In a bizarre pharmacy heist, an armed robber demanded Viagra and other prescription drugs from pharmacy employees at a store, leaving them baffled with a peculiar handwritten note. The robber in question has been identified as a 23-year-old Florida resident named Thomas Mues, who provided detailed instructions to the pharmacists through the note.

According to Fox News, the Orlando Police Department said Thomas Mues handed a handwritten note to pharmacists at a CVS store around 6 pm indicating he had a gun and would shoot them if he was not provided the pills listed on the note.

The note, reportedly written on a crumpled piece of paper, read: “”THIS IS A ARMED Robbery, Please cooperate; I don’t want to hurt you. You are not to alarm anybody, or I will shoot the closest person to me! Please follow these directions, or I will shoot the closest person to me.”

As per the social media post of the Orlando Police, officers arrived on the scene as the suspect, Thomas Mues, was walking out of the store. After a short foot pursuit, Mues was apprehended and was still holding the stolen narcotics and his written note. He admitted to travelling to Orlando from Jacksonville to carry out the plan and also confessed to another similar robbery in Central Florida.

Pharmacy employees say the suspect handed them a note indicating he had a gun & would shoot them if he was not provided the pills listed. OPD TAC officers arrived on the scene as the suspect, Thomas Mues (DOB 2/22/00), was walking out of the store. pic.twitter.com/lh7e1TyJt1

— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) October 23, 2023

Mues is currently facing a series of charges, including robbery, trafficking, and possession.

With so many bodies, Palestinians in Gaza are burying the unidentified dead in mass graves, with a number instead of a name, residents say. Now some families are using bracelets in the hope of finding their loved ones should they be killed.

The El-Daba family has tried to reduce the risk of being struck down during the heaviest-ever Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Israel launched the air strikes after Hamas militants attacked Israeli towns on Oct. 7 in a rampage that killed 1,400 people and hostages were taken.

Ali El-Daba, 40, said he had seen bodies ripped apart by the bombing and were unrecognisable.

He said he decided to divide his family to prevent them from all dying in a single strike. He said his wife Lina, 42, kept two of their sons and two daughters in Gaza City in the north and he moved to Khan Younis in the south with three other children.

El-Daba said he was preparing for the worst. He bought blue string bracelets for his family members and tied them around both wrists. “If something happens,” he said, “this way I will recognise them.”

Other Palestinian families were also buying or making bracelets for their children or writing their names on their arms.

Mass Burials

Mass burials have been authorized by local Muslim clerics. Before burial, medics keep pictures and blood samples of the dead and give them numbers.

The Israeli military has told people to leave the north of the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely-populated places in the world, and head south because it is safer. But air strikes have hit across the Hamas-ruled enclave.

An Israeli military spokesperson said: “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has been encouraging residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move southward and not to stay in the vicinity of Hamas terror targets within Gaza City.”

“But, ultimately, Hamas has entrenched itself among the civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip. So wherever a Hamas target arises, the IDF will strike at it in order to thwart the terrorist capabilities of the group, while taking feasible precautions to mitigate the harm to uninvolved civilians.”

Israel’s military intensified its bombing of southern Gaza overnight after one of the deadliest days for Palestinians since Oct. 7. World leaders have called for a halt to fighting to allow aid into the besieged enclave, which is running out of water, food, fuel and medicines.

A total of 756 Palestinians, including 344 children, were killed in the past 24 hours, Gaza’s health ministry said on Wednesday. It said at least 6,546 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7, including 2,704 children.

The Karnataka government today demanded Rs 17,901.73 crore in funds from the Centre to compensate farmers affected due to drought in the Kharif season this year.

Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvaraya Swamy, Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge, and Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda met Union Agriculture Secretary Manoj Kumar Ahuja and Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla separately and updated them about the drought situation in Karnataka.

The three state ministers are also members of the Karnataka Cabinet sub-committee on drought management.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Mr Byregowda said, “We have sought a total drought relief of Rs 17, 901.73 crore as per the NDRF norms. We have requested the central government to clear the funds at the earliest.

As of September 22, the state as a whole recorded 26 per cent deficit rainfall that led to an estimated agriculture and horticulture crop loss in about 45.55 lakh hectares during the kharif season, he said.

The state has so far declared drought in 216 taluks and will examine the possibility of declaring more taluks as drought-hit in the first week of November, he said.

Out of Rs 17,901 crore estimated drought relief funds, the Revenue Minister said the state government for the first time has demanded Rs 12,577 crore as gratuitous relief to families whose livelihood has been seriously affected due to drought for 90 days.

The state has also demanded Rs 4414.29 crore for agriculture and horticulture crop loss during the kharif season (July-June) this year, while Rs 355 crore towards animal feed and Rs 554 crore for providing drinking water assistance in drought-affected taluks, he added.

The Karnataka government has estimated a total loss due to the crop damage in the state at Rs 33,770.10 crore. It has sought assistance of Rs 17,901.73 crore under the National Disaster Relief Find (NDRF).

Byregowda also said that the state government has requested the Centre to consider the latest number of small and marginal farmers which is 70 per cent of the state population while sanctioning the relief fund.

The state Rural Development Minister Kharge said he requested the Centre to release the pending Rs 600 crore MGNREGA funds to the state in a separate meeting with the Union Rural Development Secretary here.

“We have also sought an increase in the number of guaranteed man-days of work under the MNREGA for the state from the current 10 crore to 18 crore keeping in view the drought situation,” he said.

Already, 10 crore man-days of work have been exhausted till now and more man-days of work is required to provide livelihood to people affected in drought-hit areas, he said.

“Right now, there is no problem of drinking water, but cannot say in the next 2-3 months. We need funds to arrange for contingency water requirement in drought-hit taluks,” he added.

The state agriculture minister Mr Swamy said he also discussed problems being faced in the implementation of the Centre’s crop insurance scheme and sought some changes.