Swiss authorities have blocked off hiking trails near the Giesen glacier in the Bernese Alps and sent a crisis team to monitor it, for fear that it’s about to shed a slab of ice the size of 12 football fields. A huge crevasse has been discovered in the glacier, and…
Continue reading …At least one dead after a Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the river after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank At least one passenger has died after a helicopter which was believed to be carrying a group of British tourists crashed into New York’s East River after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank. Three of the tourists and the pilot were taken to hospital after they were pulled out of the river, according to the authorities, who said that two of the injured, both women, were in a critical condition. Police and fire department divers pulled victims of the crash out of the Bell 407 after it was submerged in murky waters near 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. Detective Martin Speechley of the New York Police Department told Sky News that the recovery operation would have “been done by touch” because that part of the river was so murky. Dan Sweeney, manager at the nearby Water Club restaurant, told the NBC New York news outlet that the helicopter appeared to be in the process of landing when it crashed. “It went down pretty fast, you could see the splash, you could see the top of it and it just disappeared,” he said. “It looked like it was trying to land at the heliport and missed the landing.” Joy Garnett and her husband were on the dock waiting to take the East River ferry to Brooklyn when they heard the blades of a helicopter and saw it start to take off from the nearby helipad. She told the Associated Press that she saw it do “a funny curlicue.” “I thought, ‘Is that some daredevil move?’” she said. “But it was obviously out of control. The body spun around at least two or three times, and then it went down.” She said the chopper had lifted about 25 feet (7.6 meters) off the ground before it dropped into the water without much of a splash. It flipped over, and the blades were sticking up out of the river. She said people on the dock started throwing in life jackets and buoys. Two people came up out of the waves. “It didn’t make much noise,” she said. “It was just a splash and sunk.” The weather was clear but a little windy at the time of the incident, with winds gusting up to 20 mph (32 kph) and visibility of 10 miles (16 kilometers), according to the weather station at LaGuardia airport. There were a few clouds at 3,500 feet (1,066 meters) above sea level, well above the typical flying altitude for helicopters. Carlos Acevedo, of Puerto Rico, was with his wife at a nearby park area when they saw the helicopter go down. “It sank fast,” he said. “In seconds. Like the water was sucking it in.” Lau Kamg was leaving a dentist’s office and was walking nearby when he saw the chopper go down, and he said it appeared to be in distress. “The sound got my attention,” he said. I saw it splash.” In August 2009, a small plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, on the other side of Manhattan, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists. A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City’s rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161 mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional. Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson after hitting birds and losing both engines shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight, US Airways Flight 1549, became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane. The river has been closed to commercial boating traffic, the US Coast Guard said. United States New York Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …At least one dead after a Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the river after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank At least one passenger has died after a helicopter which was believed to be carrying a group of British tourists crashed into New York’s East River after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank. Three of the tourists and the pilot were taken to hospital after they were pulled out of the river, according to the authorities, who said that two of the injured, both women, were in a critical condition. Police and fire department divers pulled victims of the crash out of the Bell 407 after it was submerged in murky waters near 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. Detective Martin Speechley of the New York Police Department told Sky News that the recovery operation would have “been done by touch” because that part of the river was so murky. Dan Sweeney, manager at the nearby Water Club restaurant, told the NBC New York news outlet that the helicopter appeared to be in the process of landing when it crashed. “It went down pretty fast, you could see the splash, you could see the top of it and it just disappeared,” he said. “It looked like it was trying to land at the heliport and missed the landing.” Joy Garnett and her husband were on the dock waiting to take the East River ferry to Brooklyn when they heard the blades of a helicopter and saw it start to take off from the nearby helipad. She told the Associated Press that she saw it do “a funny curlicue.” “I thought, ‘Is that some daredevil move?’” she said. “But it was obviously out of control. The body spun around at least two or three times, and then it went down.” She said the chopper had lifted about 25 feet (7.6 meters) off the ground before it dropped into the water without much of a splash. It flipped over, and the blades were sticking up out of the river. She said people on the dock started throwing in life jackets and buoys. Two people came up out of the waves. “It didn’t make much noise,” she said. “It was just a splash and sunk.” The weather was clear but a little windy at the time of the incident, with winds gusting up to 20 mph (32 kph) and visibility of 10 miles (16 kilometers), according to the weather station at LaGuardia airport. There were a few clouds at 3,500 feet (1,066 meters) above sea level, well above the typical flying altitude for helicopters. Carlos Acevedo, of Puerto Rico, was with his wife at a nearby park area when they saw the helicopter go down. “It sank fast,” he said. “In seconds. Like the water was sucking it in.” Lau Kamg was leaving a dentist’s office and was walking nearby when he saw the chopper go down, and he said it appeared to be in distress. “The sound got my attention,” he said. I saw it splash.” In August 2009, a small plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, on the other side of Manhattan, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists. A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City’s rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161 mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional. Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson after hitting birds and losing both engines shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight, US Airways Flight 1549, became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane. The river has been closed to commercial boating traffic, the US Coast Guard said. United States New York Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Justice secretary disputes home secretary’s tale of deportation halted over ownership of pet cat Downing Street rallied to the defence of Theresa May after the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, mocked her for suggesting that an illegal immigrant had resisted deportation on the grounds that he owned a pet cat. Friends of the justice secretary insisted he was standing firm after No 10 sources indicated that a humbled Clarke should show contrition by taking May, the home secretary, out for a “nice slap-up meal”. One of the quietest conference seasons in years came alive on its penultimate day when Clarke took issue with the announcement in May’s conference speech – that illegal immigrants are abusing the Human Rights Act to fight deportation from Britain. The home secretary illustrated her case by citing the example of a Bolivian national who resisted deportation on the grounds he owned a cat, Maya. May, who wants to abolish the Human Rights Act, said : “The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – I am not making this up – he had a pet cat.” Speaking an hour later at a fringe meeting, hosted by the Daily Telegraph, Clarke ridiculed May’s remarks. Clarke, a strong defender of the European convention on human rights, which provided the basis for the HRA, said: “I’ve never had a conversation on the subject with Theresa, so I’d have to find out about these strange cases she is throwing out. They are British cases and British judges she is complaining about. I cannot believe anybody has ever had deportation refused on the basis of owning a cat. I’ll have a small bet with her that nobody has ever been refused deportation on the grounds of the ownership of a cat.” The remarks by the justice secretary triggered a string of jokes on Twitter about a catfight involving Clarke, May and a cat whose name is one letter longer than the home secretary’s surname. Stefan Stern, a professor at the Cass Business School, even managed to link the spat to the phone-hacking scandal. “Neither the cat nor Coulson were properly vetted,” he tweeted at #kittygate. But as the jokes – and the proverbial fur – flew on Twitter, a classic briefing war erupted in Manchester between the cabinet ministers’ camps. Home Office sources said Clarke was wrong because the immigration judge had cited the case of Maya the cat when he ruled against deportation. This was dismissed on appeal. A Home Office source said: “This shows why we need clarification. There is a complete lack of clarity here.” But sources in the Clarke camp cited a statement by the judicial communications office, which represents senior judges, insisting the tale was not true and said it had told May’s department as much. A spokeswoman for the judicial communications office said: “This was a case in which the Home Office conceded that they had mistakenly failed to apply their own policy – applying at that time to that appellant – for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK.’ A friend of Clarke said: “That statement is really serious. That is the authentic voice of the judiciary. We have a situation where the home secretary – the home secretary – has made a mistake on a basic point. The Home Office are going bananas because they know Theresa made a mistake.” But Downing Street sources defended May and turned its humour on Clarke as it said that Clarke should hand her a fiver after losing his bet. One source said: “David Cameron really likes the policy announced by Theresa May. Ken wanted reassurance that a cat was not involved. He has had that.” In a final flourish of humour, the source said: I am sure he will want to pause for thought. Get it?” May used the example of the cat to illustrate the need to amend immigration rules to restrict the ability of illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to resist deportation by invoking the right to a family life under article eight of the Human Rights Act. This incorporates rights enshrined in the European convention on human rights (ECHR). May’s speech was not shown to Clarke. In common with conference speeches by all cabinet minsters, it was cleared with the “quad” committee of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander. Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The energy and time this government is spending on arguments about the HRA shows how completely out of touch it is with the British people who are not interested in catfights between ministers but how the safety of their communities will be protected after cuts in police budgets which go too far and too fast.” Conservative conference 2011 Conservative conference Kenneth Clarke Theresa May Human rights Human Rights Act Nicholas Watt Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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Justice secretary disputes home secretary’s tale of deportation halted over ownership of pet cat Downing Street rallied to the defence of Theresa May after the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, mocked her for suggesting that an illegal immigrant had resisted deportation on the grounds that he owned a pet cat. Friends of the justice secretary insisted he was standing firm after No 10 sources indicated that a humbled Clarke should show contrition by taking May, the home secretary, out for a “nice slap-up meal”. One of the quietest conference seasons in years came alive on its penultimate day when Clarke took issue with the announcement in May’s conference speech – that illegal immigrants are abusing the Human Rights Act to fight deportation from Britain. The home secretary illustrated her case by citing the example of a Bolivian national who resisted deportation on the grounds he owned a cat, Maya. May, who wants to abolish the Human Rights Act, said : “The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – I am not making this up – he had a pet cat.” Speaking an hour later at a fringe meeting, hosted by the Daily Telegraph, Clarke ridiculed May’s remarks. Clarke, a strong defender of the European convention on human rights, which provided the basis for the HRA, said: “I’ve never had a conversation on the subject with Theresa, so I’d have to find out about these strange cases she is throwing out. They are British cases and British judges she is complaining about. I cannot believe anybody has ever had deportation refused on the basis of owning a cat. I’ll have a small bet with her that nobody has ever been refused deportation on the grounds of the ownership of a cat.” The remarks by the justice secretary triggered a string of jokes on Twitter about a catfight involving Clarke, May and a cat whose name is one letter longer than the home secretary’s surname. Stefan Stern, a professor at the Cass Business School, even managed to link the spat to the phone-hacking scandal. “Neither the cat nor Coulson were properly vetted,” he tweeted at #kittygate. But as the jokes – and the proverbial fur – flew on Twitter, a classic briefing war erupted in Manchester between the cabinet ministers’ camps. Home Office sources said Clarke was wrong because the immigration judge had cited the case of Maya the cat when he ruled against deportation. This was dismissed on appeal. A Home Office source said: “This shows why we need clarification. There is a complete lack of clarity here.” But sources in the Clarke camp cited a statement by the judicial communications office, which represents senior judges, insisting the tale was not true and said it had told May’s department as much. A spokeswoman for the judicial communications office said: “This was a case in which the Home Office conceded that they had mistakenly failed to apply their own policy – applying at that time to that appellant – for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK.’ A friend of Clarke said: “That statement is really serious. That is the authentic voice of the judiciary. We have a situation where the home secretary – the home secretary – has made a mistake on a basic point. The Home Office are going bananas because they know Theresa made a mistake.” But Downing Street sources defended May and turned its humour on Clarke as it said that Clarke should hand her a fiver after losing his bet. One source said: “David Cameron really likes the policy announced by Theresa May. Ken wanted reassurance that a cat was not involved. He has had that.” In a final flourish of humour, the source said: I am sure he will want to pause for thought. Get it?” May used the example of the cat to illustrate the need to amend immigration rules to restrict the ability of illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to resist deportation by invoking the right to a family life under article eight of the Human Rights Act. This incorporates rights enshrined in the European convention on human rights (ECHR). May’s speech was not shown to Clarke. In common with conference speeches by all cabinet minsters, it was cleared with the “quad” committee of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander. Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The energy and time this government is spending on arguments about the HRA shows how completely out of touch it is with the British people who are not interested in catfights between ministers but how the safety of their communities will be protected after cuts in police budgets which go too far and too fast.” Conservative conference 2011 Conservative conference Kenneth Clarke Theresa May Human rights Human Rights Act Nicholas Watt Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The “Chris Christie Watch” may be nearing its end. New Jersey Republicans tell the National Review that Christie will not throw his hat into the 2012 ring. A source (one with “direct knowledge of the governor’s thinking,” no less) tells ABC News the same thing. Christie is expected to make…
Continue reading …Could the USPS’ last great hope be angry Americans? An avalanche of letters and emails are pouring into Congress, with offices reporting that they’re dealing with, in one case, as much as 1,422% more constituent-penned correspondence than they did in 2002. Politico reports that House offices are seeing an…
Continue reading …Remember those Black Swan interns suing Fox Searchlight for not paying them to make coffee? Turns out they may not have actually worked for Fox Searchlight. The interns were employed by Darren Aronofsky’s production company, which made Black Swan , “well before Fox Searchlight even acquired its rights in the film,…
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Turkish prime minister condemns the Bashar al-Assad regime and vows not to remain a bystander Syria’s former ally Turkey said on Tuesday it had started imposing sanctions on the regime of Bashar al-Assad and reiterated it will not remain a bystander in the face of a relentless military crackdown. “Oppressed, defenceless people are dying in serious numbers,” said Racip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister . “We cannot say ‘let these deaths continue’.” Erdogan did not specify the exact nature of the new sanctions but has previously hinted at a range of military and commercial measures. Erdogan, who has taken a regional lead in condemning Turkey’s restive southern neighbour, compared the actions of Assad to those of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who ordered the Hama massacre in 1982 after an anti-regime rebellion. In a sign of the increasing support Ankara is giving to anti-regime dissidents, the highest-ranking officer to defect from the Syrian military on Tuesdayadmitted he was in southern Turkey. Colonel Riad al-Assad used the Turkish newspaper Anatolia to call on opposition forces inside Syria to close ranks and wait for the regime to collapse. Dissidents in the city of Homs fought pitched battles with security forces on Monday night in what some opposition leaders have cast as the most intense two-way violence of the six-month uprising. Syrian forces were earlier reported to have ousted opposition groups from an outlying region of Homs, known as Rastan. “It was serious fighting,” said opposition activist Wissam Tarif. “Things seem to be escalating in Homs.” For the past months activists in and around Homs have been seeking weapons and attempting to mount an armed fight-back against the regime. “We see them on the streets all the time,” said a worker at one of the city’s hospitals. “They are armed and they are fighting the regime when they can.” Activists said on Tuesday arrests had intensified since the weekend, with up to 3,000 people reported to have been recently detained. Opposition groups have alleged in recent days that regime officials have been attempting to intimidate them in some European capitals, including London and Paris. The French government on Tuesday said it would not tolerate harassment of protesters and said it had called in the Syrian ambassador to register a formal protest. Burhan Ghalioun, a Paris-based opposition figure, said three members of his family, his brother, nephew and niece, were abducted in Homs on Monday night. He feared his niece may have been killed. Meanwhile, the appointment of the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was confirmed by the US Senate 18 months after he was nominated by Barack Obama – a contentious appointment opposed at the time by some politicians. Ford has been a vocal critic of Assad’s regime. His visit to Homs in the summer and to a key opposition activist late last week led to his convoy being attacked by regime supporters. A newspaper run by the ruling Baath party on Monday warned that Ford would face more “unpleasant incidents” if he continued to take a public stand against Assad. The US and Britain have said they will not advocate a Libyan-style military intervention in Syria and are instead banking on a range of sanctions against regime officials and public support for opposition groups to oust the regime, which they say has lost all legitimacy. Bashar Al-Assad Syria Turkey Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Europe Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
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One person dead and two people seriously injured and one still missing after helicopter plunges into East river The body of a person who was missing after a helicopter crashed into New York City’s East River has been pulled from the murky water. Police say the victim was a woman. She was among five people on the helicopter when it crashed. The pilot and three others were pulled alive from the water by rescue crews shortly after the chopper went down. Witnesses say the chopper was “out of control” before the crash. The private chopper went into the river off 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. It is unclear what happened. A massive rescue effort was under way, with a dozen boats and divers in the water. The conditions of those who were rescued were not immediately available. The fire department said at least two people on board were taken to area hospitals in serious condition. Joy Garnett and her husband were on the dock waiting to take the East River ferry to Brooklyn when they heard the blades of a helicopter and saw it start to take off from the nearby helipad. She said she saw it do “a funny curlicue.” “I thought: is that some daredevil move?” Garnett said. “But it was obviously out of control. The body spun around at least two or three times, and then it went down.” She said the chopper had lifted about 25ft (7.6m) off the ground before it dropped into the water without much of a splash. It flipped over, and the blades were sticking up out of the river. She said people on the dock started throwing in life jackets and buoys. Two people came up out of the waves. “It didn’t make much noise,” she said. “It was just a splash and sunk.” The Bell 206 Jet Ranger is one of the world’s most popular helicopter models and was first flown in January 1966. They are light and highly maneuverable, making them popular with television stations and air taxi companies. A new one costs between $700,000 and $1.2m. In August 2009, a small plane collided with a helicopter over the East River, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists. A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City’s rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional. Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson River after hitting birds and losing both engines shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight, US Airways Flight 1549, became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane. New York United States guardian.co.uk
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