Free Republic

Police in Azerbaijan have detained a dozen journalists working for US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty amid an ongoing crackdown on the outlet that Washington and rights groups decry. The Baku offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were sealed on Friday after prosecutors and armed police confiscated equipment and computers during a raid. The US State Department said it was "deeply disturbed" by the action, and called on Azerbaijan to respect its "international commitment to protecting media freedom." Ramping up pressure on the organisation's Azerbaijan station, Radio Azadliq, police descended upon the homes of its journalists Saturday and took many in...

{Heard this on the radio newsbreak five minutes ago} Phoenix, ARIZONA — There has been nine shootings in the past 10 days on Arizona’s highways, luckily no one has been killed. On Sunday, September 6, 2015, at approximately 8:30 p.m., a shooting occurred on westbound SR 202 near 32nd Street. After a disagreement in Tempe, a black Toyota Camry or Corolla with a temporary plate followed the victim vehicle west on SR 202. The Toyota was occupied by three males. At 32nd Street an occupant of the Toyota fired at least once at the victim vehicle striking the victim vehicle....

A Nicaraguan diplomat was found dead in his Bronx apartment with his throat slashed yesterday when his driver came to pick him up for the UN General Assembly meeting, police sources said. The body of Cesar Mercado, 34, was found shortly after 10:30 a.m. when his driver opened the door of his Grand Concourse apartment and saw him on the floor in a pool of blood, cops said. Investigators are probing the possibility that the killing was caused by a gay relationship gone wrong, police sources said. The sound of men arguing was heard in the apartment before the murder,...

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say a security guard has died after a man walked into a federal building in Manhattan and opened fire. The guard, identified by his union as Idrisa Camara, died shortly after the shooting Friday evening. Police say the gunman walked through a side entrance of the building that houses an immigration court and other government offices. Chief James O'Neil says the gunman later shot himself in the head. He was found dead in the building. A law enforcement official identified the shooter as Kevin Downing, of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Breaking News... RT is the first English language source with this, but is not allowed on FR. NHK saying there were several explosions at the Sagami Depot in Kanagawa.

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TOKYO (AP) -- An explosion was heard near a U.S. Army base south of Tokyo late Monday and police suspected an attempted attack on the base, Kyodo News agency reported. The blast was in the area of the U.S. Army's Camp Zama, Kyodo said. The report did not say whether there were injuries or damage. Police found parts of "launch pad" near the base, Kyodo said, and investigators suspected a "guerrilla attack." No further details were immediately available

We've just received word that the former Delphi Tower in Saginaw Michigan has been evacuated, and that it's being treated as a HAZMAT situation. Police, Fire, and HAZMAT crews are on the scene. The building houses the Saginaw offices of US Senator Carl Levin. Little else is known, but we were contacted by one evacuee who told us that "Levin got a suspicious letter in the mail." Given the two recent Ricin-tainted letters received in D.C., we assume they're taking no chances. More as it develops.

FBI, Hazmat Crew Outside SF Building FBI agents, San Francisco police and fire crews, and a hazardous materials team converged on an apartment building between Jackson and Polk streets Saturday morning. FBI agents, San Francisco police and fire crews, and a hazardous materials team converged on an apartment building between Jackson and Polk streets in the Russian Hill neighborhood Saturday morning, according to San Francisco police. The San Francisco FBI office told NBC Bay Area that the agency is executing a search warrant as part of a criminal investigation. The FBI said that the investigation poses "no threat to...

Four people have been killed when a private jet owned by Osama Bin Laden’s family crashed in a fireball after overshooting a runway while trying to land outside London. The £7million Embraer Phenom 300 was owned by Salem Aviation in Jeddah, which is controlled by the dead terrorist’s family. The Brazilian-built aircraft exploded after ploughing into a carpark killing the pilot and three passengers - believed to be members of the Bin Laden family. ] Saudi Arabian media reported that Osama Bin Laden's stepmother and sister were among the four people killed, as well as their Jordanian pilot.

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (WPRI) -Police and firefighters have responded to Salty Brine Beach for a report of an explosion. The Department of Environmental Management confirms that they received reports of an explosion on the beach and a person injured at about 11:15 Saturday morning.

Haz-mat teams and federal investigators responded across Oregon on Monday after numerous sheriffs received suspicious mail, some of it delivering an unknown substance, authorities told NBC News.

MADISON, Wis. – Michael Lutz, the highly decorated former Milwaukee cop and John Doe whistleblower, fatally shot himself early Sunday morning just inside the Milwaukee County line. Multiple sources tell Wisconsin Watchdog that Lutz lived an agonized life in the years after he was shot while on the job in 2005. Things got worse, those sources say, after he went public about Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s “hyper-partisan” pursuit of Republican Gov. Scott Walker. “I know Mike, and the worst thing he could have imagined was being in a mug shot, in an orange jumpsuit on a perp walk,”...

Suspected Meth Lab Explodes In U.S. Government Building Yesterday, Congress requested more information about a July 18 explosion in one of the buildings operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology outside Washington, D.C. There’s reason for Congress to raise an eyebrow; based on evidence collected at the scene, investigators suspect that the room was being used to develop illegal methamphetamines. The explosion occurred in NIST Building 236, far from the majority of the labs, so it didn’t damage any research endeavors. It happened in a room that had been emptied of equipment, as one experiment had recently ended...

Narragansett police on Tuesday released a 911 call made after an explosion on Salty Brine State Beach. A Waterbury, Connecticut, woman was injured in the blast. A family member said she was thrown about 10 feet. The caller tells the 911 operator she doesn't know exactly what happened, but that the injured woman needs help. Caller: "Hi, I'm at Salty Brine Beach ... The rock, like, fell on her." Operator: "The rock fell on her? At Salty Brine? Do you know if they're pinned under the rock?" Caller: "I heard a bang. People are saying that the rocks exploded." Operator:...

The NYPD has identified a group of suspicious people who were spotted Friday morning on Staten Island with rifles in their hands, NYPD officials told JP. The group four men and two women, with hijabs, were spotted early Friday morning by a retired NYPD officer in the Midland Beach parking lot with rifles in their hands, in two cars with NJ licence plates. Police were initially trying to determine whether the group were preparing an imminent terror attack, or linked to recent paintball attackers who shot several people last week with paintball guns, police said. The description of the group...

A couple found a live tank round near the railroad tracks in Union City Wednesday afternoon, loaded it into their car and took it to the police station, prompting an evacuation, police said. A woman walked into the front counter of the police department at 34009 Alvarado-Niles Road at about 1:30 p.m. and said she had found what appeared to be a “very large missile” on the railroad tracks off Zwissig Way, according to police. She and her husband had put the “missile” in the back seat of their car and taken it to the police station. Officers went outside,...

President Obama disappeared abruptly without the press pool after spending Sunday golfing at Andrews Air Force Base. No word on why Obama left without the press. The White House has deferred questions to the Secret Service.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —Service was restored late Tuesday night to all Wave Broadband customers in the greater Sacramento and Rocklin areas after a "deliberate act" caused a large outage, according to a Wave official. "The disruption to service in the Sacramento Rocklin markets due to the fiber cut of several partner carrier providers has been resolved," read a statement on Wave's website. "As of about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday night, phone, TV and Internet services are operating normally." The disruption to customers' phone, television and Internet services lasted nearly 20 hours as crews worked to repair fibers that were cut...

(04-09) 16:37 PDT SAN JOSE -- Vandals cut fiber-optic cable lines belonging to AT&T at two locations early today, knocking out phones and access to 911 emergency services to thousands of residential customers and businesses in southern Santa Clara County, in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties and along the Peninsula, authorities said. Four AT&T fiber-optic cables in an underground vault were severed shortly before 1:30 a.m. along Monterey Highway north of Blossom Hill Road in south San Jose, police Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said. Four more underground cables, at least two of which belong to AT&T, were cut about two...