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GOMA, Congo (Reuters) –
Independence day fireworks sent terrified Congolese sprinting for cover Tuesday in fear that war had broken out again in their eastern city.

Officials had organised the display in Goma to highlight efforts to end more than a decade of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to show a sign of normal life returning to the region, where a peace deal took hold in January.

But residents feared it was a raging gun battle.

"I hit the ground not knowing what was going on," said 23-year-old student Aminata Kavugho.

Around 5.4 million people have died as a result of Congo's 1998-2003 war and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, making it the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.

LITCHFIELD, Conn. – Connecticut police have arrested a teen, accusing him of selling marijuana and packing it in a Chicken McNugget box. Police said the teen and three alleged customers were nabbed after a police officer spotted some suspicious activity over the weekend. Police said the teen grew marijuana in his apartment and packaged the dope in McNugget boxes.

The arrests came after one alleged customer was spotted coming out of the teen’s apartment building with the McNugget box. An officer said he found marijuana inside the box.

Police said they searched the apartment and found more marijuana, a big bag of stems and drug paraphernalia.

The teen pleaded not guilty to charges on Monday.

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Information from: The Register Citizen, http://www.registercitizen.com

PONCHATOULA, La. – Sleeping in church is bad during the sermon, but even worse when a burglar does it on the job. Police arrested an 18-year-old man after he was found sleeping in a building belonging to the French Corner Church.

Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Dawn Panepinto said Tuesday that the man was booked Monday with simple burglary, resisting arrest by flight and simple criminal damage to property.

She said he allegedly broke into the church and tried to pry open the safe.

When he couldn’t do that, Panepinto said, he allegedly broke into another church building and went to sleep in a guest apartment.

Panepinto said the suspect was on bond at the time. That bond was revoked and he remains in jail.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – An 800-pound hog that survived on its own for a week after a truck flipped while on its way to a slaughterhouse has surfaced in a swimming pool at a home near the crash site. LeAnn Baldy, whose house is only yards from Interstate 430, said Monday she noticed her pool was suddenly overflowing and then saw the immersed pig, which was having a drink in the pool.

About 90 hogs were in the trailer when it overturned where I-430 meets I-40, and about 60 survived. Officials said they thought the last of them had been caught.

Baldy said she found a farmer to take in the pig. A spokesman for Odom’s Tennessee Pride said it can’t use the hog in its sausage products because no one knows what the hog had been eating in its week on the lam.

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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A man who says he was sickened by a box of raisins donated to a food program by Rhode Island’s prison system can proceed with a lawsuit against the agency. The state Supreme Court said Tuesday that a lower court judge erred by dismissing a 2006 lawsuit from Thomas Adams.

Adams alleged that he suffered nausea, vomiting and diarrhea after eating a box of raisins in October 2004. He says he found an insect larva and insect dung near the bottom of the box.

The raisins were stored at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections food distribution center. They were then distributed as part of a federal food program for needy residents. Adams got the raisins in a food giveaway by a Providence church.

GRETNA, La. – An Arizona man who likes several drinks with his lunch has been arrested three times in the past week for refusing to pay at restaurants where he ate. Jefferson Parish sheriff’s records show that a 36-year-old man was booked with defrauding an innkeeper after he ate at three restaurants, then laughed when asked to pay his bill.

The man allegedly ran up bills ranging from $23 to $31 — including four beers with a lunch plate at one restaurant and four margaritas with a cheeseburger at another — then said he was homeless and couldn’t pay.

The man was being held Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of $1,000 bond. But he has been released on the same charges twice previously due to overcrowding.

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Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.nola.com

JENSEN BEACH, Fla. – Authorities said a man has been charged with domestic battery after he drenched his wife with a garden hose and elbowed her for smoking in the house. An arrest report shows that the 51-year-old husband was charged Saturday. Police said the couple began arguing when the wife began smoking a cigarette in their home.

When the victim picked up the phone and began calling a friend, authorities said the husband believed she was trying to call police and elbowed her in the mouth during a struggle to grab the phone.

The woman was soaked with water when deputies arrived. The husband told deputies he had been watering the grass and did not intend to spray her.

The man was taken to the Martin County Jail and released after posting bond.

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Information from: The Stuart News, http://www.tcpalm.com

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan University student William K. Bradley was sentenced for larceny in a building. He stole a computer. From the Kalamazoo County jail. Where he already was serving a sentence in a different case.

Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Gary Giguere Jr. sentenced Bradley on Monday, telling the Kalamazoo resident his jailhouse theft was “the dumbest crime I’ve heard today” and “may be in the top half-dozen in my career.”

Bradley, who has racked up six felonies and four misdemeanors by the age of 25, agreed with the judge, saying, “I’m not the best criminal.”

Bradley asked for home arrest, but Giguere instead ordered him back to jail for six months.

Western spokeswoman Cheryl Roland tells the Kalamazoo Gazette Bradley is a sophomore at the university.

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Information from: Kalamazoo Gazette, http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo

ARLINGTON, Wash. – A woman accused of dipping into her ex-husband’s bank account without permission blames her dog. Arlington, Wash., police spokeswoman Kristin Banfield said detectives filed court orders to follow the money trail. They learned the money disappearing from the 42-year-old Arlington man’s account was being used to pay for utility bills and other items at his ex-wife’s home.

Banfield told The Herald that the woman’s first response was, “Her dog got into her purse and ate all her personal checks.” The 50-year-old woman reportedly told police she had no choice but to take money from her former husband’s account.

The women is under investigation for identity theft and forgery.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com

MADRID (Reuters) –
Spanish police have arrested a man whom they suspect hired a contract killer to murder his boss in a desperate bid to avoid being laid off, newspaper El Pais reported on Tuesday.

The head of audiovisual services at the Barcelona International Convention Center contracted a Colombian man who shot and killed the director of the convention center on Feb 9, according to police.

The director had planned to lay off the arrested man as part of a restructuring project, police said.

In fear of losing his job, the head of services, through his sister, contracted a team of six Colombians who planned and carried out the killing, El Pais reported.

Police have also detained the sister and six Colombians.

The shooting marks one of the most extreme actions by Spaniards who fear losing jobs, homes and businesses during a recession in which unemployment is rising faster than in any other developed country.

Other cases include an indebted Spanish builder who kidnapped his bank manager at gunpoint and the head of a construction firm who threatened to set himself on fire unless debts he was owed were paid.

(Reporting by Andrew Hay; Editing by Matthew Jones)