Showing posts with label World News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World News. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 April 2015

1 Dead, 2 Injured In Shooting After Gate-Crashing Incident At NSA, Ft. Meade

One man is dead and another critically injured after cashing an SUV into a police vehicle near the gates of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade. Guards opened fire on the two men, who investigators say were inside a stolen SUV.

Meghan McCorkell has more.

FBI officials say they do not believe this was an act of terrorism but a bizarre incident that led to a serious security scare.

The smashed pieces of two SUVs litter the road just behind the security gate at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade.

According to federal sources speaking with CBS News, two men dressed as women were inside a dark colored Ford Escape. Investigators say the SUV smashed through a security barrier, then rammed right into an NSA police vehicle. That’s when guards opened fire.

The driver of the SUV was killed. The passenger was also shot. US law enforcement sources identify the passenger as 20-year-old Kevin Fleming of Baltimore. Court records show Fleming has been arrested multiple times, including an assault charge. CBS News has learned Fleming and the other suspect had been on an all-night bender involving drugs and alcohol. A small amount of cocaine was found inside the SUV, which investigators say had been reported stolen right before the crash. Howard County police confirm that car was stolen from a hotel along Route 1 in Jessup.

Sources say the men may have taken a wrong turn into the NSA security gate.

The FBI is now taking the lead in the investigation.

An NSA police officer was also involved in the incident.

In a statement, Fort Meade officials say in part, “We continue to remain vigilant at all of our access control points.”


1 Dead, 2 Injured In Shooting After Gate-Crashing Incident At NSA, Ft. Meade

One man is dead and another critically injured after cashing an SUV into a police vehicle near the gates of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade. Guards opened fire on the two men, who investigators say were inside a stolen SUV.

Meghan McCorkell has more.

FBI officials say they do not believe this was an act of terrorism but a bizarre incident that led to a serious security scare.

The smashed pieces of two SUVs litter the road just behind the security gate at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade.

Saturday, 28 March 2015

Iran nuke talks enter critical phase this weekend

The United States and Iran entered a critical phase of negotiations over Iran's disputed nuclear program this weekend, as Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif meet in Switzerland to determine if they can bridge their differences.
The talks are reaching a climax as leaders from across the world, including Israel and the U.S. Congress, watch to see if a historic deal emerges to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for a lifting of U.S. and Western sanctions. Negotiators are trying to conclude a general agreement by a self-imposed March 31 deadline, with details to be filled in by June.
Israel and many in Congress have warned that the Obama administration may grant too many concessions to get a deal that would allow Iran to violate an agreement and develop nuclear weapons once the punitive sanctions that have crippled its economy are lifted.
Congressional leaders have threatened to vote on increased sanctions if they do not like the terms. Israel has threatened military action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire region.


In a sign of congressional skepticism about an agreement, the Senate voted 100-0 Thursday for a non-binding resolution that calls for new sanctions against Iran if it is caught cheating on any deal that is
reached.


Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful and that its technological quest to produce energy and medical isotopes is a sovereign right. The oil-rich nation wants the sanctions lifted so it can rejoin the global financial system and sell oil on the open market again

The United States has not changed its bottom line regarding a deal, and it is still committed to making sure Iran would need at least a year to produce enough highly enriched nuclear material for a bomb if it broke the agreement, a senior administration official told USA TODAY. The official, who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive negotiations, asked not to be identified.
On Friday, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, told Mehr News that "a mutual understanding" covering much of the deal has been reached.
"A couple of technical issues are still remaining unresolved which we are working on," Salehi said. "There are difficult issues to be resolved."
Although the U.S. has taken the lead in the Iran talks, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China also are participating.
In Washington, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the parties were "better than halfway" to a deal, according to the Associated Press.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters in New York on Friday, "There has been some progress, but there are things which are not yet solved." Fabius arrived in Lausanne on Saturday. His British and Russian counterparts have said they will join the talks over the weekend as well.
Issues still to be resolved involve the number and types of centrifuges Iran can use to produce nuclear fuel, the ability of inspectors to gain access to all possible nuclear sites and Iran's willingness to discuss past efforts to produce nuclear weapons.


Iran nuke talks enter critical phase this weekend

The United States and Iran entered a critical phase of negotiations over Iran's disputed nuclear program this weekend, as Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif meet in Switzerland to determine if they can bridge their differences.
The talks are reaching a climax as leaders from across the world, including Israel and the U.S. Congress, watch to see if a historic deal emerges to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for a lifting of U.S. and Western sanctions. Negotiators are trying to conclude a general agreement by a self-imposed March 31 deadline, with details to be filled in by June.
Israel and many in Congress have warned that the Obama administration may grant too many concessions to get a deal that would allow Iran to violate an agreement and develop nuclear weapons once the punitive sanctions that have crippled its economy are lifted.
Congressional leaders have threatened to vote on increased sanctions if they do not like the terms. Israel has threatened military action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire region.


In a sign of congressional skepticism about an agreement, the Senate voted 100-0 Thursday for a non-binding resolution that calls for new sanctions against Iran if it is caught cheating on any deal that is
reached.

Co-pilot 'obsessed' with Alps; flew crash area as a boy

Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who authorities say flew a Germanwings plane with 150 people aboard into the French Alps, was "obsessed" and "passionate" about the mountainous region and had flown it several times as a child, French and German media report.
Lubitz and his family, along with other members of a gliding club in his hometown of Montabaur, Germany, would take trips with other members to a club in the town of Sisteron, France, about 30 miles from where the Airbus A320 went down Tuesday,


The area, with its numerous peaks and valleys and stunning panoramas, is popular with glider pilots. In the final moments of the Germanwings flight, Lubitz overflew the major turning points for gliders flying from one peak to another, according to local glider pilots, the Associated Press reported.
French investigators said the plane, with Lubitz at the controls and the locked-out pilot trying desperately to break through the cockpit door, flew for about 10 minutes after leaving its 38,000-feet cruising altitude, finally descending into the side of the mountains.

Francis Kefer, a member of the local French gliding club, told France's i-Tele television that the Lubitz family and other members of the Montabaur club came to the region regularly between 1996 and 2003.

Dieter Wagner, a member of the Montabaur club, said he recalls that Lubitz had participated in one of the gliding courses in the Alpine region with Wagner's niece, who was a good friend, Le Parisien reported.


"He was passionate about the Alps and even obsessed," Wagner said. "I'm sure he knew the crash area because he had flown it in a glider."

Ernst Müller, 70, and another member of the German club, said he is "certain that Andreas has participated in at least one or two internships with us in Sisteron," Le Parisien reported. Officials at the club would not comment Saturday, the AP reports.

Co-pilot 'obsessed' with Alps; flew crash area as a boy

Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who authorities say flew a Germanwings plane with 150 people aboard into the French Alps, was "obsessed" and "passionate" about the mountainous region and had flown it several times as a child, French and German media report.
Lubitz and his family, along with other members of a gliding club in his hometown of Montabaur, Germany, would take trips with other members to a club in the town of Sisteron, France, about 30 miles from where the Airbus A320 went down Tuesday,


The area, with its numerous peaks and valleys and stunning panoramas, is popular with glider pilots. In the final moments of the Germanwings flight, Lubitz overflew the major turning points for gliders flying from one peak to another, according to local glider pilots, the Associated Press reported.
French investigators said the plane, with Lubitz at the controls and the locked-out pilot trying desperately to break through the cockpit door, flew for about 10 minutes after leaving its 38,000-feet cruising altitude, finally descending into the side of the mountains.

Francis Kefer, a member of the local French gliding club, told France's i-Tele television that the Lubitz family and other members of the Montabaur club came to the region regularly between 1996 and 2003.

Dieter Wagner, a member of the Montabaur club, said he recalls that Lubitz had participated in one of the gliding courses in the Alpine region with Wagner's niece, who was a good friend, Le Parisien reported.


"He was passionate about the Alps and even obsessed," Wagner said. "I'm sure he knew the crash area because he had flown it in a glider."

Ernst Müller, 70, and another member of the German club, said he is "certain that Andreas has participated in at least one or two internships with us in Sisteron," Le Parisien reported. Officials at the club would not comment Saturday, the AP reports.

Friday, 27 March 2015

Prosecutor: Passengers shrieked as jet crashed into Alps

The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps deliberately worked to destroy the plane while passengers shrieked in terror and the pilot pounded on the cockpit door, a French prosecutor said at a news conference Thursday in Marseille.
"This was voluntary, this was deliberate," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. "He refused to open the cabin door in order to let the pilot back in. I repeat. He refused to let the pilot back in. He is the one who pressed the button that allowed the plane to begin descending and lose altitude."
The information was obtained from the cockpit voice recorder of doomed Flight 9525, which suddenly began an eight-minute descent before smashing into a rugged ravine in the French Alps on Tuesday. The data recorder for the flight from Barcelona bound for Düsseldorf, Germany, has not yet been found.
Robin said the co-pilot, identified as German national Andreas Lubitz, 27, was not on a terror watch list. A federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY the FBI has been running the flight manifests through its databases but so far has found no connection to terrorism.
Lubitz said nothing during the descent, but could be heard breathing until the crash, Robin said.
"The co-pilot is the only one in the cockpit,' Robin said. "While he is alone he somehow manipulated the buttons on the flight monitoring system. He was alone at the helm of this Airbus."



Robin stressed the actions were deliberate. He said passengers could be heard screaming in fear.
"We start hearing banging, someone actually trying to break the door down," Robin said. "That's why the alarms were let off — because these were protocols that were put in place in case of any terror attack."
Robin said the plane apparently glided until it crashed into the ravine, a sound heard on the voice recorder.
"Again, no distress signal, zero, no 'help me' or SOS," he said. "Nothing of this sort was received by air-traffic control."
Robin said the voice recorder indicated dialogue between the pilot and co-pilot was normal. Robin said informed the families of the developments and that they were in shock.


German, French and Spanish authorities are investigating the crash. The FBI issued a statement saying it was offering to help French officials leading the investigation.
German carrier Lufthansa, which owns the low-cost airline, offered special flights from Barcelona and Düsseldorf to Marseille, so that those close to the victims can be near the scene of the search and recovery efforts in the French Alps.
"We are shaken by the upsetting statements of the French authorities. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and friends of the victims," Lufthansa tweeted.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said he was left "speechless" by Robin's horrifying description of events, but said evidence thus far supports them.
"This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate," Spohr said. "The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot, through a voluntary act, refused to open the cabin door to let the captain in. He pushed the button to trigger the aircraft to lose altitude.
"He operated this button for a reason we don't know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane."



U.S. cockpit regulations don't allow a pilot to be left alone in a cockpit. The Air Line Pilots Association issued a statement saying U.S. airline procedures are "designed to ensure that there is never a situation where a pilot is left alone in the cockpit."
Lufthansa said Lubitz joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours. Spohr said the co-pilot began training in Bremen, Germany, in 2008 and later trained in Arizona.
Spohr said there was a brief interruption in training in 2009 but that he had completed qualifications for the job. German media outlets quoted classmates as saying Lubitz interrupted his training due to "burnout" and "depression."
Lubitz was included in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's database of certified pilots.
"He passed all medical tests, he passed all aviation tests, he passed all checks," Spohr said. "He was 100% able to fly without any limitations, without any reservations. His accomplishments were excellent. Nothing was noticed that wasn't proper."
Spohr said there were no indications that the co-pilot was dealing with a terrorist incident in the cockpit.
"We are speechless at Lufthansa and Germanwings," Spohr said. "We are shocked."
Officials have not identified the pilot, but multiple media outlets have identified him as Patrick Sonderheimer. He had more than 6,000 hours of flying time and had been Germanwings pilot since May 2014, having previously flown for Lufthansa and Condor. Robin said Sonderheimer's family is in France and would be interviewed by investigators.

All 150 passengers and crew aboard the flight killed, including three Americans. Two were identified as Yvonne Selke, a contract worker for Booz Allen Hamilton, and her daughter, Emily Selke, a 2013 graduate of Drexel University, both from Nokesville, Va. The third victim was identified as Robert Calvo, a father of two who worked for a Barcelona-based clothing company.
Among victims confirmed by the airline were 72 Germans and 35 Spaniards. There were two victims each from Australia, Argentina, Iran and Venezuela. One each came from Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Israel.
A moment of silence was held Thursday at Joseph-Koenig High School in Haltern Am See in west Germany, which lost 16 10th-graders and two teachers in the crash.


Prosecutor: Passengers shrieked as jet crashed into Alps

The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps deliberately worked to destroy the plane while passengers shrieked in terror and the pilot pounded on the cockpit door, a French prosecutor said at a news conference Thursday in Marseille.
"This was voluntary, this was deliberate," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. "He refused to open the cabin door in order to let the pilot back in. I repeat. He refused to let the pilot back in. He is the one who pressed the button that allowed the plane to begin descending and lose altitude."
The information was obtained from the cockpit voice recorder of doomed Flight 9525, which suddenly began an eight-minute descent before smashing into a rugged ravine in the French Alps on Tuesday. The data recorder for the flight from Barcelona bound for Düsseldorf, Germany, has not yet been found.
Robin said the co-pilot, identified as German national Andreas Lubitz, 27, was not on a terror watch list. A federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY the FBI has been running the flight manifests through its databases but so far has found no connection to terrorism.
Lubitz said nothing during the descent, but could be heard breathing until the crash, Robin said.
"The co-pilot is the only one in the cockpit,' Robin said. "While he is alone he somehow manipulated the buttons on the flight monitoring system. He was alone at the helm of this Airbus."



Robin stressed the actions were deliberate. He said passengers could be heard screaming in fear.
"We start hearing banging, someone actually trying to break the door down," Robin said. "That's why the alarms were let off — because these were protocols that were put in place in case of any terror attack."
Robin said the plane apparently glided until it crashed into the ravine, a sound heard on the voice recorder.
"Again, no distress signal, zero, no 'help me' or SOS," he said. "Nothing of this sort was received by air-traffic control."
Robin said the voice recorder indicated dialogue between the pilot and co-pilot was normal. Robin said informed the families of the developments and that they were in shock.


German, French and Spanish authorities are investigating the crash. The FBI issued a statement saying it was offering to help French officials leading the investigation.
German carrier Lufthansa, which owns the low-cost airline, offered special flights from Barcelona and Düsseldorf to Marseille, so that those close to the victims can be near the scene of the search and recovery efforts in the French Alps.
"We are shaken by the upsetting statements of the French authorities. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and friends of the victims," Lufthansa tweeted.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said he was left "speechless" by Robin's horrifying description of events, but said evidence thus far supports them.
"This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate," Spohr said. "The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot, through a voluntary act, refused to open the cabin door to let the captain in. He pushed the button to trigger the aircraft to lose altitude.
"He operated this button for a reason we don't know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane."



U.S. cockpit regulations don't allow a pilot to be left alone in a cockpit. The Air Line Pilots Association issued a statement saying U.S. airline procedures are "designed to ensure that there is never a situation where a pilot is left alone in the cockpit."
Lufthansa said Lubitz joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours. Spohr said the co-pilot began training in Bremen, Germany, in 2008 and later trained in Arizona.
Spohr said there was a brief interruption in training in 2009 but that he had completed qualifications for the job. German media outlets quoted classmates as saying Lubitz interrupted his training due to "burnout" and "depression."
Lubitz was included in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's database of certified pilots.
"He passed all medical tests, he passed all aviation tests, he passed all checks," Spohr said. "He was 100% able to fly without any limitations, without any reservations. His accomplishments were excellent. Nothing was noticed that wasn't proper."
Spohr said there were no indications that the co-pilot was dealing with a terrorist incident in the cockpit.
"We are speechless at Lufthansa and Germanwings," Spohr said. "We are shocked."
Officials have not identified the pilot, but multiple media outlets have identified him as Patrick Sonderheimer. He had more than 6,000 hours of flying time and had been Germanwings pilot since May 2014, having previously flown for Lufthansa and Condor. Robin said Sonderheimer's family is in France and would be interviewed by investigators.

All 150 passengers and crew aboard the flight killed, including three Americans. Two were identified as Yvonne Selke, a contract worker for Booz Allen Hamilton, and her daughter, Emily Selke, a 2013 graduate of Drexel University, both from Nokesville, Va. The third victim was identified as Robert Calvo, a father of two who worked for a Barcelona-based clothing company.
Among victims confirmed by the airline were 72 Germans and 35 Spaniards. There were two victims each from Australia, Argentina, Iran and Venezuela. One each came from Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Israel.
A moment of silence was held Thursday at Joseph-Koenig High School in Haltern Am See in west Germany, which lost 16 10th-graders and two teachers in the crash.