Former New York City Cops Held Over 9/11 Fraud

Former New York police officers and firefighters, who falsely claimed they were disabled as a result of the September 11 attacks, have been arrested in a sweeping fraud investigation.

They are among more than 100 people charged over the "massive" social security fraud worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The accused allegedly collected tens of thousands of dollars a year in social security disability benefits by claiming they were completely incapacitated by serious psychiatric disorders and other ailments.

But, according to court documents, they were in fact living normal lives; one of the accused flew a helicopter while another played blackjack in Las Vegas.

One of the accused taught and performed mixed martial arts but was still claiming benefits of typically between $30,000 (£18,000) and $50,000 (£30,400) a year. In some instances, the total amount fraudulently obtained was nearly $500,000 (£305,000) per applicant.

More than 2,700 people were killed in the attacks in New York

Of the 106 charged in the decades-long scam, 80 were retired New York police officers or firefighters.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said: "Many participants cynically manufactured claims of mental illness as a result of September 11, dishonouring the first responders who did serve their city at the expense of their own health and safety."

As far back as 1988, the four main defendants - Raymond Lavallee, 83, Thomas Hale, 89, Joseph Esposito, 64, and John Minerva, 61 - conspired to help or make hundreds of applicants falsely claim disabilities in order to collect benefit payments in addition to their public pensions, court documents say.

Prosecutors said the applicants claimed they suffered from a psychiatric condition that prevented them from working, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety or depression.

Mr Vance said: "This alleged scam further depleted the already limited resources available for battling the real and complex conditions of PTSD and depression."

William Bratton called the alleged crimes were "disgraceful"

New York City Police Department commissioner William Bratton said: "The retired members of the NYPD indicted in this case have disgraced all first responders who perished during the search and rescue efforts on September 11, 2001, and those who subsequently died from 9/11 related illness, by exploiting their involvements that tragic day for personal gain."

Hale and Esposito, the latter a retired member of the NYPD, allegedly coached benefit applicants to falsely describe symptoms of depression and anxiety to doctors they had recruited.

They instructed applicants on how to fail memory tests with plausibility, how to dress, and on their demeanour.

For example, almost every claim included phrases such as "I nap on and off during the day" and "I have the TV on to keep me company".

More than 2,700 people were killed in New York on September 11, 2001, when two passenger planes, hijacked by Islamist militants, slammed into the World Trade Center.

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Polar Vortex: Deep Freeze Strikes East And South

The record-breaking polar air blast affecting more than half the US population has spread to the East and South, sending the mercury plunging into the single digits.

The polar vortex that started in the Midwest over the weekend covered about half of the country by Tuesday.

In New York City, the temperature fell to -12C (11F), slightly cooler than Boston's -8C (18F).

Across the South, records were shattered.

Freezing passengers wait for trains in Chicago

Birmingham, Alabama, dipped to a low of -14C, breaking the record of -12C set in 1970.

Atlanta saw a record low of -14C and Nashville, Tennessee, got down to -17C.

It was just -17C at Washington Dulles International airport, eclipsing the 1988 mark of -13C.

The crippling cold continued to impact the Midwest as well, with the mercury dipping to -24C overnight in the Chicago area.

More than 500 Amtrak passengers were stranded overnight on three Chicago-bound trains that were stopped by blowing and drifting snow in Illinois.

The waterfall frozen oustide a museum in Washington

In Kentucky, a fugitive who escaped a minimum security facility on Sunday, surrendered to authorities on Monday because of the cold when temperatures plunged to -29C with the wind chill.

The weather also has been blamed for a number of deaths across Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

They included a 48-year-old Chicago man who had a heart attack while shovelling snow on Sunday and an elderly woman who was found outside her Indianapolis home early on Monday.

The worst of the big freeze should be over in the next day or two.

A satellite image shows the polar vortex sweeping across the US. Pic: Nasa

Warmer weather - at least, near or above freezing - is in the forecast for much of the stricken part of the country.

On Tuesday, many schools and day care centres across the eastern half of the US were closed.

Officials opened shelters for the homeless and anyone else who needed a warm place.

With the bitter cold slowing baggage handling and aircraft refuelling, airlines cancelled more than 2,000 flights, bringing the four-day total to more than 11,000.

Pensacola, Florida - a Gulf Coast city better known for its white sand beaches than frost - saw its streets deserted as temperatures plummeted.

Nearly half of the US has been impacted by the freezing temperatures

Monica Anderson and Tommy Howard jumped up and down and blew on their hands while they waited for a bus.

"I'm not used to it. It is best just to stay inside until it gets better," said Ms Anderson, who added she could not recall it ever being so cold.

PJM Interconnection, which operates the power grid that serves more than 61 million people in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South, asked users to conserve electricity because of the cold.

Across the South, the Tennessee Valley Authority said power demand in the morning reached the second-highest winter peak in the history of the Depression-era utility.

Temperatures averaged -15C across the utility's seven-state region.

In Chicago, it was too cold even for the polar bear at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Although polar bears can handle sub-zero temperatures in the wild, the zoo said Anana was kept inside on Monday because she does not have the thick layer of fat that bears typically get from feeding on seals and whale carcasses.

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Qatar World Cup Will Not Be In Summer Months

By Paul Kelso, Sport Correspondent

The 2022 World Cup will not be played in Qatar during June and July, Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke has said.

Speaking to French radio, Valcke ruled out holding the controversial tournament in the heat of the Gulf state's summer, when temperatures can reach 50C, saying a date between November and January 2023 is more appropriate.

"The dates for the World Cup will not be June to July," Valcke, the second most powerful man in international football's governing body, told Radio France.

"To be honest, I think it will be held between November 15 and January 15 at the latest.

The Lusail Stadium will host the tournament's opening match and final

"If you play between November 15 and the end of December that's the time when the weather conditions are best, when you can play in temperatures equivalent to a warm spring season in Europe, averaging 25 degrees.

"That would be perfect for playing football."

Valcke's comments appear to pre-judge a consultation he is leading on the instruction of the Fifa executive committee.

Last October, Fifa President Sepp Blatter said he would consult all those affected by a dramatic change to football's traditional calendar before making a definitive decision.

Fans in Doha, Qatar, celebrate winning the right to host the World Cup

Valcke has been speaking to football authorities around the world including the Premier League in order to find a solution to a problem of Fifa's own making.

The Premier League would prefer the tournament not to be moved but will find a November tournament easier to accommodate than one played in January, when the domestic calendar is busier.

Fifa's top inspector, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, said in October that a summer tournament in Qatar would be "impossible" - even with the cooling technology proposed by organisers.

Qatar surprised many when it secured the tournament in a 2010 Fifa vote

FA chairman Greg Dyke also told Sky News that the temperatures "would be impossible for the fans".

Fifa shocked many in the football world when it awarded the World Cup to the Arab state following a vote in December 2010, where it beat the likes of the US and South Korea.

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Schumacher Ski Accident Off 'Well-Marked' Slope

Prosecutors investigating Michael Schumacher's ski accident said examination of his helmet camera showed he had left a properly marked out trail at the time of his fall.

Albertville prosecutor Patrick Quincy said the two-minute film from the helmet camera was very clear and showed the former  Formula 1 driver lost his balance in the French resort of Meribel and struck his head on a rock.

The fall left him in a critical condition and he has been in a medically induced coma since December 29.

Investigators said they had established the signage on the slopes was in accordance with regulations, but the area where Schumacher was hurt was "virgin territory" so was not marked and could be dangerous.

"There are French standards setting rules on safety, signalling, demarcation ... The checks we have made show these standards had been respected," Mr Quincy said.

However, he said the investigation would take time to establish whether the area where he was skiing could be classed as an "official piste" in French law.

Investigators have visited the scene of the accident in Meribel

The video will now be examined by a police expert in mountaineering.

Problems with the rented skis Schumacher was wearing have also been ruled out.

Mr Quincy said Schumacher was "obviously a very good skier" but had not been able to slow himself down in the rocky area of the slope where he fell.

Describing the sequence of events after the former F1 driver went off-piste, he said: "At one point his skis touch a rock, he loses balance and falls forward and his head hits a rock which is 3.5 metres below.

"The rock he hit is eight metres from the edge of the piste and Mr Schumacher on the ground, inanimate, is nine metres from the edge of the piste. That's the information we have with regard to the inquiry."

Early viewings of the helmet camera footage appear to confirm this sequence of events.

Prosecutors said Mr Schumacher's wife Corinna had been 'very co-operative'

The inquiry has not yet been able to confirm reports that Schumacher - who was on a family holiday - was going to the aid of a relative when he fell or the speed at which he was travelling, Mr Quincy said. 

Police chief Stephane Bozon said Schumacher's speed increased when he entered the steeper off-piste section and he had tried to slow down but had difficulty because of the nature of the slope.

Mr Quincy said investigators have also spoken to emergency services and doctors and visited the scene of the accident.

The Albertville prosecutor's office carries out around 50 investigations into serious skiing and climbing accidents every year, he added.

On Monday, a source said he had made a "slight improvement" but remained in a stable but critical condition.

There was initially speculation that Schumacher was travelling up to 100kph (60mph) when he crashed, after it was revealed his helmet had split on impact.

But subsequent reports suggested he was travelling at a "leisurely pace" of up to 20kph (12mph).

Schumacher, known affectionately as 'Schumi' by fans, is the most successful F1 driver in history, racking up a record 91 race wins.

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Iraq Gets US Military Boost Amid Rising Unrest

Iraq Violence Was 'Waiting Powder Keg'

Updated: 1:10pm UK, Monday 06 January 2014

By Tim Marshall, Diplomatic Editor

The fighting in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi threatens to hasten the disintegration of a country in chaos.

The upsurge of violence has simply highlighted a pattern of sectarian strife which emerged in early 2013 and shows no signs of ending.

Unlike during the violence of 2006/07, the Americans are no longer around to stand between the sectarian factions.

Fallujah and Ramadi are in Anbar province in the west of Iraq, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and is the stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). 

Under Saddam Hussein, the Sunnis dominated the country but that came to an end after the US led invasion of 2003.

The regional, ethnic, and sectarian tensions in Iraq were always present since its inception as a state in 1920, but the lid was taken off this simmering pot by the American invasion.

The subsequent botched attempts at nation building widened the sectarian divide.

The Americans fought the Shia and Sunni militia, the Sunni and Shia fought one another, and the Kurds in the north warned everyone to keep their distance.

The US forces struggled and only achieved a degree of relative stability during the 'Sunni Awakening'.

The Sunni tribes, realising they were losing control of Anbar province to al Qaeda, allied with the Americans. 

Al Qaeda may have been Sunni, but they were mostly foreign fighters and they had designs on the territory of Anbar. The temporary alliance worked and the violence receded.

In 2011 Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government refused to allow the Americans even 'basing rights' for a skeleton force and so the US military pulled out completely.

There was now no one left to stand between the factions, or broker deals, if they began to fight again.

The Shia are the majority among the Arabs in Iraq, and under Maliki they have taken control of the main levers of power in the country; the military, the judiciary, the interior ministry, and the cabinet.

Sunnis felt increasingly disenfranchised and the victims of repression.

A year ago they began demonstrations in Ramadi and Fallujah calling for the freeing of tens of thousands of prisoners held without charge by Maliki's forces. The protests spread to other Sunni areas in the country. 

The Prime Minister said the demonstrations and protests camps were a front for al Qaeda and secessionists and ordered the security forces to break them up. Hundreds of people were killed in the ensuing violence and a campaign of terrorism across the country killed thousands.

Subsequent attempts at compromise were undermined by hardliners on both sides in parliament.

Anbar province was a powder keg waiting to explode.

Late last month, Maliki ordered a military raid on an ISIS camp in western Anbar, the arrest of a senior Sunni politician in Ramadi, and the clearing of a protest camp.

The backlash came almost immediately. The Sunni tribes rose up and quickly reformed their militias. They took on the government forces pushing them out of Ramadi and Fallujah.

Some, fearing that Al Qaeda would take revenge for the 'awakening', also targeted ISIS fighters.

Now the Iraqi army is poised on the outskirts of the two cities waiting to take them back. 

As the Americans found, the fighting will be hard, with no guarantee of success. The longer it goes on, the greater the chance that it will spread and the more it will undermine the national elections set for April 30.

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Spain: King Juan Carlos' Daughter In Court

The youngest daughter of Spain's King Juan Carlos has been ordered to appear in court for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud and money laundering.

Palma de Mallorca court judge Jose Castro ordered 48-year-old Infanta Cristina to appear for questioning about her links to the business affairs of her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma.

The former Olympic handball player is under investigation for alleged embezzlement of public funds.

A court on the island of Majorca is looking into claims Mr Urdangarin and his former business partner, Diego Torres, embezzled six million euros (£5m) in public funds via the Noos Institute, a charitable foundation he created to organise sports events.

The princess was a member of the board of the foundation and jointly owned another company called Aizoon with her husband, which investigators suspect served as a front for laundering the money.

The three deny wrongdoing.

In a written ruling, the judge said he had decided to hear Cristina's testimony on March 8. Formal charges could follow. 

It is the first time a direct relative of the monarch has been ordered to appear in court accused of wrongdoing. 

The reputation of King Juan Carlos has been damaged by the affair

In November, a luxury villa and other properties belonging to Urdangarin were seized to cover the 6m euro bond for his liability in the case.

The investigations have damaged the reputation of 76-year-old Juan Carlos, who has been on the throne for almost 40 years and helped in the country's transition to democracy after the death of dictator General Francisco Franco.

A recent poll published in the daily newspaper El Mundo found that more than half of Spaniards wanted him to abdicate and let his son Prince Felipe take the throne.

Speaking at the weekend, the head of the royal household, Rafael Spottorno, said the investigation had become a "martyrdom" for the royal family and urged the judge to wrap up the investigation quickly.

He told public television channel TVE: "We have to trust in the justice system. We have always respected the judge's duties. But the only thing we ask is that he finish it soon."

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Polar Vortex: 187 Million Hit By Big Freeze

More than half the US population is under a wind chill warning as a blast of freezing Arctic air sweeps south and east across the country, bringing the coldest temperatures for decades.

The whirlpool of dense air known as the "polar vortex" has caused a number of deaths, closed schools and businesses, cancelled thousands of flights and left highly-populated cities facing colder temperatures than Siberia.

Around 187 million people could eventually feel the effects of the freezing temperatures - and Americans have been warned their skin could freeze within minutes if they go outside.

The US East Coast is preparing for the cold front moving in from the Midwest on Tuesday and areas as far south as Brownsville, Texas and central Florida are facing record low temperatures.

Temperatures were 11 to 22C (20 to 40F) below average in parts of Montana, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nebraska and broke records in Chicago, Oklahoma and Texas, according to the National Weather Service.

A satellite image shows the polar vortex sweeping across the US. Pic: Nasa

The US saw colder temperatures than Almaty, Kazakhstan, where it was -22C (8F), Mongolia at -23C (-8F) and Irkutsk, in Siberia, at -33C (-27F).

The National Weather Service has issued life-threatening wind chill warnings for temperatures as low as -51C (-60F) in western and central Dakota and officials in Indiana - hit by high winds and more than a foot (30cm) of snow - urged residents to stay indoors.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard asked schools and businesses to stay closed for another day and said: "The cold is the real killer here.

A tractor is used to clear snow from Woodward Avenue in central Detroit

"You could be dead in 10 minutes without the proper clothes."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency, announcing that parts of the New York State Thruway in Western New York would be closed due to extreme winter weather conditions.

The weather has caused chaos for US business and industry, threatening to disrupt oil drilling and fracking and hit livestock and grain shipments across the farm belt, even in the Deep South.

Some 4,392 flights were cancelled and 3,577 delayed on Monday, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks airline activity.

Many airlines could not allow their ground crews to remain outdoors for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Birds gather on the partially frozen River Charles in Boston

There were hundreds of cancellations by airlines including United, Southwest and American at airports across the Midwest and Northeast as supplies of fuel and de-icer froze.

The weather has been blamed for a number of deaths across Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

They included a 48-year-old Chicago man who had a heart attack while shovelling snow on Sunday and an elderly woman who was found outside her Indianapolis home early Monday.

Some states are beginning to turn their focus to recovery, with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Indiana Governor Mike Pence issuing disaster declarations, paving the way to request federal aid.

There were, however, some signs of things returning to normal in the affected areas.

A commuter wraps up warm in Chicago

JetBlue Airways, which stopped all scheduled flights to and from New York and Boston on Monday, plans to resume some flights on Tuesday morning.

Southwest Airlines operations in Chicago resumed on Monday night, even if it was, as a spokesman for the Texas-based airline called it, "a trickle".

The Minnesota Zoo announced it would reopen to the public on Tuesday and state lawmakers in Indiana plan to open their 2014 legislative session after a day's postponement.

Warmer temperatures - at least near or above freezing - are in store for the Midwest later in the week.

Indianapolis should reach -3C (27F) on Wednesday, and other parts of the central US could climb above freezing later in the week.

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Senkaku Islands: Japan Sends Jets in China Row

Japan has scrambled fighter jets to head off a Chinese government plane flying towards islands that are the source of tension between the two countries.

The Chinese Y-12 propeller plane went into Japan's air defence identification zone around 99 miles away from airspace surrounding the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which Japan controls but Beijing claims as its own and calls the Diaoyu Islands.

A Japanese defence ministry official said the aircraft headed back towards China without entering the contested airspace after the jets became airborne.

The incident in the East China Sea is the first since China created its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in November, a move which further strained relations.

Chinese government ships and planes have been spotted off the islands numerous times since Japan nationalised them in 2012.

Earlier this week, a Chinese chef crash-landed into the sea while trying to fly a hot-air balloon to the disputed islands.

There are fears an escalation in the row could have far-reaching repercussions, drawing in Japan's ally, the United States.

The islands are strategically important because they are close to international shipping lanes, offer abundant opportunities for fishing and could potentially lie close to rich oil and gas reserves.

Japan and China have also recently been involved in a diplomatic war of words, with ambassadors from both comparing the other country to Lord Voldermort, the Harry Potter villain.

In a Daily Telegraph article last week, the Chinese ambassador to the UK criticised Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a controversial shrine seen as the repository of around 2.5 million souls of the country's war dead.

This includes several high-level officials who were executed for war crimes after the Second World War, which saw Japan invade China.

Liu Xiaoming wrote: "If militarism is like the haunting Voldermort of Japan, the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo is a kind of horcrux, representing the darkest parts of that nation's soul."

In the same newspaper his Japanese counterpart Keiichi Hayashi said that China risked becoming the "Lord Voldermort of East Asia".

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Polar Vortex: NFL Fans Brave -26C Wind Chill

Diehard fans have braved freezing temperatures and a wind chill of -26C (-14F) to watch an NFL playoff match in Wisconsin.

The Green Bay Packers took on the San Francisco 49ers at their home field on Sunday night, in one of the coldest American football matches ever played.

A phenomenon described as a polar vortex has plunged states in the north and northwest US into a deep freeze, causing transport chaos and school closures.

Some Packers fans - affectionately known as cheeseheads - wore costumes

Fans at the Packers' Lambeau Field swaddled themselves in multiple layers of thick clothing and covered themselves with blankets for the tie, which lasted around three hours.

The 49ers' stars - who are more used to balmy California temperatures - wrapped up on the touchline in signature red blankets.

Despite not being accustomed to the inclement weather, they won 23-20, putting them one step closer to February's Super Bowl.

Thick layers were necessary for the three-hour game

The weather phenomenon has seen super-chilled air from the Arctic sucked into North and South Dakota, the Great Lakes states and New England, sending temperatures plunging.

Washington DC has already seen its coldest temperatures for 20 years and several states in the Midwest have recorded their lowest mercury readings for more than a decade.

Icy weather is feared to have been a factor that led to a Delta Airways flight skidding off the runway at JFK Airport on Sunday.

None of the flight's 35 passengers was injured and the aircraft was safely towed to a gate.

Snow at JFK Airport in New York

The busy New York airport suspended operations for about two hours due to slick runways.

In Chicago, about 1,200 flights were cancelled at the city's O'Hare and Midway international airports after more than 11 inches of snow fell.

Weather Bell meteorologist Ryan Maue described the current weather conditions as a once-in-a-generation event.

"If you're under 40 (years old), you've not seen this stuff before," he said.

Scituate, Massachusetts, is among the places to have seen blizzards

With much of the northeast of the country already under thick snow and well below zero, a newly emerging weather system is threatening to cause further misery.

The "polar vortex" is an anti-clockwise rotating pool of cold, dense air that forms close to the North Pole, but typically hangs over Canada.

Meteorologists say that unusually, this year, it is heading south and moving towards the north and eastern United States.

Fargo in North Dakota is expected to dip to -31C (-25F), International Falls, Minnesota, is forecast to fall to -35C (-31F) and Indianapolis, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, to -26C (-15F).

The forecast prompted Minnesota public school officials to announce a statewide closure for Monday, marking the first such mass closing in 17 years.

The Wisconsin cities of Milwaukee and Madison have also announced school closures to start the week.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard upgraded the city's travel emergency level to "red", making it illegal for anyone to drive except for emergencies or seeking shelter.

The last time the city issued such a travel warning was in 1978.

Temperatures are expected to dip close to freezing in parts of Florida on Tuesday.

In Canada, people have reported hearing loud booms which are thought to be "frost quakes" as temperatures dip to -20C.

The phenomenon, known as a cryoseism, is caused when water in the ground expands in extreme cold, causing it to crack and make the booming noise.

At least 16 deaths have been blamed on a snow storm that swept across the eastern half of the US at the end of last week.

Only a few thousand people have been left without power in the US despite heavy snowfalls, but in Canada, which has seen unusually heavy snow in a country used to cold winters, nearly 90,000 are without power in Newfoundland.

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Bangladesh Election 'Won' By Ruling Party

Bangladesh's ruling party has been declared the winner of parliamentary elections that have been marred by killings, an opposition boycott, and low turnout.

At least 18 people died in political violence on polling day alone, in a vote which saw fewer than half of the 300 seats being contested.

It meant the result was a foregone conclusion and the ruling Awami League took 232 seats - far more than the 151 needed to form a government.

But the chaos surrounding Sunday's election has plunged Bangladesh deeper into turmoil and fuelled fears of economic stagnation, amid the threat of further violence.

Police kick a protester after a polling booth was set on fire

International observers refused to attend the election, which was branded flawed.

Along with a low voter-turnout, it is set to put pressure on the Bangladesh government to hold talks with the opposition.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia, who leads the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), are bitter rivals.

The country has been ruled by either of these women - both from powerful political families - for more than two decades.

The boycott was sparked after Ms Hasina refused to agree to opposition demands to step down and appoint a neutral caretaker government to oversee the election.

The poverty-stricken nation of 160 million people has been hit by political violence in recent months as opposition activists staged attacks, strikes and transport blockades.

This has caused disruption to the country's $22bn (£13bn) clothing industry, which accounts for 80% of exports.

More than 100 people were killed in the run-up to the ballot, mostly in rural areas, and fears of violence kept many voters away.

Soldiers line a street blocked by a tree that was cut down by activists

Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a BNP vice chairman, said: "The turnout is a clear indication that the common people rejected this election and it is almost an election without voters."

Law Minister Mohammad Quamrul Islam said the election was necessary for the democratic process, and repeated that another poll could be held anytime in agreement with the BNP.

"But they must stop violence before dialogue for the next elections could start," he said.

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