Russia threatens military response to US missiles

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is warning his country may respond to a U.S. missile shield in Europe through military means.

Medvedev says that the deployment of an anti-missile system close to Russian borders “will of course create additional tensions.”

“We will have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way,” Medvedev was quoted as saying Tuesday by the RIA-Novosti news agency.

Russian officials have already warned of a military response to the U.S. plans, but the statement by the Russian leader was likely to further aggravate already tense relations with the West. The comments come after Medvedev recognized two Georgian regions as independent nations, prompting criticism from the U.S. and Europe.

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/08/26/1788486-russia-threatens-military-response-to-us-missiles

Incident: Air France B744 at Toronto on Aug 24th 2008, navigation and fuel system errors

The crew of an Air France Boeing 747-400, registration F-GITF performing flight AF353 from Toronto,ON (Canada) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France), declared PAN and requested to return to Toronto due to errors in the navigation and fuel systems. The crew dumped fuel for 40 minutes and landed safely back to Toronto 90 minutes after declaring PAN and 110 minutes after departure.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/AFR353/history/20080824/2107Z/CYYZ/LFPG

Air France jet skids off Montreal runway; no injuries

MONTREAL (AFP) — An Air France Boeing 747 arriving from Paris skidded off the runway while landing Tuesday evening at Montreal’s airport, but no one was hurt, Air France and airport personnel said.

The accident took place just before 6:00 pm (2200 GMT), said Stephanie Lepage, a spokeswoman for Montreal-Pierre Eliott Trudeau International Airport.

The plane was carrying 490 passengers and 18 crew, she added.

The plane came to rest with its nose in the grass between two runways, television images showed. Canadian media reported that the plane had a problem with its undercarriage.

“Flight AF 346 … at the start of its landing, ground to a halt with its front undercarriage (ending up) outside the runway,” Air France said in a statement.

“Nobody was injured and the passengers … were able to reach the terminal to transfer later to other flights,” it said, adding that the time of the accident was 5:44 pm (2144 GMT).

Passengers aboard the flight said the plane appeared to have trouble breaking.

“The breaks suddenly came on … We remained calm inside the plane … it was no problem. We could see the front tire had blown out and was resting on the grass,” one passenger told reporters.

“The breaks probably seized up. We waited one hour aboard the plane, but it went by quickly,” said another passenger.

“All’s that left is for us to get the luggage left on the plane,” he added.

Normal air traffic resumed later on the other runways of the airport.

Lepage said the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would investigate the mishap, and Air France also said it would conduct its own probe.

On August 2, 2005, an Air France Airbus A340 arriving from Paris overshot the runway in Toronto during a storm, plunged into a ditch and caught fire.

The 297 passengers and 12 crew members of that flight were evacuated in record time, but ten passengers and two crew members were hurt.

The weather in Montreal Tuesday evening was fair.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gYYgQoXJAkoOkSFYjMuLa80T8bIA

Hurricane Gustav

Nature is a bitch

5 ‘dangerous’ escaped inmates could be anywhere: Sask. police

REGINA – Three accused killers and a man facing serious assault charges are among five escaped convicts who remain on the loose after breaking out of the Regina Correctional Centre on Sunday night.

Between them, the five escapees are facing charges in a number of high-profile slayings and violent incidents in Saskatchewan, including a mass shooting last fall and a multiple stabbing last summer.

At a hastily assembled news conference Monday, RCMP officials said the five escaped inmates are presumed to be “dangerous and possibly armed.”

Police said Ryan John Agecoutay, 25, Preston Clarence Buffalocalf, 22, James Joseph Pewean, 25, Daniel Richard Wolfe, 32, and Cody Dillon Keenatch, 19, escaped from the jail around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday night and that their whereabouts remain unknown.

A sixth escapee was arrested on the eastern outskirts of Regina late Sunday night. His name is not yet being released by RCMP.

Pewean, Wolfe and Buffalocalf are all facing murder charges, and Agecoutay is awaiting trial for aggravated assault. There is no public record of an adult criminal record for Keenatch.

All of the men have previously been associated with street gangs or incidents which were believed to be gang-related.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Doug Coleman said officers were taking steps to ensure any potential victims or witnesses in the men’s unresolved criminal cases were aware of the suspects’ escape.

A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for the five escapees, and Coleman said the RCMP in neighbouring provinces have been contacted while officers in Saskatchewan continue to scour the province for the men.

“I mean if this happened last night and (the Trans-Canada Highway) is right there, we’ve got a pretty big country. They could be just about anywhere,” Coleman said, when asked where the men could be.

Questioned on why it took the RCMP about 15 hours to notify the public that five potentially dangerous inmates were on the loose, Coleman said it took time to confirm who had escaped and assemble the information for the media.

Later in the day, Saskatchewan Corrections, Public Safety and Policing Minister Darryl Hickie said he was concerned the public wasn’t made aware of the prisoners’ escape earlier. He said government policy is being changed to ensure people are informed faster.

“We’re going to look at doing notification to media outlets and the public because Corrections, Public Safety and Policing has an obligation to let people know – just the basic information that we’ve had an escape, numbers of escapees, level of danger to the public safety. I think that’s very paramount,” said Hickie, a former police officer and corrections worker.

Tammy Kirkland, executive director of Adult Corrections, wouldn’t confirm or deny that a shot was fired around the time of the escape, but said no staff or inmates were injured.

The jail was in lockdown after the incident.

Kirkland would not elaborate on how the men were able to escape from the facility and said Corrections officials are doing an internal investigation.

The RCMP said members of the public should not approach the escaped inmates but should call their local police service immediately. Anyone with information about the men can also call the RCMP in Regina at 1-306-780-5560, Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted online at http://www.saskcrimestoppers.com.

With files from Angela Hall

A list of the offences with which four of the five escapees are charged:

. Pewean was one of seven people charged with second-degree murder in the death of Wilton Jay Lavallee, whose body was found inside a Regina house in June 2007. Pewean was also charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault in relation to two male teenagers who were injured during the same incident. Pewean had been expected to plead guilty as part of a plea agreement last month, but the matter didn’t proceed as planned. The case had been slated to come up at the Regina Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday.

. Wolfe is facing two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder for a September shooting at a home in Fort Qu’Appelle. The RCMP has previously said more than 20 rounds of ammunition were fired inside the small house where the incident occurred, possibly sparked by a minor verbal altercation earlier in the day. A teenage male is also charged in the shooting, which killed Marvin Arnault and Michael Itittakoose.

. Buffalocalf is one of two men charged with first-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Vincent Morrisseau-Poorman, who was found lying outside a house in Fort Qu’Appelle in February 2007, suffering from a fatal gunshot wound. Fort Qu’Appelle is located just outside Regina. Buffalocalf incurred a new weapons offence while in custody at the Regina Correctional Centre last fall for allegedly having a spike covered in fabric in his possession.

. Agecoutay (also known as Bellegarde) was one of four men committed to stand trial for aggravated assault after a 25-year-old man was found seriously injured in a Regina alley in April 2007. Agecoutay was originally charged with attempted murder, but the charge was reduced after a preliminary hearing in February. He is also slated to stand trial in December on another charge of assault with a weapon.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=eba3d7ab-131a-4c6b-a7a1-fd9163373938

Listeria fears grow after camp workers get sick

Officials are awaiting test results to determine whether seven workers at a summer camp near Amherst, N.S., became sick with listeria-tainted meat.

The workers at Camp Tidnish, a camp in New Brunswick serving Nova Scotian children with physical and mental disabilities, were quarantined and treated late last week.

Heather MacDonald, a spokeswoman for the camp, said staff members consumed a product on the recall list of foods produced by Maple Leaf Foods before it was taken off the camp’s menu.

“They were exhibiting some of the symptoms,” she told CBC News on Monday. “There was a strong suspicion that it came from that particular Maple Leaf [Foods] product that we had on hand.”

Federal food inspectors are testing samples for evidence of the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which causes listeriosis.

Symptoms include vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Public health officials say symptoms can occur up to 70 days after contaminated food is consumed, with the average incubation period of 30 days.

Health Canada said Monday that 12 deaths have been linked to a recent listeria outbreak. There are now 26 confirmed cases, up from 21. As well, the number of suspected cases is now 29, down from 30, officials said.

MacDonald said it was tough to keep Camp Tidnish going with seven staff in sick bay.

“That had left a small group of staff to effectively be operating the program, and we decided in our best interests to shut down the camp a few days early,” she said.

Dr. Denis Allard, a district health officer in New Brunswick, said officials have investigated the facilities at the camp just inside the New Brunswick border.

“Our inspectors have gone and done a regular inspection that they would do when an outbreak is notified, which is looking at the food-handling practices,” he said.

Allard said it could be a week before officials know whether the workers suffered from listeriosis or a similar illness.

The recall list has been expanded to include more than 200 items under brands such as Maple Leaf, Compliments, Hickory Farms and Schneider’s. All of the products were manufactured in Toronto at the same Maple Leaf Foods factory.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/08/25/camp-listeria-fear.html

UPDATE 1-Ryanair plane loses pressure, 16 in hospital

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Sixteen people were taken to hospital when a Ryanair flight from Britain to Spain made an unscheduled landing at Limoges airport in France after a loss of cabin pressure, the airline said on Tuesday.

Flight FR9336, which left Bristol airport for Barcelona late on Monday with 168 passengers on board, “experienced an inflight depressurisation incident which caused the oxygen masks on board to deploy,” the airline said.

“As a safety precaution, the captain descended and diverted the aircraft to Limoges airport at approximately 2330 local French time,” it added in a statement.

The 16 people taken to hospital had been complaining of earache, it said.

British explorer Pen Hadow, who was aboard the plane, told Sky Television the incident “was traumatic for many involved.”

“Suddenly there was a roar of wind, a rush of cold air, the oxygen masks dropped, you didn’t know what was going on.”

Hadow, who in 2003 became the first person to reach the North Pole unaided from Canada, said the oxygen masks did not seem to work.

“No oxygen was delivered through the oxygen masks and I was surprised there seemed to be no communication between the pilot and the flight attendants because they didn’t seem to know what to say and do,” Hadow told the BBC.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSLQ58407820080826

ICE raids Miss. plant seeking illegal workers

*Nice to see the government actually doing their jobs…;)*

LAUREL, Miss. – Federal immigration agents arrested some 350 suspected undocumented workers in a raid on a Mississippi electrical equipment plant Monday, authorities announced, hours after sealing all entrances amid reports their sweep had idled normal operations. ADVERTISEMENT

Barbara Gonzalez, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, confirmed the arrests in the raid that she said targeted Howard Industries Inc. of Laurel. Authorities said more people could be arrested.

The company produces dozens of products ranging from electrical transformers to medical supplies, according to the company’s Web site.

“This is a targeted enforcement operation that is part of an ongoing ICE investigation that has revealed that illegal aliens are employed at Howard Industries,” Gonzalez said, adding late Monday that agents were still interviewing plant workers.

She declined to say how many federal agents were involved in the raid, but said they acted on a tip provided by a union worker.

Another agency spokesman, Brandon Montgomery, told The Associated Press outside the plant Monday afternoon that agents were talking with everyone who worked at the sprawling plant to determine their residency status.

He said that 50 of those suspected of being illegal workers were eligible for some form of “alternative to detention” — a concession that could allow them to be placed on a monitoring device while awaiting a caseworker for “humanitarian reasons” such as children in their care.

All plant entrances were blocked, with tents set up at some ICE checkpoints to keep agents out of a steady rain. Motorists traveling on roads behind the plant were stopped by officers in unmarked vehicles and told to leave.

People leaving the plant told The Hattiesburg American newspaper that so many illegal immigrants were arrested that operations were shut down. It wasn’t clear how many workers the plant employed.

A recording at Howard Industries plant on Monday said the telephone switchboard was closed.

Billy Howard, the company’s chief executive officer, did not immediately respond to a message left by The AP. A man who answered a phone call at the company’s security station said reporters would have to call back Tuesday.

Howard Industries was founded in the 1960s. In 2002, state lawmakers approved a $31.5 million, taxpayer-backed incentive plan aimed at helping to expand its operations.

The raid is one of several nationwide in recent years.

On May 12, federal immigration officials swept into Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant’s human resources department, court records showed.

___

Note: ICE says people whose relatives were detained can call for information: 866-341-3858.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080825/ap_on_re_us/immigration_raid;_ylt=AoIBHLxXjqpvaPKhPEL5EIqs0NUE

One Dead, Dozens Sick In Possible E. Coli Outbreak In Oklahoma

One person has died and dozens here are sick after being infected with what appears to be E. coli. At least 10 people were taken to a Tulsa hospital after eating at a restaurant.

Oklahoma State Health Department spokeswoman Leslea Bennett-Webb announced that 12 to 20 other people in Beggs, Pryor and Bixby were treated at various other hospitals.

The Oklahoma Health Department says up to two dozen people have been treated and released at other hospitals in northeastern Oklahoma. Though doctors suspect the cause of infection to be E. coli bacteria, the health department has not confirmed it yet.

Officials will be unable to confirm until the results of lab tests are in, but other food borne illnesses cannot yet be excluded. The source of the bacteria has not yet been identified.

E. coli bacteria can cause serious food poisoning in humans. The infection can trigger stomach cramps, diarrhea, dehydration and, in severe cases, kidney failure.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, E. coli infects an estimated 73,000 people and kills 61 a year in the U.S. The most vulnerable groups include children, seniors and persons whose immune systems are weakened.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012065342

Flooding fears as Gustav upgraded to hurricane

(CNN) — Tropical Storm Gustav became a hurricane as it roared toward Haiti early Tuesday, bringing with it the danger of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.

An Air Force aircraft flying into the storm detected maximum wind speeds of near 80 miles an hour (128 km / hour), the National Hurricane Center said at 2:20 a.m. ET.

Hurricane Gustav could bring five to seven inches of rain in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with possible accumulations of up to 25 inches in some places, the hurricane center in Miami, Florida, said.

Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall on Haiti’s southern coast Tuesday afternoon.

At 2 a.m. ET Tuesday, the storm had sustained winds of up to 70 miles an hour (110 km / hour). Its center was about 130 miles (210 km) south-southeast of Port au Prince, Haiti, the hurricane center said.

Authorities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic issued hurricane warnings for the southern parts of those countries. The warning covered an area from Barahona, Dominican Republic west to Le Mole St. Nicholas, Haiti, the hurricane center said.

Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall in Haiti on Tuesday and hit the southeastern tip of Cuba on Wednesday. They predict it will continue moving to the northwest and say it could dump rain on parts of central and southern Florida by Saturday.

Parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic were battered less than two weeks ago by Tropical Storm Fay. At least 10 people died in Haiti as the storm swept through.
Gustav is the seventh named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/08/26/hurricane.gustav/index.html