Forecasters Sorry For 'Snowmageddon' Alert

Jordan 'Ready' To Exchange Militant For Pilot

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 28 Januari 2015 | 23.21

Jordan's information minister has said his country is willing to hand over an Iraqi would-be-suicide bomber if a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State is released.

In an announcement on state television, Mohammad al Momani said: "Jordan is ready to release prisoner Sajida al Rishawi if the Jordanian pilot Lieutenant Muath al Kasaesbeh was released and his life spared."

The pilot's father, Safi al Kaseasbeh, had earlier implored the Jordanian government "to meet the demands" of Islamic State.

"All people must know, from the head of the regime to everybody else, that the safety of Muath means the stability of Jordan, and the death of Muath means chaos in Jordan," he said.

Bassam al Manasseer, chairman of Jordan's foreign affairs committee, announced earlier that negotiations with Islamic State were taking place through religious and tribal leaders in Iraq.

The news comes as the mother of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto also being held by Islamic State made a tearful appeal to Japan's Prime Minister to help save her son.

Junko Ishido said she had begged Shinzo Abe to "Please save Kenji" and to work with the Jordanian government to secure his release.

IS warned in a video that journalist Mr Goto and Mr al Kaseasbeh would be killed within 24 hours if its demands were not met.

The video shows Mr Goto in an orange jumpsuit holding a picture of Mr al Kaseasbeh, along with an audio message of him pleading for his life.

The group said the hostages' lives would be spared if Jordan releases Sajida al Rishawi, an Iraqi woman sentenced to death for her involvement in a 2005 terrorist attack that killed 60 people.

It comes after IS apparently murdered another Japanese prisoner, Haruna Yukawa - an act condemned by Japan's government.

Mr Goto was captured in Syria in October, apparently while trying to rescue Yukawa, 42, who was taken hostage last summer.

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Gallery: The Hostages Released After Deals Were Made With Terrorists

March 2007: Italian-Swiss journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was released by the Taliban in exchange for the release of five prisoners

April 2008: A ransom of $1.2m was allegedly paid to Somali pirates by the Spanish government to secure the release of 26 trawlermen

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Tesco Closures: Is Your Local Store To Go?

Tesco has revealed the locations of the 43 stores it is planning to close, placing 2,000 jobs at risk.

The supermarket chain, which has suffered a string of problems including falling sales and a £263m profits overstatement, announced the closures last month as it moved to save costs.

It has now confirmed the impact of the decision, with seven superstores and six Homeplus outlets among the sites to be shut.

The majority were either Express or Metro convenience operations.

Chief Executive Dave Lewis, who is currently running the UK business, said: "In January I announced that our performance as a business has fallen significantly short of where we would want it to be and that to protect the future of the business in the UK we would close 43 unprofitable stores.

"The decision to close the stores has been exceptionally difficult to take. I recognise it will affect many hard-working colleagues, our customers and local communities.

"Our priority is to explain what this announcement means for our colleagues and wherever possible, offer them alternative roles with Tesco.

"We will continue to serve our customers through other local stores and our dotcom service."

In addition to the shutting of shops, the group also previously announced it would shelve plans for 49 new UK stores.

They included its £22m Chatteris store in Cambridgeshire which had been earmarked to open its doors to customers two months ago.

Tesco has not been alone in efforts to save costs.

A supermarket price war - mostly driven by the challenge from hard discount chains Aldi and Lidl - has taken its toll on other major supermarket companies.

Sainsbury's has cut jobs while Morrisons' chief executive Dalton Philips paid the price for a woeful Christmas when his departure from the business was confirmed earlier this month.

:: Tesco Superstore Closures

Bedlington, Chatham, Connswater and Cregagh Road in Belfast, Doncaster, Kirkcaldy and Wrexham Dodds Lane.

:: Tesco Homeplus Closures

Bristol Cribbs Causeway, Chelmsford, Chester, Edinburgh, Southampton and Staines.

:: Tesco Metro Closures

Bicester, Bootle, Caerphilly, Crossgates, Devizes, Grangemouth, Mexborough, Morecambe, Ormskirk, Runcorn, Smethwick and Woodseats.

:: Tesco Express Closures

Bearwood; Belvedere; Church Street, Ballymena; Heaton Chapel; Heybridge, Essex; Houghton Regis; Liverpool Kensington; Longbridge Road, Barking; Northfield, Birmingham; Raymouth Lane, Worksop; Sheffield Manor; South Tottenham High Road; Tredegar; Troon; Walsall Wood; Wealdstone; Whitley Bay; and York Road, Hartlepool.

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Landmark Civil Rights-Era Convictions Quashed

By Sky News US Team

A judge has voided the convictions of nine black men who were jailed for ordering lunch at an all-white counter in South Carolina more than five decades ago.

The so-called Friendship Nine were convicted of trespassing and breach of peace after their arrest in February 1961 for ordering lunch at McCrory's variety store in Rock Hill, where African-Americans were banned.

The protesters, eight of whom were students at the town's Friendship Junior College, refused to pay a $100 fine, and were sentenced to 30 days of hard labour in a chain gang.

Their act of civil disobedience in the segregated Deep South town inspired other activists to adopt their "jail not bail" approach.

The nine were themselves prompted to take action by a similar sit-in a year earlier at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The students were WT Massey, Willie McCleod, Robert McCullough, Clarence Graham, James Wells, David Williamson, John Gaines and Mack Workman.

The ninth protester was Thomas Gaither, an activist with the Congress of Racial Equality.

McCullough, who was described as the group's leader, died in 2006 at age 64.

More follows...

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Forecasters Sorry For 'Snowmageddon' Alert

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Gallery: Huge Effort In US Blizzard Clean Up

It's time to clean up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after a massive snow storm that swept across the northeastern United States. More than a foot of snow fell on some regions

A snow plow works its way along the South Service Road for the Long Island Expressway

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Mason Gloudeman, 26, found a great way to fill his time Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn

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Once the worst was over, it was time to play in Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park

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By Sky News US Team

America's east coast is clearing up after blizzards left behind more than 2ft of snow - but questions remain about whether weather warnings were overblown.

Massachusetts and Connecticut were worst affected and lost power in some areas. The word "snowicane" was even heard, referencing the expected blizzards and hurricane-speed winds.

However, New York saw as little as 4in of snow in places, leaving many to ask why the city was shut down.

In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie defended his state-wide travel ban as "absolutely the right decision to make" in light of the dire forecast.

As Winter Storm Juno pushed into northeast areas on Monday, more than 7,700 flights were cancelled, and schools, businesses and government offices closed.

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Gallery: Blizzard Slams US Northeast

New York woke up under the snow - though the worst fears failed to materialise

The blizzard affects millions of people in states across the Northeast

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New York and other cities shut down as they braced for the storm

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New York had an almost eerie feel to it, with no planes in the sky, no underground trains and just a few trucks rumbling down empty streets.

But as the storm headed north, it went further east than forecasters had been expecting, and conditions quickly improved.

After warnings of a "potentially historic blizzard", residents in New York were left asking where the "snowmageddon" was.

By Wednesday, all travel restrictions were lifted.

A National Weather Service forecaster in New Jersey apologised on Twitter for the wayward forecast.

"You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn't. Once again, I'm sorry," Gary Szatkowski tweeted.

The storm buried the Boston area in more than 2ft of snow and lashed it with howling winds that exceeded 70 mph.

Snowplow operators around New England struggled to keep up, and Boston police drove doctors and nurses to work at hospitals.

The National Weather Service said a 78mph gust was reported on Nantucket, and there was a 72mph gust on Martha's Vineyard.

In New York, a teenager died as he crashed into a lamppost while snow-tubing.

Sean Urda, 17, was pronounced dead in hospital after the collision while riding an inner tube on Long Island on Monday night.

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Tearful Gary Glitter Breaks Down In Sex Trial
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Helmet Cam Video Of Race To Save Kids From Fire

By Sky News US Team

Dramatic footage has been released showing firefighters rescuing three young children from a house fire in California.

Helmet camera video shows rescuers battling through smoke and flames to save the youngsters from their burning home in Fresno.

The one-year-old boy and two girls, aged three and four, were found unconscious and are being treated for smoke inhalation.

They are in a critical condition at Valley Children's Hospital.

The children had been left alone in the house, and their mother is being questioned by police.

"The firefighters would say it's just their job. But to get a rescue of this magnitude is something we really don't come across every day," said a spokesman for Fresno Fire Department.

The rescue came as a surprise to firefighters as they were originally called to reports of smoke in a building, he added.

Investigators believe the blaze was caused by an electrical fire, possibly from a television in the home.

The mother had left the children in the house while she went shopping and was on her way back when the fire broke out, residents told the Fresno Bee news website.

Neighbour Crystal Rodriguez said she heard an explosion that sounded like a homemade firework - and then a woman screaming.

"We were standing here pretty much watching the apartment burn from the inside," she told the Fresno Bee.

"Nobody thought there would be three little babies inside."

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Murder Victim's Family Loses Court Battle

A family has lost its Supreme Court bid for the right to sue police for negligence over the death of a young mother.

Joanna Michael was killed by her ex-boyfriend who was in "a mad fit of jealous rage" despite dialling 999 twice.

"Individual and systemic failures" by police in Cardiff meant the emergency services arrived too late to save the 25-year-old's life.

Her family asked the highest court in the land to overturn an appeal court ruling from 2012 that the police have an "immunity" from being sued for negligence under common law for the actions of officers during "the investigation or suppression of crime".

However, the justices decided by a 5-2 majority that the ruling was correct and dismissed the family's appeal.

Nicholas Bowen QC, appearing for Ms Michael's family, told the court the case was "desperately important".

"There is a need for a heightened accountability of the police in the light of recent scandals and investigations which have had a very serious detrimental effect on public and political confidence in police services."

He also described to the court how Ms Michaels was killed by ex-boyfriend Cyron Williams in August 2009.

The court heard Williams broke into her home "in a mad fit of jealous rage after he discovered she was in a new relationship some weeks after they had finished seeing each other".

He is now serving life with a 20-year tariff, meaning he will be behind bars until at least 2030.

Ms Michaels made her first call at 2.29am on August 5 and told Gwent Police operator that Williams had turned up at her house and found her with someone else.

He had bitten her ear, taken the other man away in his car, and told her he would return to kill her.

The call went through to Gwent - "the wrong police force" instead of South Wales police - and was wrongly graded less seriously than it should have been.

A further 999 call was received by Gwent Police from Ms Michael at 2.43am and she could be heard screaming before the line went dead.

When police officers arrived they found Ms Michael had been stabbed 72 times.

Police claimed immunity from being sued by relying on the 1989 case of Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, the "Yorkshire Ripper" case.

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Tearful Gary Glitter Breaks Down In Sex Trial

Gary Glitter has sobbed in court while facing questions over videos he watched showing men having sex with children.

Weeping uncontrollably in the witness box, the 70-year-old said he had been in a bad place in his life, and was struggling financially, with alcohol and with drugs.

"God knows, I've paid," he told the court.

"I lost my own dignity, and I am so sorry. I am very sorry.

"I am sorry today and every day of my life ever since. I am sorry to my fans."

:: Follow live updates from the trial

Standing trial under his real name, Paul Gadd, Glitter faces 10 charges over sex offences on three girls, allegedly committed between 1975 and 1980.

He has previously admitted possessing sexual images of children after content was discovered on a laptop he had given to PC World for servicing in 1997.

John Price QC, prosecuting, told Glitter that lots of people had career problems but that they "don't all download child porn".

Glitter said he was downloading all sorts of pornography at the time, but was asked why he decided to look at content featuring children.

"I don't why, I suppose it was just curiosity," he said.

Earlier, one of his alleged victims had claimed he was wearing platform shoes when he assaulted her in his dressing room.

But he insisted he had begun wearing cowboy boots on stage by the time of the alleged offence and had stopped wearing platform heels because of the energetic nature of his act and the damage they had done to his ankles.

The singer, from Marylebone in central London, denies all the charges against him.

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Stocks Slide As Greece Rows Back On Austerity

Greek stocks are nose-diving for a third day as the country's new prime minister sets a collision course with creditors by overturning spending cuts imposed under its bailout programme.

Investors have reacted with horror to the election of Alexis Tsipras, with Greek stocks on course for their worst week ever in the wake of his Syriza party's win in Sunday's poll.

Banking stocks have been hammered over growing worries about default as Mr Tsipras prepares for his first meeting with eurozone officials later this week.

The PM told the first meeting of his cabinet that the coalition government would deliver "radical" change by not backing down on its anti-austerity path.

He said that while he did not wish to antagonise creditors, the Greek people had demanded a new focus and he would not seek to build up "unrealistic surpluses" to service Greece's massive public debt - funds that are a condition of its €240bn (£179bn) rescue.

Mr Tsipras announced that pensions for low-paid public sector workers would rise and some job cuts would be reversed as part of his efforts to grow employment, with more than 25% of Greeks currently out of work.

"Our priority is also a new negotiation with our partners, seeking to reach a fair, viable and mutually beneficial solution so that the country exits the vicious circle of excessive debt and recession," he said.

Almost two-thirds of young people in Greece are without work and 32% of children are living below the poverty line according to recent estimates.

The country's international lenders have maintained they will not let the country off the hook but indicated they may be prepared to give Greece more time to pay back its loans.

It raises the prospect of showdown talks, with Germany particularly anxious that other eurozone nations are not encouraged to deviate from austerity and place the single-currency at greater risk.

Greece is yet to get its hands on a final €7.2bn (£5.4bn) - agreed in principle with the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - cash which is conditional on further reform.

Demands that Greece raises more funds were dealt a further blow when Mr Tsipras confirmed the planned sale of a 30% stake in Public Power Corporation of Greece - the country's biggest utility - had been halted.

Uncertainty over the outcome of the creditor negotiations since the election has sparked three days of sharp losses in top Greek stocks - with some banks losing half their value.

National Bank of Greece was almost 30% down on the day.

The cost to Greece of servicing its debts has also climbed, with 10-year debt yields climbing back above 10% as investors fret about the possibility of a Greek default.

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Fan Splashes Out Â£18k On Star Wars Figure

A Star Wars superfan has sold a rare Boba Fett figure which he bought for £1.50 35 years ago for £18,000.

Craig Stevens was ecstatic when the auction price reached £15,000 for the toy he has kept pristine since 1980.

The anonymous UK buyer, who bid over the internet, must also pay a 20% commission to the auction house Vectis in Thornaby, Teesside.

Mr Stevens, 45, from Croydon, said after the sale: "I'm amazed at the price, that was absolutely perfect.

"I hope it will go to a good collector who will look after it and cherish it like I have."

He said he and his wife plan to put the money towards a new house.

Mr Stevens was selling 85 figures from his collection and the extremely rare Boba Fett, the bounty hunter from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, was the pick of the sale.

It is one of only four or five still in such pristine condition, the former chairman of the UK Star Wars fan club believed.

The sale has received bids from around the world.

Before the auction Mr Stevens said: "This Boba Fett is in the original packaging in the UK, it is in factory fresh condition, so I am looking at £10,000-plus for this one figure alone.

"He is a very popular character, he had about three minutes of screen time and became a huge cult figure.

"It was only available in this packaging for a year."

Sold under the UK's Palitoy brand, the packaging is unpunched, meaning the card had not been pierced to allow it to be displayed on a peg in a shop.

"Unpunched shows it has never been sold and it is factory fresh," Mr Stevens said.

The toy would have retailed for £1.50 in 1980 when it was released.

Mr Stevens still has 10,000 items in his collection of Star Wars memorabilia.

He said: "I was one of the children who queued up to see Star Wars when it was first released in 1977 and it had a tremendous effect on me.

"I began collecting everything that I could get my hands on connected to Star Wars and I have kept going right up to the present day."

Valuer Kathy Taylor said the figures came from the "golden age" of Star Wars films, and rarely if ever came to market.

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Two Israeli Soldiers Killed In Convoy Attack

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed and seven wounded in an attack on a military convoy along the border with Lebanon.

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack - which prompted Benjamin Netanyahu to warn opponents "look what happened in Gaza".

An Israeli army statement said: "Earlier today an anti-tank missile hit a (military) vehicle ... killing two soldiers and wounding an additional seven."

Israeli tanks reportedly shelled areas of southeastern Lebanon in response to the attack in the border area, as Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu issued his warning.

"My recommendation to those who challenge us in the north is to take a look at what happened in Gaza," he said.

"The (Israel Defence Forces) is responding now to the incident in the north. The IDF stands ready to act forcefully on all fronts."

The attack on the convoy in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area was in response to an Israeli rocket attack in Syria, a source familiar with details of the operation told AFP.

And a statement broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel said: "At 11.25 (9.25am UK time) this morning, the Quneitra martyrs of the Islamic Resistance (Hezbollah) targeted an Israeli military convoy in the Shebaa Farms composed of several vehicles, which was transporting several Zionist soldiers and officers.

"There were several casualties in the enemy's ranks."

One security source told AFP that more than 15 shells had since been fired on Lebanese border villages and Israeli warplanes were flying over the area.

Another security source said the Israeli army was firing a new shell into the area about every two minutes, and was also firing artillery.

The Lebanese army has been deployed to all five villages that were shelled, but it was unclear whether Hezbollah had a presence there.

Israel's military operation in Gaza last summer saw around 2,200 Palestinians killed, most of them civilians, while 66 IDF soldiers and five Israeli civilians were killed.

23.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

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Jordan 'Ready' To Exchange Militant For Pilot

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 28 Januari 2015 | 23.21

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Top Stories

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Helmet Cam Video Of Race To Save Kids From Fire

Murder Victim's Family Loses Court Battle

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Stocks Slide As Greece Rows Back On Austerity

Fan Splashes Out Â£18k On Star Wars Figure

Two Israeli Soldiers Killed In Convoy Attack

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