Author: Sunfire

It was immediately made clear that there was no hostage situation at the store, so why was everyone handcuffed and frisked?  Oh, that’s right, conditioning.

New York Daily News – by Thomas Tracy

Patrons of an Internet cafe in New Jersey were forced to press pause — then raise their hands in the air — after a SWAT team raided the establishment following a bogus hostage call, officials said.   Continue reading “SWAT team raids Internet cafe in New Jersey after bogus hostage call: officials”

Mail.com

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — An Air Canada plane made an “abrupt” landing in bad weather and skidded off the runway at the airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and officials said Sunday that 23 people were taken to a hospital for observation and treatment of minor injuries.

The airline said Flight AC624, an Airbus 320 that left Toronto late Saturday, had 133 passengers and five crew members. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board called it an accident and provided pictures that showed significant damage to the plane with the nose torn off and what appears to be an engine crumpled under a damaged wing.   Continue reading “Air Canada plane leaves Halifax runway on ‘abrupt’ landing”

Mail.com

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Millions of Nigerians turned out Saturday to vote in a presidential election that analysts say is too close to call between President Goodluck Jonathan and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari.

Nearly 60 million people have cards to vote and determine the outcome of the first election in Nigeria’s history where an opposition candidate has a realistic chance of defeating a sitting president. The vote takes place amid an Islamic insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast in which thousands have been killed.   Continue reading “Millions of Nigerians turn out to vote in presidential poll”

Mail.com

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The heat over Indiana’s new religious objections law spread Friday across social media and to the White House as many local officials and business groups around the state tried to jump in and stem the fallout.

Use of the hashtag #boycottindiana spread across Twitter, spurred on by activists such as “Star Trek” actor George Takei, who argued that the measure opens the door to legalized discrimination against gay people. Apple CEO Tim Cook also tweeted his objections, saying he was “deeply disappointed” in the Indiana law.   Continue reading “Indiana officials look to stem religious objections fallout”

RT

Police have found a torn sick leave note for the date of the crashed Germanwings flight in the home of Andreas Lubitz, suspected of voluntarily bringing the plane down, Dusseldorf prosecutors say.

Prosecutors believe Lubitz could have been concealing his illness from the company.

“Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors,” said the Prosecutors’ Office in Dusseldorf, Reuters reports.   Continue reading “Germanwings co-pilot ‘hid illness,’ medical leave note from employers – prosecutors”

Mail.com

VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — Declaring a reported kidnapping wasn’t a hoax, the attorney for California woman who went missing for two days says she has met with police and is cooperating with their investigation.

Denise Huskins met with Vallejo Police detectives for several hours Thursday “with the hope of clearing her name because she is absolutely, unequivocally, 100 percent, positively a victim,” attorney Doug Rappaport said.   Continue reading “Lawyer says kidnapping wasn’t hoax, woman talking to police”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Firefighters on Friday used high-powered water towers to extinguish pockets of fire at the site of an apparent gas explosion in Manhattan’s trendy East Village as authorities reported that two people were still unaccounted for.

Nineteen people were injured, four critically, after the powerful blast and fire sent flames soaring and debris flying Thursday afternoon. The police department hasn’t yet issued official missing-person’s reports on the two people who haven’t been located, the mayor’s office said.   Continue reading “2 people unaccounted for after apparent NYC gas explosion”

Mail.com

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Saudi Arabia bombed key military installations in Yemen on Thursday, leading a regional coalition in a campaign against Shiite rebels who have taken over much of the country and drove out the president. The dramatic military assault turns impoverished, fragmented Yemen into a new front in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran.   Continue reading “Saudi airstrikes target rebel bases in Yemen”

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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl says he was tortured repeatedly in the five years he was held captive by the Taliban: beaten with a copper cable, chained, held in a cage and threatened with execution after trying to escape.

Bergdahl described his captivity in a note his lawyer made public Thursday after sharing it with the Army in an attempt to avert a court martial. The Army charged Bergdahl nevertheless on Wednesday, accusing him of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy for leaving his post in Afghanistan in June 2009.   Continue reading “Desertion charge intensifies debate over Bergdahl’s release”

Mail.com

VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) — The uncle of a California woman who was reported kidnapped said police were reckless in concluding it was a hoax after she turned up safe, a TV station reported.

“I thought it was overzealous. I thought it was premature,” Jeff Kane told CBS Sacramento in a telephone interview after a Wednesday press conference by Vallejo police who investigated the reported abduction of Denise Huskins, 29.   Continue reading “After police call abduction a hoax, California woman missing”

Mail.com

CHICAGO (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. left an Alabama federal prison early Thursday bound for a halfway house, where he begins his transition back into society two years after pleading guilty to spending $750,000 in campaign money on personal items.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking by phone shortly after picking up his 50-year-old son, described his release from the minimum security federal prison camp at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, as a “joyous reunion.” He added that the younger Jackson was doing “very well.”   Continue reading “Jesse Jackson Jr. leaves federal prison for halfway house”

Mail.com

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jose Lantigua’s family appeared to be living the American Dream. The Cuban immigrant claimed he had a heroic military career and earned numerous degrees before running a successful furniture business. He owned a Florida beachfront condo and a new home atop a verdant North Carolina mountain.

But in 2012, as his Circle K Furniture slid deeper into debt, those who knew Lantigua said he’d made some odd decisions: he ordered tons of new furniture on the company dime for his family’s many homes. He replaced the bookkeeper he’d used for years with a relative. He built a panic room with steel doors inside his North Carolina hideaway.   Continue reading “Suspicion surrounded Florida businessman who faked his death”

RT

Poor training led Philadelphia police officers to the mistaken belief that fearing for their lives alone justified the use of deadly force, a new Justice Department review has found. That fear resulted in 394 shootings over a seven-year period.

The ‘Assessment of Deadly Force in the Philadelphia Police Department,’ released Monday, came with 48 findings and 91 recommendations by the Justice Department. It found that 81 percent of the victims of officer-involved shootings were African-American men in their twenties; 59 percent of the shootings were carried out by white officers; and most shootings occurred in majority black neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods in northern Philadelphia were also police districts with the highest patterns of gun violence and homicides.   Continue reading “‘Poor training’ resulted in almost 400 shootings by Philadelphia police – Justice Dept”

RT

An Airbus A320 with 144 passengers and 6 crewmembers has crashed in Digne region, southern France. The jet, which belonged to Germanwings low-cost airline, was flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf.

The jet took off from Barcelona airport at 08:55 GMT, according to Spanish Airport operator AENA.   Continue reading “Germanwings A320 passenger plane crashes in Southern France”

RT

Judging by the results of a recent poll, US President Barack Obama may want to become an actor after his presidential term expires if he really wants to achieve sky-high ratings as a leader.

Although Obama may resort to a teleprompter when speaking his lines to the American people, that seems to be where the similarities between the Democratic leader and the scripted, made-for-television presidential leaders ends.    Continue reading “Americans prefer fictional TV presidents over Obama – survey”

Mail.com

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — They signed up to fight for their country, and the state of Texas promised to pay for their education.

For decades, veterans went to public universities and colleges under the Hazlewood Exemption, which kicks in after federal benefits under the G.I. Bill are exhausted. But the price tag has increased sevenfold since 2009, when legislators in Texas — which has the country’s second-highest veteran population, 1.7 million — allowed the benefit to be passed on to veterans’ children under a legacy provision.   Continue reading “Lawmakers: Funding education for Texas veterans is too high”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A fully unleashed Rudolph Giuliani, free of electoral concerns and financial worries, has relentlessly criticized President Barack Obama in recent weeks, questioning the commander in chief’s love of country while placing the blame for much of society’s ills at the front door of the White House.

But those same inflammatory views that have been eaten up by some conservatives are significantly out of step with the prevailing political views of liberal New York City. And experts suggest they could further muddle Giuliani’s complicated legacy in the city he led for eight years, including in its darkest hours.   Continue reading “Giuliani’s fiery rhetoric clouds legacy of ‘America’s Mayor’”

Mail.com

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Authorities are investigating human remains discovered along an Alaska trail less than 2 miles from the home of a missing family of four, including two young children.

The remains might be connected to the disappearance last May of Rebecca Adams, 23; her boyfriend, Brandon Jividen, 38; and her children, Michelle Hundley, 6, and Jaracca Hundley, 3, Kenai police said Sunday.   Continue reading “Alaska police probe if human remains tied to missing family”