FBI arrests Kansas man in terror-plot sting
WICHITA, Kan. – A Kansas man who prosecutors say sympathized with violent terrorists was arrested Friday as part of an FBI sting after he drove a vehicle loaded with what he thought were explosives to a Wichita airport.
Authorities said the planned assault by Terry Lee Loewen at Wichita’s Mid-Continent Regional airport was aimed at supporting al-Qaida.
Loewen, a 58-year-old avionics technician who worked at the airport for Hawker Beechcraft, was arrested as he tried to drive into the tarmac. The materials in the car were inert, and no one at the airport was in any immediate danger, authorities said.
Loewen, who lives in Wichita, had been under investigation for about six months after making online statements about wanting to commit “violent jihad” against the United States, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
Toyota begins talks to settle injury lawsuits
SANTA ANA, Calif. – After a four-year legal battle, Toyota is entering settlement talks on nearly 400 state and federal lawsuits that allege sudden unintended acceleration problems with its vehicles led to deaths and injuries.
Joint motions filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana and Los Angeles County Superior Court indicated both sides would begin an “intensive settlement process” next month.
The Japanese automaker, which has recalled millions of cars since 2009 over the acceleration issue, agreed to the negotiations to make resolving the cases more efficient, spokeswoman Carly Schaffner told The Associated Press on Friday.
Death toll passes 6,000 from Typhoon Haiyan
MANILA, Philippines — Officials say the death toll from Typhoon Haiyan that struck the central Philippines on Nov. 8 has breached 6,000 with nearly 1,800 people missing.
The government’s disaster response agency said Friday that 6,009 have been confirmed dead while 1,779 others remain unaccounted for.
The typhoon is the deadliest natural disaster on record to hit the Philippines.
Maj. Reynaldo Balido, spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, says at least 20 bodies are still being found daily under debris in the hardest hit city of Tacloban. Overnight, 27 deaths were added to the toll.
Associated Press
