How Osama bin Laden Got Killed

Shear English - Osama bin Laden was killed in a helicopter raid on a mansion in an area north of the Pakistani capital, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Monday.

Four helicopters launched the attack in the Bilal area of Abbottabad, about 100 kilometers north of Islamabad, said a Pakistani intelligence official. One of the helicopters crashed after it apparently was hit by fire from the ground, the official said. He gave no word on casualties.

He said the helicopters took off from a Pakistani air base in the north of the country. Women and children were taken into custody during the raid, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the raid was on a mansion close to Islamabad. Announcing the operation in a televised statement in Washington, President Barack Obama said the operation took place Sunday.

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Obama: Osama bin Laden Killed by U.S. Forces

Shear English - Osama Bin Laden has been killed by the U.S. military after a decade-long hunt to avenge the 9/11 attacks. The leader of Al Qaeda was killed in a gun battle with some members of his family in an attack on a mansion outside Islamabad in Pakistan. The U.S. military has recovered the body and intelligence sources have confirmed his identity. Within minutes of the news breaking Americans began gathering outside the White House to wave American flags, sing the national anthem and chant: ‘USA! USA!’

Sources said that Bin Laden was not killed by a drone but by ground forces attacking a home in Islamabad. President Obama said that the attack had been in the planning for months but that he gave the authorisation for the action today. Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed the killing and said it was the result of a ‘highly sensitive intelligence operation’ involving themselves and the U.S.

Bin Laden has been sought by America since 2001, when he masterminded the September 11 attacks that left 2,700 dead and led to the invasion of Afghanistan as America sought to track him down. The dramatic development will be a major victory for Barack Obama who made a statement to the nation to outline more details. Relatives of those who died on 9/11 immediately welcomed the killing. Carie Lamack, who lost her mother Judy on American Airlines flights 11 on 9/11, said: ‘I cannot express how this feels to my family. Relief is one word.’

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Zagato's V10 Alfa Supercar

Shear English - Built by famed Italian coachbuilder Zagato, the TZ3 Stradale is an Alfa Romeo-bodied sports car with the mechanical hardware of a Dodge Viper SRT-10 ACR - including its tyre-frying 450kW/760Nm 8.4-litre V10 engine. The Stradale is the second TZ3 model from the design and engineering house following the one-off TZ3 Corsa, revealed last year as a tribute to the Alfa Romeo TZ (Tubolare Zagato) sports cars of the 1960s.

The latest incarnation also continues the celebration of Alfa Romeo's 100th anniversary and the two companies’ long-term links. Just nine examples will be built with the first going to US Alfa Romeo and Zagato collector Eric King, while cars number two and three are destined for wealthy collectors in Japan and Europe, respectively.

Zagato says its latest TZ3 is a design exercise — not a race car — unlike the track-focused Corsa with its 313kW, 4.2-litre Maserati V8 and mere 850-kilogram body weight. Instead, the ‘‘avant-garde car’’ combines American muscle with a sleek carbon-fibre body that blends traditional and modern Alfa and Zagato styling cues, albeit appearing straight out of the ’90s.

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UFO Fan Hails Clearest Video yet : UFOs Get Closer Every Year

Shear English - It seems to be world centre for UFO videos, but this the image is extraordinarily clear. UFO enthusiast Michael Lee Hill, of Eastlake, has recorded many images of something mysterious over Lake Erie, Ohio. He has just released new footage filmed along the lakefront that he says is his best so far. Mr Hill said: 'It was probably one of the craziest nights of activity I've ever experienced.'

The images show several sets of coloured lights flashing over Lake Erie, while appearing to remain still. Mr Hill said: 'I've been filming these for a long time and it's just grown to the point where they've let me know, they know I'm sittin' there filming them. 'You know, they come in - every year they've come in closer and closer.'

Several people in the area believe the lake is a hotbed for extraterrestrial activity. Ed Husa lives in Euclid and often walks his dog in a local park. 'I go outside and I look up in the sky and I see them all the time up there. 'Every so often you see strange lights blinking on and off.'

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US Readies Probe on Google's Search Dominance

Shear English - The US Federal Trade Commission is alerting high-tech companies to gather data in preparation for a probe of Google Inc.’s dominance of the Internet search industry, three people familiar with the matter said. The agency told the companies that it plans to issue so- called civil investigative demands for the information, said the people, who requested anonymity because the FTC hasn’t made the matter public. The demands are similar to subpoenas.

The FTC, which has been considering a broad investigation, waited until the Justice Department concluded its own review of Mountain View, California-based Google’s acquisition of ITA Software Inc., two people familiar with the matter said earlier this month. The Justice Department on April 9 approved Google’s $US700 million purchase of ITA on the condition it makes travel data available to search-engine rivals and lets the government review complaints that it’s acting unfairly.

An FTC investigation “has the potential to be very significant,” Eleanor Fox, a law professor at New York University, said in an interview. “It could be ‘Google as the next Microsoft’,” Fox said, referring to the Justice Department probe and lawsuit settlement involving the Redmond, Washington- based software maker. The final judgment in the Microsoft case expires next month. A Google spokesman, Adam Kovacevich, declined to comment. Cecelia Prewett, an FTC spokeswoman, also declined to comment, saying that she doesn’t confirm investigations.

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Somali Pirates Finally Free Indonesian Cargo Ship

Shear English - Somali pirates have freed an Indonesian bulk carrier after the ship’s owner paid a ransom, pirates and a maritime source said on Saturday. 

The Sinar Kindus was captured by pirates on March 16 approximately 320 miles north of east Socotra in the Somali basin, with its crew of 20. Pirates said they released the ship after a ransom payment was airdropped to them.

“We received the cash of $4.5 million early this morning. We have abandoned the ship and it is preparing to sail away,” a pirate who gave his name as Geney told Reuters from El-Dhanane coastal village.

Andrew Mwangura, a Kenya-based former maritime official and now the maritime editor of The Somalia Report confirmed the ship had been freed, adding it had not started to sail away yet.

Pirate gangs are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms as international navies patrolling the Gulf Of Aden struggle to contain piracy in the Indian Ocean due to the vast distances involved. 

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