Wedding Balloon Crash Captured On Video

A sunset wedding ceremony on board a hot air balloon ended in terror after a gust of wind forced the pilot to make a crash landing.

One of the 14 people in the balloon suffered a minor back injury after it was dragged over a wall and into the garden of a home in San Diego, California.

The newly-weds, Kerin and Jonathan Narcisse, told a local TV station the gust hit the balloon just after they exchanged their vows.

A member of the wedding party captured the moment the balloon landed on a hillside fence behind the house.

Footage then showed the blue and yellow balloon draped over nearby trees.

The couple went on to their reception after the crash.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bobcat In Garage Mauling Had Rabies

The bobcat that attacked a man and his nephew in their garage had rabies, officials in Massachusetts have confirmed.

"The bobcat has been proven to be rabid," announced Stephen Comtois, Brookfield town board chairman.

He warned local people to be "on high alert for wildlife", according to the Worcester Telegram.

Roger Mundell Jr had described how all he heard on Sunday evening was a hiss before the wild cat pounced on him.

It sank its teeth into his face and its claws in his back.

The bobcat then ran out of the garage in Brookfield and bit Mr Mundell's 15-year-old nephew on the arms and back.

"It only took a split second for him to be on me," Mr Mundell told Boston's WHDH-TV. "I didn't have time to process it."

Mr Mundell and his wife eventually pinned the cat to the ground with a walking stick and shot it dead with a handgun.

His wife was not bitten but she came into contact with the animal's blood.

All three were already being treated for rabies as a precaution, given the bobcat's unusual behaviour.

Health officials said the positive result was expected.

"We were not surprised because the animal was so aggressive," they said.

Bobcats are generally twice the size of an average domestic house cat.

They can grow to more than a metre (40ins) in length and can weigh up to 14kg (30lb).

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kashmir: Pakistan Troops 'Behead' Indian Soldier

One of the two Indian soldiers killed in a clash along the disputed Kashmir border was beheaded by Pakistani troops who then carried away his head, India's chief military spokesman has claimed.

"We can confirm that one of the Indian soldiers was beheaded by the Pakistani army in Kashmir," J Dahiya said.

"They have taken away the head."

Indian military chiefs said one of their army patrols was attacked byPakistani troops who crossed the so-called Line of Control dividing the region and violated a ceasefire.

Their deaths followed another disputed incident on Sunday, when Pakistan said Indian army troops attacked one of their bases and killed a soldier.

Each sides disputes the others description of events in recent days.

Checkpoints along the disputed Line of Control in Kashmir

However, Dahiya accused the Pakistanis of being "in a state of denial".

"We are absolutely convinced Pakistan army regulars were involved because it was a surgical strike with high-calibre weapons," he said

The countries have fought two full-scale wars over Kashmir, which is claimed by both of them and is divided between them.

A 2003 ceasefire ended the most recent round of fighting, though each side occasionally accuses the other of violating it by using mortars or shooting across the border dividing the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir.

It had been hoped that the relationship between the two countries was improving after new visa rules were announced in December, designed to make cross-border travel easier.

They have also been taking steps to improve cross-border trade.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Australia Wildfires: Family Clings To Jetty

A terrified family clung to a jetty for more than two hours while wildfires raged around them.

As the flames destroyed her Tasmania home, grandmother Tammy Holmes was forced to tread water with her five young grandchildren in the sea.

Photographs taken by Mrs Holmes' husband Tim, and released on Wednesday, show two-year-old Charlotte, four-year-old Esther, Liam Walker, nine, 11-year-old Matilda and six-year-old Caleb huddled together in the water.

A NASA satellite image of the fires burning in southeastern Australia

The children's mother, Bonnie Walker, had left them with her parents while she attended a funeral.

She said: "We just waited by the phone and received a message to say that mum and dad had evacuated, that they were surrounded by fire, and could we pray. So I braced myself to lose my children and my parents."

The family eventually found a dinghy to escape the fire zone, and dragged it 300 metres to where the air was cleaner.

Mr Holmes said: "We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us and the next thing we knew everything was on fire.

"I had sent Tammy ... with the children to get down to the jetty because there was no other escape, we couldn't get off."

More than 100 bushfires are still raging across southeastern Australia, following a heatwave that saw the region scorched by record temperatures.

About 30 fires in New South Wales are out of control

Cooler weather has now brought some relief - but highs of 50C are forecast for the weekend.

Meteorologists have been forced to readjust their scales to accommodate the unprecedented heat.

After facing one of the highest-risk fire days in its history on Tuesday, residents in hard-hit New South Wales woke to shifting winds that caused temperatures to drop significantly.

While the mercury topped 42C in Sydney on Tuesday, it was forecast to peak at just 25C today, while the Victorian capital Melbourne was down to 20C.

The ratings on many bushfires were downgraded with none now at the "catastrophic" level which signifies fires will be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast-moving, and evacuation the only safe option.

Bathers at Lake Conjola watch as smoke billows from a bushfire at Deans Gap

But NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned against complacency, with new fronts breaking out despite the colder weather and a total fire ban still in place.

Speaking from Bookham, a small village in Yass Shire west of Canberra where a fire has so far burnt out 16,000 hectares, he said: "It is far from over when it comes to the threat to New South Wales.

"We need to sustain the vigilance today. We are not out of the woods yet, the risk is very real and there's a long day ahead and a forecast for a return to hot conditions toward the weekend and into next week."

More than 2,000 firefighters worked through the night tackling more than 140 blazes across New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, with 30 of those uncontained.

New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell said an estimated 10,000 sheep had perished in the Yass area alone.

The state of Victoria has also been experiencing extreme conditions with four homes destroyed and six people treated for minor burns or smoke inhalation in a bushfire in the farming community of Carngham, which was evacuated.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the federal and state governments were working together in the recovery effort and to support victims.

"Firstly, it's all hands on deck fighting the fires, dealing with the emergency, and then we move into the recovery phase," she said.

No deaths have so far been reported.

While it was initially believed as many as 100 people could be missing in the southern island of Tasmania after wildfires razed more than 100 homes over the weekend, police said there was confusion about movements during the crisis.

"We know there have been no significant injuries, which is amazing, and we are encouraged that we haven't found any human remains at this stage," Tasmanian acting police commissioner Scott Tilyard told Sky News.

Wildfires are a fact of life in arid parts of Australia. Some 173 people perished in the 2009 Black Saturday firestorm, the nation's worst natural disaster of modern times.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Violent Crime Linked To Levels Of Lead In Air

An increase in violent crime in the 1970s and 80s is down to lead in the environment, research has claimed.

A study in the US which compared the level of crime and the earlier amount of lead in the atmosphere – from petrol, paint and other sources – found they appeared to be directly linked.

Researchers discovered that in cities where the amount of lead in the air went up, the crime rate went up around 20 years later.

When the amount of lead in the atmosphere came down, the number of robberies and attacks started to fall after about 20 years.

The authors of the study believe there could be something in lead that makes children who absorb more of it, more violent when they grow up.

The rate at which crime rose and fell was the same in all the six cities studied, regardless of what measures had been taken to prevent robbery and attacks.

In Britain, violent crime has fallen as lead levels have been dropping

The effect has been put down to changes in the amount of lead in the air from vehicles and industry as well as pollutants in the home like paint and water pipes.

Lead in petrol in the US was phased out from the mid-1970s onwards and in paint from the mid-1960s. Violent crime started to fall in the 1990s and has continued to fall since, despite a recession at the end of the last decade.

Other research has found that areas of US cities where lead levels have stayed high have continued to experience more robberies and attacks than other areas.

In Britain, violent crime has also been dropping since the 1990s. Lead in the atmosphere has been steadily decreasing, too, with one study showing it fell 90% between the mid-1970s and 1992. Since then it has continued to fall.

Professor Howard Mielke, of Tulane University, who studied the effect in New Orleans, said: "There is a very strong association between criminal activity and the environment in different parts of the city.

"The amount of lead in the environment ... was particularly strongly related to both learning problems and then violence.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've mapped the city of New Orleans and it's the mapping that has provided us with a tool for going back and looking at different kind of issues in the city.

"The police department is even using the maps as they find them very predictive of where the highest crime rates are being found."

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Eddie Kidd: Estranged Wife Denies Assault

The estranged wife of paralysed former motorbike stunt rider Eddie Kidd has pleaded not guilty to assaulting him.

Samantha Kidd, 44, is accused of beating Mr Kidd, 53, six times in four months.

Kidd, wearing a black coat, black boots and spotted tights, spoke only to enter six pleas of not guilty and to confirm her name.

Brighton Magistrates' Court heard that the beatings were alleged to have taken place between July and October last year.

Kidd in 1978, jumping over 10 Radio One DJs

Kidd was given bail on the condition that she is not to contact Mr Kidd and she is not to visit a property in Peacehaven except on one occasion with a police officer to collect belongings.

District Judge Stephen Nicholls said the trial will take place at the same court on July 9 and 10.

Mr Kidd was left paralysed and brain damaged in a motorbike accident 16-years-ago, but in 2011 he completed the London Marathon in 50 days.

In a statement after Kidd was charged, Sussex Police said: "After a prompt and thorough investigation into allegations of domestic abuse made on December 11, a woman has been charged with six offences.

"44-year-old Samantha Kidd, unemployed, of High Street, Seaford, was charged with six counts of assault by beating between July and October this year.

"She has been bailed with stringent conditions not to contact the male victim, who was known to her, or to visit the area where he lives."

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Norovirus: Vomiting Bug Spread From Australia

In Brief: Norovirus

Updated: 3:32pm UK, Sunday 30 December 2012

:: Noroviruses are a group of viruses that are the most common cause of stomach bugs in the UK.

:: Known as norovirus, it is highly contagious and is spread through contact with an infected person or contaminated surfaces and objects.

:: Symptoms include sudden vomiting, diarrhoea, or both, a temperature, headache, aching limbs and stomach cramps.

:: Although it is not considered dangerous, there is a risk of severe dehydration.

:: There is no need to worry if you are pregnant as there is no risk to your unborn child.

:: People with norovirus or flu-like symptoms are advised to stay at home, rest and drink plenty of fluids. Paracetamol is advised for aches and pains.

:: Contact your GP if your symptoms last longer than a few days or if you have a serious illness.

:: You can also contact NHS Direct, or check symptoms online via the NHS Direct website.

:: There is no cure as such, the illness just has to run its course.

:: The bug usually goes away within a few days but can be contagious for a couple of days after vomiting has ended.

:: To stop it spreading, wash your hands regularly, do not share towels or flannels and disinfect any surfaces that may have been touched by a sick person.

:: There are no long-lasting effects.

:: Norovirus spreads rapidly in closed environments such as ships, hospitals, schools and nursing homes.

:: It is known as the winter vomiting bug, but people can suffer from norovirus at any time of the year.

:: The most cases are seen between January and March.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

New York Ferry Crash: Up To 50 Injured

A commuter ferry has crashed into the dockside in Lower Manhattan in New York, injuring between 30 and 50 people.

The Seastreak Ferry, which provides daily services from Atlantic Highlands in New Jersey, struck Pier 11 in the East River not far from Wall Street at about 8:45am ET (1:45pm GMT).

Officials say at least two of the passengers were in a critical condition, one with confirmed head injuries.

The vessel apparently had a hard landing as it was trying to dock. Images showed a corner of the ferry ripped open.

"There was a jolt when that occurred, throwing the people forward into their seats and the walls," Seastreak President James Barker told NBC 4 New York.

A corner of the ferry appeared to have been ripped open by the impact

Passenger Ellen Foran said people tumbled on top of each other, hysterical and crying.

"All of a sudden, the boat felt like it smashed into a wall," Richard Correra told WCBS-TV.

"Dozens of passengers got thrown out of their seats, got thrown forward," he said.

"Some were heading downstairs and just flew down the stairs and hit their heads on various poles and walls."

Many were helped off the ferry by emergency workers

Many of the 340-plus passengers and crew were taken off the ferry on backboards for medical evaluation, their heads and necks immobilised.

Television pictures showed more than a dozen people on stretchers spread across the dockside, surrounded by emergency workers and firefighters.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russia Zorbing Accident: Father Killed In Fall

A man has died in a zorbing accident after the giant inflatable ball he was strapped into fell off a cliff edge.

Father-of-two Denis Burakov, 27, broke his neck and spine when the out-of-control orb hurtled down a mountain at the Dombai ski resort in southern Russia.

His friend Vladimir Shcherbov, 33, who was in the ball with him, escaped with minor cuts and bruises.

The accident was caught on camera by his friends.

The footage shows the pair climbing into the ball, and one friend can be heard saying: "Denis, you'll be like Jackie Chan in the Armour of God movie."

Two members of resort staff then push the orb down the piste, and another staff member is on hand at the bottom to stop it.

But as it neared the gathered crowd it suddenly veered left, and a man's voice can be heard saying: "Oh ****, it's gone in the wrong direction again."

He screamed to "hold it" but then said: "It's OK, it'll stop by itself."

The orb sped out of control and disappeared from view over a cliff edge. It travelled for nearly a mile before coming to a halt on a frozen lake.

Russian crash investigators said in a statement: "For unknown reasons the ball deviated from the route and fell into the Gonachkhir gorge - a slope of 70-80 degrees."

Authorities are interviewing eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims, as they decide whether to launch criminal proceedings.

Zorbs have been adopted as a symbol on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jessops Slashes Jobs And Ignores Gift Vouchers

Troubled high street photography retailer Jessops has gone into administration and will no longer accept gift vouchers or returned goods, it has been confirmed.

Sky sources earlier revealed that an application for administration was filed on Wednesday morning at the High Court, leaving some 2,000 jobs at risk.

PwC administrator Rob Hunt said: "Over the last few days the directors, funders and key suppliers have been in discussions as regards additional consensual financial support for the business.

"However these discussions have not been successful. In light of these irreconcilable differences the directors decided to appoint administrators and we were appointed earlier today.

"Our most pressing task is to review the company's financial position and hold discussions with its principal stakeholders to see if the business can be preserved.

"Trading in the stores is hoped to continue today but is critically dependent on these ongoing discussions. However, in the current economic climate it is inevitable that there will be store closures."

The company's website was still operational on Wednesday afternoon

The administrators  added: "At present Jessops is not in a position to honour customer vouchers or to accept returned goods."

The demise of the decades-old chain would be the first high street casualty of 2013, and comes soon after consumer electricals chain Comet hit the wall, sparking more than 6,000 job losses.

Jessops has struggled amid the digital photo revolution and the retail shift to online trading and camera phones.

It underwent a major overhaul in 2007 and a swathe of store closures, but came close to collapse two years later before being rescued by its main lender HSBC in a controversial debt-for-equity swap that saw it taken off the stock market.

The bank took a 50% stake in the business in return for writing off £34m of loans.

There was speculation last year that suppliers such as Canon were considering injecting cash into Jessops to help prop the business up, but no deal materialised.

Last year it also lost two key executives, chairman David Adams and chief executive Trevor Moore - who joined HMV.

Martyn Everett was then appointed as chairman and Neil Old was promoted to lead the business as chief operating officer.

The firm began life in 1935 when Frank Jessop opened his first shop in Leicester.

The company's website was still active on Wednesday afternoon and its helplines were still in operation.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More