Free Republic

Around the second floor, the elevator suddenly dropped a foot or two and stopped. Debris crashed against the roof and it sounded like the elevator was “caving in,” Bird said. “It went down seemingly fine,” said Bird, 37. Then the elevator "felt like it dropped suddenly about a foot or so.” After several calls to building security and finally police, fire crews pried open the elevator’s door and helped the people get out through a 4-foot gap. Neither appeared to be as dramatic as one in November, when a cable on an express elevator broke and it dropped about nine...

SUPERIOR, Ariz.—One of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits sits 7,000 feet below the Earth’s surface. It is a lode that operator Rio Tinto RIO +1.70% PLC wouldn’t have touched—until now. Not that long ago, an abundance of high-grade copper could be mined out of shallower open pits. But as those deposits are depleted and high-grade copper becomes tougher to find, firms such as Rio have been compelled to mine deeper underground. Advances in mining technology are making that possible—just as developments in oil and gas drilling heralded the fracking revolution. Now, using everything from sensors and data analytics to...

Anyone have trouble with MRIs being too confining? I couldn't get through my first one....but, today, used Klonopin and a lavender washcloth to cover my eyes and breathed in the aroma. Worked great. No panic. Have upper back pain I needed diagnosed. What are your tips and tricks?

Airline passengers are getting grumpier, and it’s little wonder. Airlines keep shrinking the size of seats to stuff more people onto planes, those empty middle seats that once provided a little more room are now occupied and more people with tickets are being turned away because flights are overbooked. Private researchers who analyzed federal data on airline performance also said in a report being released Monday that consumer complaints to the Department of Transportation surged by one-fifth last year even though other measures such as on-time arrivals and mishandled baggage show airlines are doing a better job. …

More than 2,000 people spent hours trapped inside the Channel Tunnel after four Eurostar trains broke down due to cold weather. The trains failed as they left the cold air in northern France and entered the warmer tunnel. Some passengers were evacuated to car shuttle trains, while others remained on the stranded trains overnight. Eurostar say the four trains have been moved from the tunnel and passengers are being transferred to England. Meanwhile, more snow and freezing temperatures are expected for parts of Scotland and south-east and eastern England. Heavy snowfall caused travel chaos, forced schools to close and cut...