United Airline Slides Off Albany Runway

A United Airlines plane slid off a runway, Saturday night.

It happened in Albany, New York, as the plane was taxiing, before heading to Chicago.

Light snow had been falling all day and the plane slipped right off the runway, into a snow bank.

None of the sixty-five passengers or crew were injured, in the incident.

They were, however, bused back to the terminal and had to wait for a new place.

No other delays took place at the airport.

The plane has been removed from the snow bank and will be investigated, before further use.

Earlier Saturday, a Russian airliner went off a Moscow runway, killing four.

Explosion in Karachi Kills 5

Five people were killed and fifty more injured when a bomb exploded on a bus.

The explosion happened in Karachi, Pakistan, on Saturday.

Nearby buildings, vehicles, and people were all hit by the bus, which had just left the Cantonment Railway Station.

Fires burned for some time, before all of them could be extinguished.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, and it is not clear if it was a suicide bomber, or not.

Russian Airline Crash Kills 4

A Russian airliner skidded off it's runway and crashed into a highway, on Saturday.

As it slid, it split into three separate pieces.

Luckily there were no passengers aboard, but sadly four of it's twelve crew members were killed in the crash.

Part of the Vnukovo airport, as well as the highway, were closed while the investigation and clean up took place.

The plane was a Tu-204, about the size of 757, and was operated by Red Wings, a Russian carrier.

This was the first major accident for the Tu-204s, which were produced in the 1990s.

French Tax on Rich Deemed Discrimination

Hollande

French President Francois Hollande's plans have run into a slight problem.

Much like US President Obama, he had proposed and strongly supported a higher tax rate on the rich.

Hollande's plan would have added a seventy-five percent tax rate for those who make more than one million euros a year.

Parliament had approved the tax, in September, and it had already been calculated into the 2013 budget.

However, on Saturday, the Constitutional Council decided that such a tax "failed to recognise equality before public burdens".

According to them, because the tax singled out individuals, it was a form of discrimination.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that the government will still go ahead with the new tax rate, adding "the government will propose a new system that conforms with the principles laid down by the decision of the Constitutional Council".

China Requires People to Visit Elderly Parents

China passed new legislation, on Friday, that requires people visit their elderly parents, "often".

Under the new law, parents who feel neglected or abandoned can sue their children, for not visiting them enough.

The law does not say just how often "often" is.

It was made as an attempt to bring back the importance that family once had, for the Chinese.

Very few assisted living and retirement home options are available, in China, leaving the elderly dependent upon family or charity.

23 Pakistani Police Missing After Taliban Attack

Twenty-three Pakistani police are believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban, on Thursday.

Militants attacked two police outposts in the Darra Adam Khel tribal region, killing two officers.

Twenty-five officers had been stationed, between the two outposts, but only the two dead were found.

On Friday, Pakistan announced that it might punish the tribe, if the police are not rescued.

The tribe was given until Monday to accomplish their mission, or financial aid from the government may be cut off.

Under Pakistani tribal law, tribes can be held responsible for attacks which happen in their territory.

3 Officers Wounded, Gunman Killed in New Jersey

Three police officers were wounded in their own station, early Friday morning.

An as of yet unidentified man had been brought into the Gloucester Township Police station for a domestic abuse case.

While undergoing processing he began to struggle with officers, and somehow managed to get hold of one of their guns.

Officers shot the man, killing him, but not before he had shot and wounded three of their number.

One of the officers required surgery for his wounds, at Cooper University Hospital , while the other two were treated and released for minor wounds.

Velayat 91 Underway in Iran

Velayat 91, Iran's latest war games, began on Friday, and will continue through Wednesday.

Taking place in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman, and northern parts of the Indian Ocean the games will be Iran's largest ever, geographically.

Guardianship 91, as it would be in English, is set to involve almost all of Iran's navy, amphibious forces, and land to sea missile batteries, as well as some of their air power.

During the games, Iran will once again show the world how easy it would be for Iran to close off the Strait of Hormuz, through which forty percent of the world's oil travels.

Iran did so last December as well, prompting US and allied forces to hold their own war games there, in August, to test how they would fight to keep it open.

Infant Recliners Being Recalled

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission ordered a recall, on Thursday.

One hundred and fifty thousand Nap Nanny Generations One and Two and Chill infant recliners are being recalled.

Five infants have died and ninety-two been injured, while using the recliners, made by Baby Matters.

The commission noted that Baby Matters refused to participate in the recall.

Baby Matters says that as long as the recliners are properly used, no injures will occur.

President George H W Bush's Statement on The Death of General Schwarzkopf

Schwarzkopf, left, Bush, right

From his hospital bed at Methodist Hospital in Houston, former President George H. W. Bush released a statement regarding the death of retired General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.

"Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. A distinguished member of that Long Gray Line hailing from West Point, General Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great Nation through our most trying international crises. More than that, he was a good and decent man, and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife Brenda and his wonderful family."