Travolta: Defendants threatened to blame me for son’s death

John Travolta testified Wednesday that would-be extortionists threatened to go the media with stories implying “the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable somehow.” Travolta testified for the second time in a case against paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater.

Share

3 men in terror probe charged with making false statements

Federal agents have charged a 24-year-old Colorado resident, his father and another man with making false statements as part of an extensive terror investigation that stretches to Pakistan. Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan national, and his father, Mohammed Wali Zazi, were arrested Saturday night in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Share

Two rockets strike southern Israeli city

Two rockets were fired Saturday morning from Gaza and landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, one of them hitting an educational institution and the other landing in an open area, the Israeli military said. Josias Krumpf, 83, lived for years after the war in Racine, Wisconsin.

Share

Hofstra student recants gang rape allegations

Charges have been dropped against four men accused of raping an 18-year-old student at Hofstra University after the woman recanted her allegations, prosecutors said. A judge dismissed all charges Wednesday night and ordered the release of the four men — Jesus Ortiz, 19; Stalin Felipe, 19; Kevin Taveras, 20; and Rondell Bedward, 21; all of the New York metropolitan area, according to Nassau County, New York, District Attorney Kathleen Rice

Share

FBI: Beating outside Cracker Barrel may be hate crime

The FBI is investigating as a possible hate crime an incident in which a woman was beaten to the ground in front of her child at the entrance to a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Morrow, Georgia, south of Atlanta. Troy Dale West Jr., of Poulan, Georgia, is facing charges including misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct after allegedly beating Army reservist Tashawnea Hill, 35, after the two had words just outside the Morrow, Georgia, restaurant the evening of September 9

Share

California cemetery accused of desecrating remains

One of the largest Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles, California, area has been accused of desecrating the remains of those buried there, according to a lawsuit. The suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that employees at Eden Memorial Park, in Mission Hills, California, “intentionally, willfully and secretly desecrated the remains of deceased individuals,” often moving them to make room for new remains

Share