The body of an elderly man who lived on a houseboat was found floating under a dock today in Brooklyn, authorities said.
The 74-year-old man’s boat was docked in the Plumb Beach Channel off of Ebony Court in Gerritsen Beach when he he was spotted in the water around 12:35 p.m., cops said.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police do not suspect any criminality at this time, cops said.
The city’s medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
The distillery behind Maker’s Mark bourbon is reducing the amount of alcohol in its bottles by 3 percent to meet a rise in global demand, company officials said today.
“Lately we’ve been hearing from many of you that you’ve been having difficulty finding Maker’s Mark in your local stores,” Maker’s Mark executives Rob Samuels and Bill Samuels Jr. wrote in a joint email to clients.
“Fact is, demand for our bourbon is exceeding our ability to make it, which means we’re running very low on supply.”
The bourbon brand — which famously used the slogan “It tastes expensive... and is” in the ‘60s and ‘70s — looked at “all possible solutions” and “worked carefully” to reduce the alcohol by volume of the beverage by 3 percent.
Maker’s Mark is distilled to 45 percent alcohol by volume — or 90 proof — and, after the change, would go down to about 44 percent ABV or 88 proof, according to Quartz.
“This will enable us to maintain the same taste profile and increase our limited supply so there is enough Maker’s Mark to go around, while we continue to expand the distillery and increase our production capacity,” the Maker’s Mark executives said.
It is unclear when the watered-down beverages will hit the market.
A spokesman for Maker’s Mark did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Court-appointed shrinks are still puzzling over the trial fitness of accused killer nanny Yoselyn Ortega, charged with the heinous bathtub slashing deaths of two young Upper West Side children under her care.
The court-appointed psychologists need more medical records before they can determine if Ortega is mentally fit for trial, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said during a brief hearing today.
Ortega -- who had slashed herself in the throat after allegedly slaughtering Lucia and Leo Krim, ages 6 and 2 respectively -- remains held without bail at the prison ward of Elmhurst Hospital until the shrinks can determine if she is able to assist in her own defense and understand the charges against her, the judge said.
“Apparently the doctors are requesting more medical records before they can make their finding of fitness,” the judge said, setting Ortega's next court date for March 8.
Mark Cobb was so close to the terrorists, he could hear their footsteps. Steve Wysocki escaped after hearing his boss taken hostage next door. Nick Frazier was on a bus that al Qaeda-linked militants sprayed with hundreds of bullets.
Although the three Americans escaped the harrowing attack on a petrol plant in Algeria with their lives, they are still racked with guilt, plagued with nightmares and haunted by memories of their ordeal and the co-workers they left behind.
Cobb, Wysocki and Frazier described the attack -- in which 37 workers died -- to Charlie Rose in an extensive 60 Minutes interview which airs Sunday.
AP
Algerian soldiers stand guard at the gas plant in Ain Amenas, seen in background.
Cobb, who is a manager at Ain Amenas field in the Sahara, described how he hid under a pile of maps in a locked room with several co-workers after gunfire broke out on January 16.
“If they started poking at the maps with an AK-47 or peeling maps off the top…I knew it was over,” Cobb told Rose.
“I heard them kick open the front door. That’s I guess at the point, in all honesty that I felt pure terror… I elected to begin to make my calls to my family and say my goodbyes.”
Cobb’s door was one of two the militants failed to kick in and he eventually escaped to a nearby Algerian Army base through a hole in the fence.
“The nightmares for me are all the same thing,” Cobb said. “It’s the sound of those footsteps as they came down that hallway towards that door.”
Oil and gas expert Wysocki also escaped through the fence, but not before hearing the terrorists find his boss, Gordon Rowan, who did not survive.
“I’m like ‘Why couldn’t I have done something to help? And…(I) feel guilty that I was paralyzed with fear and not do(ing) anything,” Wysocki told Rose. “I’m especially guilty because they lost their lives and I didn’t.”
BP petrol engineer Frazier described how his bus was peppered with hundreds of bullets before Algerian army soldiers rushed to the rescue, resulting in a 30-minute gun battle.
“They saved our lives,” said Frazier. “They returned…heavy, heavy gunfire…they stood by the bus and shot back and kept the terrorists from getting onto the bus.”
Rowan and gas workers Frederick Buttaccio and Victor Lovelady were the three Americans who died during the standoff, which ended when Algerian special-forces stormed the facility, freeing 685 Algerians and 107 foreigners. More than 30 militants died during the attack.
A woman is fighting for her life after being involved in a serious car accident today in Hamilton Heights, authorities said.
A van and car collided on Broadway and West 135th Street at 2:15 p.m. -- critically injuring one passenger, police said.
“I heard a bang. I turned around as the car was still traveling,” said mailman Clairmonte Coppin, 41.
“I ran over and me and a few guys tried to push the vehicle back.”
The van crushed the smaller car into the window of a pharmacy, pinning the passengers inside, witnesses said.
“The van hit the red car and drove it up onto the sidewalk, I thought it was going to go through the pharmacy. It was a big bang and then there was glass from the red car exploding from the impact,” Anna Polanco, 22.
Two people were rushed to St. Lukes Hospital -- one in cardiac arrest, the FDNY said.
Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.
It’s payday for MTA big shots!
The transit agency — which constantly socks riders with fare hikes, the latest coming in March — handed four MTA execs checks totalling $253,000 right before Joe Lhota left the agency to run for mayor.
The checks were cut on Lhota’s last day on the job, Dec. 31.
The execs include Metro-North boss Howard Permut, Michael Horodniceanu, the head of mega-projects like Second Avenue Subway, LIRR head Helena Williams, and MTA Bus President Joseph Smith.
Permut, who earns $243,000 a year, received a $98,000 check; Horodniceanu makes $262,000 a year and saw a $61,000 lump-sum check; Williams makes $243,000 and took home a check for $56,000 and Smith was cut a check for $38,000 for unusued vacation and sick time.
Lhota said he was honoring contracts that all three had signed between four and five years ago that called for raises between 3 and 6 percent.
The execs had agreed to forgo the raises for a few years at the request of past MTA chiefs. They weren’t willing to continue the practice and at least one was threatening to sue, sources told the Post.
“A contract is a contract is a contract. It’s as simple as that,” Lhota told the Post. “I inherited those contracts. They were never declining raises, they were only deferring them.”
Lhota said he refused to pay interest on the deferred payments, but agreed to cut the checks for what they were owed after consulting attorneys.
The deferments began under former MTA chief Elliot Sander in 2007 as the agency was begging the Legislature for a bailout to help it close its budget gap and avoid service cuts.
“The MTA is keeping its word,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said. “They were asked not accept the raises at the time but not to permanently forgo them.”
MTA managers are now in their fourth year without a raise, while their unionized underlings have gotten annual bumps for the past three years.
In 2011, the Transport Workers Union snagged a 3 percent pay hike for its workers on top of 2.5 percent pay hikes in 2009 and 2010.
Pass the “macaroni and gravy” — Carroll Gardens is beefing up its famous Italian flavor.
In less than a year, three new Italian food joints have popped up within two blocks of each other along Smith Street in the former mob-family-enclave turned trendy Brooklyn hood.
The opening of Claudine’s, Arthur on Smith and Ciro’s leave the Smith Street strip with eight restaurants dishing out homemade pastas, specialty pizzas and other Italian eats within a mere six blocks of each other, from Third Place to DeGraw Street.
“We’re getting more of the new, younger, health-conscious Carroll Gardens crowd by offering a menu with a modern flair and cooking with organic vegetables and other high-end products,” said Joseph Isidori, a third-generation chef who opened regularly-packed Arthur on Smith in memory of his late father.
Paul Martinka
Arthur on Smith, owned by Joe Isidori, is one of several new Italian restaurants in the Carroll Gardens/ Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn.
The Bronx native said he “did research” and specifically chose Carroll Gardens “because its strong Italian roots stretch back” over a century to when the area was known as “South Brooklyn” and both Italian and Irish immigrants moved there to be close to work at the Red Hook docks.
Maria Pagano, president of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association, said the recent rise in Italian restaurants is ironic coming as the number of Italian-Americans living there continues to dwindle.
“This shows a real shift in culture,” Pagano said. “Italian-American families traditionally don’t go out for dinner every night, but many of these new restaurants serve lunch and dinner all week. “
Unlike households headed by members of the “Five Families” or exclusive male Italian “social” clubs who still eat at home as a family, many of the neighborhood’s younger couples both work, so they go out to eat regularly, residents say.
Carroll Gardens has another 16 Italian restaurants, pizzerias, delis and bakeries along Court Street and another three on Henry Street. And there are dozens of others just blocks from its borders, including legends like 109-year-old Ferdinando’s Focacceria and 107-year-old Monte’s Venetian Room.
But Stephanie Mandelli, co-owner of Claudine’s, and other newcomers say they aren’t worried about competing with old-school eateries.
“What’s sets us apart is our authenticity,” said Mandelli, who moved back to her native Carroll Gardens to serve meals out of the same storefront where her grandfather once ran a popular barbershop up until 1975.
“Our place is Italian as they come. When you come in, you feel like you’re sitting in a living room in Northern Italy.”
Seeing the neighborhood was shifting tastes, Marco Chirico, whose family has run Marco Polo Ristorante on Court Street since 1983, last year renovated the joint that’s long been popular with judges, pols and “made guys” — even updating its menu to attract a new breed of health-conscious customers.
He also opened the trendy Enoteca next door in 2009, which, like many of the new competing eateries, offers an extensive beer and wine bar while also popping out gourmet pizza and panini from a wood-burning oven.
“The new restaurants [like Enoteca] are now smaller, more intimate, and offer smaller portions because more people are watching their nutrition,” he said.
But while Chirico thinks the hood is strong enough to support so many Italian eateries, Pagano, has doubts.
“It just seems like there’s so many for all of them to do well,” said Pagano. “And there’s also so many other choices than Italian in the neighborhood.”
Ralph Peters
Violence in Allah’s name in northern Africa won’t end in my lifetime — and probably not in yours. The core question is: To what extent can the savagery be contained?
From the Atlantic coastline to the Suez Canal, struggling governments, impoverished populations and frankly backward societies struggle to find paths to modernization and to compete in a ruthless global economy. Religious fanatics for whom progress is a betrayal of faith hope to block development.
Still, if the only conflict was between Islamist terrorists and those who want civilized lives, the situation could be managed over time. But that struggle forms only one level in a layer cake of clashing visions and outright civil wars bedeviling a vast region. Much larger than Europe, the zone of contention encompasses the Maghreb, the countries touching the Mediterranean, and the Sahel, the bitterly poor states stretching down across desert wastes to the African savannah.
AFP/Getty Images
Figthers of the Islamic group Ansar Dine
The Sahel is the front line not only between the world of Islam and Christian-animist cultures in Africa’s heart, but between Arabs and light-skinned tribes in the north, and blacks to the south. No area in the world so explicitly illustrates the late, great Samuel Huntington’s concept of “the clash of civilizations.”
If racial and religious differences were not challenge enough, in the Maghreb the factions and interest groups are still more complicated. We view Egypt as locked in a contest between Islamists and “our guys,” Egyptians seeking new freedoms. But Egypt’s identity struggle is far more complex, involving social liberals, moderate Muslims, stern conservative Muslims (such as the Muslim Brotherhood) and outright fanatics. The military forms another constituency, while the business community defends its selfish interests. Then there are the supporters of the old Mubarak regime, the masses of educated-but-unemployed youth and the bitterly poor peasants.
Atop all that there’s the question of whether the values cherished by Arab societies can adapt to a globalized world.
The path to Egypt’s future will not be smooth — yet Egypt’s chances are better than those of many of its neighbors. Consider a few key countries in the region:
Mali
Viva la France! (Never thought I’d write that in The Post.) Contrary to a lot of media nonsense, the effective French intervention in Mali demonstrates that not every military response to Islamist terror has to become another Afghanistan: The French are welcome.
As extremists invariably do, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its allies rapidly alienated their fellow Muslims — after hijacking a local uprising. The local version of Islam is far more humane and tolerant than the Wahhabi cult imposed by Islamist fanatics. To the foreign extremists, the Malian love of Sufi mysticism, ancient shrines and their own centuries of religious scholarship are all hateful — as is the Malian genius for music that’s pleased listeners around the world.
Have a comment on this PostOpinion column? Send it in to LETTERS@NYPOST.COM!
CAIRO — Egypt's Interior Minister vowed Saturday to investigate the beating of a naked man by riot police that threatened to further inflame popular anger against security forces, but suggested that initial results absolve the police of direct abuse.
The beating was caught on camera and broadcast live on television late Friday as protests raged in the streets outside the presidential palace. Video showed police trying to bundle the naked man into a police van after beating him.
Less than 24 hours after the incident, several thousand anti-government demonstrators marched again on the palace Saturday denouncing the police and Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after a week of violent protests that claimed more than 60 lives nationwide.
Speaking to reporters after Friday's assault, Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim said that initial results from the public prosecutor's investigation show that 48-year-old Hamada Saber was undressed by "rioters" during skirmishes between police and protesters. He was then hit in the foot by a bird shot, the interior minister said, stopping short of saying if the injury was a result of police firing into the crowds.
"The central security forces then found him lying on the ground and tried to put him in an armored vehicle, though the way in which they did that was excessive," said Ibrahim.
In the footage from Friday, at least seven black-clad riot police beat Saber, whose pants are down around his ankles, with sticks before dragging him along the muddy pavement and tossing him into a police van.
The beating happened as thousands of protesters chanted against Morsi, throwing firebombs and firing flares at the presidential palace as police pumped volleys of tear gas and bird shot into the crowd, killing one protester and wounding more than 90.
The Interior Ministry said in a rare statement that it "regrets" the beating, and that it too is investigating the incident. But it also sought to distance itself — and the police in general — from the abuse, saying that "what took place was carried out by individuals that do not represent in any way the doctrine of all policemen who direct their efforts to protecting the security and stability of the nation and sacrifice their lives to protect civilians."
A statement by Morsi's office called the incident "shocking", but stressed that violence and vandalism of government property is unacceptable.
A drunken Brooklyn woman was arrested in Westchester for taking a school bus on a joyride, authorities said.
A boozed-up Jada Lopez, 27, grabbed the empty Atlantic Express Company school bus from a Mount Vernon repair shop at 225 S. Fourth Ave. at 11:30 a.m., said a spokeswoman for the Mount Vernon mayor’s office.
Thirty minutes later she was spotted swerving down Fourth Avenue before crashing into a parked car at Sanford Boulevard, the spokeswoman added.
The officer who pulled Lopez over described her as “semi-conscious” and “severely intoxicated.”
The woman was taken to a local hospital for observation, officials said.
Charges against her are still pending.
WASHINGTON — Republican senators hammered former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel at his confirmation hearing Thursday on issues ranging from Israel and Iran to his support for a group that advocates the elimination of nuclear weapons. But with most Democrats in his corner, an unflustered Hagel seemed headed for approval as defense secretary.
Hagel, a former two-term senator from Nebraska, described his views as mainstream and closely aligned with those of President Barack Obama, the Democrat who nominated him. But several GOP members of the Armed Services Committee sought to portray him as radical and unsteady. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., called his ideas "extreme" and "far to the left" of Obama.
ZUMAPRESS.com
Former US Senator Chuck Hagel appears at a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing considering his confirmation as Secretary of Defense.
Hagel said he believes America "must engage — not retreat — in the world," and insisted that his record is consistent on that point.
He pointed to Iran and its nuclear ambitions as an example of an urgent national security threat that should be addressed first by attempting to establish dialogue with Iranian rulers, although he said he would not rule out using military force.
"I think we're always on higher ground in every way — international law, domestic law, people of the world, people of the region to be with us on this — if we have ... gone through every possibility to resolve this in a responsible, peaceful way, rather than going to war," he said.
He pushed back on the notion — first raised by one of his harshest Republican critics, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma — that he favors a policy of appeasement.
"I think engagement is clearly in our interest," Hagel told Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who denounced the idea of negotiating with a "terrorist state."
"That's not negotiation," Hagel said. "Engagement is not appeasement. Engagement is not surrender."
His fiercest exchange came with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a fellow Vietnam veteran, onetime close friend and a vote that could carry considerable sway. Politics and Hagel's evolving opposition to the Iraq war caused a split between the two men that was on full display at the confirmation hearing.
McCain pressed Hagel on whether he was right or wrong about his opposition to President George W. Bush's decision to send an extra 30,000 troops to Iraq in 2007 at a point when the war seemed in danger of being lost. Hagel, who voted to authorize military force in Iraq, later opposed the conflict, comparing it to Vietnam and arguing that it shifted the focus from Afghanistan.
"Were you right? Were you correct in your assessment?" McCain asked.
Former New York state Sen. Shirley Huntley pleaded guilty today to mail fraud charges after admitting to embezzling more than $87,000 in taxpayer funds earmarked for a non-profit.
The Queens Democrat said that she used government grants for her charitable non-profit education organization, the Parents Information Network, to buy personal items and benefit family members.
Huntley admitted that she utilized "straw recipients" to help disguise her embezzlement scheme from the charity, which was founded to help parents understand issues related to the New York City school system.
Several large withdrawals of the money intended for the non-profit organization instead were slipped to some of Huntley's relatives, officials said.
"And did you know that was criminal conduct?" Brooklyn federal Judge Jack Weinstein asked at today's hearing.
"Yes, your honor, I did," the ex-lawmaker answered.
Huntley, who served in the state legislature from 2007 to 2012, admitted that she had committed felony mail fraud in furtherance of her embezzlement scheme.
"I'm guilty. I plead guilty," Huntley said.
The former legislator will face up to two years in prison under a plea agreement, and also must pay more than $87,000 in restitution to New York state to make up for the tax money she stole.
Huntley also promised to pay $1000 to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as restitution for a bribery scheme involving a cargo-handling operation at JFK Airport, officials said.
The embattled ex-legislator was initially indicted on Aug. 27 by the New York state Attorney General's Office on charges that she falsified documents to conceal the fact that her niece and an aide allegedly siphoned $30,000 from a sham charity she created.
But Brooklyn federal prosecutors assigned to an anti-corruption squad - working with a special team of FBI agents - quietly opened a mail fraud case against Huntley.
The ex-legislator did not speak to reporters and declined to answer questions as she left the Brooklyn federal courthouse this afternoon.
Loretta Lynch, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the former legislator had betrayed the public trust.
"Huntley’s experience and influence were supposed to be used for the benefit of her constituents. Instead, Huntley used her knowledge of the system to steal funds intended to help some of her neediest constituents, lining her own pockets at the expense of parents in need, and ultimately their children," Lynch said.
Huntley is also expected to plead guilty to felony evidence tampering charges stemming from the state corruption case against her that's still pending in Nassau County Supreme Court, a source said.
mmaddux@nypost.com
LAS VEGAS — Declaring "now is the time" to fix broken immigration laws, President Barack Obama on Tuesday heralded a rare show of bipartisanship between the White House and Senate lawmakers on basic plans for putting millions of illegal immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, cracking down on businesses that employ people illegally and tightening security at the borders.
But both the White House and Senate proposals for tackling the complex and emotionally charged issue still lack key details. And potential roadblocks are already emerging over how to structure the road to citizenship and whether a bill would will same-sex couples — and that's all before a Senate measure can be debated, approved and sent to the Republican-controlled House where opposition is likely to be stronger.
AFP/Getty Images
President Obama delivers remarks on immigration reform at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Obama, in the heart of the heavily Hispanic Southwest, said Congress is showing "a genuine desire to get this done soon." But mindful of previous immigrations efforts that have failed, Obama warned that the debate would become more difficult as it gets closer to a conclusion.
"The question now is simple," Obama said during a campaign-style event in Las Vegas, one week after being sworn in for a second term in the White House. "Do we have the resolve as a people, as a country, as a government to finally put this issue behind us? I believe that we do."
Despite possible obstacles to come, the broad agreement between the White House and bipartisan lawmakers in the Senate represents a drastic shift in Washington's willingness to tackle immigration, an issue that has languished for years. Much of that shift is politically motivated, due to the growing influence of Hispanics in presidential and other elections and their overwhelming support for Obama in November.
The separate White House and Senate proposals focus on the same principles: providing a way for most of the estimated 11 million people already in the U.S. illegally to become citizens, strengthening border security, cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants and streamlining the legal immigration system.
A consensus around the question of citizenship could help lawmakers clear one major hurdle that has blocked previous immigration efforts. Many Republicans have opposed allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens, saying that would be an unfair reward for people who have broken the law.
Details on how to achieve a pathway to citizenship still could prove to be a major sticking point between the White House and the Senate group, which is comprised of eight lawmakers — four Democrats and four Republicans.
Obama and the Senate lawmakers all want to require people here illegally to register with the government, pass criminal and national security background checks, pay fees and penalties as well as back taxes, and wait until existing immigration backlogs are cleared before getting in line for green cards. After reaching that status, U.S. law says people can become citizens after five years.
The Senate proposal says that entire process couldn't start until the borders were fully secure and tracking of people in the U.S. on visas had improved. Those vague requirements would almost certainly make the timeline for achieving citizenship longer than what the White House is proposing.
The president urged lawmakers to avoid making the citizenship pathway so difficult that it would appear out of reach for many illegal immigrants.
"We all agree that these men and women have to earn their way to citizenship," he said. "But for comprehensive immigration reform to work, it must make clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship."
"It won't be a quick process, but it will be a fair process," Obama added.
R&B singer Frank Ocean intends to press charges against bully boy Chris Brown for punching him and starting an all-out brawl outside Westlake Studios in West Hollywood on Sunday night.
Police want to talk to Brown, who is still on probation for beating up Rihanna on the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards.
Ocean, who publically came out in July as a bisexual, is “desirous of prosecution,” L.A. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Steve Whitmore told The Post. “We’ll find out what happened.”
The fight over a parking space reportedly involved six men. Ocean tweeted: “got jumped by chris and a couple guys. Lol. I only wish everest was there.” Everest is his dog.
Getty Images
Frank Ocean
Getty Images
Chris Brown
He later added: “cut my finger now I can’t play w two hands at the grammys.”
The violence is expected to put the kibosh on Brown’s plans to perform with Rihanna at the Grammys on Feb. 10 at the Staples Center.
Rihanna’s advisors have tried in vain to keep her away from Brown and fear her relationship with the hot-tempered singer-dancer will hurt her fragrance and fashion ventures, if not her album and concert sales.
The Barbadian beauty included Brown on two cuts of her latest album, but sources said she’s not planning on singing either of those songs at the Grammys.
Brown, who is on probation until August 2014, also got into a brawl last summer at a Manhattan nightclub with rapper Drake, who had been hooking up with Rihanna. No charges were brought in that incident.
AP
Egyptians pray during a mass funeral in Port Said today.
PORT SAID, Egypt — Clashes flared anew in the turbulent Egyptian city of Port Said on Sunday, killing at least three more people as a mass funeral was held for most of the 37 people who died during intense riots in the city a day earlier.
The three were killed when police exchanged fire with gunmen trying to storm two police stations and the local prison, according to the city's director of hospitals, Abdel-Rahman Farah. A total of 418 people were injured, some of them with gunshot wounds, he said.
Tens of thousands of mourners poured into the streets for the mass funeral of those killed a day earlier, chanting slogans against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
"We are now dead against Morsi," said Port Said activist Amira Alfy. "We will not rest now until he goes and we will not take part in the next parliamentary elections. Port Said has risen and will not allow even a semblance of normalcy to come back," she said.
Violence in the city, about 140 miles northeast of Cairo, erupted on Saturday after a court convicted and sentenced 21 defendants to death for their roles in a mass soccer riot in a Port Said stadium on Feb. 1, 2012 that left 74 dead. Most of those sentenced to death were local soccer fans from Port Said.
The clashes in Port Said were the latest in a bout of unrest across the country that has left more than 50 people dead since Friday. That death toll includes 40 dead in Port Said and 11 killed in clashes in other cities between police and protesters marking the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew Mubarak after nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule.
The riots stemmed mostly from animosity between police and die-hard Egyptian soccer fans, known as Ultras, who have become highly politicized. The Ultras frequently confront police and were also part of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's regime two years ago.
They were also at the forefront of protests against the military rulers who took over from Mubarak and are now again on the front lines of protests against the Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader.
A prominent Islamist leader delivered a thinly veiled warning that Islamist groups would set up militia-like vigilante groups to protect public and state property against attacks.
Addressing a news conference, Tareq el-Zomr of the once-jihadist Gamaa Islamiya, said:
"If Security forces don't achieve security, it will be the right of the Egyptian people and we at the forefront to set up popular committees to protect private and public property and counter the aggression on innocent citizens."
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The police chief in Connecticut's largest city has pulled three officers off the streets after a video was posted online showing them kicking and stomping on a man they had already subdued with a stun gun.
In the video, a stun gun is heard being fired and a man falls to the ground at a park. Two officers stand over the motionless man and begin kicking him. A third officer drives up and attacks him. No complaint was filed.
Bridgeport city spokeswoman Elaine Ficarra said today that all three officers are on desk duty while authorities investigate the May 2011 encounter. Elson Morales, Joseph Lawlor and Clive Higgins are 10-year veterans of the police force. They couldn't be reached for comment.
The video was posted on YouTube this month. It's not clear who's filming or who posted the video.
GENEVA — Tina Turner is on her way to becoming a Swiss citizen.
The American rock diva has lived in the Zurich suburb of Kuesnacht since the mid-1990s. The local Zuerichsee-Zeitung newspaper said on its Web site the local council announced its decision to grant the 73-year-old Turner citizenship in an official notice published in Friday's edition.
The decision still requires formal approval from state and federal authorities.
CONTRAST/startraksphoto.com
Tina Turner
AP
Notre Dame golden boy Manti Te’o appeared in an emotionally-driven interview with Katie Couric today, telling her that the feelings he had for what turned out to be a fake, online girlfriend were real and reiterated he had nothing to do with the hoax.
The All-American linebacker said he was truly sorrowful and pained.
He said he sustained tall tales about his fake, dead girlfriend to keep inspiring legions Irish football fans who saw him as the ultimate triumph-over-tragedy figure.
Te’o told Katie Couric that the story of gal pal “Lennay Kekua,” who allegedly died of cancer on Sept. 12 during the Irish football season, had taken a life of its own -- so he ran with it.
“I think for me the only thing I basked in was that I had an impact on people,” he said in an interview aired today.
“That people turned to me and for inspiration and I think that was the only thing I focused on.”
He added: “You know my story I felt was a guy who in times of hardship and in times of trial really held strong to his faith, held strong to his family and I felt that that was my story.”
Te’o led his Notre Dame football team to an undefeated regular season. His real grandmother died on Sept. 11 and Te’o said he was told Lennay died the next day.
Saboteurs stabbed holes in tires of two school buses and deflated tires on 10 others idled by school bus drivers’ strike, authorities and bus company employees said today.
In all, 18 tires were flattened on a dozen buses, said employees of Reliant Transportation’s lot in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Police are trying to determine if the vandalism reported this morning is related to the strike by Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which has forced 152,000 children and their parents to find other ways to get to school.
“Some buses had one flat tire some had multiple. One bus had all four,” said Leon Hasting, a Reliant employee who makes sure the buses are in compliance with safety laws and the company’s contracts.
The punctures on four tires mounted on two buses were no accident.
“They looked like they were stabbed with an ice pick or something ... These were stabbed on the side,” Hastings said.
About 60 buses are parked on the lot at 831 Humboldt St. The damaged buses were in a remote part of the lot, out of view of security cameras, authorities said.
Police have been guarding the lot 24 hours a day since the strike began, said sources. It was unclear how officers didn’t see the vandalism in the lot, which is surrounded by a
chain-link fence.
The vandalized buses have been idle since the strike began Jan. 16, and haven’t been checked regularly, said sources.
Hastings said the damage was the first vandalism the company has experienced during the strike.
“We’re definitely going to beef up security,” he said. “If it happens again, we will be more prepared.”
A 12-year-old girl was struck by a bus this afternoon in Brooklyn and is in critical condition, authorities said.
The girl was at the corner of East Seventh Street and Avenue O in Midwood when she was struck around 2:50 p.m., fire officials said.
The victim was taken in critical condition to Maimonides Hospital, according to police.
The driver remained at the scene, cops said.
Copyright © Valuable News. All rights reserved.
Design 
And Business Directories
