Новости за 26.12.2015

Benin prime minister fine after helicopter crash, gov't says COTONOU, Benin (AP) — The spokesman for Benin's Interior Ministry says a helicopter carrying Benin's prime minister has crashed in the country's northwest, but he is unhurt.

The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/1NHef5m ) that fabrication labs have been placed on the aircraft carrier Truman and amphibious assault ship Kearsarge. The labs consist of two 3-D printers, a desktop computer and a flat-screen monitor with a wireless keyboard and mouse.

Lt. j.g. Jonas Miller, command duty officer at Sector Delaware Bay, said in a statement that no one was injured and the event caused no pollution. Miller said officials will try to find out what caused the grounding, looking at factors such as aids to navigation, vessel traffic, and tides and currents.

Miami airport train back in service after derailment MIAMI (AP) — Officials at Miami International Airport say a train that derailed during a maintenance check is back in service.

[...] a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, says firefighters didn't find any smoke when they responded to the Spirit Airlines plane Saturday morning. Airline spokesman Stephen Schuler says there were reports of sparks in the power unit that provides electricity to the Airbus 321 when it's grounded.

In a statement posted on its website Saturday, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons — an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK — said it attacked Sabiha Gokcen Airport with mortar guns. Turkish security forces last week launched a large-scale operation to rout militants linked to the PKK in mostly Kurdish districts.

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — Idaho officials say changing the rear lights on snowplows from flashing yellow to flashing red has resulted in fewer mishaps by motorists approaching the road-clearing machines from behind. "Too many people were ignoring the flashing yellows and running right up to the snowplows," Idaho Transportation Department spokesman Reed Hollinshead told The Lewiston Tribune (http://bit.ly/1NExw7m). Officials with the Washington Department of Transportation say they have no plans to switch to flashing red lights on snowplows. Читать дальше...

DENVER (AP) — A United Airlines passenger jet suffered minor damage at Denver International Airport on Saturday when an engine caught fire at a gate while it was being moved by mechanics. DIA spokeswoman Mindy Crane says there were no passengers on board and the fire was quickly put out by the Denver Fire Department. No injuries were reported. Denver Fire Department spokesman Mike Pylar says the Boeing 757 jet is being checked to make sure the fire did not damage any other parts of the aircraft.

The bids are part of two long-sought projects, and now that the work is progressing, transportation officials are dealing with fewer complaints about the state favoring improvements in eastern Iowa and Des Moines over western Iowa. The Highway 20 worked has progressed rapidly since the Legislature last session approved a 10-cent-a-gallon fuel tax, which is forecast to raise more than $200 million for highway improvements. The Interstate 29 project will replace seven bridges and complete other paving... Читать дальше...

Positive Train Control technology was also activated recently on the Philadelphia-to-Washington section, and the stretch from Boston to New Haven was already operational. Positive Train Control technology uses GPS and other tracking systems to automatically stop trains in danger of derailing because they're speeding, are about to collide with another train, or are about to enter a work area.

(AP) — When Tom Emmer burst — vociferously — onto Minnesota's political scene a decade ago, the Republican's style rocketed him through the state Legislature and brought him within a whisker of the governor's office. [...] his first impulse is to say little when political allies or foes stir things up. Ron Carey, a former Minnesota Republican Party chairman and former chief of staff to Bachmann, said Emmer is positioning himself well by laying low and building ties. Hoff said Emmer should be speaking up more... Читать дальше...

Combine these transportation revenue add-ons with the 2013 law overhauling how the state decides which projects get built, and legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory have made significant strides recently to address anticipated transportation needs for the nation's ninth most-populous state. "In the last couple of years there's been dramatic progress in beginning to deal with long-term transportation funding," said Berry Jenkins a former state Depart of Transportation highway executive and lobbyist with the Carolinas Associated General Contractors... Читать дальше...

(AP) — Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is closing its environmentally themed store at DEEP's headquarters in Hartford and moving all operations online. DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said the online store will continue to provide environmentally themed gifts, books and publications for children and adults, in addition to state park passes.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A $460 million (Canadian) settlement fund for victims of an oil train disaster in Canada is fully funded, keeping the process on track for the first payments to victims early in the new year. The disaster was caused when a runaway train with 72 oil tankers derailed in July 2013, in Lac Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people and causing raging fires.

When a similar traveling wall came to Memorial Boulevard in 1998, tens of thousands of people were drawn to it during its stint in Bristol, arriving day and night to touch a loved one's name, leave behind a memento or just to pay their respects. Reflecting on the growing age of Vietnam veterans, nearly all of them senior citizens now, Trudel said, "Before long, we won't have these guys around." The wall coming next year is slated to open to the public on June 9 along the V-shaped walkways on the north side of the boulevard... Читать дальше...

(AP) — Authorities say a fast-moving brush fire near Ventura has led to the closure of a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. Ventura County Fire says the blaze near Solimar Beach reached about 900 acres by early Saturday, threatened about 30 homes and closed miles of Pacific Coast Highway, the Ventura County Star reported (http://bit.ly/1Pp10st).

How to help their mother, Lanice Walker, navigate the Chicago Housing Authority's system to move her kids to a safer home. Glynn turned to the Health Justice Project, a joint effort of Erie Family Health Center and Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Since 2010, project attorneys have received more than 2,000 referrals about patients with legal issues such as housing, education, disability and family law. Nationally, the medical-legal movement, rooted in AIDS patient activism, now boasts... Читать дальше...

"The only problem I've got when I'm here is having to work out with Marines in the gym," Obama said during his annual Christmas Day visit with U.S. troops at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay. Because I generally feel like your commander in chief is in pretty good shape, and then I get next to some guy, you know, curling 100 pounds and it makes me feel small. In his first public comments on the attack, Obama praised the six individuals as "outstanding, brave men and women." The six service members... Читать дальше...

(AP) — A man was involved in a dramatic shootout with San Francisco Bay Area transit police on Friday, injuring the suspect and the officer, before a body was found inside a truck connected with the man. Investigators found a man's body inside a U-Haul truck that officers saw being pushed by 27-year-old Charles Goetting on Friday morning, a San Francisco Bay Area transit spokeswoman said. Mauricio Palma, 15, who had just opened a new drone for Christmas, said he and his father ran out when they... Читать дальше...

The National Weather Service says search and rescue efforts are ongoing in Birmingham, Alabama, where a tornado moved through in the past hour. Details are still sketchy, Holmes said, and nightfall is making it hard for storm spotters to identify tornado activity. The American Red Cross of North Mississippi's disaster program manager, Nicholas Garbacz (GAR-bach), says members of the Marine Corps helped turn the Eddie Smith Multi-Purpose Center in Holly Springs into a substitute Santa's Workshop. Читать дальше...

(AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area transit officer was shot in the arm by a fleeing suspect Friday who was then shot by a second officer, officials said. The officer suffered a non-life threatening wound in the morning shooting, Bay Area Rapid Transit spokeswoman Denisse Gonzalez said.

— Iraqi forces launch a large-scale offensive to take Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from the Islamic State group, the first step in a campaign to reclaim parts of northern Iraq from the Sunni extremists. — The former wife of a prosecutor whose mysterious death has rocked Argentina says a team of experts she hired concluded that he was killed and his body moved to the bathroom floor where he was found dead. — Two helicopters carrying French sports stars filming a popular European reality show crash in a remote part of Argentina... Читать дальше...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says up to 185 vehicles have a low-pressure fuel line that may not connect properly to the fuel pump's feed pipe. Separately, Ford is recalling some model year 2013 vehicles because of the fuel-delivery unit may crack and cause a fuel leak.