US sent $221 million to Palestinians in Obama’s last hours

US sent $221 million to Palestinians in Obama’s last hours

WASHINGTON

Officials say the Obama administration in its waning hours defied Republican opposition and quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority that GOP members of Congress had been blocking.

A State Department official and several congressional aides said the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning. The official said former Secretary of State John Kerry had informed some lawmakers of the move shortly before he left the State Department for the last time Thursday. The aides said written notification dated Jan. 20 was sent to Congress just hours before Donald Trump took the oath of office.

Congress initially approved the Palestinian funding in budget years 2015 and 2016.

Man admits robbing bank to escape wife

KANSAS CITY, Kan.

A 70-year-old man who told investigators after robbing a Kansas bank that he’d rather be imprisoned than with his wife has admitted carrying out the holdup.

Lawrence Ripple pleaded guilty Monday in Kansas City, Kan., to a federal bank robbery count. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Court documents show that Ripple gave a Kansas City bank teller a note in September demanding cash and warning he had a gun. Ripple grabbed nearly $3,000, sat in the lobby and told a guard he was the “guy he was looking for.”

An FBI agent says Ripple had argued with his wife earlier and told her in writing he’d “rather be in jail than at home.” The Kansas City Star reports that Ripple’s wife accompanied him to court Monday.

S. Dakota museum awarded ownership of Presley guitar

VERMILLION, S.D.

A federal judge ruled Monday that a South Dakota museum is the legal owner of a guitar played by Elvis Presley.

The Martin D-35 guitar has been on display at the National Music Museum in Vermillion since 2013. It had been donated by collector and musician Robert Johnson (not the legendary blues artist). But months later, Tennessee-based collector Larry Moss contacted the museum saying he was the rightful owner, and the donor was not in a position to give away the guitar.

The National Music Museum asked a judge in July 2014 to declare it the legal owner of the guitar.

A judge ruled Monday that Moss never owned the title, never possessed the guitar and never paid for it, and didn’t take legal action during his three-year wait for the instrument. The museum received the guitar’s title in 2013 and is the legal owner, the court found.

Presley played the guitar during his 1977 tour and gave it to a fan in St. Petersburg, Fla., when it was damaged. Presley died six months later.

Rescuers find 3 dogs; 22 people missing

FARINDOLA, Italy

Italian emergency crews pulled three wiggling, white sheepdog puppies out Monday from under tons of snow and rubble at an avalanche-struck hotel, lifting spirits even as the search for 22 people still missing dragged on five days after the disaster.

One more body was located, raising the death toll to seven, and the first survivors of the deadly avalanche were released from the hospital. Questions intensified, however, into whether Italian authorities underestimated the risks facing the snowbound resort in the hours before the deadly avalanche.

Five days after up to 60,000 tons of snow, rocks and uprooted trees plowed into the Hotel Rigopiano in central Italy, rescue crews were still digging by hand or with shovels and chainsaws in hopes of finding more survivors.

Associated Press