Month: April 2026

Robert Buskey Jr., 35, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder and criminal sale of a controlled substance to a child, according to a press statement from the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office, News.Az reports, citing People. 
Buskey admitted that “under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life,” he recklessly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of serious injury or death to his daughter, Charlotte, ultimately causing her 2024 death, per the statement.
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Authorities were called to Buskey’s home on April 14, 2024. Inside, they discovered the girl’s severely emaciated body locked in a bedroom in what they described as a “house of horrors,” the statement reads.
They also found a makeshift cage in the dining room where Buskey kept his 3-year-old son, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Charlotte had been neglected and malnourished for months. She and her brother had been completely isolated from the outside world — no longer seeing family members, attending medical appointments or going to school.
They added that Buskey kept the children confined so he could “do drugs, play video games, and not be bothered by [them],” per the statement.
According to prosecutors, evidence showed that Buskey locked Charlotte in her bedroom, where she had only a small pack-and-play to lie in. She was left without food, water or contact with anyone and ultimately died of severe dehydration and malnutrition, despite food being available elsewhere in the house, per the statement.
Along with his daughter’s murder, Buskey was also convicted of giving drugs to his children. Both tested positive for cocaine.
At his sentencing on April 3, Buskey apologized for his actions and took responsibility, WGRB reported. “I deserve it,” he said in court, per the news outlet. “I understand why I am being prosecuted here. I understand the reasons why everyone looks at me as a monster.”
Buskey’s defense attorney, Joseph Litz, highlighted his client’s struggles with drug addiction and mental health and argued that others could have intervened to prevent Charlotte’s death, WAMC reported.
Judge Matthew Sypniewski disagreed. “This has everything and only to do with only what could be an absolute narcissist, self-absorbed, individual who is so selfish and has no empathy for what was a locked-up 5-year-old starving to death behind that door,” he said, per the outlet. “That’s what it’s about.”
As part of his plea agreement, Buskey was given the maximum sentence allowed by law, gave up his right to appeal and was placed under an order of protection that forbids any contact with his now 5-year-old son, the district attorney’s office said.
Buskey previously competed as an amateur mixed martial arts fighter in local Cage Wars events.

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Hundreds of people gathered this morning along major roads in Cork city and county to protest the continuing rise in fuel prices.
The widespread protest has seen members of the agricultural industry come together in slow-moving or parked convoys to highlight the negative impact that rising fuel costs are having on communities and businesses across the country, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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Areas impacted by reduced traffic flow include the South Ring Road, the N25, N20, M8, the N71 from Clonakilty to Skibbereen, the Lakeview Roundabout, Shannonpark Roundabout, Kinsale Road Roundabout, the Jack Lynch Tunnel, Mallow, Macroom, Mitchelstown, Blarney, and Midleton.
Speaking to The Echo, Cork-based agricultural business owner Dave Mulcahy, who is currently protesting above the Jack Lynch Tunnel, said there is “only one case scenario – no best case – the fuel prices need to come back down to what they were”.
“We’re out protesting today because the fuel prices are too high,” said Mr Mulcahy.
“We’re facing a worldwide recession, things have to come down or the whole country is going to go broke.
“There are approximately 200 trucks on the way to join us, and the place will be gridlocked.
“We’re not stopping traffic; we just can’t afford to move,” he added.
“We’re in the hard shoulder and the slow lane; there is no emergency exit or route that’s blocked.
“We might not go home tonight, and we might be here again tomorrow too – it’s up to the government when they want to do something.
“Every form of humanity in Ireland is affected by this – nobody is going to escape it.
“The people annoyed by this must be very wealthy if they can afford to pay astronomical prices for fuel.
“This will be bigger than Covid, something has to give because people will have no food on their tables within the next month.”

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Lucescu’s death was confirmed by Bucharest University Emergency Hospital on Tuesday. He had been hospitalized after reportedly suffering a heart attack on Friday morning, News.az reports, citing BBC.
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“Mr. Mircea Lucescu was one of the most successful Romanian football coaches and players, the first to qualify the Romanian national team for a European Championship, in 1984,” the hospital said in a statement. “Entire generations of Romanians grew up with his image in their hearts, as a national symbol.”

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The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia has advised Americans to reconsider participating in the Hajj pilgrimage.
It also advised Americans to reconsider “participation in Hajj this year” – the annual Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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