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MDTA Hurricane Update -- Saturday, Aug. 27 -- 7:45 p.m. BAY BRIDGE CLOSED; Nice/Key/Hatem/Tydings bridges in Wind Warnings The Bay Bridge (US 50/301) was closed at approximately 7:35 p.m. today as a result of severe winds and unsafe driving conditions due to Hurricane Irene. The bridge is experiencing sustained winds of more than 62 mph and wind gusts of 72-80 mph and will remain closed until conditions are deemed safe for vehicles to cross. MDTA's four additional bridges including the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge (US 301), the Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695), the Tydings Memorial Bridge (I-95) and the...

A man described as a high-ranking operative of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was arrested last week as he videotaped the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Virginia, and he then was held as a material witness in an unrelated case, authorities said. Ismael Selim Elbarasse of Annandale, Virginia, long suspected by authorities of having financial ties to the Palestinian extremist group, was taken into custody Friday, the U.S. attorney's office in Maryland said Monday. He was held as a material witness in a Chicago terrorism case. Elbarasse made an initial appearance in Baltimore's federal courthouse Monday before U.S. District Magistrate...

Virginia man charged in alleged plot to assassinate Bush By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press Writer ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A former high school valedictorian in Virginia was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and conspiracy to support the al-Qaida terrorist network. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court. He claimed that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars. The indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified coconspirator...

The Virginia man picked up after his wife was seen suspiciously videotaping Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Bridge was released from custody Monday after a $1 million bond was posted. Although he was originally questioned Aug. 20 about the bridge videotaping, Ismael Selim Elbarasse was detained until Monday because federal prosecutors have named him as a material witness and an un-indicted co-conspirator in their investigation of Hamas-related terrorist financing operations in the United States. Elbarasse is due to appear before a grand jury in Chicago that has already indicted three individuals for participating in a terrorist recruiting and financing cell.

BALTIMORE - A man described as a high-ranking Hamas operative was freed Monday on a $1 million bond, but must appear before a federal grand jury in Chicago probing the Palestinian militant group's financing. Ismael Selim Elbarasse was released during a closed-door detention hearing in federal court in Baltimore, said Vickie LeDuc, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office. His attorney said he was traveling to his home in Annandale, Va. Elbarasse had been arrested after officers pulled him over Aug. 20 just west of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge after spotting his wife filming the structure with a video camera....

senior Hamas member, Ismael Selim Elbarasse of Annandale, Virginia, was arrested in the US on Friday as he videotaped the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, US officials said. The man has long been suspected by authorities of having financial ties to the Hamas, the US attorney's office in Maryland said. On Friday two police officers on the Bay Bridge spotted Elbarasse, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent, in a sport utility vehicle videotaping the bridge, authorities said. Once Police apprehended the suspect, they discovered that Elbarasse was on an FBI terrorist watch list. He was also wanted...