In brief: F-22s intercept Russian planes
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Two F-22 fighter jets intercepted six Russian military airplanes that neared the western coast of Alaska, military officials said Friday.
Lt. Col. Michael Jazdyk, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said the U.S. jets intercepted the planes about 55 nautical miles from the Alaskan coast at about 7 p.m. Pacific time Wednesday.
The Russian planes were identified as two IL-78 refueling tankers, two MiG-31 fighter jets and two Bear long-range bombers. They looped south and returned to Russia after the U.S. jets were scrambled.
At about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets intercepted two of the long-range bombers about 40 nautical miles off the Canadian coastline in the Beaufort Sea.
In the past five years, jets under NORAD’s command have intercepted more than 50 Russian bombers approaching North American airspace.
Divers find body of drowned deputy
AUSTIN, Texas – Divers found the body of a missing Central Texas sheriff’s deputy Friday, a day after her patrol car was found swamped by floodwaters minutes after she radioed for help while checking flooded low-water crossings.
Senior Deputy Jessica Hollis was found dead Friday afternoon in Lake Austin, an emotional Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton announced Friday afternoon. Hamilton said he had been determined to “bring her home.”
Efforts to locate the deputy had been suspended before nightfall Thursday because of the storms, which were remnants of Hurricane Odile.
Islamic State frees Turkish hostages
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today that 49 Turkish hostages seized by Islamic militants in Iraq have been freed and safely returned to Turkey.
The Turks, including diplomatic staff, were seized June 11 from the Turkish Consulate, when the Islamic State group overran Mosul, Iraq, and stormed the consulate.
Davutoglu told Turkish reporters during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, that the hostages were released early today and had arrived in Turkey. He was cutting his visit short to meet with the hostages in the province of Sanliurfa, near Turkey’s border with Syria.
He did not provide details on the circumstances of their release.
“I am sharing a joyful news which as a nation we have been waiting for,” Davutoglu said. “In the early hours our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country.
“They have crossed into Turkey and I am on my way to see them,” he said.
Fire runs rampant despite retardant
PLACERVILLE, Calif. – A massive Northern California wildfire is burning so explosively because of the prolonged drought that firefighters are finding normal amounts of retardant aren’t stopping the flames. And so they are dropping record-breaking amounts – more than 203,000 gallons in one day alone.
By Friday, state firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service together had bombarded the conflagration with more than a half-million gallons of the red slurry, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a state fire spokeswoman.
The King fire, which authorities said was deliberately set, has chewed through nearly 120 square miles of timber and vegetation about 60 miles east of Sacramento. It was 10 percent contained.
The blaze, in steep terrain, forced the evacuation of 2,800 people and burned multiple structures.