The Latest: Intense search continues in woods for surviving New York prison escapee

MALONE, N.Y. –  The latest on the manhunt following the escape of two convicted murderers from a maximum-security prison (all times local):
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8:45 a.m.
Searchers who tracked and killed one murderer who broke out of a northern New York prison three weeks ago are combing the same heavily wooded area for the surviving escapee.
Officers continued to focus Saturday on rugged terrain 30 miles west of Clinton Correctional Facility as they looked for David Sweat, who escaped from the maximum-security prison June 6 with Richard Matt. Police manned roadblocks in the neighboring towns of Malone and Duane as a helicopter buzzed over the woods.
Matt was shot to death Friday by a border patrol team responding to a civilian complaint about a gunshot fired at a camping trailer. Authorities say Matt was armed and failed to respond to an order to raise his hands.
Police said Friday night that they had no confirmed sightings of Sweat.
                                                           FOX News

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Google’s Cars are Now Smarter, and Slower

Custom-made, and painfully slow, self-driving cars are now roaming the streets of Mountain View.

Google has begun testing its own automated car around Mountain View.

If you find yourself stuck behind a car driving at excruciatingly slow speeds around Silicon Valley in the coming weeks, there may be little point honking your horn.
Google has started testing its latest prototype automated vehicles around Mountain View. The odd-looking little vehicles top out at an impressive, “neighborhood-friendly 25 miles per hour,” according to Google, so they might cause a little frustration for other folks on roads like the one shown above.
At least you’ll be able to complain via a handy webpage Google has put up to solicit feedback from other drivers. A video included on that page also provides some interesting insights on the latest efforts by Google to make its cars smarter, and safer. For example, it shows that the cars can now recognize erratic cyclist hand-signals, and how they can cope with construction work, or vehicles parked in unusual ways. Eventually the cars might need to go a bit faster though, perhaps even above the speed limit. When was the last time you saw anyone going under 70 mph on the freeway, after all?
As automated cars become more common, it will also be interesting to see how they deal with each other in various situations. We saw the first potential example of this with reports today of a “close call” between one of Google’s cars and another self-driving vehicle operated by Delphi. It now seems that the incident was actually a fairly normal traffic interaction rather than a case of robotic road-rage, although it does seem like Google’s algorithms might be a bit more aggressive. That may well come in handy once they start testing their cars on the streets of Boston.
                                                         -MIT Technology Review-

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Greece debt: Crisis meeting over bailout referendum

Greece's creditors are holding a crisis meeting with the Greek finance minister after Athens called a referendum on the terms for a fresh bailout.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras called the referendum for 5 July, but Greece's current bailout expires on Tuesday.
The country's creditors are expected to decide whether to extend that bailout until after the vote is completed.
As the Greek parliament debates whether to ratify the referendum, queues have formed outside banks in Athens.
Many fear that Greece's central bank might start restricting withdrawals.
It is unclear what would happen if Greece does not get a temporary extension.
Greece has to make a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) payment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, and there are fears Greece's economy could collapse if no new deal is struck.
n a televised address late on Friday, Mr Tsipras described the bailout plan as "humiliation" and condemned "unbearable" austerity measures demanded by creditors.
Some opposition figures on the other hand accused Mr Tsipras of using the vote to push Greece out of the EU.
BBC economics editor Robert Peston said that if the European Central Bank continued its emergency support, some members of its governing council feared it would be breaking all central banking rules.

Analysis: Chris Morris, BBC News, Brussels

The government portrays the referendum as yes or no to austerity. The opposition says it is, in effect, yes or no to Europe. Some of them say the referendum itself is unconstitutional, and are urging the Greek president to reject it.
But Mr Tsipras will argue that he had no other option. He was elected to get a better deal rather than no deal at all. But no better deal was on offer.
As for Greece's creditors I think they will be one part flabbergasted, one part anxious, and one part wondering what on earth they do next.
But several eurozone finance ministers, arriving in Brussels for their fifth meeting on Greece in little more than a week, said there was no question of accepting Mr Tsipras's request to extend his country's current international bailout by a few days, to prevent the Greek economy collapsing before a referendum can be held.
Some of the ministers will now want to focus on Plan B instead - how to ring-fence Greece and protect the rest of the eurozone from any potential economic shocks ahead.

The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, said that creditor institutions had "always showed flexibility to adjust to new situations in Greece".
Speaking ahead of Saturday's meeting between creditors and Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, she said she would again be recommending a balance between structural reforms and fiscal consolidation.
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said European finance ministers had to consider "whether there's a possibility or not of an agreement".
"Greece's place is in the eurozone," he said. "When I look at where we are I see differences but they are quite limited and well identified."
But Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who leads the group of European finance ministers, said he was "very negatively surprised" by the Greek government's decision on the referendum.
"This is a sad decision for Greece because it has closed the door on further talks," he said. "We will hear from the Greek [finance] minister today in our meeting and then talk about future consequences."
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the "negotiations apparently have been declared at an end'' by Mr Tsipras.
                                                 BBC

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British And Irish Tourists Die In Beach Terror

A gunman disguised as a holidaymaker has killed at least 37 people, including five Britons, in an attack on a popular tourist resort.

Terrified sunbathers ran for their lives as the attacker, dressed in shorts and hiding his Kalashnikov inside an umbrella, opened fire on the beach in the town of Sousse, Tunisia.
He then entered the Imperial Marhaba hotel through the swimming pool area, shooting people as he went and also threw an explosive, witnesses said.

A suspect was arrested after the Tunisia shootings

Tourists ran from the sea and barricaded themselves in their hotel rooms after gunfire erupted, while medics used sunloungers to carry victims still in their swimming costumes.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed at least five Britons had died and warned the death toll could rise.

Video: 28 Dead In Tunisia Attack

He said a "high proportion" of the casualties were expected to be British "because of the nature of the resort".
Tunisia's health ministry said British, German, Belgian and Tunisian nationals were among the dead. An Irish woman, reportedly a nurse in her 50s with two children, was also killed.
At least 36 people were injured in the assault, which happened just hours after a man was decapitated by attackers brandishing Islamist flags at a French factory.
It is not known if the atrocities were linked.
Earlier this week, Islamic State called on its supporters to increase attacks during Ramadan and "be keen on waging invasion in this eminent month and commit martyrdom".
The gunman in Tunisia was a young student from the city of Kairouan who was reportedly unknown to authorities. He was later shot dead by police.

Video: 'My Son Saw Someone Get Shot'

:: Live Updates - Day Of Deadly Attacks
Speaking about how the country's worst attack in recent history unfolded, security official Rafik Chelli said the gunman "had a parasol (umbrella) in his hand".
"He went down to put it in the sand and then he took out his Kalashnikov and began shooting wildly."
A photo has emerged of a dead man wearing black shorts, face down in the street with an automatic weapon next to him and surrounded by police.
The interior ministry had previously said two attackers were involved, including one who had fled the scene.
Local radio said police captured a second gunman, but officials did not immediately confirm the arrest or his role in the attack.

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    Gallery: Deadly Shootings In Tunisia

One man said his son saw someone get shot as he raced back to the hotel from the sea.
Photographs seen by Sky News show one man in his 60s or 70s lying in a pool of blood in his swimming shorts on the sand and next to what appeared to be the body of a woman.
British tourists have been describing what happened. Gary Pine said: "We thought fire crackers were going off but you could see quite quickly what was going on.

"There was a mass exodus off the beach. My son was in the sea at the time and myself and my wife were shouting at him to get out and as he ran up he said I’ve just saw someone get shot.
Holidaymaker Susan Ricketts said: "It sounded like a machine gun going off. There are people crying and going hysterical. We just came up to our room."
Another tourist said: "People are running around the hotel. No-one has really been told what to do."

Video: 'Ulterior Motive To Tunisia Attack'

John Yeoman has barricaded himself inside his hotel room using a bed and chair.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The people who do this do it in the name of a twisted perverted ideology."
A British embassy crisis team is being sent to Tunisia after a COBRA meeting took place to co-ordinate a response.
A spokesman for Thomson and First Choice said: "We are working closely with our teams in Tunisia and the relevant authorities to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected."
Back in March Sky's Sherine Tadros reported that the bulk of foreign fighters who have joined the ranks of IS come from Tunisia.
Meanwhile, deadly explosions have hit a Shiite mosque in Kuwait's capital after Friday prayers. Several people have been killed and dozens wounded in the attack.

Video: Tourist Barricades Hotel Room Door

Paramedic Abdelrahman al-Yusef says most of the victims were men or boys who were at the mosque when the bombing took place.

                                                               -SKY News-
 

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Kim Jong-un shows off new terminal at Pyongyang airport

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un with his wife Ri Sol Ju walking through the new terminal of Pyongyang International Airport. He is smiling. He does that a lot, probably because he is excited about the chocolate fondue. Source: Picture Media

THE lights are on but no one is there.

Welcome to Pyongyang International Airport, the place where no one leaves and barely anyone arrives.
Of course we could be wrong, but North Korea isn’t exactly on top of any must-do travel list.
So one has to wonder why North Korea would spend so much money beautifying a terminal when its citizens aren’t exactly free to travel, and no one wants to visit.
But then again why does North Korea do anything then boast about it.
Oh yeah that’s right, it wants us to believe this secretive dictatorship, which regularly threatens The West, is prospering and not crumbling under the brutal regime.

According to a recent United Nations report, around two million North Koreans receive help from the UN World Food Program, a third of children under five are stunted by malnutrition and around 20 per cent of breastfeeding and pregnant women are malnourished.
But that’s OK because North Korea now has an international airport worthy of praise.
According to an unverified press release issued by the country’s state owned Korean Central News Agency, visitors to the airport will soon be able to buy designer shirts, duty free watches and cosmetics as well as chocolate fondue. Oh goodie, fondue!
Leader Kim Jong-un took a tour of the newly completed terminal with his wife Ri Sol-ju - her second public appearance this year after she watched a soccer match with her rotund husband in April - and younger sister Kim Yo-jong this week and was said to be impressed.

The unveiling of the new terminal comes days after former North Korean national Hyeonseo Lee released her autobiography, The Girl with Seven Names, which details her escape and defection to South Korea and her horrific childhood in which she witnessed her first execution at age seven.
She tells The Times viewing executions is mandatory for schoolchildren in North Korea but in recent years it has worsened.
“Now they shoot people dead, just like that, in the middle of the day,” she says in the interview. “He’s (Kim Jong-un) murdered horribly to show the people: ‘Don’t treat me like a young kid.’ Killing people is propaganda.”
Lee says brainwashing begins from the moment you are born and children grow up believing the prison camps, public executions and that the Korean War started by “American bastards” who attacked North Korea “in the middle of the night, at 3am, while the North Koreans were asleep”.
She also says she thinks Kim Jong-un is worse than his father and longs for the day that he will die.
Until then, North Koreans will be able to admire their country’s new airport terminal from afar. It is supposed to open on July 1.

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Recovery efforts resume Friday for 9 killed in Alaska crash

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska emergency crews will attempt Friday to recover the remains of eight cruise ship passengers and a pilot who were killed when their sightseeing plane crashed in a remote and rugged area of southeastern Alaska.

Wind and rain prevented any recovery after the wreckage of the aircraft was found Thursday against a granite rock face, 800 feet above a lake.

There was no immediate indication of why the DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter turboprop went down, killing the nine people during the sightseeing excursion. No names have been released.

Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska office, said it was too soon to know circumstances of the crash, including whether the plane flew into the cliff.

The NTSB was assembling a high-level team to investigate the crash, including three members from Alaska and at least two people from Washington, D.C.

"The initial rescue crew that went in had a very tough time because of the terrain," Johnson said. "It's a very steep, mountainous area, and weather conditions caused them to stand down."

He earlier confirmed the deaths: "''We have nine fatalities."

Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Steenson said the agency received a report around 2:15 p.m. that the plane was overdue. Troopers said an emergency locator transmitter activated in the Misty Fjords National Monument, and a helicopter pilot spotted the downed aircraft above Ella Lake, about 800 miles southeast of Anchorage.

Promech Air, an airline based in Ketchikan, operated the shore excursion sold through Holland America Line, the cruise ship company said in a statement. The eight passengers were guests on the Westerdam, which is on a seven-day cruise that departed Seattle on Saturday.

"We are incredibly distressed by this situation, and our thoughts and prayers are with those onboard the plane and their families," the statement said. "Holland America Line is extending its full support to traveling companions of the guests involved."

Promech said that the crash happened about 11:20 a.m., and the plane was one of five Otter aircraft in its fleet.

"There is nothing I can say that can alleviate the pain and overwhelming sense of loss that we and the loved ones of those affected are feeling," Marcus Sessoms, president of Promech Air, said in a statement. "At this moment, all of us share the pain and anguish of this terrible event. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to everyone touched by this tragedy."

The Ketchikan Daily News reported the Westerdam had been scheduled to leave the city at 1 p.m., but it remained in port Thursday evening.

The airline's website advertises tours of the 2-million-acre Misty Fjord National Monument in its float planes.

"Towering granite cliffs, 1,000-foot waterfalls, lush and remote valleys and serene crystalline lakes make up this incredible landscape," it says

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Associated Press writer Kathy McCarthy in Seattle contributed to this report.

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France on alert after terrorists storm factory, behead man

France was on high alert after a worker at a U.S.-based chemical company was beheaded by terrorists bearing ISIS flags early Friday, authorities said.
The attack occurred at approximately 9:50 a.m. local time in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, northwest of the Alpine city of Grenoble, according to Le Dauphine newspaper. The newspaper reported that two men dressed as deliverymen arrived at the plant, and that one walked into the main office, declared he was a member of ISIS and beheaded someone there. The terrorists reportedly left the severed head hanging from a fence, and set off several gas canisters at the plant.

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"The attack was of a terrorist nature since a body was discovered, decapitated and with inscriptions," French President Francois Hollande told a news conference in Brussels, where he was attending an EU summit.
The factory is operated by Air Products & Chemicals, an Allentown, Pa.,-based company that makes industrial gases.
A local official confirmed the nation is on high alert.
"The terrorism threat is at a maximum," Alain Juppe, mayor of Bordeaux, told Fox News.
One man, who authorities said was an extremist known to authorities was under arrest following the attack. There were unconfirmed reports the other was killed.
The attack came months after well-known ISIS social media accounts and propaganda video threatened attacks in the U.S., Belgium and France.
"We advise you that we will come to you with car bombs and explosive charges and we will cut off you heads," stated one such threat that mirrored Friday morning's attack.
Sky News, citing French legal sources, reported that the severed head had Arabic writing scrawled across it and was placed on a fence next to an Islamist flag.
French authorities tell Fox News that approximately 10 people were injured. A local police deputy described the attack as "definitely" a terrorist act. France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazenueve was on his way to the scene.
France's anti-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the incident. The country went on high alert after a series of attacks in January that left 20 people dead in and around Paris region, including the Islamic terrorists.
France has been grappling with radical Islam for several years, with the Jan. 7 attack at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo putting the nation's homegrown terrorism problem in the spotlight earlier this year. In that attack, two radical Muslim brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, incensed over the publishing of caricatures of Muhammad, stormed the magazine's offices and killed 12, including staffers and a police officer. In subsequent, related attacks over the next few days, another five people were killed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

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