9/11 Anniversary: Federal Authorities Probe Possible Terror Threat

By Mike Levine & Jennifer Griffin
Federal authorities have come across what they believe may be a credible threat to the U.S. homeland surrounding the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, several sources tell Fox News.

The threat, said to involve potential car bombs, would target New York City or Washington, D.C., sources said. Authorities have obtained what they believe is information on possible suspects tied to central Al Qaeda, but they have not necessarily determined names of possible suspects.

"As we know from the intelligence gathered from the [bin Laden] raid, Al Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries, such as 9/11," Department of Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said in a written statement. "In this instance, it's accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information."

According to a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the threat, "People are aggressively pursuing leads,” and it is "specific enough to elicit worry." Another senior U.S. official stressed the threat is still “unconfirmed” so it is being chased down and investigated. It was identified in intelligence received from overseas.

President Obama has been briefed on the seriousness of this threat, according to a senior administration official

"It feels more than aspirational," one official said.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security were drafting a bulletin Thursday night to send to local law enforcement across the country.

"We have a duty to warn,” the senior U.S. official said.

U.S. officials have been saying for days that there is no known credible threat related to the anniversary. But when asked Thursday by reporters whether that’s still the case, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano seemed to at first hesitate.

Then she said:

"It is still the case that we don't have something that would reach that standard, but we still have lots of chatter out there. And we take every bit of that seriously and track it down. ... The date is important because it's 9/11. But as I said, in the intel world there's lots of chatter and we're taking it all seriously. Should there be something that rises to the level where I have to issue a threat advisory, we will issue a threat advisory."

There were documents found inside Usama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that mentioned aspirations to strike on the 10th anniversary of the 2001 attacks.

Fox News' Ed Henry and Justin Fishel contributed to this report.

For more information contact

Homeland Security

at:

http://www.dhs.gov/

NYPD honors Sept. 11 victims in medal ceremony

 By COLLEEN LONG, The Associated Press 5:18 PM Thursday, September 8, 2011

NEW YORK — The New York Police Department has honored the officers who were killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks at the World Trade Center and those who worked on the toxic pile of rubble and died later.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the officers were among many brave men and women who helped rescue 25,000 people from the twin towers. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly thanked their families.

The NYPD handed out medals to the families of the 23 officers who died Sept. 11, 2001, and the 49 officers and one civilian employee who died since. It says the more recent deaths were caused by Sept. 11-related illnesses.

Navy veteran John DiStephano collected his nephew Walter Weaver's medal in Thursday's ceremony. He says it's "bittersweet."

Some people collecting medals walked on stage wearing their loved ones' police caps.

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Drunken elk rescued from Swede's apple tree

A drunken elk desperate for just one more mouthful of fermenting apples lost its balance in the attempt, leaving it stuck in an apple tree in western Sweden

When Per Johansson of Särö, south of Gothenburg, returned home from work on Tuesday it was dark outside and the rain was coming down hard. Suddenly Johansson heard a bellowing noise from the garden next door. 

“I thought at first that someone was having a laugh. Then I went over to take a look and spotted an elk stuck in an apple tree with only one leg left on the ground,” Johansson told The Local.

The unfortunate elk was desperately entangled in the tree’s branches and was kicking ferociously as Johansson approached. 

“I thought it looked pretty bad so I called the police who sent out an on-call hunter. But while we were waiting, the neighbours and I started to saw down some of the branches and then the hunter arrived with a saw as well,” said Johansson. 

The group tried to make the elk more comfortable but to no avail. 

It wasn’t until the fire brigade arrived on the scene and managed to bend the tree to the point where the exhausted elk could slide out of the branches that the animal was finally freed. 

According to Johansson, it looked very much like the elk was severely drunk after eating too many fermenting apples. 

Drunken elk are common in Sweden during the autumn season when there are plenty of apples lying around on the ground and hanging from branches in Swedish gardens. 

While the greedy animal was reaching ever higher to reach the delicious but intoxicating fruit, it most likely stumbled into the tree, getting itself hopelessly entangled in the branches. 

And from what Johansson could gather, this particular animal had been on a day-long bender.

“My neighbour recognised it as the animal that almost ran into her car earlier in the day. She was pretty sure the elk was already under the influence,“ said Johansson. 

When the inebriated elk was freed, it lay for a while on the ground, seemingly unconscious. 

After emergency services had ascertained that the animal was still alive, Johansson was told to keep an eye on it and call the hunter straight away if it seemed to be suffering. 

But by the morning the hungover animal had stood up and cautiously moved a few metres away.

After a while it went on its way, although Johansson suspects it is still skulking around the neighbourhood. 

“We often see elk stuffing their faces with apples around here but this is the first time we found one perched in a tree,” he told The Local.

Australia: Search for great white after surfer killed

WRLTHD Sports News

GEORGIA LONEY, The West Australian

The 21-year-old bodyboarder killed by a shark near Dunsborough yesterday was dead before fellow surfers could drag him ashore.

Police say the man was surfing at Bunker Bay with a mate when he was attacked just after 1pm, about 1km from the Bunkers Beach Cafe.

Dunsborough Sgt Craig Anderson said the Wilyabrup man was among a group of about five men surfing in an area known as The Boneyards.

"Out of nowhere it would appear that the young fellow has been taken by a shark," he said. "No one saw the shark itself but they've observed the young fellow's body in the water in amongst some blood.

"His mate and someone else that was surfing with him have pulled the body ashore, emergency services have been notified, but unfortunately the nature of the injuries mean the young fellow was deceased before he was pulled from the water."

Sgt Anderson described the young man who pulled his fatally injured friend ashore as heroic.

"You have to take your hat off to the young fellow who was surfing with him and his mate for bringing him ashore, the nature of his injuries were significant," he said.

Sgt Anderson said local residents had described yesterday's weather as "perfect shark conditions".

"It was dark and gloomy water, overcast skies, light rain falling, there was whale action in the bay and some seals about," he said.

He said the dead man was from the Eastern States and had been working in various jobs in WA for the past three or four years.

Despite a search, the shark had not been seen and the beach would stay closed.

He said a vessel would sweep the area today.

Onlookers said they believed the shark was a 4.5m great white.

Bunkers Beach Cafe manager Hamish McLeay said the cafe was full when the attack happened.

"We had a restaurant full of people, a beach full of people, great surf, beautiful day, typical South West day, then the word got out that someone had been taken by a shark, it's one of our favourite spots down the beach," he said.

"Everyone is saying you have more risk of being hit by a car or stung by a bee, it's one of those things . . . it's very unusual." It is the second fatal shark attack in the South West in the past year.

Last August, Busselton man Nick Edwards, 31, was taken by a shark while he surfing at Gracetown.

Shark expert Hugh Edwards said the Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin area was a "travel route" for sharks, particularly great whites.
"The risk of being attacked while in the water is very low but there's no doubt that there are far more people in the water in these areas than there were 10, 20 years ago so we are seeing more attacks," Mr Edwards said.

Tropical Storm Lee forms off US Gulf

By JANET MCCONNAUGHEY - Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A large storm system churning in the Gulf Of Mexico grew Friday into Tropical Storm Lee, beginning a holiday weekend-long assault that could bring up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain in some spots from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

The storm was expected to make landfall on the central Louisiana coast late Saturday and turn east toward 

New Orleans, where it would provide the biggest test of rebuilt levees since Hurricane Gustav struck during the Labor Day holiday in 2008.

Governors in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as the mayor of New Orleans, declared states of emergency. 

Officials in several coastal Louisiana communities called for voluntary evacuations.

Residents who have survived killer hurricanes such as Katrina in 2005 didn't expect Lee to live up to that legacy.

"It's a lot of rain. It's nothing, nothing to Katrina," said Malcolm James, 59, a federal investigator in New Orleans who lost his home after levees broke during Katrina in August 2005 and had to be airlifted by helicopter.

"This is mild," he said. "Things could be worse."

Lee comes less than a week after Hurricane Irene killed more than 40 people along the East Coast and knocked out power to millions. It was too soon to tell if Hurricane Katia, out in the Atlantic, could endanger the U.S.

By Friday evening, the outer bands of Lee, the 12th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, already began dumping rain over southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi and Alabama.

The storm's biggest impact, so far, has been in the Gulf of Mexico oil fields. About half the Gulf's normal daily oil production has been cut as rigs were evacuated, though oil prices were down sharply Friday on sour economic news.

Federal authorities said 169 of the 617 staffed production platforms have been evacuated, along with 16 of the 62 drilling rigs. That's reduced daily production by about 666,000 barrels of oil and 1.7 billion cubic feet of gas.

Tropical storm warning flags were flying from Mississippi to Texas and flash flood warnings extended along the Alabama coast into the Florida Panhandle. Lee had winds of 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour — minimal tropical storm strength.

The National Hurricane Center said the center of Lee was about 185 miles (295 km) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River on Friday and moving north at just 2 mph (4 kph). Its center was expected to make landfall in Louisiana over the weekend.

Forecasters say that Lee's maximum sustained winds have increased to 45 mph (75 kph), from 40 mph (65 kph), and could increase further.

In New Orleans' central business district, Friday seemed a typical day. Employees at big-box home improvement stores said residents weren't rushing in to stock up on supplies.

Merchants, however, worried the storm would dampen the Southern Decadence festival, an annual gay lifestyle fixture that rings cash registers on Labor Day weekend. Ann Sonnier, shift manager of Jester's bar, said receipts were disappointing so far.

"People are probably scared to death to come here after Katrina," she said.

White House: Five Nascar drivers decline President Obama's invitation

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) - Many people would jump at the chance to be honored by the President of the United States at the White House, regardless of their political views. But that might not be the case for a handful of NASCAR drivers. 
On Wednesday, President Obama will honor NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and the other 11 Chase drivers from last year in a white house ceremony. But about half of the 2010 playoff contenders will not be there.

According to NASCAR, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart will not be attending the White House visit.  They say it's due to "schedule conflicts."

But many are speculating that their motives are political in nature.

Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth will all attend.

Honor fellow World War II survivors while they're still alive

WRLTHD Headline News

Article by: AUDREY McAVOY , Associated Press

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - A Marine who fought in the Battle of Okinawa urged Americans on Friday to honor those who served in World War II now, while veterans from that conflict are still alive.

E. Bruce Heilman, speaking at a ceremony marking the 66th year since the end of the war, noted fewer than 2 million of the 16 million men and women who served in the war are alive. They are dying at a rate of 30,000 per month, he said.

Some 20 World War II veterans boarded the now decommissioned battleship, the Missouri — the same battleship where Japanese signed surrender documents formally ending the war — to participate in this year's ceremony in Pearl Harbor.

Heilman, who is a spokesman for the Greatest Generations Foundation, predicted not many would be able to come back in a decade's time.

"Most of those remaining, including those in the front row, will have passed on, so that few, if any, will be present for the ceremony of the 76th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. Those of us still here will be of age 95 to 101," Heilman said. "Therefore the importance of remembering now the sacrifices and acts of heroism representative of their service cannot be overstated."

Heilman, who is now the chancellor of the University of Richmond, joined the Marines at age 17. He was sent to Okinawa, where one of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought from April to June 1945, and served during the postwar occupation of Japan.

Some 300 people — including active duty sailors, Marines, airmen and soldiers — joined the veterans at the ceremony aboard the Missouri's teak deck.

The USS Missouri was anchored in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, when Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Army Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu came aboard to sign the documents. Several Allied leaders, including Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Adm. Chester Nimitz, were also present at the time.

The vessel, the last battleship ever built by the United States, is now a museum called the Battleship Missouri Memorial. It has been moored in Pearl Harbor for the past decade, overlooking the spot where the USS Arizona sank during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.