A town official says a gunman at an upstate New York high school has taken the principal hostage.
Pine Plains Town Supervisor Gregg Pulver tells CNN that students at Stissing Mountain High School are safe. The school is about 90 miles north of New York City.
The school remains on lockdown. Pulver says police are in contact with the gunman. He says the gunman is an adult, not a student.
State police and Dutchess County sheriffs deputies released no other information.
Margaret Hart, who lives across the street from the school, says police cars are in the neighborhood and helicopters are flying overhead. She says the area around the school has a lot of woods and "a lot of places to hide."
Update: They arrested him.A town official says a gunman at an upstate New York high school has taken the... more
Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Protesters clashed with police at a central Tehran square on Wednesday while government supporters nearby marked the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy capture with chants of "Death to America."
Scenes in the Iranian capital turned ugly yet again as riot police and pro-government Basij militia turned out in force to quash anti-government sentiment.
At least 2,000 opposition supporters, sternly warned by authorities to stay home, marched defiantly at Haft-e-Tir Square, witnesses said. Many held up their hands in a V sign. Others shouted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," a slogan of protest. Police blocked all roads leading to the square, prompting massive traffic jams.
Witnesses described helmet-clad security personnel beating demonstrators with batons and firing tear gas at Haft-e-Tir Square and in a neighborhood a few kilometers north.
"I had never seen that many riot police and security personnel," a witness told CNN. "They were brought in by the busloads. As soon as crowds gathered somewhere, riot police were there within minutes."http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixeFBxfLzaSjs8Mb8cuFmtPOT6-wD9BOQFOG0... more
TEHRAN — Three Americans who have been detained in Iran for nearly seven weeks “trampled the law, and in accordance with the laws, they need to be punished,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC News.TEHRAN — Three Americans who have been detained in Iran for nearly seven weeks... more
"The elite FBI Hostage Rescue Teams are poised to make more anti-terror raids in Queens, sources told the Daily News.
Fearful of a Madrid-style subway train bombing, authorities are poised to make more raids to seize bomb-making materials at locations in Queens, sources said Wednesday.
The FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Squad arrived in New York in anticipation of the offensive to thwart a Denver-based terror cell with ties to Al Qaeda, police sources told the Daily News.
Another source said an earlier raid uncovered nine backpacks and cell phones, raising memories of the March 2004 bombings in Madrid."
A NY Times reporter was freed from captivity but it came at a cost. His interpreter was killed in the raid to free them.A NY Times reporter was freed from captivity but it came at a cost. His interpreter... more
Libya's Col. Moammar Khadafy has a beef with Switzerland and plans to ask the United Nations to abolish the tiny Alpine home of milk chocolate, cuckoo clocks and yodeling.
According to Swiss minister Christa Markwalder, Khadafy will demand that Switzerland be wiped off the map when he comes to New York Sept. 23. He apparently wants the country to be dismembered and the land parceled out among neighbouring France, Germany and Italy.
The Libya-Swiss kerfuffle began a year ago, when Khadafy's youngest son, Hannibal Khadafy, and his pregnant wife were arrested in a Geneva luxury hotel for beating two servants with a belt and a coat-hanger.
I've been following the reports about your captive and hostage ordeal in North Korea. Both of you are brave journalists - reporting, exposing, and sacrficing for the truth. Just like all journalists who cover issues in war-torn countries in the Middle East - your hard work and dedication to tell the truth goes above and beyond.
I'm elated at the news of your release! Thank goodness former President Clinton spoke to Kim Jong-il and other North Korean officials.
I posted a link from the Today Show that was on msnbc.com: - interviews with your family members, but was taken down due to the nature of the event (at that time).
Enjoy your reunion with your family, friends, and the Current staff/collegues!I've been following the reports about your captive and hostage ordeal in North Korea.... more
Laura Ling, and Euna Lee were arrested by North Korean soldiers when they were on the border of China-North Korea. Convicted of unspecified grave crimes on June 8th 2009. They were likely sent to a North Korean political offense village - a Labor camp for Offenders of the Government
T. Kumar, an Amnesty International expert on North Korea's abysmal human rights record, called the forced labor camps extremely gruesome.
There are no rest days. It's a backbreaking environment - with torture, he said. They just beat the hell out of these people.
An aide described President Obama as deeply concerned.
-Daily news Us world news
After hearing the verdict of the trial from Korea. Joel Hyatt- the CEO of current television (Will be the former Ceo of current as of july 27th i believe) attempted to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee but He failed.
MIchael Jackson Also attempted to release The Two prisoners.In Hopes that Kim Jong was a fan of his.
Michael had read some of the details regarding Laura and Euna’s predicament. As was often the case with him and global events he read about – from famine in Africa to victims of natural disasters in far off countries, to orphans created by wars – he felt a deep sense of empathy for Laura and Euna. When I shared with him that Euna had a four-year-old daughter, he was even more anguished. - Huffington post
AP writes... "TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said Tuesday the three Americans who strayed across the border from Iraq are under arrest for illegal entry and claimed their case is being used by the West for propaganda. State media cast doubt on whether they were really hikers who lost their way, saying Western reports identified some as journalists."AP writes... "TEHRAN, Iran – Iran said Tuesday the three Americans who strayed... more
This is a clip from an Israeli paper....they lie and lie and lie some more.
Israel rejected as "scandalous" a highly critical report released by the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday marking six months since Operation Cast Lead, saying it was inconceivable that the document would chastise Israel for the situation in Gaza while ignoring the continued detention of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit or the "intransigent belligerence" of Hamas.
According to the report, residents of the Strip are "living in desperation" due to their "daily struggle for existence."
"Gazans still cannot rebuild their lives," the report reads. "Most people struggle to make ends meet. Seriously ill patients face great difficulty obtaining the treatment they need. Many children suffer from deep psychological problems. Civilians whose homes and belongings were destroyed during the conflict are unable to recover," the ICRC maintained.
"During the 22 days of the Israeli military operation, nowhere in Gaza was safe for civilians. Hospitals were overwhelmed with casualties, including small children, women and elderly people. Medical personnel showed incredible courage and determination, working around the clock to save lives in extremely difficult circumstancesJerusalem blasts Red Cross for report
This is a clip from an Israeli... more
Israeli Occupation Forces have kidnapped 21 Human Rights workers aboard the Free Gaza boat, Spirit of Humanity, including Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire & former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
ISRAEL ATTACKS JUSTICE BOAT; KIDNAPS HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS; CONFISCATES MEDICINE, TOYS AND OLIVE TREES
“Israel’s deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release.”Israeli Occupation Forces have kidnapped 21 Human Rights workers aboard the Free Gaza... more
New York Times reporter David Rohde escaped from his Taliban captors in Afghanistan on Friday, seven months after being kidnapped on the way to an interview. The Times had kept the news of his kidnapping quiet, believing that publicity could endanger the hostages. Is that always a good idea?New York Times reporter David Rohde escaped from his Taliban captors in Afghanistan on... more
Yemen accused a Shiite rebel group Sunday of kidnapping nine foreigners in the country's rugged north.
The Interior Ministry said the foreigners were kidnapped Friday by a rebel group led by Abdel Malak al-Hawthi while on a picnic in northern Sada province.
The ministry did not identify the foreigners, but local Yemenis in Sada said the group included a German doctor, his wife and five children, as well as a Briton and his wife. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal.
The state news agency Saba said the foreigners worked in a hospital in Sada.
Tribesmen in Yemen frequently take foreigners hostage to pressure the government on a range of demands and generally release them unharmed.
Tribesmen on Friday freed 24 local and foreign medics working at a Saudi-funded hospital in Sada less than 24 hours after their kidnapping, which was not carried out by the al-Hawthi group.
Thousands of people have been killed in Saada since a Shiite rebellion erupted there in June 2004. The rebels say the government is corrupt and too closely allied with the West. The government has charged al-Hawthi with sedition, forming an illegal armed group and inciting anti-American sentiment.
The group negotiated a fragile cease-fire with the government last year, but serious tension remains.Yemen accused a Shiite rebel group Sunday of kidnapping nine foreigners in the... more
The perilous rescue of captain Richard Phillips is just one episode in a worldwide renaissance of sea piracy that began a decade ago.
When most Americans thought of sea piracy before last week, Johnny Depp came to mind, not Somalia. But the hostage taking and perilous rescue of captain Richard Phillips is only the most high-profile episode in a worldwide renaissance of sea piracy that began a decade ago.
At its heart: the growth of global commerce in the past two decades that has crowded the oceans with cargo vessels, dry-bulk carriers and supertankers loaded with every good imaginable. The world currently transports 80% of all international freight by sea. More than 10 million cargo containers are moving across the world's oceans at any one time.The perilous rescue of captain Richard Phillips is just one episode in a worldwide... more
The two remaining passengers being held captive with crew members on a CanJet passenger airplane at an airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica, have been released, the airline said on Monday.The two remaining passengers being held captive with crew members on a CanJet... more
The hard part was not the distance, 75 feet, an easy range for an experienced sniper. Far more difficult were all the moving parts: the bobbing lifeboat, the rolling ship, hitting three targets simultaneously in darkness — and all without harming the hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips.
That was the consensus on Monday from former members of the Navy Seals who said they were impressed by the skills of three Seal snipers who aimed from the fantail of the destroyer Bainbridge and picked off three Somali pirates holding Captain Phillips in a small lifeboat that was being towed about 75 feet behind the destroyer.The hard part was not the distance, 75 feet, an easy range for an experienced sniper.... more
Somali pirates holding an American hostage on a drifting lifeboat vowed on Friday to fight any attack by U.S. naval forces stalking them at high sea.
"We are not afraid of the Americans," one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone on behalf of the gang holding ship captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean.
Even as the U.S. tries to win freedom for a cargo ship captain held by Somali pirates, a French military operation has ended in the death of a hostage aboard a French sailboat.
France's navy stormed the sailboat, which was held by pirates off the Somali coast, after the pirates made threats to kill the passengers.
The raid killed two pirates, in addition to one of the hostages. Four other hostages, including a small child, were freed. Three pirates were captured.
France's defense minister says authorities suggested a ransom -- in a break with French government policy -- but that the pirates rejected it.
The defense chief says the negotiations were "leading nowhere." He says French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave the order to attack.
MOGADISHU, Somalia — The American ship captain taken hostage by pirates in the Indian Ocean jumped into the water from their drifting lifeboat in an attempt to escape early Friday, but he was quickly recaptured, a defense official said.
The standoff intensified Friday as American naval reinforcements moved toward the scene. There were also reports that Somali pirates, desperate to get back to shore with their American captive, had themselves called in additional vessels and men.
The American captive, Capt. Richard Phillips, entered the water overnight, and was in the water for a short period before being brought back into the lifeboat by the pirates, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter. The official said that Navy P-3 aircraft and drones launched from the U.S.S. Bainbridge, a Navy warship on the scene, had since flown overhead and observed Capt. Phillips “safe and sound” back on the lifeboat.
Captain Phillips was captured on Wednesday when four Somali pirates attempted to commandeer the Maersk Alabama, a 17,000-ton American-flagged container ship that was carrying food and relief aid to Mombasa, Kenya. The pirates gained control of the ship for a number of hours, but the unarmed American crew of 20 managed to overpower the pirates and retake command.
The pirates retreated into a large enclosed lifeboat, taking Captain Phillips as a hostage and apparently seeking a cash ransom. Alerted by a distress call, the Bainbridge, a Navy destroyer on patrol in the region because of pirate activity, arrived on the scene Thursday to take the lead in negotiating his release.
Hostage negotiators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have also been asked for their assistance, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of Central Command and the overall military commander for the region, said on Thursday that other warships were headed to the scene.
Meanwhile, residents reached by telephone in the town of Xarardheere, a pirate haven in central Somalia, said the pirates were sending small boats with supplies, weapons and more pirates to the standoff help their compatriots.
The Associated Press reported that the pirates were also sending larger ships — including previously hijacked ships with hostages still aboard — to serve as shields for the lifeboat , which had run out of fuel and was drifting.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the Associated Press reports that pirates were bringing additional captive ships, including a German cargo ship seized by pirates earlier this month, to the standoff as reinforcements.
A Somali resident of Eyl, the pirate stronghold in the Northern Puntland region of Somalia, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that two pirate ships had left Eyl Wednesday afternoon.
He said a third — the hijacked German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger — had sailed from Xarardheere, some 230 miles south along the Somali coast. A fourth, a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized Monday that was 30 miles from the lifeboat, was also on its way, he said. The man said there were a total of 52 hostages aboard the ships.
The Associated Press also quoted another pirate in Xarardheere as saying that the pirates holding Captain Phillips were very worried about being killed in their standoff with the American warship, and that they had decided to defer talks about a ransom for Captain Phillips until they made it back to shore.
“They had asked us for reinforcement, and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship,” the pirate, identified only by the name, Badow, was quoted by The A.P. as saying.
“We are not intending to harm the captain, so that we hope our colleagues would not be harmed as long as they hold him,” Badow told them. “All we need, first, is a safe route to escape with the captain, and then ransom later,” he added.MOGADISHU, Somalia — The American ship captain taken hostage by pirates in the... more
