9/11 Plane Part Found Between NYC Buildings

A part from one of the commercial planes that was flown into the Twin Towers on 9/11 has been found between two buildings, police say.

New York Police Department Spokesman Paul Browne said the piece of landing gear, discovered on Wednesday wedged between a mosque site and another lower Manhattan building, has a clearly legible Boeing identification number.

The twisted and rusted equipment features cables, levers and giant bolts. It measures 5ft high, 3ft wide and 1.5ft deep.

"The odds of this being wedged between there is amazing. It had to have fallen just the right way to make it into that space," Browne said.

The part was found wedged in this narrow crevice

He added that other wreckage has been found nearby in the years since the terrorist attack.

The part was found by surveyors who had been hired to inspect the site of a planned Islamic community centre at 51 Park Place, about three blocks from ground zero.

The surveyors spotted the debris as they looked down between the buildings from the roof, quickly called 911, and the scene was secured and police documented the findings with photographs, Mr Browne said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and police will work to determine whether the wreckage belongs to American Airlines Flight 11, which struck the North Tower, or to United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower. Both planes were Boeings.

A plane can be seen before it flies into one of the Twin Towers on 9/11

Police are awaiting a determination from a medical examiner on whether to sift the soil around the building to search for human remains.

The medical examiner's office is in the middle of a 10-week sifting operation as it attempts to identify additional human remains in debris unearthed at the World Trade Center site during construction of a new skyscraper.

If the landing gear's origin is authenticated, it would mean it sat undisturbed for nearly a dozen years.

Patricia Riley, the sister of 9/11 victim Lorraine Riley, called the discovery "very strange."

"Twelve years later we are still finding remnants of the attack on our country," she said.

The ruins of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attack

"For years to come we'll continue to find things that we didn't see before. Hopefully, they'll serve as a reminder that we have to stay vigilant."

More than 2,750 people were killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked the two commercial passenger planes and flew them into the upper floors of the Twin Towers, then the tallest buildings in the world.

Hijackers also took over two other planes that day, crashing one into the Pentagon in Washington DC.

The fourth plane went down in a field in rural Pennsylvania.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

North Korea: American On Trial In Pyongyang

North Korea has said an American tourist detained for nearly six months will face trial for plotting to overthrow the government, a move that could further increase tensions in the region.

The case involves Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in early November. If convicted, he could face the death penalty, news reports said.

The trial comes amid weeks of heightened rhetoric and tensions pitting Pyongyang against Seoul and Washington.

On Saturday, South Korea pulled out most its workers from a joint industrial complex after Pyongyang rejected its ultimatum to begin talks on restarting the stalled operations.

Seoul said it would pull out all 170 remaining workers from Kaesong

The move plunged into doubt the future of the Kaesong complex - once a rare symbol of cooperation between the North and the South and a crucial source of hard currency for Kim Jong-Un's isolated regime.

Mr Bae, described as a Korean-American tour operator, was arrested in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media.

The 44-year-old was among a group of five people.

Young leader Kim Jong-Un has succeeded his father

The exact nature of his alleged crimes has not been revealed, but Pyongyang accuses him of seeking to overthrow North Korea's leadership.

"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) with hostility toward it," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

South Korea-US joint drills have angered Pyongyang

"His crimes were proved by evidence. He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK to face judgment."

No timing for the verdict was given.

A number of US citizens of Korean descent have run into trouble in the North over the years.

In one famous case, former President Bill Clinton travelled to the reclusive nation in 2009 to win the release of two Americans.

Friends and colleagues described Bae as a devout Christian from Washington state but based in the Chinese border city of Dalian who travelled frequently to North Korea to feed the country's orphans, the AP news agency reported.

Under North Korea's criminal code, crimes against the state can draw life imprisonment or the death sentence.

Pyongyang is locked in a standoff with the Obama administration over North Korea's drive to build nuclear weapons.

The Kaesong complex was established in 2004

Washington has led the campaign to punish Pyongyang for launching a long-range rocket in December and carrying out a nuclear test, its third, in February.

North Korea says the need to build atomic weapons to defend itself against the US, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea.

Over the past two months the US has been holding joint military drills with South Korea that have included nuclear-capable stealth bombers and fighter jets, angering Pyongyang.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bangladesh Building Collapse: Five In Custody

Police in Bangladesh have arrested two clothing factory bosses based at the eight-storey building near the capital Dhaka that collapsed killing 348 people.

Two engineers - Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali - involved in approving the design of the structure have also been detained for questioning.

Junior home minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd, and Mahmudur Rahaman Tapash, the company chairman. It is the largest of the five factories in the complex.

Police have filed a case against them for "death due to negligence", after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the owners forced the workers to return to work after cracks appeared in the building.

The wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana - the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building who has not been seen since the tragedy - has also been detained.

A survivor is carried to an ambulance on a stretcher

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had asked the factories based in the structure to shut down on Wednesday morning, hours before the building came down.

"After we got the crack reports we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed," said association president Atiqul Islam.

The arrests came after police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of clothing workers who took to the streets on the outskirts of Dhaka to protest over the deaths as clashes also erupted in the southeastern city of Chittagong.

There was no sign of the rescue operation being called off with authorities pledging to continue the search after 29 people were pulled out alive on Saturday - more than three days after the building came down.

With time running out to save workers still trapped in the collapsed building, rescuers have been digging through mangled metal and concrete to find more survivors.

They finally reached the ground floor from the top of the mountainous rubble through 25 narrow holes they drilled.

Protesters set fire to furniture from a police control room on Saturday

Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan, head of the fire service, said: "We are still getting a response from survivors though they are becoming weaker slowly.

"The building is very vulnerable. Any time the floors could collapse. We are performing an impossible task, but we are glad that we are able to rescue so many survivors," he added.

The rescued have described hearing a loud crack just before the eight-storey building collapsed, with each level pancaking on top of those below.

The building housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.

High street giant Primark confirmed one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building, and protesters targeted the group's flagship store in central London today to demand compensation for the workers who were killed.

Speaking outside Primark's Oxford Street store, Murray Worthy of the War on Want group said: "We're here to send a clear message to Primark that the 300 deaths in the Bangladesh building collapse were not an accident - they were entirely preventable deaths.

"If Primark had taken its responsibility to those workers seriously, no one need have died this week."

The Primark protest in central London

A Primark spokesman said: "The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved."

Elsewhere in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of workers walked out of their factories in solidarity with their dead colleagues.

Some workers' leaders attacked Western firms, whom they accused of turning "a blind eye" while using Bangladeshis as "money-making machines".

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Italy: New Government Ends Political Deadlock

Weeks of political deadlock have ended in Italy as Enrico Letta of the centre-left becomes the new PM and forms a government.

Mr Letta, a 46-year-year-old leftist moderate, leads a broad-coalition government backed by his own Democratic Party and the conservatives of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The government will be sworn in on Sunday and then faces votes of confidence in both houses of parliament, possibly as early as Monday.

A general election in February proved inconclusive, with the electorate split among three main blocs and no party winning enough of the vote to muster majorities in parliament.

Since then a political stalemate had paralysed Italy, unnerving markets at a time of deep economic crisis.

Silvio Berlusconi is backing the new government

Mr Letta is a pro-European, reform-oriented politician who has served as a minister in previous centre-left governments. Viewed as a bridge-builder, he is a nephew of Mr Berlusconi's long-time right-hand man, Gianni Letta.

The prime minister has said he wants to move quickly to tackle the economic problems plaguing Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy.

The country is mired in its worst recession in decades and austerity measures pushed by the previous technocratic government led by Mario Monti have stirred anger across the nation.

The new government includes some of Mr Berlusconi's closest allies, including the secretary of his party Angelino Alfano, who will serve as interior minister.

Bank of Italy director general Fabrizio Saccomanni will take the powerful economy ministry and former European Commissioner Emma Bonino will be foreign minister.

Mr Letta (R) shakes hands with President Giorgio Napolitano

The third-largest force to emerge from the Italian election, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement led by comic Beppe Grillo, has demanded change and ruled out any alliance with the traditional political parties.

It will remain outside of the government.

Mr Grillo has said the coalition government "is an orgy worthy of the best bunga bunga" - a reference to Mr Berlusconi's infamous parties.

More follows...

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Second Suspect Arrested Over Ricin Letters

Police have said a Mississippi martial arts tutor has been arrested in connection with poison-laced letters sent to President Barack Obama and two other officials.

Everett Dutschke was taken into custody by US Marshals at his home without incident, according to Tupelo police chief Tony Carleton.

Federal agents from the FBI and the US Capitol Police, as well as members of an anti-terrorist response team from the Mississippi National Guard, had earlier searched the 41-year-old's home and former martial arts studio.

Authorities searched Dutschke's former martial arts studio

US prosecutors dropped charges on Tuesday against another Mississippi man, Elvis impersonator Paul Kevin Curtis, who was released from jail after a search of his home in nearby Corinth revealed no incriminating evidence.

Three ricin-laced letters were sent to Mr Obama, Senator Roger Wicker and a Lee County, Mississippi, judge. 

Paul Kevin Curtis (in glasses) was cleared of charges last week

The letters sent to the president and Sen Wicker were intercepted at government mail sorting facilities before reaching the White House and Capitol Hill.

Ricin - made from castor beans - can be deadly to humans and is considered a potential terror weapon, particularly if refined into an aerosol form.

More follows...

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boston Bombs: Carjack Victim Recounts Ordeal

The driver of a Mercedes SUV carjacked by the Boston bombers, as they evaded police last week, has spoken publicly about his ordeal for the first time.

The victim - a 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur - was interviewed by the Boston Globe newspaper.

He was identified only as Danny and told the paper he did not want his real name to be used.

"I don't want to be a famous person talking on the TV," he said. "I don't feel like a hero. I was trying to save myself."

His nightmare encounter with the Tsarnaev brothers began at around 11pm last Thursday with the older of the two, Tamerlan, rapping on the car window. 

As Danny opened it, the armed man reached inside and warned: "Don't be stupid". 

Boston bomb suspects Tamerlan Tsarnaev (L) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Tamerlan, 26, told him he was responsible for the marathon bombings and that he had just killed a police officer in Cambridge.

He climbed into the Mercedes and ordered him to drive to another neighbourhood, where they met up with his brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar.

Throughout the harrowing 90-minute journey, Danny said the Tsarnaev brothers talked about the bombings but also mundane things like iPhones, girls, and whether people listened to compact discs anymore.

He said they also talked about going to New York, but he was unable to make out what they were intending to do.

US intelligence sources now believe the brothers could have been planning an atrocity in Times Square.

"Death is so close to me," Danny recalled thinking. "I have a lot of dreams that haven't come true yet."

He thought of trying to escape more than once, but his best chance came when they were forced to pull into a service station to get fuel.

"I was thinking I must do two things: unfasten my seatbelt and open the door and jump out as quick as I can,"  Danny said.

"If I didn't make it, he would kill me right out, he would kill me right away."

He seized the moment and managed to make it to the safety of another service station.

He spent the rest of the night filling in police and FBI agents with as much detail as he could remember.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the boat in a Boston back garden

That included the key fact that the SUV the Tsarnaev brothers had taken off in was equipped with two trackers. One was in Danny's iPhone and the other was part of a Mercedes two-way satellite device.

The car was soon cornered in the Watertown district. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during a shootout with police.

His younger brother escaped but was found hours later hiding in a boat in a nearby street.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boston Bomb Suspect Moved To Prison

Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been moved to a Massachusetts prison, the US Marshals Service has confirmed.

The 19-year-old is now at the Federal Medical Centre in Devens - 40 miles (65km) northwest of Boston - which provides long-term medical care for inmates.

US Marshals Service spokesman Drew Wade released the following statement: "The US Marshals Service confirms that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been transported from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and is now confined at the Bureau of Prisons facility FMC Devens at Ft Devens, Massachusetts."

The younger Tsarnaev brother is recovering from a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway, days after the bombing which killed three and wounded 264.

The ethnic Chechen has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and could face the death penalty if convicted in a US federal court.

Before being moved from hospital, he reportedly told investigators that he and his brother Tamerlan, 26, had discussed going to New York to detonate their remaining explosives.

An injured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev just after his capture

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told journalists at a briefing that the two suspects had a pressure cooker bomb and five pipe bombs they intended to set off in Times Square.

Police Commissioner Kelly said: "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev revealed he and his brother decided spontaneously on Times Square as a target and they would drive to Times Square that same night.

"They discussed this while driving around in an SUV they had hijacked after they shot and killed an MIT police officer in Cambridge.

"That plan fell apart when they realised the vehicle they hijacked was low on gas and ordered the driver to stop at a gas station when the driver used the opportunity to escape and called police.

"Up till that point the brothers had at their disposal six improvised explosive devices.

Dzhokhar graduating from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in Boston

"One was a pressure cooker bomb similar to the two that exploded the marathon. The other five were pipe bombs. We knew Dzhokhar was pictured in Times Square with friends on or before April 18, 2012, and he was in the city again in 2012.

"We don't know if those visits were related in any way to the brother's spontaneous decision to target Times Square."

A senior US law enforcement source told Sky News the brothers' plan to attack New York was "aspirational at best". He said it was "just talk, there were no real plans, research on, or attempts to get to New York".

The news came just hours after their mother launched an impassioned attack on US authorities over the death of her older son.

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said she regretted moving to the United States and claimed "America took my kids away from me".

An emotional Mrs Tsarnaeva said she was told her she could not see her remaining son.

Mrs Tsarnaeva being questioned by reporters in Dagestan

She said she had been told he had a "really bad wound to his right neck" which meant he could not eat and was being fed by a tube.

Reports in the US have claimed the teenager suffered a self-inflicted throat injury during a shootout and subsequent stand-off with the police.

According to US officials, he said his older brother, who died in a gunfight with police, recruited him to take part in the attacks only recently.

However, both Mrs Tsarnaeva and her husband, Anzor Tsarnaev, said there was no way their sons were responsible for the attack which killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured more than 180 others.

Tamerlan during a boxing match in 2009

She said her sons were victims of a conspiracy and had been framed. She claimed she had seen a video of Tamerlan being arrested and was later shown pictures of him alive.

Mrs Tsarnaeva said she had spoken to her son after the bombings and before he was killed in the police shootout during which he told her "Don't worry mamma" and tried to reassure her he was safe.

Mr Tsarnaev told reporters: "I am going to the United States. I want to say that I am going there to see my son, to bury the older one. I don't have any bad intentions. I don't plan to blow up anything."

Banging the table as he spoke, he said: "I am not angry at anyone. I want to go find out the truth."

Family photographs of brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Mrs Tsarnaeva said she was not sure whether she would accompany her husband. She was charged with shoplifting in the US last summer and is concerned she could be arrested.

They were speaking as it emerged that Tamerlan's name had been included on a database of suspected terrorists by the CIA in 2011, 18 months before the attacks.

He was investigated after Russia's FSB security service raised concerns that he had become a follower of Russian Islam.

Mrs Tsarnaeva said she did not believe that Russia had raised concerns over her son with the US authorities.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Syria Chemical Weapons 'May Have Been Used'

David Cameron has said there is growing evidence of the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al Assad's regime, condemning reported attacks as a "war crime".

However, he said that the latest developments did not mean that Britain would send troops in to Syria but urged for more pressure to be put on the Assad regime.

His comments came as footage emerged of victims of an apparent sarin attack in the city of Aleppo.

The video, which was taken in a hospital and shows men and women frothing at the mouth and twitching from the effects of the nerve agent, was posted online just over a week ago.

The images were recorded at the medical facility in Afrin, about an hour's drive from the city of Aleppo, where the alleged sarin attacks by the Bashar al Assad regime were carried out.

Dr Kawa Hassan, an orthopaedic surgeon who treated the first casualties, told Anthony Lloyd, a journalist for The Times who travelled to the medical facility: "We received an initial five casualties, then a second group.

The US says the Assad regime is likely to be behind any chemical weapon use

"Many were foaming at the mouth and their pupils were dilated. Then some of my medical staff started to become affected, too. We gave them all atropine. For most, it had an immediate positive effect."

Mr Cameron told BBC Breakfast: "It is very disturbing what we are seeing. It's limited evidence but there's growing evidence that we have seen too of the use of chemical weapons, probably by the regime.

"It is extremely serious, this is a war crime, and we should take it very seriously."

He said that it was now essential to gather further evidence and for Britain to work with the international community to put pressure on the Assad regime.

He added: "But this is extremely serious, and I think what President Obama said was absolutely right - that this should form for the international community a red line for us to do more.

Vials of sarin found in Iraq in 2004

Syrian officials denied the government has used chemical weapons against rebel forces.

Sharif Shehadeh called the US claims "lies" and likened them to false accusations that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel announced during a trip to Abu Dhabi yesterday that evidence of chemical weapons use had been found.

His comments were backed by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who said the Syrian regime had carried out two small-scale chemical weapons attacks.

Mr Kerry made the claim as he left a Congressional hearing, but did not give further details.

The White House said forces loyal to Assad probably used sarin gas against rebel fighters on a "small scale", but emphasised more assessments were needed.

Victims of the alleged attacks in Aleppo were treated at an Afrin hospital

Barack Obama has repeatedly said that any use of chemical weapons would be cross a "red line", triggering possible military action.

He is expected to discuss the matter when he meets King Abdullah II of Jordan later today.

The latest disclosures by those in his administration have led to calls for tough action including enforcing a no fly zone and creating safe zones inside the country.

Speaking yesterday, a White House official said if it was determined that line had been crossed, the US would consult with its allies on the next step - and "all options are on the table".

The official said the Assad regime is believed to have chemical weapons, and any use of them in the country would probably have been carried out by government forces.

Miguel E Rodriguez, assistant to the president and director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, revealed the claims in a letter to senators John McCain and Carl Levin.

The aftermath of an airstrike in Aleppo earlier this month

"Our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin," he said.

A senior defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press the letter was not an "automatic trigger" for policy decisions on the use of military force.

Senator McCain told Sky News: "The problem is that the president has consistently said that's a red line, so the question is, will the president act in a way that I have advocated for a long time?

"(This involves) providing a safe zone for the Syrian resistance, provide proper weapons and have operational capability to secure these chemical weapon caches."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced earlier this month that he had a team of 15 inspectors on stand-by in Cyprus ready to go and investigate allegations of chemical weapons us.

Today his spokesman Martin Nesirky said: "The Secretary-General has consistently urged the Syrian authorities to provide full and unfettered access to the team. He renews this urgent call today.

"The fact-finding team is on stand-by and ready to deploy in 24-48 hours."

Sarin is a colourless and odourless liquid, and is an extremely potent nerve agent.

It is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN, and the production and stockpiling of sarin was outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russia: Psychiatric Hospital Fire Kills 38

Thirty-eight people have been confirmed dead after a fire tore through a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Moscow.

The blaze broke out in the hospital in the village of Ramensky, around 70km (43 miles) south east of Moscow, at around 2.20am local time.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the entire one-storey building was engulfed in flames, reports said.

There were 41 people in the building when the fire broke out - three nurses and the rest patients. Only one nurse and two patients, a man and a woman, managed to escape from the building alive.

Only one nurse and two patients are thought to have survived the blaze

Irina Gumennaya, a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee, said at least 29 people were burned alive.

Many of the patients were on sedatives and most of them did not wake up, Yuri Deshekvykh of the emergency situations ministry told RIA Novosti.

Some of the windows of the building were barred and people were unable to get to fire exits.

The blaze is thought to have been started by an electrical short-circuit.

Emergency services said the patients ranged in age from 20 to 76.

Health Ministry officials said it took firefighters an hour to get to the hospital because a local ferry across the river was closed and they were forced to make a detour.

Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyev told state television the fire alarm appeared to have worked, but the fire spread too quickly after igniting in a wooden annex.

Dmitry Pestov, deputy head of the Moscow region, added: "Fire safety watchdogs constantly check all (public) institutions and issue recommendations.

"As far as I know, all the recommendations had been followed. There are different versions, including arson and a short circuit. They will be checked."

Fires at state institutions in Russia such as hospitals, drug treatment centres and homes for the elderly have caused numerous casualties in recent years and raised questions about safety measures and conditions.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

George Jones: Country Music Legend Dies

Country music icon George Jones - widely considered the greatest exponent of his genre - has died aged 81.

The peerless, hard-living singer recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic He Stopped Loving Her Today.

His publicist Kirt Webster said Jones died on Friday at the Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville after being admitted with a fever and irregular blood pressure.

Known for his clenched, precise baritone, Jones had Number 1 songs in five separate decades from the 1950s to the 1990s, recording more than 150 albums.

Promotional portrait of George Jones from circa 1970

He was idolised not just by fellow country singers, but by Frank Sinatra, Pete Townshend, Elvis Costello, James Taylor and countless others.

He married four times - including once to fellow country legend Tammy Wynette.

His sometimes stormy relationships, hard drinking and  violent outbursts made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

His attachment to the bottle and, eventually, his cocaine use, caused him to miss so many concerts that he earned the nickname No-Show Jones.

He was also, more kindly, called The Possum.

He got in fights and destroyed hotel rooms. He ventilated his tour bus by emptying the chambers of a pistol into its floor.

He drove to a liquor store on a ride-on lawnmower when his second wife, Shirley Corley, hid all the car keys.

At his most inebriated, he insisted on singing in the voice of a duck named Deedoodle.

George and Nancy Jones in January 2010

Jones recounted multiple brushes with death in his book, but his best-known one came in 1999, when he crashed his Lexus SUV into a bridge in Tennessee, while talking on his phone.

He suffered a collapsed lung and ruptured liver and spent two weeks in a Nashville hospital.

Jones is survived by four children and his fourth wife of 30 years, Nancy.

He was due to be back on the road this year after postponing or cancelling some dates due to an upper respiratory infection that led to two hospital stays.

He was also planning to go back into the studio to start working on a new album with Dolly Parton.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boston Victim Vows To Return To Dancing Job

A professional ballroom dancer who lost her left foot in the Boston bombing has vowed that she will dance again - and run the marathon next year.

Adrianne Haslet is just one of the many injured in the April 15 atrocity who have pledged that it will not define their lives.

"I absolutely want to dance again and I also want to run the marathon next year," said the 32-year-old.

"I will crawl across the finish line, literally crawl, if it means I finish it."

She may find herself back in the limelight even sooner as she is set to appear on the US TV programme Dancing With The Stars.

Adrianne Haslet is being treated at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

The details of her appearance are yet to be revealed but Adrianne told the Boston Herald that she would be honoured to be a guest, and especially pleased by the prospect of meeting show pro Derek Hough.

"OHMUGOD!!!!!!!!!", she messaged a friend. "I loooove Derek!!!!!!!!!"

The Boston woman, an Arthur Murray Dance Studio employee, thought she was going to die when she looked down and saw how her body had been mutilated.

She has had one surgery to amputate her left foot, and another in which doctors amputated more of the same leg below her knee.

In the hours before terror struck Boylston Street, Ms Haslet was basking in the joy of having her husband home again.

Two weeks earlier, the Air Force captain had returned from a four-month deployment in Afghanistan.

On Patriots' Day morning, they were walking near the marathon's finish line when the second explosion left her tangled in a heap on the ground and she saw something was wrong with her foot.

"I remember thinking, 'That's so gross,' and being terrified that this is the moment I was going to die," she said.

She crawled toward a restaurant door, before someone dragged her towards a staircase.

Her husband, although also injured, took off his belt to make a tourniquet for her.

Then others arrived to help and soon she was in a triage area where someone wrote a number on her forehead.

"I just prayed that I had a number that was high enough to get help," she said.

"I just kept screaming out, 'I'm a ballroom dancer! I'm a ballroom dancer! Just save my foot."

The next day, she woke up at Boston Medical Centre and saw her mother.

"I told my mom 'My foot feels like it's asleep.' And she said, 'Adrianne, you don't have a foot anymore.'"

She is hoping to get a prosthetic device in the next two months to begin her long journey back to the dance floor and marathon course.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Putin Says Nyet, I'm Not A New Stalin

President Vladimir Putin has denied the existence of any elements of Stalinism under his rule, but warned Russians there needed to be "order and discipline" in the nation.

"I do not see any elements of Stalinism here," Mr Putin said in his annual question-and-answer session with Russians, amid growing criticism from activists over a crackdown on civil society freedoms.

"Stalinism is linked to the cult of personality, mass violations of the law, repressions and camps."

But he added: "This does not mean that we should not have order and discipline."

Mr Putin insisted that present-day Russia could not be compared with the Stalin era, saying that now there are no political prisoners.

Stalin is still admired by ultra-nationalists in Russia

"People are punished for breaking laws or breaching the rights of other people," he said, citing Pussy Riot punk band, two of whose members have been jailed for two years in remote prison camps for an anti-Putin performance in a church.

Millions of Soviet citizens were sent to prison camps or executed under Stalin's rule, while millions also died in horrific famines blamed on his brutal agricultural polices.

"There is nothing like this in Russia and, I hope, never will be again," said Mr Putin.

However rights groups in Putin-controlled Russia have accused him of using Stalinist repression techniques including the jailing of opponents and impeding the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with repressive laws.

At around the same time Mr Putin was speaking a poll-monitoring NGO, Golos, was given a £6,460 fine for refusing to register as a "foreign agent".

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny in court on April 24

The US recently announced sanctions under the so-called Magnitsky Law, named for Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was arrested in 2008 for tax evasion after accusing Russian police officials of stealing millions in tax rebates.

Asked about the ongoing trial of Kremlin critic and anti-corruption whistleblower Alexei Navalny, seen by the opposition as politically motivated, Mr Putin said that those who expose sleaze must expect scrutiny of their own record.

"People who fight corruption themselves must be squeaky clean. There should not be a situation where those who shout, 'Stop, thief!' are allowed to steal themselves."

"But that does not mean those who have differing views should be dragged into jail," he added.

Navalny, a prominent protest leader and lawyer, has attributed the embezzlement charges against him to Mr Putin's orders, as he faces a decade in prison.

Winston Churchill, FD Roosevelt and Stalin at the Yalta conference

He has openly declared his desire to stand for president himself and regularly slams Putin's "gang of thieves."

Mr Putin insisted that the trial, which went into its first full day on Wednesday in the regional city of Kirov, would be fair.

"I'm sure the trial will be objective," Mr Putin said, without naming Navalny directly in his comments - an apparent taboo for Russia's leadership.

Mr Putin initially did not answer a question on Navalny from the editor-in-chief of liberal radio station Moscow Echo, Alexei Venediktov, but was prodded for his response by the host of the show on state television.

Navalny's case has been compared to that of former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky - who is still being held near the town of Segezha in the Karelia region, bordering Finland.

Khordorkovsky's lawyers told Sky News he is held in a Soviet era prison built by gulag inmates, after being held in custody since 2003 and jailed in 2005.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Dhaka Factory: '40 Pulled Alive From Rubble'

Dozens of people have been found alive in one room of a collapsed factory block in Bangladesh, TV reports are saying.

Loud cheers broke out among the crowd of thousands of people massing at the scene near the country's capital Dhaka when the news broke.

First reports put the number rescued at 40 but another spokesman later said it was 24.

The death toll has reached 250 after Wednesday's disaster at the factory which supplied several British store chains including Primark.

The rescue came as it was reported that the owner of one of the garment factories which ignored order to stop working had fled.

Around 3,000 worked in the building and at least 1,000 are said to have been injured.

Army Brigadier General Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder said late on Thursday that hundreds more people may still trapped in the building.

Thousands waited below the building for news of loved-ones

Screams were heard coming through the cracks in the concrete suggesting more survivors were awaiting help.

Throughout the day on Thursday a steady stream of bodies had been pulled out forcing the recorded death toll to almost double.

Earlier it emerged that officers ordered the building to be evacuated the day before it collapsed but clothing factories that worked there continued operating, ignoring police instructions.

The order was made after deep cracks became visible on Tuesday.

Managers of a bank that also had an office in the building, evacuated their workers and suspended their operations.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association had also asked the factories to suspend work starting on Wednesday morning, just hours before the building fell.

"After we got the crack reports, we asked them to suspend work until further examination, but they did not pay heed," said Atiqul Islam, the group's president.

Survivors described hearing a loud crack just before the eight-storey building collapsed, with each level pancaking on top of those below.

Rescuers are having to cut through concrete and steel to reach victims

The building, in Savar on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, housed at least four factories producing clothes for leading Western retailers.

The high street giant Primark has confirmed that one of its suppliers occupied the second floor of the building.

In a statement released on the company's website, a Primark spokesman said: "The company is shocked and deeply saddened by this appalling incident at Savar, near Dhaka, and expresses its condolences to all of those involved."

Tens of thousands of people have gathered at the site, weeping and searching for family members.

Bangladesh's prime minister vowed that the garment factory owner who fled would be tracked down and punished.

"Those who're involved, especially the owner who forced the workers to work there, will be punished," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told members of Bangladesh's parliament.

"Wherever he is, he will be found and brought to justice," she added.

Elsewhere in Bangladesh, hundreds of thousands of workers walked out of their factories in solidarity with their dead colleagues.

Some workers' leaders attacked western firms, who they accused of turning "a blind eye" while using Bangladeshis as "money-making machines".

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Israeli Jets Shoot Down 'Hizbollah' Drone

Israel says it has shot down an unmanned drone from Lebanon off its northern coast.

Military officials said the plane was intercepted off the coast in Israeli airspace near the city of Haifa.

Deputy defence minister Danny Danon confirmed the incident to Israeli army radio.

"We're talking about another attempt by Hezbollah to send an unmanned drone into Israeli territory," he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "I see this attempt to breach our borders as extremely grave - we will continue to do whatever we must to protect the security of Israel's citizens."

It is the second known instance in which the Lebanese militant group, a bitter enemy of Israel, is believed to have sent a drone into its airspace.

Hizbollah has repeatedly fired rockets into Israel from Gaza

Last October, the Israeli air force shot down an unmanned aircraft in a similar incident. Israel and Hizbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 that ended in a stalemate.

Mr Netanyahu recently warned that Hizbollah might try to take advantage of the instability in neighbouring Syria to obtain what he called "game-changing" weapons.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the unmanned aircraft was detected flying over Lebanon and tracked as it approached Israeli airspace.

Lt Col Lerner said the military waited for the aircraft to enter Israeli airspace, confirmed it was "enemy," and an F-16 fighter shot it down.

The drone was flying at an altitude of about 6,000 feet and was downed roughly five miles off the coast.

Israel has become a world leader in drone technology

Israeli naval forces started a search operation to find its remains.

Unnamed military sources said they believed it had been manufactured in Iran.

Mr Netanyahu was informed of the unfolding incident as he was flying north for a cultural event with members of the country's Druze minority.

Officials said his helicopter landed briefly while the drone was intercepted before Mr Netanyahu continued on his way.

Drones have become an increasingly important tool for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) for the world's military forces.

Israel is one of the world's leaders in drone technology and the ISR kit fitted on the aircraft.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boston Suspects' Mother: US Took My Kids

The mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects has said she does not believe her sons carried out the attack and were framed by the authorities.

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said she regretted moving to the United States and claimed "America took my kids away from me".

An emotional Mrs Tsarnaeva said she was told her she could not see her 19-year-old son Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is in hospital where US officials said he is being questioned by investigators.

She said: "They already told us that they are never going to show us Dzhokhar even if we come there, until he will be put into their jail we wouldn't be able to see him."

She said her sons were "nice boys" who "loved each other", and said they had been happy in America and had plenty of friends.

Mrs Tsarnaeva said the family had moved to the US because she thought "America was going to protect us".

Family photographs of brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev

She said Dzhokhar's lawyers had said that investigators had not started to question her son because he was not well enough.

She said she had been told he had a "really bad wound to his right neck" which meant he could not eat and was being fed by a tube.

Reports in the US have claimed the teenager suffered a self-inflicted throat injury during a shoot-out and subsequent stand-off with the police.

According to US officials, he said his brother Tamerlan, 26, who died in a gunfight with police, recruited him to take part in the attacks only recently.

Mrs Tsarnaeva being questioned by reporters in Dagestan

However, both Mrs Tsarnaeva and her husband Anzor Tsarnaev said there was no way their sons were responsible for the attack which killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured more than 180 others.

She said her sons were victims of a conspiracy and had been framed. She claimed she had seen a video of Tamerlan being arrested and was later shown pictures of him alive.

Mrs Tsarnaeva said she had spoken to her son after the bombings and before he was killed in the police shoot-out during which he told her "Don't worry mamma" and tried to reassure her he was safe.

Tamerlan during a boxing match in 2009

Mr Tsarnaev told reporters: "I am going to the United States. I want to say that I am going there to see my son, to bury the older one. I don't have any bad intentions. I don't plan to blow up anything."

Banging the table as he spoke, he said: "I am not angry at anyone. I want to go find out the truth."

Mrs Tsarnaeva said she was not sure whether she would accompany her husband. She was charged with shoplifting in the US last summer and is concerned she could be arrested.

They were speaking as it emerged that Tamerlan's name had been included on a database of suspected terrorists by the CIA in 2011, 18 months before the attacks.

He was investigated after Russia's FSB security service raised concerns that he had become a follower of Russian Islam.

Dzhokhar graduating from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in Boston

Mrs Tsarnaeva said she did not believe that Russia had raised concerns over her son with the US authorities.

The press conference came as Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his annual question-and-answer session during which he said the Boston bombings showed the need for closer cooperation between Moscow and Washington.

He said: "We always have said that we shouldn't limit ourselves to declarations about terrorism being a common threat and engage in closer cooperation.

"Now these two criminals have proven the correctness of our thesis."

Mr Putin also criticised the West for refusing to declare Chechen militants terrorists and offering them political assistance in the past.

He said: "I always felt indignation when our Western partners and Western media were referring to terrorists who conducted brutal and bloody crimes on the territory of Russia as rebels."

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chinese Hacking Suspects 'Back In Business'

By Alistair Bunkall and Mark Stone, Sky News

A group of Chinese hackers suspected of being behind a cyber-attack on the New York Times earlier this year may be restarting their campaign.

BAE Systems, the defence contractor, says it has unearthed evidence that indicates the group is active for the first time since February, when the hackers were accused of being linked to a Chinese military unit in Shanghai.

Although the connection has not been proven, the hacking group went immediately quiet on the day the allegation was made. Now analysts believe the hackers are ready to strike again.

David Garfield, managing director of cyber security at Detica, a BAE Systems subsidiary, told Sky News: "The activity we have detected indicates that the espionage group was lying low until the attention around their activities died down, before getting back to 'business-as-usual'.

"Detica researchers have obtained a copy of malware that has all the hallmarks of being crafted by this espionage group.

"This malware was created in the last week and contains a PDF which contains the agenda of an upcoming US defence conference which is consistent with the mode of operation of these particular attackers.

"The conference, taking place at the end of this month, fits with the style of event which is commonly used as a 'lure' for this group, and others of its kind."

Informal hacking groups operate differently to state-sponsored cyber units

For four months, towards the end of 2012 and into early 2013, hackers repeatedly infiltrated the New York Times, obtaining staff passwords among other things.

Security consultants found that some of the attacks were being routed through US universities to divert the blame away from the source, a method commonly associated with Chinese hackers.

The newspaper said the attacks were probably motivated by work reporters had been carrying out concerning senior figures in the Chinese government.

In February the American computer security company Mandiant published several years of research which it claimed pinpointed the hacking to one building in the Pudong district of Shanghai.

The building was reportedly the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Unit 61398.

Mandiant represents the cyber-security interests of several major multinational companies, all of whom believe they are the victims of Chinese hackers.

The HQ said by Mandiant to be the source of much hacking (Pic: City8.com)

On Monday, the Chinese army's chief of the general staff, General Fang Fenghui, was asked about cyber security at a rare news conference with the visiting US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey.

General Fang issued an alarming warning on the dangers of hacking.

"Cybersecurity, if it is uncontrolled, the effects can be, and I don't exaggerate, at times no less than a nuclear bomb," General Fang said.

General Fang also reiterated a longstanding Chinese government assertion that China is also a victim of cyber attacks and that it is "strongly against any kind of cyber attacks".

China is not the only country connected with cyber attacks - the US, Russia, Israel and Iran are all suspected of developing cyber weapons. Most Western countries are believed to be doing the same.

Both BAE Systems Detica and Mandiant have commercial interests in highlighting the dangers of cyber crime.

The Chinese government has not responded to the latest allegations.

:: The Syrian Electronic Army has made an uncorroborated claim that it hacked the Twitter feed of the Associated Press news organisation. On Tuesday, the AP feed falsely stated that an attack on the White House had left the US president injured.

:: Australian police have arrested the self-proclaimed leader of non-state global hacking group LulzSec, which its members have said was responsible for breaching the CIA's external website.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Boston: Suspects' Parents Face Questioning

US diplomats have travelled to Russia's Dagestan region to interview the parents of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

A delegation from the American embassy in Moscow has made the journey to the North Caucasus area to interview the pair, Anzor and Zubeidat Tsarnaev.

An embassy official said the trip was in line with the co-operation between the FBI and Russian authorities over the investigation into the deadly bombings allegedly carried out by brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Dzhokhar has been charged

The parents are currently living in Dagestan, a largely Muslim region on the Caspian Sea where the family briefly lived before leaving for the US over a decade ago.

It comes amid mounting questions in the US about whether authorities there missed crucial signals that should have raised suspicions about the brothers before the bombings.

Particular interest has surrounded a six-month trip Tamerlan made in 2012 to Dagestan and Chechnya.

Russian security sources in Dagestan told the AFP news agency he was seen four times with a figure suspected of links with the Islamist underground during his visit but there was never any reason to detain him.

Meanwhile, it has been reported Tamerlan had received welfare benefits that ended last year.

A lawyer for the suspect's wife Katherine Russell Tsarnaev claimed she was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tamerlan stayed at home.

This image appears to show the brothers crouched by a Mercedes

Some relatives claimed Tamerlan, 26, fell under the influence of a mystery Muslim convert and was steered towards a strict strain of Islam in the years before the attacks.

After befriending the red-bearded man known to the Tsarnaev family only as Misha, Tamerlan gave up boxing and stopped studying music, the family said.

He became vocal about his opposition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and read websites claiming that the CIA was behind the 9/11 terror attacks and Jews controlled the world.

"Somehow, he just took his brain," said Tamerlan's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, who recalled conversations with Tamerlan's father about Misha's influence.

It was not immediately clear whether the FBI has spoken to Misha or was attempting to, but efforts by the media to identify and interview the mystery man have been unsuccessful.

Tamerlan's father Anzor was said to be worried about the mystery radical

The brothers' mother, Zubeidat, denied Misha had radicalised Tamerlan, telling the ABC network in the US he was "just a friend".

Throughout his religious makeover, Tamerlan maintained a strong influence over his siblings, including 19-year-old Dzhokhar, who investigators say carried out the deadly attack by his older brother's side, killing three people.

The family's claims came as new photos were released that apparently show the police stand-off that killed Tamerlan on Friday.

The images seem to have been taken from inside a house overlooking the scene of the gunfight, and show the brothers crouching near a Mercedes SUV they had carjacked.   

One of the brothers appears to be holding a gun with both hands in front of his body.

Dzhokhar survived the shoot-out and was caught by police later in the day.

Tamerlan (L) boxes at the 2009 Golden Gloves

He was charged on Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Based on preliminary written interviews with Dzhokar in his hospital bed, US officials believe the brothers were motivated by their religious views.

Two US officials say the brothers had no tie to terrorist groups, but Tamerlan's relationship with Misha could be a clue in understanding the motives behind his religious transformation and, ultimately, the attack itself.

Elmirza Khozhugov, 26, the ex-husband of Tamerlan's sister, Ailina, said Tamerlan was idolised by his siblings.

"You could always hear his younger brother and sisters say, 'Tamerlan said this,' and 'Tamerlan said that.' Dzhokhar loved him. He would do whatever Tamerlan would say," he said.

The Tsarnaev brothers, who were ethnic Chechens, were raised in a home that followed Sunni Islam, the religion's largest sect.

Mr Tsarni made a public appeal to his nephew when he was on the run

They were not regulars at the mosque and rarely discussed religion, Mr Khozhugov said.

Then, in 2008 or 2009, Tamerlan met Misha, who the family described as slightly older, heavyset and bald.

"Misha was important," Mr Khozhugov said. "Tamerlan was searching for something. He was searching for something out there."

Mr Khozhugov did not know where they had met but believed they attended a Boston-area mosque together.

Misha was an Armenian native and a convert to Islam and quickly began influencing his new friend, family members said.

Once, Mr Khozhugov said, Misha came to the family home outside Boston and sat in the kitchen, chatting with Tamerlan for hours.

"Misha was telling him what is Islam, what is good in Islam, what is bad in Islam," said Mr Khozhugov, who said he was present for the conversation.

Tamerlan is seen here with little brother Dzhokhar and their sisters

The conversation continued until Tamerlan's father, Anzor, came home from work around midnight.

"His father comes in and says, 'Why is Misha here so late and still in our house?' He asked it politely. Tamerlan was so much into the conversation he didn't listen."

Mr Khozhugov said Tamerlan's mother told him not to worry.

As time went on, Anzor became so concerned about his son that he called his brother, worried about Misha's influence.

"I heard about nobody else but this convert. The seed for changing his views was planted right there in Cambridge," Mr Tsarni said.

Last week, Mr Tsarni made a public appeal for Dzhokhar to turn himself in when he was still at large following his brother's death.

Since the attacks, Anzor has insisted his sons are innocent and the attacks were orchestrated to frame them. Other members of the extended family have made similar claims.

But two US officials have confirmed that Tamerlan, who was married with a young daughter, became an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda.

Lawyers for Katherine Tsarnaeva, Tamerlan's widow, say she is doing everything she can to assist authorities.

In a statement her legal team said Tsarnaeva, a Muslim convert, and her family were in shock when they learned of allegations against her husband and brother-in-law.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bangladesh: Dozens Dead After Building Fall

At least 70 people have died after an eight-storey building collapsed on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

Another 700 are reported to have been injured in the building's collapse which involved several garment factories.

"The toll will rise as conditions of some injured were critical," said Hiralal Roy, a senior emergency ward doctor at the nearby Enam hospital.

Tens of thousands of people gathered at the site, some of them weeping survivors, some searching for family members, with 1,000 people still reported to be trapped inside the building.

Clothing factories are usually staffed 24 hours a day.

Firefighters and soldiers using drilling machines and cranes worked together with local volunteers in the search for other survivors from the building, which fell into itself, leaving it about two storeys tall.

Hundreds of factory workers were trapped inside the building

Some workers complained that the building had developed cracks on Tuesday evening, triggering an evacuation, but they had been forced back to the production lines by their managers.

"The managers forced us to rejoin and just one hour after we entered the factory the building collapsed with a huge noise," said a 24-year-old worker who gave her first name as Mousumi.

"I am injured. But I've not found my husband who was working on the fourth floor," she said, estimating that 5,000 people worked inside the building, which also housed apartments, a bank and shops.

Thousands gathered on the streets where the building collapsed

The collapse stirred memories of a fatal fire in a clothing factory in November that killed 112 people and raised an outcry about safety in the nation's garment industry.

That fire at the Tazreen factory drew international attention to the conditions workers toil under in the $20bn-a-year (£13bn) textile industry in Bangladesh.

The country has about 4,000 garment factories and exports clothes to leading Western retailers - the industry wields vast power in the South Asian nation.

Tazreen did not have emergency exits and its owner said only three floors of the eight-story building were legally built.

Surviving employees said gates had been locked and managers had told them to go back to work after the fire alarm went off.

The factory made clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney and other Western brands.

22.56 | 0 komentar | Read More