Information All Star

Man Takes 5 Hostages at Rural Virginia Post Office! An armed man in a wheelchair took five hostages at a post office in western Virginia, forcing officials to cordon off three blocks of a downtown filled with holiday shoppers.

Shots were fired, but there were no reports of injuries. The man made no demands other than to ask for a pizza, said Pete Rendina, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said authorities are negotiating with the suspect.

Virginia State Police sent in a SWAT team and a bomb technician. According to police on the scene, the man had five hostages and five pounds of common plastic explosive, strapped to his wheelchair. Officers on the scene were encouraging the man to contact a hostage negotiator through 911.

Carlton Austin said his daughter, postal worker Margie Austin, was among the hostages. She managed to call a family friend around 4:30 p.m. and said she was fine. Later, her father said, family members were waiting to hear more.

Niki Oliver told the Enterprise that her brother, Jimmy Oliver, was one of the hostages and had been able to phone family members.Niki Oliver said her brother went to the post office to mail a Christmas gift to his son.

At 4:30, the Wytheville Fire Department was readying for what could be a long night, getting a truck with lighting capability set up across from the post office, where the red truck with a camper top, it’s lights still on, sat in the drive through lane.

The United States seeks amnesty for the two American journalists held in North Korea. The United States seeks amnesty for the two American journalists held in North Korea on March 17 and was convicted for committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry. The United States has dropped its request that two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea be released on humanitarian grounds, and is seeking amnesty instead.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asked North Korea’s government Friday to grant amnesty to two journalists from San Francisco’s Current TV imprisoned there, a move analysts say may open the diplomatic door for the journalists’ release. Read more…

More than 300 injured in southwest China quake. Reports say more than 300 of people were injured and thousands of homes damaged by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Yunnan province on Thursday. A moderate earthquake rocked southwest China Thursday evening, injuring more than 300 people and collapsing 10,000 homes.

The magnitude-6.0 temblor, centered in Yunnan province’s Yao’an county, damaged another 30,000 homes, the Xinhua News Agency said. The earthquake struck at 7:19 pm in Guantun township, in a mountainous area about 200 km northwest of the provincial capital Kunming.

Thirty people suffered severe injuries, while the other 300 were slightly injured, Xinhua news agency said. Read more…

NFL Great Steve McNair found dead! NFL great Steve McNair was found dead at an apartment complex in Nashville. Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was killed in an apparent murder-suicide with a young woman he is dating for at least a few months.

McNair died of several gunshots and was found on the sofa, police said. Sahel Kazemi, 20, was found alongside McNair in a Second Avenue condo he rented. Kazemi had a single gunshot wound to her head; and a pistol was found near her body.

According to police, there were no signs of forced entry at the crime scene. According to Don Aaron, Metro police spokesman, no suspects have been taken into custody. Read more…

North Korea fired a barrage of missiles. North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles into the sea between Communist state and Japan on Saturday in an act of defiance toward the United States that further stoked regional tensions already high due to its nuclear test last May.

Reports said the missiles test-fired were Scud-type. North Korea has fired several non-ballistic, short-range missiles since the May 25 nuclear test. South Korea’s Defense Ministry confirmed the North fired seven missiles off its east coast from morning to late afternoon that flew about 400 km (250 miles) and splashed into the sea.
North Korea sharpened its standoff with Washington on Saturday by following through on part of its earlier warnings that it would respond to the resolution and sanctions with more tests of its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. Read more…

Sarah Palin resigns as governor. Sarah Palin resigns as governor of Alaska. After just two and a half years from her first term as Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin resigns from office, said she will step down in three weeks.

Ms. Palin, 45, the Republican vice-presidential nominee last year, was supposed to serve through the end of 2010; she said she would cede control of the state to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell on July 26.

Reporters are now beginning to piece together an explanation for Sarah Palin’s abrupt resignation announcement, held at her Wasilla home, that stands in stark contrast to the reasoning Palin offered in her speech. Her statements sparked an immediate national debate over whether this kills any chance Palin had ever winning national office, or frees her up to concentrate on national politics. Read more…

Rescuers on Tuesday spotted the wreckage of a Yemeni jet that crashed in the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros, the country’s Vice President Idi Nadhoim said.

The plane, carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members, was en route to Moroni, the capital of Comoros, from Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. The flight originated in Paris and stopped in Marseille before continuing to Yemen, where the passengers and crew changed planes.

Flight 626 left Sana’a at 9:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) for what was expected to be a four-and-a-half-hour flight. The airline has three regular flights a week to Moroni, off the east coast of Africa, about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) south of Yemen. Read more…

A 13-storey building collapsed in Shanghai. A 13-storey building collapsed in Shanghai on Saturday. The 13-storey building that collapsed in Shanghai is undergoing construction when the accident happened, killing one worker and highlighting the dangers of shoddy building in fast-urbanising China.

The building collapsed at around six in the morning (2200 GMT), with one worker killed, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The block of high-rise residential flats was shown toppled onto its side, in footage from Hong Kong’s Cable Television. Exposed pilings stood in the remains of the collapsed building’s foundation.

Shoddy construction and the use of sub-standard materials is a concern in China’s construction sector as China scrambles to build out cities and finish massive infrastructure projects to keep pace with fast economic growth. Read more…

Iran officials blame the death of Neda Agha-Soltan to” those groups who want to create division in the Iran nation”. The woman known to the world only as Neda may have been mistaken her for the sister of one of the Monafeghin, an Iranian terrorist. Some time ago, Monafeghin had been executed in the province of Mazandaran.

Reports said the investigation into Neda’s death is ongoing.

Monafeghin refers to the People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran which promotes a secular, Marxist government for Iran, and has waged a violent campaign against the fundamentalist Islamic regime, including bombings that killed some of Iran’s public officials like politicians, judges and Cabinet members. Read more…

Rescue workers located three more bodies in the wreckage early Tuesday, raising the death toll to nine people following a crash between two subway trains in Washington.

A release on the department’s Web site says rescue workers located three more bodies in the wreckage late Monday night. All three were declared dead at the scene.

One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another train at the height of the Monday evening rush hour. The trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first.

Preliminary reports said six people were confirmed dead, including the operator of the trailing train.