Author: USA Facts News

Upon first glance a receipt for a couple of magnets from a defunct houseware shop doesn’t seem at all significant; but just like everything else from 9/11, it holds a story of another life which was impacted by the tragedy.

Now all of us will most likely have a good idea of what happened on the fateful morning in New York.

It’s fair to say that most of us have a good understanding of what happened on 11 September, 2001, through watching countless documentaries, films and TV series over the years.

However, this doesn’t really do it justice when it comes to depicting the sheer confusion on the ground back in 2001, which is what makes first-hand accounts of New Yorkers on the ground feel all the more terrifying.

This includes the above receipt, which reveals the final items ever purchased inside the sprawling office blocks.

Seeing a receipt from 9/11 alone is strange enough, but the image becomes a lot more chilling when you notice the time in which the two magnets were purchased at 8:55am — nine minutes after the plane smashed into the North Tower.

Now in retrospect, you’d imagine everyone inside said tower would evacuate if they could, right?

Well not exactly, as several first person accounts have revealed how the severity of the situation wasn’t initially clear to everyone – both in and outside of the building.

Alongside the multiple companies who had offices in the tower, there was also a Lechters shop, where Wall Street journalist Joanne Lipman was purchasing two fridge magnets for her daughter’s birthday.

By time Lipman had made her way to the till with the magnets, there was already a commotion in the tower, however, she wasn’t aware that a plane had struck the building and pressed the cashier to ring up the purchase before leaving.

The moment was detailed in Dean Rotbart’s book September Twelfth: An American Comeback Story which detailed how staff at WSJ responded to the attacks, which happened opposite their office.

“Before work on the morning of September 11, Lipman was browsing the aisles of the Lechters Housewares store located on the concourse of the World Trade Center.” wrote Rotbart (via PR Newswire).

After selecting the magnets, she noticed people being rushed through in the building’s corridors, with even the cashier seemingly anxious to leave.

This didn’t deter Lipman, who at the time, was used to commotion in the city. She replied: “Ring this up first. I’m not leaving until I pay.”

Lipman handed the cashier $20 in cash for the purchase, collected her change of $9.17 and receipt, before stepping back out into a completely different world.

Police in the north-east Brazilian state of Bahia are now investigating as there is speculation this followed a viral online ‘challenge’.

Davi Nunes was rushed to hospital in Planalto after his health suddenly deteriorated, beginning to vomit and starting to limp.

At first, the teen is said to have told his dad he had hurt himself while playing.

However, as things got worse, it is reported he told medics at a chemist he had mixed up a dead butterfly in water before injecting the liquid into his right leg.

As his condition started to worsen, Davi was rushed to another hospital on Wednesday (12 February) but later died.

The teen’s death has caused a lot of media speculation in Brazil, as rumours fly about it being part of a weird internet challenge.

He didn’t explain what type of butterfly he had picked for this, but is said to have denied the allegation before he died that he found the experiment online.

Police are now awaiting full post-mortem results after opening an investigation into the claims. It is being openly speculated by media in Brazil that Davi did the injection due to a social media craze.

The teen’s dad reportedly found the syringe he used under his pillow while he was tidying up their home.

It is said his death may be linked to possible toxins in the butterfly mix which could have then caused his body to shut down as he went into septic shock.

A spokesperson for Civil Police in Vitoria da Conquista, which is leading the investigation, said in a statement: “The autopsy results will help clarify the cause of death. The investigation is designed to clear up what happened.”

Professor Marcelo Duarte, director of Sao Paulo University’s Zoology Museum and a butterfly specialist, said: “Butterflies have a complex biology, and the fluids present in their bodies have not been studied in depth in terms of their toxicity to humans.”

The milkweed that Monarch butterflies eat as a caterpillar is actually a poisonous toxin which is then stored in their bodies.

This then makes the Monarch butterfly taste terrible to predators. But, experts have pointed out that the amount of these toxins is typically too small to represent a serious risk to human health.

OnlyFans creator Goodwin, 30, is currently going viral after her appearance on The Reality Check podcast where she discussed her career as an adult content creator and how she’s investing her £100,000 a month salary back into property.

However, the interview quickly went south after one of the three hosts brought up the topic of ‘dignity’ and whether or not adult content creation ‘contributes to society’.

When asked by Shuan Maroof if she’d prefer to work in a different industry to preserve her ‘dignity’ Goodwin responded by alluding to previously suffering abuse, adding that her career decision was ‘reclaiming everything that’s been taken from me’.

The conversation only got more heated from that point as the hosts grilled the content creator on whether or not she was contributing to society before laughing at her decision to take her children on holiday in the UK — which prompted Goodwin to accuse the men of disrespecting her and leave the studio.

“I’m gonna head off now, you lot are the most disrespectful people I’ve ever met,” she said.

The three men appeared confused over the sudden turn the podcast took, before branding Goodwin ‘delusional’ for her opinions.

“She was just delusional man,” CJ McKenna insisted to his co-hosts.

The episode has proved to be controversial online, with the majority of viewers siding with Goodwin on the matter.

“Surly [sic] her buying homes to help people who can’t afford them is her helping society and donating to charity,” one person wrote, while a second added: “Lads, listen back to the bit where she rents her properties to those who can’t afford it. It literally doesn’t get more contributing to society than that.

“Granted people might not agree with what she does for a living, but she’s clearly an intelligent woman who is being smart with her money.”

Goodwin has since issued a statement after the clip went viral online, thanking followers for their support and asking for people to stop sharing the clip online.

“I don’t know what else to say other than thank you,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Thank you to everyone that has messaged, checked in on me and had my back.”

She went on to explain that while she understands what makes a ‘successful social media clip’ and that she no longer wants to be associated with the group.

“I am politely asking you to remove any clips with me and post nothing more about me,” she wrote.

“Not because I’m ashamed of what I said (or what I could get in) but because I wish to not be associated with these three men and this podcast.

“If anything good comes from this, it will be that no other woman is disrespected and belittled by three men in their apartment for views.

“The ball is in your court guys.”

Delta Flight 4819 appeared to crash land on a snowy runway and flip over, though incredibly it seems as though everyone on board the plane survived.

The crash occurred at around 2:15pm local time yesterday (17 February) and of the 80 people on board the plane it seems the damage count is 18 injured and zero fatalities.

Survivors from the plane crash have posted footage of what it was like inside the plane itself, while the view from outside the plane was utterly terrifying for onlookers.

People saw Delta Flight 4819 come down on the runway and appear to feel the impact of the landing hard, with flames bursting from the aircraft as it flipped over.

An air ambulance service took three people to hospital for their injuries after the crash, but it is quite incredible that of the 76 passengers and four crew members there have been no fatalities.

“All of a sudden everything just kind of went sideways and then next thing I know it’s kind of a blink and I’m upside down still strapped in,” he said of the experience of being in the crash.

A number of aviation experts have given their verdict on the incident, with many saying that the weather was the most likely cause of the plane flipping over on the runway.

CNN aviation analyst Peter Goelz suggested that a ‘strong gust of wind’ affecting the plane when it touched down had caused it to flip over.

Aviation expert Scott Hamilton told Newsweek that the wind and snow around the Toronto airport are likely to be major factors in the plane flipping over.

While aviation safety expert John Cox said it was ‘very rare to see something like this’.

He said: “We’ve seen a couple of cases of take-offs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it’s pretty rare.

“The weather conditions were windy. The wind was out of the west at 27 to 35 knots, which is about 38 miles an hour (61kph). So it was windy.

“But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that. The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.”

An investigation into the crash has been launched with the goal of recovering the plane’s flight recorder and cockpit audio recorder to gain a clearer picture of what happened.

GTA 6 is currently expected to hit shelves later this year, with the video game’s parent company Take-Two Interactive confirming an autumn 2025 release window earlier this month.

It is the second time in a matter of months that autumn has been confirmed as the time to expect a GTA VI release, which if anything shows that the game’s production is ticking along nicely with no major hiccups putting production back and delaying when punters will be able to buy the product.

Speaking in early February, Take-Two confirmed fall 2025 for the release to console. We’re talking the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

For those with a PS4 and Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch or its soon to be released successor, hard luck. Those consoles aren’t getting a sniff of the new product.

And in a frustrating, but not new, move for millions more gamers, those who play on PC wont be enjoying GTA 6 in the same time frame as PS5 owners.

All is not lost, though. And if anything, the hope for PC gamers has been increased following a recent revelation from one gaming insider.

Previously, GTA 5 was released around 18 months after the game landed on PS4 and Xbox 360.

That first landed on shelves in September 2013, followed by a port to PS4 and Xbox One in November 2014. Only in April 2015 did it finally go on to PC.

Well, it appears the wait wont be anywhere near as long when it comes to GTA 6.

That is according to the vice president of Corsair Gaming, a gaming brand and company based in California that creates gaming specific PC equipment such as the computers themselves, headsets, keyboards, and gaming chairs and desks.

Speaking about Corsair Gaming’s latest financial results, VP Ronald van Veen let slip when he expects a PC version of the game to be released.

“Yeah, GTA 6 is probably the one everyone is talking about,” Van Veen said.

“And we’ll get a glimpse of that, I think, later on in the year for console. My understanding now it’s going to come out in the fall for console, and then early 2026 for PC.”

Early 2026 will be music to the ears of PC gamers everywhere.

It comes after console gamers were given a ‘mapped out’ release of when GTA 6 will come to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, with September now seemingly a write off due to the release of fellow Take-Two video game, Borderlands 4.

And with the company saying it will not take part in cannibalisation – whereby one product competes directly another of its own – fans think a release date from late October to the first week of December is now most likely.

Once a force to be reckoned with on the Formula One circuit, Schumacher, 56, earned 91-career victories and seven World Championships during his illustrious auto racing career.

However, just a year after Schumi retired from the motorsport for a second time, he was involved in a tragic skiing accident in Meribel, a ski resort in France.

It’s understood the German went off-piste on December 29, 2013, experiencing a serious head injury when he hit his head a rock.

Months after being placed in a medically induced coma in a hospital in Grenoble, Schumacher returned to his home in Switzerland to continue his recovery.

The F1 star has not been seen in public since the accident, with his wife Corinna, 55, working around the clock to care for the sportsman and keep details of his health under lock and key.

However, last week, three men were convicted of trying to force the Schumacher family to hand over £12 million (€15m) to prevent 900 personal photos, nearly 600 videos and medical records from making their way online.

The BBC reports that Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, who was considered the blackmail plot leader, was sentenced to three years in prison by the German court while his son, Daniel Lins, 30, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Markus Fritsche, 53, who worked for the Schumachers as a security guard for 18 months before the skiing accident, also received a two year suspended prison sentence.

Following the ruling, Corinna has stated that she is not content with the sentences that were given to the three perpetrators.

“We have appealed against what we consider to be the far too lenient sentence for Mr. F.,” the West German-native said, as per ESPN.

“In my opinion, he was the mastermind behind this. What still shocks me most is the massive breach of trust. He should receive a punishment that deters any potential copycats.”

Corinna’s statement was in line with a note released by Thilo Damm, a representative of the Schumachers at the extortion trial.

“We do not agree with everything the court said. You can rest assured that we will exhaust all legal possibilities at our disposal,” he claimed. “We don’t know where the missing hard drive is. I don’t have a crystal ball, but there is the possibility of another threat through the backdoor.”

Back in 2021, Corinna gave a rare insight into her husband’s ongoing health battle during the titular Netflix documentary.

“Michael is here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find,” she tearfully explained.

“We’re together. We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.”

The ex-equestrian champion, who shares two children with Schumacher, added that she would always do ‘everything’ to ‘carry on as a family’.

The former employee was accused of transferring the files to the other suspects for a ‘five-figure sum’ and has been handed a suspended two-year prison sentence by officials.

As per the Daily Mail, Fritsche reportedly contacted Tozturkan, claiming he was in ‘possession’ of material related to Schumacher.

“He asked if we could do anything with it. I said: ‘I will ask but we will definitely be able to do something’,” the guilty party told Wuppertal District Court on 10 December.

“I said: ‘I will ask but we will definitely be able to do something’,” he continued. “I was given two hard drives, one was black, and the other was blue. For the most part I admit everything, but I didn’t buy the pictures.

“I was going to try and sell them first but when I didn’t get any interest that’s when I contacted the Schumacher family.”

Gabby was an American vlogger that began filming and posting her and Brian’s ‘van life’ on their channel, before going missing on their cross-country trip in August, 2021.

Brian returned to his home in Florida from the trip alone, raising alarm bells as he refused to speak with Gabby’s family and police when they started investigating the 22-year-old’s disappearance.

A true crime documentary was recently released on Netflix about the incident, titled American Murder: Gabby Petito. You can view the trailer here:

After police issued a warrant for Brian’s arrest, he disappeared, with his body later being found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had admitted to killing his fiancée in a journal entry that was found next to his body.

Since Gabby’s tragic death, details have emerged of her relationship with Brian, including the new Netflix documentary, which came out on Monday (17 February), that includes interviews from family and friends, as well as Gabby’s personal texts and journal entries.

One of Gabby’s friends admitted that meeting him was ‘very weird but he was very nice’, but told their mum: “He’s a really nice guy but I feel like there’s something off about him.”

But just a day after the documentary’s release, fans have noticed something chilling about her YouTube channel.

If you visit the couple’s page, titled ‘Nomadic Statik’, you’ll notice that there is just one video that’s been uploaded, and it was back on 19 August, 2021.

This sole eight-minute video is titled ‘VAN LIFE | Beginning Our Van Life Journey’, and it marked the start of an intended vlog series, showcasing the couple’s adventures in their van, which was converted into a makeshift motorhome.

It was the only video she posted to the channel, despite filming a lot more content throughout their trip.

One user pointed out: “I felt sick after realising this was the only video she was able to publish. I love how this was put together. Amazing talent. Her van was also incredibly put together. So very heart breaking.”

Another wrote: “It’s really sad coming back to this video knowing what happened. Rest in the sweetest peace, Gabby. You are loved by so many.”

And a third said: “This proves everything you see on social media isn’t always reality…”

Gabby’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, revealed that she got an ‘odd text’ from her daughter on the day she went missing, and also offered some advice to potential documentary viewers.

“When you watch the documentary, remember that this is a real person, this is a real family, it’s a real story and it’s real life,” she said to NewsNation.

“It’s not just true crime. This can happen to anyone. We never in a million years thought this would happen to our family.

“That’s why we’re trying to help people, so we can prevent this from happening to them.”

Which is exactly what happened to one grandfather in terrifying footage caught on camera.

Captured at Cimory Dairyland centre in Indonesia on 17 February, visitors could be seen gathering around a crocodile – which had recently been rescued from a flood in the region – and making offerings. Theme park staff believed the creature to be ‘docile’, which is why members of the public were allowed to approach the animal.

However, the predator lashed out when an elderly grandfather approached him with an offer of food and dragged violently dragged the man into the water.

Visitors can be seen surrounding the animal with their arms outstretched in the clip while the unnamed grandfather – seen in the upper right of the video – is placing something into the water.

When the man places something near the crocodile’s mouth it reacts suddenly, dragging him into the water while thrashing about as witnesses at the scene can be heard screaming.

“The grandfather was bitten by a crocodile when he wanted to give him food,” witness Siti Aisyah said of the incident.

“The residents immediately evacuated him and he was rushed to a hospital because his hand was badly injured.”

Authorities later transported the man to a local hospital for treatment on his severely injured arm.

“When we arrived, residents were already crowded at the location and directed us to the victim, so the evacuation process was quick,” Fire department chief Hasanuddin said of the situation.

Hasanuddin went on to explain that the crocodile had been rescued just days earlier from a flooded residential area and taken to the tourist attraction, with workers hoping visiting tourists would bring donations.

“We received information that this crocodile was previously seen near a landfill and had laid eggs on land,” he continued.

“If there is one female crocodile, there is likely a male crocodile still lurking around.”

The animal has since been released from the theme park by local wildlife workers.

READ MORE:

EXPERT EXPLAINS TRUTH BEHIND EXTREMELY DISTURBING THEORY SURROUNDING CROCODILE ‘PRETENDING TO DROWN’

Crocodiles are considered to be a significant threat to humans in the Southeast Asian country, which reports more attacks than any other country in the world.

The country is home to 14 different types of crocodiles, with the environmental impact of overfishing forcing the creatures further inland.

In 2025 alone, a five-year-old girl was killed by a crocodile while bathing in a lake with her parents in January in the Bangka Regency. Again, a 64-year-old woman was killed earlier this month while washing clothes in a local river in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Her son was later killed by the same crocodile as he searched for remains of his mother’s body.

Sky News reported earlier this year that we are, unfortunately, far from seeing the light at the end of the dismal cost of living crisis tunnel.

Instead, we’re expected to feel even more of a pinch as bills are set to mount.

And to make matters worse, a recent report published by the BBC saw the Bank of England suggesting we’re going to experience a rise in inflation throughout the year.

In an attempt to beat the crunch, thousands of UK households have been pouring their hard-earned wonga into saving schemes.

One of the most popular is a tax-free Individual Savings Account (ISA).

What is an ISA?

If you’ve never used an ISA, then basically, these investment pots can be used to save for your first home, invest in your future, or build a sweet retirement fund.

The annual limit for cash ISA contributions is £20,000 during the tax year (April 6 to April 5), and the good news is that this amount can be saved in a single account or distributed across multiple.

It’s thought that even though around eight million savvy savers are currently utilising these accounts each year Chancellor of the Exchequer and Labour Party MP Rachel Reeves is believed to be considering whether to scrap the tax-free cash version of the ISA savings account.

Households across the UK are therefore being warned that now is a better time than any to make use of an ISA and that it can offer some protection against ‘hidden taxes’, as per the Daily Express.

According to experts at Hargreaves Lansdown, 56 percent of new clients have actually opened a cash ISA in the last week and that deposits up 325 percent in 2025 so far versus the same period in 2024.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said there were five hidden taxes that an ISA could be used to offset or prevent.

Avoid paying tax on a Sharesave scheme from work

ISAs can be used to save on capital gains tax (CGT) paid on shares bought from a Sharesave scheme (SAYE) or Share Incentive Plan (SIP), says Coles.

Essentially, as long as you transfer the shares into an ISA within 90s of ‘exercising the option on your shares’ then there won’t be any CGT to pay.

It should be noted though that you can only transfer up to £20,000 of shares into the account.

An ISA could protect from an unexpected CGT bill on a child’s bare trust

A bare trust is defined by Gov.uk as an account ‘used to pass assets to young people’ and are usually looked after by someone else until the beneficiary is old enough.

However, when the child on the account turns 18, they could be hit with a hefty CGT bill is they make ‘significant gains’, says the Hargreaves Lansdown expert.

Though this may be mitigated by utilising an ISA, says Tom Riley, the director of retail products at Nationwide Building Society.

“Cash ISAs not only help ordinary people save efficiently but enable us to fund our first-time buyer lending,” he explained.

“Any limitations on lending would further impact those looking to get a foot on the housing ladder at a time when saving for a deposit remains a significant challenge.”

AIM ISAs are currently potentially free of inheritance tax after two years

You may be intrigued to hear that Inheritance Tax (IHT) is not currently potentially payable on Alternative Investment Market (AIM) ISAs after two years.

Therefore, parents could use as ISA to avoid a whopping 60 percent tax bill from HMRC and also save money on childcare as a bonus, as per Birmingham Live.

“The rules mean that for every £2 in taxable income over £100,000, your personal allowance reduces by £1, and is completely extinguished by the time that income reaches £125,140,” added Coles.

Those making over £100,000 could use an ISA to protect themselves

If you’re someone who annually makes over £100,000 and want to protect yourself from 60 percent tax and losing free childcare, then pouring your earnings into an ISA is a no brainer.

The financial advisor reports that there is no CGT levied on investments placed in a savings ISA and that no income tax is paid on interest.

This also includes taxable income from things like savings and dividends.

High-earning parent can save on the high income child benefit charge

A high-earning parent who opts to shelter their savings within an ISA could mitigate the impact of the high-income child benefit charge (HICBC).

This charge is equal to one percent of a family’s Child Benefit for every £100 of adjusted net income over £50,000 each tax year, with the threshold being over £60,000 for the tax year 2024 to 2025.

By moving some of your savings to an ISA, the income becomes tax-free, so doesn’t count towards the £100,000 limit, reports Coles.

“This saving is on top of the fact you’re not paying tax on this income,” she continued.

“If you made £101,000 in taxable income, and £1,000 of it was in taxable dividend income, you’d pay £337.50 in tax on those dividends (dividends are taxed at 33.75 percent for higher rate taxpayers).

“You would also lose £500 of your personal allowance, so at 40 percent that’s an extra £200 of tax. By moving those dividend-producing assets into an Isa, you could save £537.50 in tax in a single year.”

Lisa Smith was just 43 when she was killed outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt, Kent, on Valentine’s Day.

The Brit was reportedly in the pub earlier that day as police were called to the pub just after 7pm, along with the South East Coast Ambulance Service, who declared her dead at the scene.

Authorities have since launched a murder investigation into the incident, stating: “Officers attended the scene along with South East Coast Ambulance Service where a woman in her 40s had suffered injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.

“She was declared deceased at the scene and a murder investigation is under way. Her next of kin has been informed.

“As part of inquiries, officers attended the Dartford Crossing where a vehicle linked to the incident was recovered, alongside a firearm.”

Gunshots outside the pub

It is believed that the murderer used a gun as their weapon of choice, as pub landlady Michelle Thomas overheard all the commotion.

Explaining the order of events to Sky News, she said she was printing off menus and preparing for the Valentine’s Day dinner crowd when she heard banging sounds and thought they ‘were fireworks’ at first.

The bangs can be heard on CCTV that was captured at the time.

“There was so much commotion – screaming, shouting, crying. People were outside, on their phones. We tried to get people inside the pub to consolidate them,” Thomas recalled. “People were only just starting to sit down, it was early on in the evening.”

The landlady said there were about 50 people at the pub, with an off-duty officer helping to deal with the situation, while cops were called at 7.02 pm.

Forensic officers could later be seen examining a blue Seat parked near the pub’s entrance as the passenger side window had been smashed with bullet casings reportedly being found on the ground.

Information about the suspect

Detective Chief Inspector David Higham is the Senior investigating officer on the case, and he revealed that they are looking into one suspect and that the public are not at risk.

“We are currently only looking for one suspect and do not believe there to be an ongoing risk to the public.” he said.

“Specialist officers continue to work with the families of both parties involved to support them following this tragic incident.”

The police believe that the suspect knew the victim, however, a connection hasn’t yet been established.

A possible River Thames dip

Police were later informed by callers that a man was spotted on the other side of the barrier at the Dartford Crossing as investigators have not ruled out the possibility of the suspect entering the water while fleeing.

The car and firearm were found at the Queen Elizabeth II bridge over the River Thames, which is located 14 miles away from the pub.

In a statement on Monday (17 February), Kent Police stated that they believed the suspect had fallen into the water from the bridge, so they were ‘focusing efforts on searches to recover him from the water’ (via Sky News).

Second-hand recollections

Parish councillor Steve Maines told the BBC: “We were sitting having our Valentine’s Day meal when all of a sudden we heard this huge commotion outside in the car park. We were told someone had been shot so we had to leave.”

Meanwhile, resident Dorothy Wong said she heard ‘three to four bangs’ which was followed by ‘loud shouting’ from a woman.

Ray Picot, a local parish councillor, said he’d heard ‘a couple of loud bangs’ at around 7pm and said that the other people in the pub had been left in ‘terrible shock’ by the shooting.

Following the tragic incident, the Three Horseshoes pub sent a condolence message to Smith’s loved ones, writing: “We also want to send our support to anyone else in the local and surrounding community who have been impacted by this.

“Please be respectful of everyone involved at this difficult time, thank you.”