Sept. 19 (UPI) — The Russian defense ministry denied a media report Tuesday saying that spectators at a military exercise were injured by a helicopter’s rocket firing.
Conflicting reports indicate that two or three people were seriously injured Saturday when a Ka-52 attack helicopter fired air-to-surface rockets at a vehicle during the week-long “Zapad 2017” war games on the western borders of Russia and Belarus.
The Russian military called the incident “a purposeful provocation or someone’s personal stupidity,” adding that “No incidents involving army aviation happened in playing an episode pf practical actions” during the exercises. While it acknowledged that a single rocket was fired accidentally, it added that the rocket struck an empty truck and that no one was injured.
Media reports, notably that of the independent news website 66.ru, said once two cars caught fire, an explosion caused significant flying debris and the hospitalization of two people. The state-owned NTV television station reported no serious injuries but mentioned the damaged cars.
The Moscow Times reported the incident occurred Saturday or Sunday at the Luzhsky military range, near St. Petersburg, and that Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the range Monday.
A source identified by 66.ru said the victims were likely journalists.
About 12,500 Russian and Belarusian troops are involved in the war games, although some NATO countries near the action have placed the figure higher.
Anyone that has ever seen an episode of “House” knows the famous doctor’s lament; “It’s NEVER lupus”! It seems however that pop star Selena Gomez is the exception to this rule, as she revealed on Thursday that she recently underwent a kidney transplant because of her battle with the autoimmune disease lupus.
The 25-year-old singer and actress shared the news on Instagram to explain to fans who may have been wondering why she was “laying low” over the summer.
“So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health,” Gomez wrote in her post, which included a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed next to her longtime friend, and donor, actress Francia Raisa.
“There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend,” she wrote. “She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis."
Gomez, who also posted a photo of the scar from her transplant surgery in the same Instagram post, promised her fans that she’d reveal more details about her health soon.
Selena Gomez posted this photo showing her transplant scar on her Instagram account. @selenagomez/Instagram
“I honestly look forward to sharing with you, soon my journey through these past several months as I have always wanted to do with you,” she said.
The entertainer has been public about her battle with lupus, an autoimmune disease that prompted her to take some time off last year to deal with anxiety, panic attacks and depression.
In 2014, she had chemotherapy to treat the disease.
There are two types of lupus. One form, discoid lupus, only affects the skin. Systemic lupus erythematosus, however, harms the skin, joints, kidneys and brain and may be fatal, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
"Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can, among other things, affect the kidneys," said NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres. "If it causes the immune system to attack the kidneys enough they can fail, requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant."
Systemic lupus causes the body’s autoimmune cells — the defense system which usually protects against disease — to attack tissues and organs like the kidneys, triggering inflammation.
No one knows what causes lupus, but viral infection and environmental toxins seem to be some of the culprits being studied. It's most common in young and middle-aged women, ages 19-60.
Up to 60 percent of people with lupus will develop kidney disease at some point in their lives.
"As for the long term, Selena, like most lupus patients with kidney transplants, should be expected to do as well as any other patient with the same operation," said Torres.
As Floridians waited in dread for Hurricane Irma on Sunday evening, the Gainesville Police Department posted photographs on Facebook of officers preparing for the night ahead.
One particular selfie of three Gainesville officers was, well, easy on the eyes. And in the photo’s comments, the ladies of northern Florida did not hold back.
“Heeeelloooo”
“I feel faint … send help!”
“I feel safer just looking at this picture.”
“I can’t believe how many women are objectifying these poor, fine, young, strong, handsome, brave, sexy, delicious, virile, ovulation-inducing, mouth-watering, beefy….. I can’t remember where I was going with this,” one comment read.
“Do a calender, add puppies and I’m pretty sure we can rebuild Texas and Florida.”
The photo clearly drew interest in the days that followed, circulating far beyond Gainesville. But it was the endless stream of flirtatious comments that brought welcome comedic relief to those facing evacuations, power outages and flood damage from Irma. By Wednesday night, the post had been shared or liked more than half a million times.
“These comments are cracking me up. need some good laughter after being evacuated for almost a week.”
“These comments have honestly made me really laugh for the first time since Irma hit us (in Orlando). Thank you to all the funny ladies on here.”
As the officers’ fans gushed, the Gainesville Police Department happily played along.
“We are dying with the comments. You’ve actually made our chief blush with some of them,” the department wrote in a Tuesday update on the original selfie post.
The public asked, and the department obliged: “There WILL be a calendar,” it wrote. It added that the staff would try to put one together quickly, and donate the funds raised to Hurricane Irma recovery efforts in Florida.
It also added an important PSA for interested suitors: Two of the men in the photo, Officers Nordman and Hamill, are indeed taken. And “MRS. Nordman and MRS. Hamill have also enjoyed knowing how millions of women are going crazy over their husbands.”
However, it added: “We can confirm that Officer Rengering (far right with the amazing hair) IS SINGLE.”
“On another note, Officer Rengering is being placed into Cougar Prey Protective Care, similar to the witness protection program for his safety,” the post read. “Please do not call 9-1-1 and request this group respond to your ‘incident.’
Gainesville Police continued to post photos of some of its finest — men and women.
“I’m about to quit being a firefighter, and come become a police officer down there my God! She’s beautiful!” one comment read on a photograph of a female officer.
“It’s raaaaaining men. Halllllllljejuuuuuuuaaaaaaa,” one woman wrote. “I’m convinced this police department is fake and this is actually an ad for Magic Mike 3,” said another.
“What is in the water down there??? Goodness!”
“Sweet baby Jesus … I broke the law, arrest me officer.”
The guy behind the social media magic is Ben Tobias, who made news this summer for criticizing comments from President Trump about police brutality.
The Gainesville “hot cops” were so popular, another Florida police department followed their lead. On Tuesday, the Sarasota Police Department posted a photo of a group of its officers, posing around a rescue vehicle, as if for the cover of a calendar.
“Gainesville Police Department has nothing on us,” the post read, with a winky face emoji.
“ATTENTION LADIES! Sarasota Police Department sent backup to this post!” the Gainesville Police Department then shared.
“So, Sarasota Police Department evidently has some guys headed out to help with rising floodwaters. If they happen to stir the Interweb like we did earlier … they’re going to need rescues themselves! Not bad, SPD. They don’t have awesome hair … but they’ll do.”
All over again, the Internet went wild.
“Arrested in two cities in one night can be accomplished if done correctly,” one woman commented.
Did you see it!?!? Steve Harvey completely botches Miss Universe pageant and ruined the moment forever for two beautiful innocent and in tears contestants. Here is his explanation in the press conference aftermath.
Will you ever work in this town again Harvey?
Here is American funnyman with his ultimate practical joke in it's entirety below.
It's okay Steve, it was still a great show, right?
Three police officers and an “unknown number of civilians” have been
injured in an active shooter situation near a Planned Parenthood clinic
in Colorado Springs on Friday, authorities said.
The situation remained “very active” roughly two hours after it began, police said.
Though Lt. Kirk Wilson, a Colorado Springs police spokesman, told the Colorado Springs Gazette
that the shooter had been “contained,” a different police spokesperson,
Lt. Catherine Buckley, said it was “very much an active situation.”
“We can’t confirm where the shooter is at at this point,” Buckley told reporters.
The department’s public affairs division said on social media that the situation was “still not stable.”
Asked if the shooter could have taken hostages, Buckley said, “There is that possibility,” news services reported.
“At
this time, our concern is for the safety of our patients, staff and law
enforcement,” said Vicki Cowart, the president and chief executive of
Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountain.
Erin
Emery, spokeswoman for UCHealth Memorial Hospital, said the hospital
received three patients who were injured in the incident. Their
conditions were not known.
Colorado Springs police said an active
shooter was reported at 11:38 a.m. Mountain time. The first 911 call,
police said, came from the Planned Parenthood health center on
Centennial Boulevard.
Sydney Downey, 20, who works at Sally
Beauty Supply nearby, told The Washington Post that people inside the
store began to hear gunshots at about 11:45 a.m.
“A lot of gunshots,” Downey said, “like too many to even count.”
She added: “Now police are running up and down Centennial.”
Downey said police and firefighters swarmed Centennial Boulevard and crowded around a nearby bank.
An officer came by the beauty supply store to make sure the doors were locked and that those inside were safe, she said.
“He said, ‘Get back away from the windows’ and left, and that was it,” Downey said.
Since then, Downey said, she has been huddled in a back room with the store manager and a customer.
The
incident comes as Planned Parenthood is facing unprecedented scrutiny
following an undercover sting operation mounted by a little-known group,
the Center for Medical Progress. The anti-abortion organization spent
30 months infiltrating Planned Parenthood clinics and gatherings in an
effort to produce evidence that the women’s health nonprofit was selling
tissue leftover from abortions, which is against federal law.
Planned Parenthood has called the videos deceptively edited, and said emphatically that it has not violated any laws.
Among the clinics targeted as part of the video project was one in Denver.
Colorado
Springs police were searching for a gunman Nov. 27, after responding to
calls of an active shooter at a Planned Parenthood clinic.
(DanaClemens13/KRDONC13/Twitter)Though the
videos do not prove that Planned Parenthood violated any laws, the frank
and at times lighthearted discussions captured by the anti-abortion
activists provided fodder for opponents of the procedure on Capitol
Hill, who have mounted multiple investigations into the organization’s
practices.Some Republican governors have attempted to cut off Medicaid and grants to the group.Abortion-rights
advocates say the videos have led to a spike in threats against
abortion providers, particularly Planned Parenthood; at least four
affiliates have been targeted in arson attacks since the videos emerged.ATF
special agents were among those who responded to the scene in Colorado
Springs. Deborah Sherman of the FBI’s Denver field office said local
authorities had not yet requested the agency’s assistance.
Not everyone is excited about seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters this holiday season.
Last month, Fox News contributor Katherine Timpf jokingly insulted
fans who were excited for the newest trailer during a guest stint on the
late-night political comedy show Red Eye w/ Tom Shillue. Now, Timpf has
revealed she’s recieving death threats for her comments.
“I have never had any interest in watching space nerds poke each
other with their little space nerd sticks, and I’m not going to start
now,” Timpf shared on the original broadcast. “You people are crazy. You Star Wars people are crazy. Yesterday I tweeted something, and all I said was that I wasn’t familiar with Star Wars because
I’ve been too busy liking cool things and being attractive — people
threatened my life. You’re not really branding yourself in a way that
makes me want to join your life-threatening club.”
On Tuesday, Timpf wrote a piece published by the National Review, sharing her thoughts on online bullying and noting that she wouldn’t back down in the face of threats. “A lot of people are clearly a lot of upset. But
guess what? I’m not apologizing,” Timpf wrote. “Why?Because the
all-too-common knee-jerk reaction of apologizing for harmless jokes
after overblown hysteria is ruining our culture. This
political-correctness obsession threatens free speech, and I absolutely
refuse to be a part of it.” She took her argument one step further by
defending her original comments.
“Bottom line: If you are telling me that I should die and/or
apologize for making a joke about a movie you like, then you are too
sensitive,” Timpf wrote. “You have the problem, not me. I’m sick of
oversensitive mobs in our overly sensitive society bullying people into
saying that they’re sorry over jokes — even if the subject of the joke
is something as serious as Star Wars. So, for that reason, I will not apologize.”
DAKAR, Senegal — Gunmen stormed a Radisson Blu hotel on Friday morning in Bamako, the capital of the West African nation of Mali, seizing scores of hostages and leaving bodies strewn across parts of the building.
A senior United Nations
official said that as many as 27 people had been killed, with bodies
found in the basement and on the second floor, according to a
preliminary assessment of the devastating attack.
An
unknown number of gunmen, perhaps four or five, took “about 100
hostages” at the beginning of the siege, said Gen. Didier Dacko of the
Malian Army. He said soldiers had sealed the perimeter and were now
“inside looking for the terrorists.”
By late afternoon, the siege appeared to be ending.
No
more hostages were being held, said Colonel Salif Traore, Mali’s
minister of interior security. Two assailants had been killed, he said,
but security forces were still sweeping the hotel for other attackers
who had holed up in a corner of the hotel.
From
early on during the attack, dozens of hostages, many of them crying –
including women, children and older people — streamed out of the hotel
after hiding in their rooms, said Amadou Sidibé, a local reporter at the
scene.
According to the operators of the hotel, 125 guests and 13 employees were inside the hotel after the siege began.
An
American Defense official said that 12 to 15 Americans were believed to
be at the hotel when the gunmen first arrived. Six American citizens
were recovered safely from the hotel, he said. The status of the others
is not clear.
American
Special Operations forces “are currently assisting hostage recovery
efforts,” said Col. Mark Cheadle, a spokesman with the United States
Africa Command. “U.S. forces have helped move civilians to secure
locations, as Malian forces work to clear the hotel of hostile gunmen.”
The
siege in Mali, a former French colony, came only a week after
terrorists with assault rifles and suicide vests killed 129 people in
attacks across Paris.
It
was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack in Mali.
Al Jazeera reported that it had received a recording asserting that a
local militant group, Al Mourabitoun, had carried out the siege in
conjunction with Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, though the claim could
not be independently confirmed.
Qaeda
supporters quickly praised the attack, with one even saying that the
Islamic State “should learn a thing or two,” reflecting the rivalry
between the two groups.
Mali
has long struggled with insurrection and Islamist extremism, including
smaller-scale attacks on a restaurant and another hotel this year.
“We
don’t want to scare our people, but we have already said that Mali will
have to get used to situations like this,” President Ibrahim Boubacar
Keita of Mali, who was on a visit to neighboring Chad, told France 24.
“We must all remain humble. No one, nowhere, is safe given the danger of
terrorism.”
Malian security forces evacuated hostages from the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on Friday.Credit
Habibou Kouyate/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Northern
Mali fell under the control of rebels and Islamist militants in 2012. A
French-led offensive ousted them in 2013, but remnants of the militant
groups have staged a number of attacks on United Nations peacekeepers
and Malian forces. Hundreds of French soldiers remain in the country.
The
Radisson Blu hotel is a popular place for foreigners to stay in Bamako,
a city with a population approaching two million, and French citizens
were among those taken hostage.
About
20 Indian citizens were in the hotel at the time of the attack but were
evacuated safely, the Indian ambassador to Mali said.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said that two Germans were among the hostages who had been released from the hotel.
Four
Belgians were registered in the hotel, according to a Foreign Ministry
spokesman in that country. At least one of them, a 39-year-old Belgian
working for the Wallonia-Brussels regional parliament, died during the
attack. He was in Mali for three days for a meeting.
A
diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Bamako said that eight Chinese
business people had been trapped in the hotel as well. Embassy officials
at the scene were in touch with some of the Chinese hostages by WeChat,
a Chinese messaging service, the diplomat said.
Later, China’s national broadcaster, CCTV, reported that four of the Chinese citizens had been freed.
Kassim
Traoré, a Malian journalist who was in a building about 50 meters, or
160 feet, from the Radisson, said the attackers had told hostages to
recite a declaration of Muslim faith as a way separating Muslims from
non-Muslims. Those who could recite the declaration, the Shahada, were
allowed to leave the hotel. The Shabab, a Qaeda affiliate in East
Africa, used a similar approach in the attack at the Westgate Mall in
Nairobi in 2013.
The security forces moved through the hotel, floor by floor, freeing hostages as they went, Mr. Traoré added.
Some of the people who fled the hotel were not wearing any clothes as they were taken to a police station.
“We
were just evacuated from the hotel by security forces; I know that
there are a lot of people inside right now,” one hostage who made it to
safety told France24 television. “I saw bodies in the lobby. What is happening right now is really horrible.”
“I
was hidden in my room barely a couple minutes, a couple seconds ago,
and someone shouted, telling us to get out,” the hostage said. “My door
was smashed open, the security forces arrived.”
Security forces evacuated residents from an area surrounding the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, on Friday.Credit
Habibou Kouyate/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Another
French hostage, who did not want to be identified, told a friend in
Bamako that a group of people were trapped on the roof of the hotel,
along with the body of one person who had died in the attack. The
hostage told the friend that the French Consulate had told hostages by
text message to stay put and wait for a military assault.
Kamissoko
Lassine, the chief pastry chef of the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako,
said that two armed men arrived at the hotel between 7 a.m. and 7:30
a.m.
“They
were driving a vehicle with diplomatic plates,” he said. “You know how
easy that is at the hotel? The guards just lifted the barrier.”
“They
opened fire and wounded the guard at the front,” said Mr. Lassine, who
said he was able to slip out a back door and make it home safely. “They
took the hotel hostage and moved people into a big hall.”
A
member of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali, who asked not
to be identified, said there were many French people in the hotel,
including Air France staff members, along with a delegation for the
International Organization of French Speakers. Air France later said in a
statement that 12 members of its crew had been at the hotel and were
freed.
Five
Turkish Airlines crew members, including pilots and flight attendants,
have also been freed, while two remained inside the hotel, a Turkish
government official said.
Mali
has been crippled by instability since January, 2012, when rebels and
Al Qaeda-linked militants — armed with the remnants of late Libyan
leader Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s arsenal — began advancing through the
country’s vast desert in the north and capturing towns.
A
military coup, stirred in part by anger over the government’s handling
of the insurrection, overthrew Mali’s elected government in March 2012.
Amid the chaos, Islamist rebels managed to consolidate their hold on the
northern part of the country, imposing a harsh version of Islamic law.
In
January of 2013, the Islamist forces began advancing south from their
northern stronghold, heading in the direction of Mali’s capital. France
sent in troops to stop them. A brief military campaign halted the
Islamist advance, recaptured towns like Timbuktu that had been under the
militants’ control, and chased the remaining Islamist fighters back
into the desert.
But
in a shocking twist, other militants linked to Al Qaeda stormed a vast
gas production facility in the desert of neighboring Algeria, taking
dozens of expatriate workers hostage. Some 38 were killed during the
siege of the gas plant.
With
hundreds of French troops still present in Mali and the country highly
reliant on donors, elections in the summer of 2013 restored a democratic
government. But its hold on the north remains weak.
There
are frequent attacks by Islamist fighters, particular on United Nations
troops, in the northern provinces. A shaky peace deal signed in June
has not stopped the attacks, and in August five United Nations workers
were killed in an assault on a hotel in central Mali. Five months
before, militants killed five at a restaurant in Bamako.
The
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, the operator of the Radisson Blu Hotel
Bamako, said it was in contact with the local authorities, and the
United States Embassy said it had issued a warning to staff members and
American citizens to shelter in place.
France
has about 800 troops stationed in Mali as part of a larger 3,500-member
regional force in West Africa. Only about a dozen or so of those troops
are in Bamako itself, however.
There
was no formal claim of responsibility for the siege, but supporters of
the Islamic State were posting on Twitter in celebration of the attack
under the hashtags #IslamicState, #ParisIsBurning and #Mali_Is_Burning.
In the assault in August, jihadists stormed a hotel in Sévaré, north of the capital, where United Nations staff members were staying, seizing hostages and killing at least five Malian soldiers and a United Nations contractor.
