Saturday, September 16, 2017

News

The Latest: UK police search home in bomb probe after arrest

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Police officers work near a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, southwest London, as part of the investigation into Friday's Parsons Green bombing, Saturday Sept, 16, 2017. British police made what they called a "significant" arrest Saturday in southern England, and searched a property in Sunbury-on-Thames as the investigaiton continues following the partially exploded bomb attack on the London subway. ( Victoria Jones/PA via AP)

Police officers work near a property in Sunbury-on-Thames, southwest London, as part of the investigation into Friday's Parsons Green bombing, Saturday Sept, 16, 2017. British police made what they called a "significant" arrest Saturday in southern England, and searched a property in Sunbury-on-Thames as the investigaiton continues following the partially exploded bomb attack on the London subway. ( Victoria Jones/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the London subway attack and manhunt for suspects (all times local):
7:50 p.m.
British police have made an apparent breakthrough in subway bombing investigation with what they are calling a "very significant" arrest, but the country remains on a "critical" alert, meaning that another attack is judged imminent.
Police arrested an 18-year-old man in the port of Dover — the main ferry link to France — and then launched a massive armed search in the southwestern London suburb of Sunbury. Residents said they were evacuated immediately as police established a huge cordon and imposed a no-fly zone above the property being searched.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd and others said the arrest was of major importance.
The man is being held under the Terrorism Act and has been brought to London for questioning. His identity is a closely guarded secret and police have implored the press not to speculate while the inquiry unfolds.
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3:50 p.m.
British Home Secretary Amber Rudd says it is "much too early" to tell if authorities knew of the suspect in the London subway bombing
Rudd said Saturday it was "good fortune" that the bomb on the District Line train did not do more damage. She said it was a "serious" improvised explosive device that could have caused much more harm.
She says the arrest Saturday of an 18-year-old suspect was "very significant" and that police are making rapid progress in the investigation. Rudd said the independent Joint Terrorism Analysis Center will gauge whether to keep the country's terrorist threat level at "critical" in the coming days.
Rudd said she has briefed Prime Minister Theresa May on developments in the attack Friday that left 29 people injured.
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3 p.m.
British police say that armed officers are searching a home in a London suburb and evacuating neighbors as a precaution as part of the investigation into the subway blast.
Police say the operation is taking place in Sunbury, an area on the southwestern outskirts of the capital and about five miles (eight kilometers) from London's Heathrow Airport.
Police said cordons were put in place around the neighborhood to clear the area for police.
Police earlier Saturday arrested a suspect in the port of Dover and are hoping to gather information from the suspect in custody. Police said no further arrests have been made.
A bomb partially exploded aboard a London subway train during the Friday morning rush hour, and 29 people were left injured.
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2:35 p.m.
London's police commissioner has called on the public to be vigilant while Britain remains on high alert after a blast on a subway in the capital.
Cressida Dick says that authorities are making "some very considerable progress" in the investigation into the partial explosion of a bomb on a packed Tube train during the Friday morning rush hour. More than two dozen people were injured.
Dick said that intelligence agencies and the government are helping police "in every way they can." She said that "London is carrying on. Carry on with your business but be alert, don't be alarmed but make sure you tell us anything that worries you."
Britain's terror threat level was raised to "critical," meaning that authorities believe an attack is imminent.
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2:05 p.m.
British officials have held an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the terror threat facing the country after a London subway blast injured more than two dozen people.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd chaired the Saturday session, which included ministers and senior police.
She was due to be briefed on the morning arrest of an 18-year-old man suspected of a role in the partial detonation of a device on a subway train at Parsons Green station that injured 29 people. The man was arrested in the port of Dover, where ferries link Britain and France.
Officials have left the terrorist threat level at "critical," suggesting that other suspects in the bombing are still at large.
Hundreds of troops have been deployed at public sites throughout Britain to beef up security.
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10:45 a.m.
British police say they have arrested an 18-year-old man in connection with the London subway attack.
Police say the man has been arrested by Kent police in the port area of Dover on the English Channel.
Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu says that it's a "significant arrest." He said the investigation is ongoing and the terror threat level remains at "critical."
The man is being held for questioning under the Terrorism Act. He has not been charged or identified.
A bomb partially exploded on a London subway train at Parsons Green station Friday morning, leaving 29 people wounded, including those with burns and injuries from an ensuing stampede.
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8:20 a.m.
London transport authorities say they have re-opened the station where a bomb partially detonated on a subway car, injuring 29 people.
The blast sent what witnesses described as a fireball through the packed train during the Friday morning rush hour. The injuries, some from the explosion and others from an ensuing stampede, where not thought to be life-threatening.
Transport for London said that the Parsons Green station in southwest London station had reopened at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, more than 17 hours after the explosion.
British authorities increased the country's terror threat level to "critical," meaning they think another attack may be imminent. No arrests have been made and a major manhunt for suspects is underway. British soldiers are being deployed across the country at public sites to assist police.
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7:35 a.m.
British authorities are searching for suspects in the London subway blast that injured more than two dozen people as hundreds of soldiers are being deployed across the country.
Authorities increased the terrorism threat level to "critical" late Friday, after a bomb partially exploded during the morning rush hour, meaning a government task force believes another attack may be imminent.
The soldiers will add to the police presence Saturday at public places to deter attacks after the blast on a District Line train. No arrests have been made. The explosion and an ensuing stampede at Parsons Green station injured 29 people. None of the injuries, some of them burns, were believed to be life-threatening.
The bomb was put into a bucket and concealed in a shopping bag.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

70 villagers kidnapped in Afghanistan, at least 7 killed: police

In this photograph taken on May 1, 2016, an Afghan policeman keeps watch at a police checkpoint on the Kandahar-Tarinkot highway The decision to sack an Afghan strongman accused of deliberately handing over parts of a crucial southern highway to the Taliban has laid bare power struggles and tribal feuds within police ranks, worsening insecurity. Dozens of police checkpoints on the 160 kilometre (100 mile) highway connecting the provincial capitals of Tarin Kot, in Uruzgan, and Kandahar last week fell under Taliban control, raising security alarms. (AFP Photo/RATEB NOORI)
Kandahar (Afghanistan) (AFP) - Seventy Afghans were abducted Friday from their village along the main highway in the south of the country, and at least seven were killed, police said, accusing the Taliban of the kidnappings.
Around 30 villagers have been released but at least 30 others are still missing, Abdul Raziq, the head of Kandahar provincial police told AFP.
"The Taliban abducted 70 people from their house in a village along the Kandahar-Tarinkot highway, Friday. They killed seven of them today," Raziq said. "Their bodies were found by villagers this morning."
"They released 30 and are still keeping around 30 others," he said, adding they were "civilian Pashtuns", the ethnicity of many Taliban fighters.
The highway runs from Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan, to Tarinkot, capital of Uruzgan province, a poppy-growing area where the Taliban have a heavy presence.
It is not clear why the villagers were seized. Government officials and security forces are usually the target of such incidents.
Civilians are increasingly caught in the crosshairs of Afghanistan's worsening conflict as the Taliban step up their annual spring offensive, launched in April against the Western-backed Kabul government.
Highways around Afghanistan passing through insurgency-prone areas have become exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping or killing travellers.
But it is unusual for the Taliban to go into villages to take civilians as hostages. In general they intercept vehicles on the road, checking to see if passengers have links to the government.
In July, Taliban fighters closed a highway connecting Farah to Herat city, stopping a bus and forcing 16 passengers to dismount. They shot at least seven of them, while the remaining nine were taken hostage.
Friday's incident was confirmed by officials at the Independent Human Rights Commission in Kandahar and Kabul in a statement condemning the kidnappings and executions.
Fighting is underway in several northern and southern provinces in Afghanistan, including Helmand where 16 Afghan police officers were killed by a US airstrike on Friday night -- the latest setback to Washington's efforts to bring peace to the war-torn country.
The strike hit a compound in Gereshk district, large parts of which are under Taliban control.

Friday, June 23, 2017

NASA's Curiosity rover is just a speck in this orbiter photo

Nick Summers
NASA's Curiosity rover is just a speck in this orbiter photo
At this distance, Curiosity looks like a tiny beetle crawling over volcanic rock. Electric blue, its protective shell stands out against the rough, jagged mountainside. In reality, this is an image shot by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, an observational craft floating 200 miles above the planet's surface. We have, of course, seen Curiosity countless times before — it has a thing for selfies — but rarely from afar. In this photograph, you get a real sense of the planet's natural beauty and how empty, or quiet it must seem compared to Earth. Not that Curiosity minds, of course.
The photograph was taken with the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on June 5th. These "observations" are recorded in a red band, blue-green band and an infrared band, which NASA then converts into traditional shades of red, green and blue. It makes the images easier to parse, however they're not particularly accurate from a color perspective. That's why Curiosity looks so blue — in reality, it's a mixture of white, grey and black (no doubt with some orange, baked-on dirt too). Still, it's nice to see the car-sized robot in a different light.
Science

See NASA’s Curiosity Rover Simultaneously from Orbit and Red Planet’s Surface Climbing Mount Sharp

See NASA’s Curiosity Rover Simultaneously from Orbit and Red Planet’s Surface Climbing Mount Sharp
You can catch a glimpse of what its like to see NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover simultaneously high overhead from orbit and trundling down low across the Red Planet’s rocky surface as she climbs the breathtaking terrain of Mount Sharp – as seen in new images from NASA we have stitched together into a mosaic view showing the perspective views; see above. Earlier this month on June 5, researchers commanded NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to image the car sized Curiosity rover from Mars orbit using the spacecrafts onboard High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) telescopic camera during Sol 1717 of her Martian expedition – see below. HiRISE is the most powerful telescope ever sent

Friday, April 14, 2017


Twitter users mock United over overbooked flight incident



FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2015, file photo, a United Airlines passenger plane lands at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, N.J. Twitter users are poking fun at United's tactics in having a man removed from an overbooked Chicago to Louisville flight on April 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — A day after viral videos of a bloodied man being dragged off an overbooked United Express flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport by aviation security fueled criticism of the airline, Twitter users poked fun at the airline's tactics.
"We overbooked but you pay the price," ''We Put The Hospital In Hospitality" and "We'll drag you all over the world" were among the faux slogans being offered up on social media under #NewUnitedAirlinesMottos .
Others posted memes imagining Negan , the bat-wielding villain from "The Walking Dead," patrolling the plane's aisle. Another meme repurposed Monday's viral image of a Florida sheriff denouncing drug dealers while surrounded by menacing officers by making the group appear to be standing in front of a United customer service counter.
United had offered vouchers worth $800 to anyone who would volunteer to give up their seat on the flight Sunday, but found no takers. Merriam-Webster says searches for the definition of "volunteer" in its online dictionary jumped 1,900% Monday. Merriam-Webster defines the term as "someone who does something without being forced to do it."
Jimmy Kimmel quickly reacted to the controversy on his ABC late night show Monday, with a fake United commercial that showed a flight attendant armed with brass knuckles.
United Airlines' parent company CEO Oscar Munoz says he's "upset" by the incident, but believes his employees took the right action.
News

Palestinian man fatally stabs British woman on Jerusalem train

By Ori Lewis
Palestinian man fatally stabs British woman on Jerusalem train
By Ori Lewis
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian man fatally stabbed a British student on Jerusalem's transit network on Friday, Israeli police said.
Israel's ambassador to Britain, Mark Regev, named the victim as Hannah Bladon on his Twitter account, adding that she was "murdered in a senseless act of terror."
The incident occurred in a train carriage on the light rail network near the walled Old City. TV footage showed blood on the floor of the carriage with police officers restraining a man and carrying him away.
A paramedic for the Magen David Adom ambulance service said the woman had suffered multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead in hospital.
The British Foreign Office in London said in a statement: "We can confirm the tragic death of a British national in Jerusalem. We are providing support for her family at this difficult time and are in touch with the local authorities."
Israeli media said Bladon was a 21-year-old exchange student studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Israeli police earlier said she was 25. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent condolences in a statement issued by his office.
The Shin Bet domestic security service identified the assailant as 57-year-old Jamil Tamimi and said he was a Palestinian from Arab East Jerusalem with mental health problems who was convicted in 2011 for sexually assaulting his daughter.
"This is one of many instances where a Palestinian suffering personal strife ... chooses to carry out an attack in order to find release for his problems," the Shin Bet statement said.
It added that the assailant had previously tried to commit suicide by attempting to swallow a razor blade.
The attack occurred as Christians marked Good Friday and Muslims held prayers at respective holy sites nearby.
Friday is sometimes a day of heightened tensions in Jerusalem's Old City when tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers come to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
On Good Friday each year, Christians hold a procession along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City, retracing what they believe was the route that Jesus took to his crucifixion.
A wave of street attacks by Palestinians in Israel, Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank since October 2015 has previously killed 37 Israelis and two American tourists. At least 242 Palestinians have died during the period of sporadic violence.
Israel says at least 162 of the Palestinians killed had launched stabbing, shooting or car ramming attacks. Others died during clashes and protests.
Israel has accused the Palestinian leadership of inciting the violence. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, denies incitement and charges that in many cases, Israel has used excessive force in thwarting attackers armed with rudimentary weapons.
(Additional reporting by Luke Baker, and Mike Holden in London, Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
World

US Air Force sends message to North Korea with display of air power

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