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Mercy Flight Crashes in Upstate NY, Killing 2
At least two people are dead after a small plane flying as a volunteer Angel Flight crashed in upstate New York, The Associated Press reported. The Piper PA 34 airplane flew out from Massachusetts and crashed into a pond in Ephratah, about an hour west of Albany. Two passengers were found dead and investigators have yet to find the pilot. "The bulk of the plane is in the water, in a pond, completely submerged and we have to wait until daylight to put divers in," a sheriff said. Angel Flight is a nonprofit organization that provides free air transportation for ill patients from volunteer pilots. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will look further into the crash and assess the weather conditions at the time of the incident.
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Oklahoma Teacher: After Tornado, the "Crying Stopped"
The principal and faculty members of Plaza Towers Elementary School describe the grisly aftermath of a deadly tornado that ripped through their city and turned the school into a debris field. The teachers recount the disaster that left seven students dead.
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Judge Rules Dept. of "Toughest Sheriff" Involved in Racial Profiling
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A federal judge ruled on Friday a sheriff's office in Arizona systematically singled out Latino in its immigration patrol, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people, The Associated Press reported. The 142-page decision by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in Phoenix backs up allegations from critics that the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff Joe Arpaio and his officers rely on race in their immigration enforcement. "For too long the sheriff has been victimizing the people he's meant to serve with his discriminatory policy," said Cecillia D. Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants' Right Project. "Today we're seeing justice for everyone in the county." A small group of Latinos alleged in their lawsuit that Arpaio's deputies pulled over some vehicles only to make immigration status checks. The group asked Snow to issue injunctions barring the sheriff's office from discriminatory policing and the judge ruled that more remedies could be ordered in the future. A hearing is set for June 14, according to the lawyer leading the case against Arpaio.
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Are "Lone Wolf" Attacks the New Path to Terror?
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The public slaying of a soldier in London and last month's Boston Marathon bombing illustrates the possible emergence of a new terror trend towards unsophisticated attacks that are practically impossible to prevent, according to intelligence experts. Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old father who had served in Afghanistan, was killed in broad daylight Wednesday as he walked near an army barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. “I think what we've seen in London, and Boston previously, is largely the new face of al Qaeda-inspired attacks,” said NBC News counter-terrorism analyst, Michael Leiter. “These are no longer the large scale sophisticated plots from overseas but instead very unsophisticated and simple attacks which can still very much affect the psyche of cities.” Leiter adds that such attacks by "lone wolves" are harder to stop than planned attacks initiated by overseas terror organizations whose activities are monitored by intelligence agencies. Click to read more on the emergence of this trend.
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Calif. Reveals Prices for "Obamacare" Health Insurance
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California announced the plans and rates on Thursday that consumers will pay for a selection of health plans offered through the state under President Barack Obama’s health care law, Reuters reported. Under the Affordable Care Act, people who do not get or cannot afford health insurance through their jobs can buy coverage through an exchange, at a group rate negotiated by state regulators. The cost to a 40-year-old would range from about $40 to $300 per month for a mid-level plan. The prices in Calif. and those announced in Washington, Vermont and other states, show that premiums under the sweeping federal reform law can be more affordable than had previously been thought. "Most consumers buying coverage in the individual market will get financial help and see their premiums go down,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of advocacy group Health Access. Republicans predicted that high premiums would doom “Obamacare” as the uninsured would not be able to pay for coverage even with federal subsidies.
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Sexual Misconduct Probe Under Way at Alaskan Military Base
The Army has launched a probe into possible sexual misconduct or sexual assault at the Space and Missile Defense Command at Fort Greely, Alaska, officials tell NBC News. The sources report there are allegations that an Army commander or commanders had sexual relations with female soldiers under their command. It's not clear whether the alleged contact was forced or consensual. If it was forced, it could result in criminal sexual assault charges, though onsensual relations with a subordinate would still be a violation of regulations, according to NBC News. The commanding general ordered the investigation upon learning of the allegations. The military has been hit with a number of high-profile cases within the unit that monitors sexual abuse. The Defense Department said earlier this month that the number of sexual assault cases spiked last year. The department has been ramping up efforts to fight sexual assault within the ranks.
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Toronto Mayor Finally Denies Use of Crack Cocaine
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Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who was allegedly filmed using drugs, said on Friday that he does not smoke crack cocaine and could not comment on a video he had not seen or does not exist, Reuters reported. "There has been a serious accusation from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine," he said at a news conference. His comments mark his first direct response to the allegations since the Star and Gawker published stories last Thursday reporting that they had separately seen a cell phone video of Ford smoking a substance from a crack pipe in the presence of those involved in the drug trade. He called the reports "ridiculous" and did not give a full statement or denial at the time. The video is allegedly being shopped around by people involved in the drug trade.
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Obama: Sex Crimes Threaten Trust in U.S. Military
President Barack Obama touched on the sexual assault crisis that has been plaguing the military's image in a speech Friday directed to the graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy. "Those who commit a sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust and discipline that make our military strong," he said. His remarks, at a stadium in Annapolis, Md., come less than two weeks after an Army sergeant first class responsible for handling sex assault cases had been accused of sexual misconduct. That incident came on the heels of a similar case, in which a lieutenant colonel in charge of an Air Force sexual assault prevention program was accused of groping a woman in a parking lot.
"If we want to restore the trust that the American people deserve to have in their institutions," Obama added, "all of us have to do our part and those of us in leadership, myself included, have to constantly strive to remain worthy of the public trust."
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Pakistan Airways Plane Intercepted in U.K., 2 Arrested
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Police in the U.K. have arrested two men aboard a Pakistan Airways passenger plane that was diverted to London's Stansted airport. The plane was forced to divert after an "angry passenger" told a flight attendant he would set off a bomb, a senior Pakistan International Airlines official told NBC News. Fighter jets from Britain's Royal Air Force intercepted the Boeing 777, which was traveling from Lahore to Manchester, England earlier Friday, NBC News reported. The British Ministry of Defence said in a statement that typhoon aircraft were launched to "investigate an incident involving a civilian aircraft within U.K. airspace" after the plane sent an emergency radar signal to air traffic controllers. The two men, ages 30 and 41, have been removed from the plane and are being taken to a police station to be interviewed by detectives, Essex police said in a statement. Stansted airport tweeted that it "is open and operating as normal."
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Man Killed in FBI Questioning Described as Talented Fighter
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The friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev who was fatally shot in a confrontation with FBI interrogators Wednesday was described by people acquainted with him as a talented mixed martial arts fighter. "You get a fair mix of guys who come from solid backgrounds, and then you get guys who probably shouldn't be fighting already but just kind of jump in there," Chris Palmquist, who operates the registry for amateur and professional MMA fighters, told NBC News. "He was definitely a pretty good amateur fighter." Ibragim Todashev attended the same gym as Tsarnaev, and was acquainted with the bombing suspect. Law enforcement officials said that the 27-year-old man of Chechen origin confessed to committing a triple homicide in 2011 with Tsarnaev before attacking an agent with a knife. Agents then shot and killed the man.
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5 Climbers Feared Dead on World's 3rd Highest Peak
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Five climbers are missing on Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, and feared dead, a mountaineering official said Friday. Bad weather was preventing a rescue helicopter from reaching their base camp, The Associated Press reported. Nepal's Mountaineering Department official Dipendra Poudelsaid said Friday that the climbers were descending from the summit when they were believed to have slipped or fallen at an altitude of about 25,900 feet. The five climbers, include two Hungarians, Zsolt Eross, 45, and Peter Kiss, 27, and a South Korean, Namsoo Park, 47.
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At Least 16 Injured in Bus Crash Near Atlanta Airport
At least 16 people were injured Friday morning when an airport shuttle bus crashed into a tractor-trailer near Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International airport, NBC News reported. All the victims, including at least two in serious condition, have been transported to area hospitals. NBC affiliate WXIA reported that the bus, which serves hotel north of the airport, was heading to the airport at the time of the crash. Earlier reports said 18 had been injured.
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Christie Co-Hosts "Today" to Promote Post-Sandy NJ Shore
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Boy Saved with "Printed" 3-D Airway Tube
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Doctors in Ohio used a 3-D laser printer to create a medical device that saved the life of a 19-month-old boy. The boy, Kaiba Gionfriddo, was born with a birth defect that caused him airway to collapse and stop his breathing. With special approval from the Food and Drug Administration, doctors were able to implant a small tube created with a 3-D laser printer into the boy's airway, which allowed him to breathe normally for the first time in his life. The operation, done last year when the boy was 3 months old, was described in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The tube, which was created by computer-guided lasers that stacked and fused thin layers of plastic, is designed to be absorbed by the body as healthy tissue grows over it, over the course of three years. Such a procedure had never been done before.
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