEECH FUC KANYE THIS CRIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP THE REVOLUTION IS ON NOW [sic]."

Late Monday evening he also posted another video, captioned: "Stick and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt me."

Dillinger is a well-known rap artist who is still releasing music together with his cousin Snoop Dogg.

Snoop Dogg has been also critical of West showing support for President Trump, mocking him in multiple Instagram posts, including a fake tweet from former President George W. Bush saying "Kanye West does not care about black people."

Lukas Mikelionis is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @LukasMikelionis.

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Judge to consider Lithuanian's request to avoid extradition

CHICAGO –  A former Lithuanian judge and parliamentarian jailed in Chicago at Lithuania's request is down to her last hope of avoiding extradition.

It's a request for a stay and a judge overseeing Neringa Venckiene's (VEHN'-kee-ehn-ayz) case will consider it at a hearing Tuesday in Chicago federal court.

The 47-year-old faces charges stemming from her vocal claims that an influential pedophile ring exists in Lithuania.

She fled Lithuania in 2013, settling in suburban Chicago. She worked legally as a florist before her February arrest.

She fears being killed by Lithuanians she angered if extradited. Her lawyers say that in the U.S., her charges would be misdemeanors at worst. They include stalking and disobeying a court order.

The State Department OK'd her extradition last week, saying she can be sent back any time.

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Coyote attacking children on New York playground throttled by off-duty officer

FILE: An off-duty police officer jumped on a coyote and throttled it as the animal attacked a 5-year-old girl on a suburban New York playground.  (Parks Department)

An off-duty police officer jumped on a coyote and throttled it as the animal attacked a 5-year-old girl on a suburban New York playground.

Kasey King-Petrellese told WNBC that the coyote appeared out of nowhere and bolted "like a cheetah" toward her daughter, Natalia, and 3-year-old son on Sunday in Thornwood.

As they fled toward their car, the animal gained on them, first menacing the boy.

"I took my foot and I kicked him as hard as I could in his face, which knocked him to the ground and he stumbled a little. And when he got up he swung over to my daughter's side and bit her arm," said King-Petrellese.

"It was trying to get my brother but it didn't," Natalia recounted. "It made me bleed on the arm."

Off-duty Irvington police Officer Arcangelo Liberatore had spotted the coyote lurking nearby. He and his wife were getting their own children safely into their car when he heard screaming, saw the attack and doubled back, according to the Journal News.

As King-Petrellese repeatedly punched the coyote, Liberatore — a martial arts practitioner — jumped on top of it, clutched its neck and slammed its head on the ground.

"I just sat and tried to squeeze the life out of it," Liberatore told WNBC. "But it was pretty resilient."

Mount Pleasant police arrived and shot and killed the animal. The coyote's remains were sent to the Westchester County Health Department for testing.

King-Petrellese, her two children and the off-duty officer all received rabies shots, according to WNBC. Natalia also needed stiches and antibiotics.

On Monday, Liberatore had a bandage on his hand to reduce swelling, according to the Journal News.

"I was telling my wife, I'm just wired differently than most people, I think," he said. "I run toward danger."

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California inmate serving day 2 of 4-day sentence escapes, caught shortly after, police said

Marc Andrew Schwartz, 22, was serving day two of a four-day sentence when he escaped from North County Detention Facility in Sonoma County, California on Saturday, before being caught 38 minutes later, authorities said.  (Sonoma County Sheriff's Department )

A California man serving a four-day sentence in county jail tried to cut his time short by making a run for it over the weekend – an escape that lasted all of 38 minutes, police said.

Marc Andrew Schwartz, 22, made a run for it on the second day of his four-day sentence for a DUI conviction at North County Detention Facility in Sonoma County, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.

On Saturday, Schwartz managed to scale a fence covered in coils of razor wire before jumping a wooden fence and landing on the other side, police said.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department quickly identified Schwartz as the escapee after conducting a head count, and within minutes of broadcasting his description over the airwaves, received a tip of a man fitting his profile running through a field not far from the jail, according to authorities.

The 22-year-old's escape was short-lived, as dozens of sheriff's deputies with help from neighboring agencies, a helicopter and K9 units tracked Schwartz down in just 38 minutes.

He was found in a nearby creek bleeding, and was treated for his injuries before being taken to a hospital in the area, the report said.

Police said drugs and mental health issues were not a factor in what prompted Schwartz to escape with just two days remaining on four-day sentence.

"No drug or mental health issues in this case. He chose to solve a perceived problem in the absolute worst way," the sheriff's department wrote on its Facebook page.

Schwartz could now face more time behind bars as he was charged with felony escape, according to police. He has been moved to the higher security Main Adult Detention Facility in Santa Rosa. 

Benjamin Brown is a reporter for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @bdbrown473.

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Senior politicians in Brazil could soon face swifter justice

SAO PAULO –  In 2012, Brazilian prosecutors accused Marcos da Rocha Mendes of handing out meat and 50 real ($15) bills to secure the 2008 mayoral election in Cabo Frio, a city on the country's southeastern coast.

A regional electoral court accepted the charges in 2013. But the case has subsequently been shifted to a lower court and then up to Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal, which began discussing it last year. Six years after charges were filed, the country's highest court is now deciding if the case should be bounced to yet another tribunal.

This is Brazil's "foro privilegiado," or "privileged standing," at work — the legal concept that gives nearly 55,000 sitting politicians the right to have cases against them heard by a higher court. It's meant to protect officials from politically motivated prosecutions by putting their cases in front of more experienced judges, but in Latin America's largest nation it has effectively shielded senior politicians from conviction even as the country has made enormous strides against impunity in its watershed "Car Wash" corruption investigation.

"It's exactly people who are the most exposed to the risk of corruption, of illegal activities contrary to the public interest, who are protected by this system," said Bruno Brandao, executive director of Transparency International in Brazil. "It's an engine of impunity in Brazil."

The Supreme Federal Tribunal's ruling in Mendes' case could change all that — by dramatically limiting the current generous interpretation of privileged standing and thus potentially exposing politicians to much swifter justice.

The ruling could come as soon as Wednesday, although justices at past sessions have asked for more time to analyze the issue. So far, eight of the court's 11 justices have made a preliminary vote in favor of some kind of restriction.

Limiting privileged standing would be a major boost to the mammoth Operation Car Wash probe, in which prosecutors have alleged that Brazil's government was effectively run like a cartel for years, with politicians doling out favors and state contracts in exchange for bribes and campaign contributions. The investigation has shaken Brazil's political system and put dozens of powerful people in jail, including some of the country's richest men.

But despite Car Wash's successes, senior politicians who have the right to have their cases heard at the Supreme Federal Tribunal have been conspicuously absent from the probe's record. Instead, many of the corruption investigation's most famous defendants have been business executives.

That's at least partially because of privileged standing, which leads cases against politicians to languish in the justice system because every time a defendant changes jobs, his standing changes and the case moves to a new court.

In the four years since the probe began, the Supreme Federal Tribunal has yet to hand down a single verdict in a Car Wash case. By contrast, regular trial courts have convicted 160 defendants, according to the federal prosecutor's office. Two of those convicted are former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and former Speaker of the House Eduardo Cunha, who were once among Brazil's most powerful politicians but lost their privileged standing after leaving office and were tried in regular courts.

Proponents of eliminating or restricting the privilege highlight a few ways in which it gums up the legal system and results in cases against senior politicians languishing for years.

The privilege currently applies to every kind of infraction — from breaking budget rules to murder. Its application also depends on a defendant's current office, not his or her status at the time of an alleged crime. That leads to what is known as the "legal elevator," on which cases move up and down the hierarchy of courts as politicians change offices.

That is what happened to Mendes, who was a mayor when he was first charged, but then left office and later became a federal legislator. With each job change, his case switched courts. He is now a mayor again and so the Supreme Federal Tribunal, which hears cases against federal lawmakers, is likely to rule he no longer has standing there.

Justice Luis Roberto Barroso, who is overseeing Mendes' case at the high court, calls privileged standing a disaster for Brazil. He says the "system is designed to not function."

Barroso contends unscrupulous politicians have learned to play the game of venue-shifting: If a case looks like it is advancing at the Supreme Federal Tribunal, a lawmaker might resign his position, forcing the case back to a lower court and starting the clock all over again.

Critics of the privilege also argue it's too broad. Tens of thousands of politicians who benefit can have their cases heard at higher-level courts than those where cases against ordinary citizens begin.

The heart of the problem, however, is the more than 850 politicians — mostly federal lawmakers — who have the right to be heard at the Supreme Federal Tribunal. The privilege aggravates an already heavy case load at Brazil's highest court, which received more than 100,000 cases last year and published more than 13,000 decisions. By contrast, the U.S. Supreme Court is asked to hear about 7,000 cases each year and rules on between 100 and 150.

The result is that trials for Brazil's most senior politicians end up moving extremely slowly — and often the statute of limitations expires before a judgment is reached.

The privilege is written into Brazil's constitution, so only an amendment can reduce the number of politicians it applies to. One such amendment is making its way through Congress, but it's unclear if federal lawmakers — at least 40 percent of whom are facing investigations — will be willing to pull the rug out from under themselves.

In the meantime, Barroso has proposed limiting the privilege in the court's upcoming ruling so that it applies only to alleged crimes committed during a politician's time in office and connected to the exercise of that office's duties. A report by researchers at Fundacao Getulio Vargas university found that 95 percent of the cases with privileged standing sent to the Supreme Federal Tribunal between 2007 and 2016 would have gone to lower courts under this interpretation.

"This would be a huge blow against impunity," Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly magazine, said of the possibility of the court limiting the privilege. "It would greatly reduce the number of people who are able to just stall and delay their trial into eternity."

___

Sarah DiLorenzo on Twitter: twitter.com/sdilorenzo

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California 7-Eleven cranks classical music to dissuade loitering

FILE: A California 7-Eleven plays classical music to keep out panhandlers.  (Reuters)

Now don't come Bach!

A California 7-Eleven said it found a way to keep panhandlers and loiterers from hanging out inside the store: blast classical music.

Sukhi Sandhu, who owns the franchise in Modesto, told The Modesto Bee his customers tell him they feel safer since he started blasting symphonies and occasional operas over outdoor speakers.

"Once the music started, the riffraff left," Manuel Souza, who's homeless and jokingly referred to himself as part of the riffraff, said. The loud music makes it hard "to hang out and gossip and joke around" near the store, Souza told the paper last week from under a tree down the block.

The newspaper said Monday that such measures aren't new. Convenience stores and other businesses as well as public facilities have used classical music and the mosquito device over the years to repel panhandlers, homeless people and loitering teenagers.

The classical music is part of a 7-Eleven program that encourages non-confrontational methods to reduce loitering, Sandhu said. It eliminates any risks faced by clerks when asking panhandlers to leave, he said.

Another method employed at some stores is a device that emits a high-pitched screech similar to a mosquito buzzing in your ear. Clerks turn the device on and off as needed. Classical music is more effective, Sandhu said, and he plans to introduce it at other stores he owns in central California.

"We have received very positive feedback from our customers about the atmosphere created by the music devices piloted in several 7-Eleven stores across the US," the convenience store chain's corporate office said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Juvenile detention officer charged in teenager's death

MIAMI –  An officer at a Florida juvenile detention center was arrested Monday on federal civil rights charges after a 17-year-old died in a beating by other inmates that was allegedly encouraged by the officer using a bounty and reward system.

An indictment unsealed Monday accuses Antwan Lenard Johnson, 35, of conspiracy and deprivation of the teenager's rights under color of law. Johnson had an initial court hearing Monday but did not enter a plea. His lawyer declined comment.

The indictment claims Johnson used bounties and rewards so inmates at the Miami-Dade Regional Juvenile Detention Center would use violence to punish bad behavior by other inmates. The 17-year-old who died was identified only as "E.R." in court documents but a Department of Juvenile Justice statement identified him as Elord Revolte.

Prosecutors said Revolte was fatally assaulted by other juveniles in August 2015 because of unspecified "statements and behavior" that challenged Johnson's authority. The inmate rewards included extra recreation time, such as watching more television, and snacks.

Miami U.S. Attorney Benjamin Greenberg told reporters the inmate assault system was "commonly" used by officers at the detention center to enforce their authority and ensure obedience. He said the officers used code words, such as "off my face," and gestures to indicate to the inmates that he wanted someone assaulted.

"Officer Johnson had a duty to protect these individuals," Greenberg said. "With deadly consequences, Officer Johnson did exactly the opposite of what he had a duty to do."

The practice of incentivized beatings and details of Revolte's assault and death were reported in a series of articles in October by the Miami Herald.

Greenberg would not comment on whether other officers at the Miami detention center are under investigation. Each of the two federal charges carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Christina Daly, secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice, said the agency fully cooperated in the investigation into the boy's death. Daly said Johnson would be fired from his position.

"It is our expectation that any staff who jeopardize the safety of youth be held fully accountable for their actions, including criminal prosecution. The behavior detailed in the indictment is appalling and inexcusable," Daly said in a written statement.

___

Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt

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New scan of ocean floor hasn't found any sign of MH370

SYDNEY –  The new scan of the Indian Ocean floor for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has searched nearly 80,000 square kilometers since January without finding any sign of the plane's wreckage.

This comes despite hopes last year that a 25,000 square kilometer area most likely to contain the aircraft had been identified.

American technology company Ocean Infinity released an update late Monday, saying it had scanned up to 1,300 square kilometers per day since launching its mission in late January.

Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Plunkett says while results so far are disappointing, the firm remains "absolutely determined for the remainder of the search."

Malaysia has extended the deadline to mid-June for the company to find the plane.

MH370 disappeared in 2014, while heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard.

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Photo of man duct-taping grandson sparks false fears of abduction

A child was seen duct-taped next to an older man outside an elementary school in Washington.  (Tacoma Police Department)

An Amber Alert that was issued Monday after a photo appeared to show an older man duct-taping a younger boy in Tacoma, Washington, has been canceled.

Puyallup Police tweeted that the boy "was a special needs child who was being restrained by his Grandfather." Q13 Fox reported the grandfather was trying to prevent his grandson from running into traffic.

Photos released earlier Monday by the Tacoma Police Department appeared to show the older man, with a roll of duct tape in hand, standing over the boy, who seemed to be wrapped in duct tape. 

Police spokesperson Loretta Cool told Q13 Fox a group of children said they saw the man, said to be in his 50s, duct taping the boy believed to be around 10 years old. The kids took the pictures and called police.

Authorities also released a photo of a car that resembled a 2017 Toyota Camry. Polie said the man apparently placed the child in that car.

The suspect reportedly put the child in a gold or silver four-door car that resembled a 2017 Toyota Camry.  (Tacoma Police Department)

Police thanked the public for "helping spread the word," and added it's "Better to be safe than sorry."

Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoledarrah.

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Man who allegedly waterboarded his wife could go to prison for life

Richard David Schlosser pleaded not guilty after being accused of waterboarding his wife earlier this year.  (OCDA)

A California man who pleaded not guilty after being accused of waterboarding his wife earlier this year could face life in prison.

Richard David Schlosser, 36, of Newport Beach, was hit with a slew of charges in January, including torture, and criminal threats, after allegedly attacking his 65-year-old wife, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

TEXAS MOTHER GETS 20-YEAR TERMS FOR TODDLERS' HOT-CAR DEATHS

Schlosser "kept her captive in the apartment for hours," Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Geller told Southern California's City News Service. "He actually waterboarded her."

Geller said the 36-year-old held his wife inside their home in January while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, City News Service reported.

MAN WHO TRIED TO DROWN HIMSELF IN POOL SUES POLICE OFFICERS, LIFEGUARD WHO SAVED HIM

After Schlosser reportedly "sobered up," the woman, who has not been publicly identified, was able to contact a friend, who called police. She was reportedly hospitalized to be treated for her injuries.

In a restraining order request, that was later dismissed due to the her failure to appear in court, the woman claimed Schlosser attacked her for six hours from Jan. 5 until Jan. 6, the Times reported. She alleged he "punched her — leaving her with a black eye — kicked her, hit her with a candelabra and cut her with scissors," according to the newspaper.

MOTHER OF INCEST MURDER-SUICIDE VICTIMS SAYS THE FATHER WAS EXTREMELY ABUSIVE

Court documents reportedly state that Schlosser allegedly choked the woman and shoved a towel down her throat.

Schlosser, who's scheduled to appear in court in August for a pretrial hearing, has reportedly pleaded not guilty to one count each of torture, corporal injury on a spouse, false imprisonment and criminal threats. He could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoledarrah.

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White House delays tariffs on EU, Canada, Mexico ahead of tense China talks

Containers are stored for export at a harbor in Duisburg, Germany, Monday, April 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)  (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The Trump administration announced Monday that it would wait another 30 days before deciding whether to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico -- temporarily avoiding a potential trade war wth the 28-member bloc ahead of crucial trade talks with China this week.

The White House also said it had reached an agreement with South Korea on steel imports following discussions on a revised trade agreement, the outlines of which were previously announced by U.S. and South Korean officials. The administration also announced that it had reached agreements in principle with Argentina, Australia and Brazil on steel and aluminum that will be finalized shortly.

"In all of these negotiations," the White House statement said, "the Administration is focused on quotas that will restrain imports, prevent transshipment, and protect the national security."

President Trump was considering whether to permanently exempt the EU and Mexico, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Brazil from steel and aluminum tariffs that his administration imposed last month. The White House provided temporary exemptions in March and had until the end of Monday to decide whether to extend them.

The EU has said if it loses its exemption it will retaliate with its own tariffs on U.S. goods imported to Europe.

The confrontation stems from the president's decision in March to slap tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum. Trump justified the action by saying it was needed to protect American metal producers from unfair competition and bolster national security. But the announcement, which followed an intense internal White House debate, triggered harsh criticism from Democrats and some Republicans and roiled financial markets.

At the time, Trump excluded the European Union, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Brazil from the tariffs.

That meant the steel tariff covered just 30 percent of all imports, according to Oxford Economics. If all the exemptions were ended, it would have deepened the impact of the tariffs on American companies that use steel and potentially affect financial markets. Stock prices fell nearly 2 percent when the tariffs were announced.

Two people familiar with the process said the Trump administration had been considering whether to provide a short-term extension of the exemptions to allow for more time to review the countries' efforts to secure permanent exemptions.

One of the officials said the U.S. trade representative has been overseeing the process for all of the countries except for the European Union, whose tariffs are being evaluated by the Commerce Department.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.

The EU and others had been asked to spell out what limits they could accept on the amount of steel they export to the United States, how they would address the issue of excess production of steel and aluminum and how they would support the U.S. before international bodies like the World Trade Organization. Security relationships with the U.S. have also been part of the criteria.

South Korea agreed to limit its exports to the United States as part of broader discussions involved in updating its bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. and was granted a permanent exemption.

China, Japan and Russia haven't received exemptions from the duties. That will likely reduce steel shipments from those countries over time. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said late Friday that quotas on imports from Europe and other countries are necessary so imports from those countries don't simply replace Chinese imports. The goal of the tariffs is to reduce total steel imports and boost U.S. production, Ross said.

"If you let everybody back out of the tariff, and you let them out of any kind of quota, how would you ever reduce the imports here?" Ross asked at a conference of business journalists. Ross is set to discuss the issue Monday with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

Germany, the EU's largest steel exporter to the U.S., accounted for about 5 percent of U.S. steel imports last year. South Korea made up the largest share, shipping about 13 percent of U.S. imports, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute analysis of government data.

The EU has compiled a list of retaliatory tariffs worth about $3.5 billion it will impose if its steel and aluminum isn't exempted.

European leaders have resisted the idea of a quota. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement Sunday that she discussed the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May after returning from a White House visit Friday.

The three European leaders "agreed that the U.S. ought not to take any trade measures against the European Union," which is "resolved to defend its interests within the multilateral trade framework," Merkel's statement said.

In her meeting with Trump, Merkel said, she saw little progress in obtaining permanent exemptions. "The decision lies with the president," she said Friday.

In a separate trade battle with China, the United States has threatened to impose tariffs on $150 billion of Chinese goods in retaliation for what it argues are Beijing's unfair trade practices and its requirement that U.S. companies turn over technology in exchange for access to its market. The White House also wants China to agree to reduce its $375 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S.

China has said it would subject $50 billion of U.S. goods to tariffs if the U.S. taxes its products. Trump has announced that an administration delegation led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and trade adviser Peter Navarro will visit Beijing for negotiations on Thursday and Friday this week.

In addition to Mnuchin, Lighthizer, Ross and Navarro, the group will include economic adviser Larry Kudlow, U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad and Everett Eissenstat, deputy assistant to the president for International Economic Affairs.

"We're going to have very frank discussions," Mnuchin in an interview broadcast Monday on Fox Business.

Most analysts, however, think it's unlikely the talks will reach permanent agreements and will more likely mark the start of longer-term negotiations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Roy Moore, ex-Senate candidate, files lawsuit claiming political conspiracy against him

Roy Moore, the failed U.S. Senate candidate who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, has filed a lawsuit in Alabama claiming that there was a targeted political conspiracy against him.  (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

Roy Moore, the failed U.S. Senate candidate who was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, has filed a lawsuit in Alabama claiming that there was a targeted political conspiracy against him.

Moore, alongside his wife and attorneys, addressed the lawsuit on Monday, which was filed in Etowah County.

WHO IS ROY MOORE?

"We intend to show the people of Alabama that a political conspiracy came about to ruin his campaign for Senate," attorney Melissa Isaak told reporters. "And to defame him, defame his character, so that the people of Alabama would not vote for him during the special Senate election."

Isaak claimed that the defendants have "common ties" to one another and to the Democratic party. 

The lawsuit, according to Moore's attorneys, was filed against Leigh Corfman, Tina Johnson, Beverly Young Nelson and Debbie Wesson Gibson — four women who have claimed Moore was sexually inappropriate toward them.

Richard Hagedorn, reportedly a friend of Corfman's, and 19 unnamed defendants were also listed in the suit, according to Moore's attorneys.

ALABAMA'S MOORE SAYS HE'S BROKE, MAKES PUBLIC PLEA FOR LEGAL FUNDS

Corfman sued Moore in March for defamation.

The former candidate countersued Corfman, who alleged that Moore sexually touched her when she was 14 and he was 32, for defamation earlier this month. In March, Moore made a public plea asking for help to fight Corfman's lawsuit against him, claiming his resources had been "depleted."

Paula Cobia, a spokesperson for Johnson, wrote in a Facebook post Monday night that Moore's announcement "said nothing new," and his lawsuit is being used "as another attempt to fleece money from his followers."

She said Johnson "stands by and reaffirms" her allegations against Moore.

Moore, the former chief justice of Alabama's Supreme Court, was defeated in the heated race for a Senate seat late last year by Democrat Doug Jones.

Fox News' Joseph Weber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoledarrah.

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Texas mother gets 20-year terms for toddlers' hot-car deaths

WEATHERFORD, Texas –  A North Texas mother whose two toddlers died in a hot car last May has been sentenced to two 20-year prison terms to be served simultaneously.

A Parker County jury in Weatherford sentenced 25-year-old Cynthia Marie Randolph to the maximum sentences Monday. The same jury convicted her of two second-degree felony counts of recklessly causing injury to a child hours earlier.

Randolph's charges were reduced. She had faced two first-degree felony counts of knowingly causing serious injury to a child. A conviction on those could have led to life sentences.

An arrest warrant says Randolph told police she locked 1-year-old Cavanaugh Ramirez and 2-year-old Juliet Ramirez in the car for several hours to teach them a lesson because her daughter often got out of the car without permission.

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Parkland victim Meadow Pollack's father sues Deputy Scot Peterson

The father of Meadow Pollack filed a wrongful death lawsuit against former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson on Monday.

Andrew Pollack, the father of Parkland school shooting victim Meadow, filed a lawsuit Monday against former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson, the school resource officer who didn't enter Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while the massacre unfolded inside.

"I filed a wrongful death suit against Deputy Peterson today," Pollack tweeted. "I want to expose that coward so bad. Where ever he goes I want people to recognize him and say that's one of the cowards of Broward. The SRO that let those children and teachers die on the 3rd floor!"

Peterson, of the Broward County Sheriff's Office, was the school resource officer on duty at Stoneman Douglas when confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Stoneman Douglas — killing 17 people, including Pollack's 18-year-old daughter.

The lawsuit was filed in Broward County Court and, in addition to Peterson, listed the estate of Lynda Cruz, James Snead, Kimberly Snead, Henderson Behavioral Health, Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health INC, and South County Mental Health Center, INC., as defendants, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

BROWARD DEPUTY SCOT PETERSON SEEN STANDING OUTSIDE DURING FLORIDA SCHOOL SHOOTING IN NEW VIDEO

Pollack, who was one of three victims' fathers who was appointed to a 16-member commission to investigate the Feb. 14 shooting, stated in a follow-up tweet that his lawsuit "has nothing to do with money."

"I want to be sure anywhere he goes in this country he will be recognized as the coward that could have gone in and saved the students and teachers on the third floor," the father added.

According to Sheriff Scott Israel, Peterson, a 33-year law enforcement veteran, "never went in[to]" the building that was under attack, and instead took up a position outside which allowed him to view the western entrance of the building. Surveillance footage released after the shooting shows Peterson standing in that area for 20 minutes.

Despite criticism, 54-year-old Peterson stood by his actions. The former deputy's lawyer said in a statement that "the allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue."

After he was suspended without pay pending an internal investigation, on Feb. 23, Peterson, the sheriff's office said, "chose to resign and immediately retired rather than face possible termination."

Pollack's son, Hunter, tweeted earlier Monday that Meadow's family "wants the world to know this is the guy that hid behind a concrete wall while kids and teachers were killed."

"He's a WEASAL COWARD, and no matter where he goes should be recognized as a failure," Hunter Pollack said. "He failed to act, and than lied about it after. We will not forget!"

Andrew Pollack's lawsuit is the second to be filed following the Feb. 14 shooting.

Student Anthony Borges, who was shot five times as he shielded classmates during the massacre, filed a lawsuit April 17 against Cruz, the estate of his late mother, a family that took him in after his mother's death and three mental health facilities that treated him.

Fox News' Katherine Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nicole Darrah covers breaking and trending news for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoledarrah.

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Dominican Republic forges tie with China, breaks with Taiwan

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic –  The Dominican Republic's government has announced that it is establishing diplomatic relations with China and breaking its diplomatic ties with Taiwan. It says it will later recognize Taiwan as an "inalienable part of Chinese territory."

Flavio Dario Espinal is the legal consultant to the Dominican presidential office. He said at a news conference Monday that the change in foreign policy was based on the Caribbean nation's "needs, potential and future prospects."

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Blac Chyna having a baby with 18-year-old boyfriend she met on Christian dating site

Model Blac Chyna arrives at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, August 30, 2015. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok - RTX1QC0M

Blac Chyna is pregnant with her 18-year-old rapper boyfriend YBN Almighty Jay's baby, a source tells Page Six.

Jay says the pair met on Christian Mingle in an interview with No Jumper in March and comments on the possibility of having a baby. "I don't wear condoms. . . I would not want to f--- a b---- I did not want to get pregnant," he says. "If Chyna got pregnant, I would keep that s--- like 'ohh daddy love you,' I love that a--.'"

Chyna, 29, has a child from a past relationship with Tyga and just gave birth to daughter Dream with Rob Kardashian in November 2016.

Media Takeout reported the speculation this weekend.

A rep for Chyna tells us in an email, " No clue..i only handle appearances and don't ever comment about my clients personal lives."

This article originally appeared in Page Six.

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Giant alligator nearly the size of a car stops traffic on Texas highway

(Credit: Chance Ward)

A giant alligator nearly the length of a small family car was captured in Cleveland, Texas, early Monday morning as it attempted to cross Highway 59, near a Whataburger restaurant.

The gator, which measured in at 11 feet, 6 inches, was first spotted and reported to the local authorities after it was clipped by an 18-wheeler as it tried to cross the highway, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Chance Ward reported the incident to authorities and said the unusual reptilian traffic hazard was only something you'd see in Texas.

"The Gator measured 11' 6" and will be relocated alive to a safe place out of harm's way," Ward wrote in a Facebook post. "We safely placed the Gator on the flat bed of my truck and strapped him for the ride. Only in Texas will you get a Gator and Whataburger in the same picture."

10-FOOT ALLIGATOR STROLlS NEAR FLORIDA MIDDLE SCHOOL, STOPS TRAFFIC

 ((Credit: Chance Ward))

Speaking to the Chronicle, Ward said he thought that the alligator would've moved by the time he had gotten to the scene, but it was still impeding traffic, causing the road to be blocked and "would rise up and hiss at them anytime someone would get close."

For comparison purposes, the average length of a small family car is between 169 inches (14-feet, 1 inch) and 185 inches (15-feet, 5 inches), depending on the model.

As firefighters shut southbound traffic on the highway, Ward eventually grabbed rope from his truck, lassoed the gator and then handed it to over animal control. It took six men to wrestle the gator onto Ward's pickup truck.

Nicknamed George by Ward, the alligator was relocated Monday morning and Ward praised a job well done by local law enforcement.

9-FOOT ALLIGATOR WRANGLED OUT OF FLORIDA HOMEOWNER'S POOL

"Sergeant Edwards was very helpful with helping me untie the Gator in my stock trailer until relocation in the morning," Ward wrote in the Facebook post. "If you get a chance, thank our local law enforcement and firemen as they not only pull the criminals off the streets, they help keep the wildlife and livestock safe."

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Doctors save baby before pregnant woman dies from car crash injuries

Mackenzie Monreal posted this photo to Facebook eight days before she died.  (Facebook)

FLINT, Mich. –  Authorities say doctors were able to deliver a pregnant woman's baby before she died following a car crash in Michigan.

The crash happened early Saturday in Flint along Dort Highway when one vehicle hit another that had failed to stop for a blinking red light.

The pregnant woman, 22-year-old Mackenzie Ann Monreal, was among three people rushed to Hurley Medical Center following the crash. Flint police Det. Tyrone Booth says doctors were able to deliver her baby shortly before she died.

Booth says the baby is doing fine.

Booth said Monday that the woman's twin sister was among those injured in the crash.

An investigation into the accident is ongoing, but police say neither alcohol nor drugs are considered to be factors.

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Trump says 'fake news' going 'bonkers' with false stories of White House turmoil

President Trump claimed on Twitter Monday night that "The White House is running very smoothly" and accused the media of going "bonkers" after a published report claimed that White House chief of staff John Kelly had referred to Trump as "an idiot."

Trump did not directly reference Kelly or the report by NBC News in his two tweets. Instead, he accused the media of "making up false stories and using only unnamed sources (who don't exist).

"They are totally unhinged, and the great success of this Administration is making them do and say things that even they can't believe they are saying," Trump added. "Truly bad people!"

NBC reported Monday that Kelly has on multiple occasions criticized Trump's knowledge on issues like immigration, and has cast himself as a protecting the country from Trump's impulses. The report added that Trump was growing tired of Kelly's attitude.

After Kelly became chief of staff in July 2017, he imposed strict controls on access and the flow of information to Trump, aides told The Associated Press that his direct influence has waned somewhat. Kelly allies insist he has merely trained the staff to follow his management protocols, but officials note that Trump has grown more willing to act unilaterally, ignoring or simply not seeking out the advice of his top aide.

Kelly's handling of domestic violence accusations against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter earlier this year caused consternation among White House staffers, who believed he wasn't truthful.

The public revelation of an insult directed at the president's intelligence is reminiscent of leaks last year that then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a "moron." That episode created what White House officials described as an irreparable rift between Trump and his chief diplomat, and ultimately led to Tillerson's unceremonious March firing.

Kelly said NBC's report "is another pathetic attempt to smear people close to President Trump and distract from the administration's many successes."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Nearly a dozen suspected caravan members face new DOJ complaints, most accused of breaking into US

Nearly a dozen people suspected of traveling through Mexico to the U.S. border as part of the immigrant "caravan" from Central America are now facing new complaints for immigration-related violations, including entering the U.S. illegally.

A federal law enforcement official told Fox News on Monday that the Justice Department has filed complaints against 11 suspected members of the caravan.

MEMBERS OF MIGRANT CARAVAN REMAIN DEFIANT AFTER US AGAIN DENIES BORDER ENTRY

Most of the defendants allegedly entered the U.S. illegally, which is a misdemeanor. One defendant is accused of having entered the U.S. after having previously been deported, which is a felony.

Defendants, according to the probable cause statement, were seen near an area known to border patrol agents as "Goat Canyon," roughly four miles from the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego, California.

Two of those facing new complaints are Salvadorans, six are Hondurans and three are Guatemalans.

The "caravan" of Central Americans started moving toward North America on March 25. The group of around 200 immigrants traveled through Mexico to the U.S. in an effort to seek asylum at the American border.

Most of those who have been trying to enter the U.S. remain stalled in Mexico after Customs and Border Protection said Sunday that the agency "reached capacity at the San Ysidro port of entry for CBP officers to be able to bring additional persons traveling without appropriate entry documentation into the port of entry for processing."

President Trump, who has often tweeted about the immigrants, said Monday night that the "'caravan' that is openly defying our border shows how weak & ineffective U.S. immigration laws are."

He added that "Democrats like Jon Tester continue to support the open borders agenda – Tester even voted to protect Sanctuary Cities. We need lawmakers who will put America First."

Trump called for Tester, the Montana seantor, to resign on Saturday following a White House report disputing his allegations against the president's pick for the next secretary of Veterans Affairs, Adm. Ronny Jackson. Jackson ultimately withdrew.

Fox News' William Lajeunesse contributed to this report.

Jake Gibson is a producer working at the Fox News Washington bureau who covers politics, law enforcement and intelligence issues.

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Kirstjen Nielsen tells Fox News more than a dozen known or suspected terrorists try to enter US each day

More than a dozen known or suspected terrorists are trying to get into the U.S. on any given day, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Fox News, citing new data provided to the department.

"People think of border security in very different way but to me it's very simple: border security is national security," Nielsen said. "What we see at the Department of Homeland Security, we see 15 terrorists either planning to travel or actually traveling to the United States each day, known and suspected terrorists. So that means they are coming through our legal land, port and air but they could be coming across that (southwest) border."

In New York City for a series of recent closed-door threat and intelligence meetings, Nielsen spoke exclusively with Fox News at Ground Zero -- not far from the October 2017 attack where an ISIS-inspired terrorist used a truck to kill eight people along the West Side Highway.

"Using the Internet, terrorist groups are encouraging followers to bring your own weapon, use a car, use a truck, use a knife, something you can easily pick up, and go and commit chaos and murder," Nielsen explained.

The Chief of Counterterrorism at the New York City Police Department, James R. Waters, said personal relationships matter. "Being able to pick up the phone and speak to the secretary herself or her immediate staff and discuss an issue or a problem to protect the city is invaluable."

Waters' intelligence teams track events worldwide, including the attempted poisoning in the U.K. targeting a Russian military officer-turned-spy and his daughter last month. "We study attacks around the world and if something can be done over there, it can be done over here,"  Waters explained to Fox News. "So that has been the secret to some of our success in thwarting plots... we follow the threat. We follow the attacks that go on. We travel to those parts of the world and talk one-to-one with the law enforcement and their governments."

Waters said that since 9/11, his teams have thwarted "more than 20 plots. Bona fide plots" targeting the New York City area.

With the Supreme Court now weighing the third version of the travel ban affecting a small group of mostly Muslim countries, Nielsen said the Trump administration remains committed to knowing who's entering the U.S., and whether their home nations are high-risk.

"What we've done as a country is, we've said we owe it to our citizens to know who is traveling here and if they intend to do us harm."

Asked if the administration was dissuaded from the travel ban given the setbacks, Nielsen said, "I'm not. I think it's a requirement, I think that's what Americans expect their government to do, is to ensure that people traveling here do not intend to do them harm."

Nielsen said that in her first four months on the job, her department has run into roadblocks with Congress. On funding for the border wall, she said lawmakers "all say to me, 'we're in favor of border security, border security is our sovereignty, border security is the most important thing a country can do,' and yet when we try to work with them on legislation it falls apart. So, I really hope that they take it seriously. I'm willing to work with anyone in good faith who will work with me but it's very high on the president's mind to get this done as soon as possible."

Speaking about the recent deployment of National Guard troops to the Mexican border, "I don't know why it was controversial. We've done this twice before to much success." Asked if that was a measure of the politically charged environment, Nielsen said, "I think so."

Nielsen pushed back against critics who said she got the top job because she worked for the administration's first DHS chief, John Kelly, now the White House chief of staff.

"I worked at the crossroads of policy and operations," Nielsen told Fox News. "I kind of bring all that experience together because homeland security is a team sport, and I've played almost every role, every player, every team. So from that perspective I think I bring that uniqueness so that policy is never made in a vacuum and operations are never made in such a way as to violate a policy."

Almost every homeland security secretary makes the pilgrimage to Engine 10, ladder 10 near the World Trade Center site.

"It's moving, a reaffirmation of why we do this, the importance of the mission, the sacrifice of the first responders who on a good day put their lives on the line to protect our fellow citizens."

Catherine Herridge is an award-winning Chief Intelligence correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC) based in Washington, D.C. She covers intelligence, the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security. Herridge joined FNC in 1996 as a London-based correspondent.

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