National & International News
The day’s top national and international news
metro-north
21 minutes ago

"Absolutely Staggering": Dozens Injured in Conn. Train Crash

National Transportation Safety Board officials arrived on the scene on Saturday morning to begin investigating the cause of Friday night's rush hour train crash in Connecticut that injured 70 people. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and other officials spoke at a news conference on Saturday morning where they described a grisly scene after a commuter train derailed and was hit by an oncoming train. "The damage is absolutely staggering," said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. "Ribbons on the sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of clothes." Two commuters were critically injured, authorities said. The NTSB arrived in Connecticut at 9:00 a.m. to start looking into the cause of the accident, injuries sustained by the commuters and operator performance. The investigation could take seven to 10 days but that does not mean that service shutdown will take that long, according to Earl Weener, spokesperson for the board. The eastbound Metro-North train derailed just after 6:00 p.m. and was hit by a westbound train between the Bridgeport and Fairfield stations, officials said. Read »
Newark
2 hours ago

Plane Makes Belly Landing at Newark Airport

Plane Makes Belly Landing at Newark AirportNBCNewYork
An airline official says a US Airways flight with 34 people aboard was forced to make a belly landing at Newark International Airport after experiencing landing gear trouble. No injuries were reported. US Airways spokesman Davien Anderson tells The Associated Press that a turboprop plane that left Philadelphia shortly before 11 p.m. Friday landed safely at Newark with its landing gear retracted at about 1 a.m. Saturday. Anderson said the flight, being operated by Piedmont Airlines, was carrying 31 passengers and three crew members. He says the plane circled Newark in a holding pattern while working to get the gear down. After several failed attempts to get the gear down, the plane landed on its belly. Anderson says the passengers were evacuated to the terminal by bus. He says US Airways is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident. Read »
north korea
5 hours ago

North Korea Fires Three Short-Range Missiles

AP North Korea shot three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, according to NBC News. North Korea fired two missiles in the morning and one in the afternoon, however, the intention behind the firings is unknown. A Japanese government source said none of the missiles ended up in Japan's territorial waters. It is not uncommon for the country to perform routine tests of such missiles. The tension that existed on the Korean peninsula has fallen over the past month. North Korea has previously released a series of escalating threats of nuclear war after the U.N. imposed tougher sanctions on Pyongyang following its third nuclear test in February. During this time, South Korea reported that the North had transferred missile launchers to its east coast for a possible medium-range missile launch. Get More at NBC News

France
5 hours ago

France Becomes 14th Country to Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Getty France became the 14th country to legalize same-sex weddings after French President Francois Hollande signed a bill into law extending the right to marry to gay couples, according to NBC News. The legislation is one of the biggest social reforms the country has witnessed since abolishing the death penalty in 1981. The bill, which had been pledged by the Socialist president, had sparked much debating from conservatives in France. Opponents of the bill have engaged in heated protests, some of which have been violent. Frigide Barjot, a political activist and humorist, has said a protest is slated for May 29 will draw millions into the streets. However, polls show that more than half of the country supported gay marriage. Get More at NBC News

Cannes Film Festival
5 hours ago

Man Fires Pistol at Cannes Film Festival

AP A man at Cannes film festival was arrested after firing a starting pistol while a live TV broadcast was taking place, according to NBC News. French TV station Canal+ had been conducting an interview with actors Christoph Waltz and Daniel Auteuil in front of a crowd when the man fired two shots into the air. The actors ran for cover. "The bodyguards jumped over the barriers into the crowd and pulled him to the ground. The police arrived and told everyone to run because there was a grenade in his hand," spectator Arthur Laiguesse told Reuters. Police then arrested the man who had a knife and a dummy grenade. The festival has already seen a breach of security. Police claim that $1.4 million worth of Chopard jewelry intended for movie stars during the 12-day event had been stolen from a room at the Suite Novotel hotel overnight on Thursday. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 2:34 PM

Powerball Jackpot Hits $600M

Connecticut Lottery The jackpot for Saturday’s Powerball drawing has risen to $600 million, a Powerball record and the second-largest pot in U.S. lottery history, NBC News reported. The record for the largest ever lottery jackpot is $656 million for a Mega Millions drawing in March 2012. That pot was split among holders of three winning tickets. The estimated lump sum cash prize for Saturday's Powerball drawing is $376.9 million before taxes. Powerball tickets are sold for $2 each in 43 states, Washington, DC, and the Virgin Islands. The big reveal is set for 10:59 p.m. ET on Saturday. Get More at NBC News

Dog
2 hours ago

Deaf Dog Stolen, Held For Ransom: Family

Deaf Dog Stolen, Held For Ransom: FamilyTricia O'Kelley
Dognappers captured a deaf 11-year-old mini Yorkie from a yard in Hollywood and are demanding $1,000 from his owners, according to NBC Los Angeles. Walter, the dog, weighs around 5 pounds and was last seen Thursday afternoon. A blocked number called the cellphone of the dog's owners that night. The cellphone number was listed on the dog's ID tags. The man said he wanted $1,000 for the dog's return. The dognappers asked that the owners make fake fliers offering the money as a reward and meet them at a Chevron station with the money. While in the process of posting the fliers the man called again and claimed the police were called, and said he was keeping the dog. The dog has a condition that causes his trachea to collapse. The LAPD Hollywood Division is handling the case. Read »
hero cop
6 minutes ago

Hero Officer Charged With Holding Women Captive

Hero Officer Charged With Holding Women CaptiveNBC10.com
A former Philadelphia police officer once hailed as a hero and saluted by President Obama has been arrested, law enforcement sources said. Law enforcement sources say Richard DeCoatsworth is now in police custody after he allegedly held two women captive inside his home. Police raided DeCoatsworth’s house on the 2700 block of Salmon Street in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia around 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to sources. DeCoatsworth allegedly held the two women against their will at gunpoint for several days. He was arrested Saturday morning following the raid and is currently in custody. Police have not yet revealed the specific charges against him, the conditions of the two women or how he knew them. DeCoatsworth was shot in the face back in 2007 when he was a rookie officer. After being shot, he managed to chase down the suspect for several blocks before collapsing. He called in enough information by radio that police were able to track down and arrest the suspect later the same day. His heroism earned him an invitation from Vice President Joe Biden to attend President Obama’s first congressional address at the U.S. capital in February of 2009. The officer sat with First Lady Michelle Obama during the address. He was also honored by his peers as a 2008 Top Cop. Read »
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 12:54 PM
 

We looked up and the whole ceiling was gone.  

— Elizabeth Tovar of Granbury, Tex. survivor speaking about what she saw as she weathered the tornadoes that tore through North Texas on Wednesday
attifa brown
5 hours ago

Mom Accused of Attacking Daughter's Bully

Mom Accused of Attacking Daughter's BullyNBC10.com
A Philadelphia mom was arrested inside her daughter's school after police say she assaulted an 11-year-old student. Attifa Brown says she was upset her daughter was being bullied at school, but denies ever hitting the child. Police say there is a videotape of the incident that happened yesterday around 10:00 a.m. inside A.B. Anderson Elementary School in Cobbs Creek. "The tape showed this lady over my daughter for minutes, poking her in the face, pulling her hair and beating her," said Bobby Webster, mother of the 11-year-old victim. School officials are also looking to find out how Brown was able to walk into the school without signing in or without being questioned. Brown is facing a long list of charges, including ones for terroristic threats, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and defiant trespass. Read »
child
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 12:49 AM

Child Left in Car in School Parking Lot Dies

Child Left in Car in School Parking Lot DiesGetty Images and Dallas Police
A 1-year-old child is dead after being left alone in a vehicle that sat in an elementary school parking lot, according to NBC Dallas Fort-Worth. Vibha Marks, the mother of the child, has been arrested for abandoning the child with a serious bodily injury. Police claim that someone found the child in the unattended car in the faculty parking lot and broke into the vehicle. The person removed the child from the car and attempted CPR. The incident was called to the school and emergency workers transported the child to Baylor Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Read »
kai hatchet wielding hitchhiker
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 10:58 PM

"Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" Turned in by Barista

Authorities say the internet celebrity known as "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" was turned in to Philadelphia police by a coffee barista who recognized him as being a man wanted for murder in New Jersey. Union County Prosecutor Ted Romankow told NBC 4 New York on Friday that Caleb Lawrence McGillvary was buying coffee in a Philadelphia Starbucks Thursday evening when a worker recognized him and notified her supervisor. The supervisor called police, and officers arrived and found McGillvary, who is accused of killing Joseph Galfy, a lawyer from Clark, N.J. Galfy was found in his home on Monday, dead of blunt force trauma. Prosecutors say Galfy met McGillvary in Times Square Saturday night, and brought him back to his house to spend the night. They say they believe the two men had a sexual encounter. McGillvary gained internet notoriety earlier this year when he was hitchhiking with a man who allegedly attempted to run over a utility worker. Read »
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Friday, May 17, 2013 at 11:12 PM
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By An Phung

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NBCNews.com
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 10:43 PM

IRS Chief: "Foolish Mistakes" Behind Scandal


Outgoing IRS chief Steven Miller Friday blamed "foolish mistakes" for the agency's targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups for additional scrutiny over an 18-month period beginning in March 2010, and he said that he did not believe partisanship played any role in the controversy. "As acting commissioner I want to apologize on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service for the mistakes that we made and the poor service that we provided," Miller said at the outset of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose report unearthed the IRS controversy, also testified that there was no evidence government workers targeted conservatives for partisan reasons. The answers did not satisfy Republicans, who spent much of the hearing trying to advance a narrative of a "culture of intimidation" of Obama administration ideological opponents. More congressional hearings are planned for next week. Get More at NBC News

oj simpson
5 hours ago

Attorney: OJ Simpson Knew About Guns in Raid

Attorney: OJ Simpson Knew About Guns in RaidGetty
The attorney who represented OJ Simpson in a trial stemming from a bizarre 2007 Las Vegas hotel room raid testified Friday that he advised Simpson to call police after the former NFL Hall of Fame player mentioned plans to retrieve sports memorabilia. Attorney Yale Galanter added that Simpson confided to him that he knew two individuals in the group involved in the raid -- intended to retrieve sports memorabilia from a dealer -- had guns. Galanter's advice to Simpson -- who was sentenced to prison after the 2008 trial -- and the steakhouse meeting before the raid have been key parts of this week's hearing in Las Vegas. The ex-USC Trojan wants a judge to throw out the robbery-kidnapping convictions on the claim that Galanter failed to disclose that he knew about the hotel room raid in advance, told Simpson it was legal and provided bad advice at trial. Read »
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