National Post

‘Operation Swill’: Bar caught selling ‘scotch’ made from rubbing alcohol and food dye
State investigators say at least one bar in New Jersey was mixing food dye with rubbing alcohol and serving it as scotch.

That’s one of the details released Thursday about an investigation dubbed “Operation Swill.” Twenty-nine bars and restaurants in the state are accused of putting cheap booze in premium brand liquor bottles and selling it to patrons who thought they were buying the good stuff.

Officials would not say which bar used the rubbing alcohol. But they say no health issues were reported.

Bridge on main route between B.C. and Seattle collapses sending cars, people plunging into the water
The Interstate 5 bridge collapse into the Skagit River was caused by an oversize truck hitting the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said.

“For reasons unknown at this point in time the semi struck the overhead of the bridge causing the collapse,” Batiste told an overnight news conference.

The truck made it off the bridge and the driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. Two other vehicles went into the water Thursday evening as the structure crumbled. Three people were rescued and are recovering. (AP Photo/Joe Nicholson)

London on edge and police fill the street as public beheading stokes ethnic tensions
Residents of the southeast London neighbourhood where a British soldier was slaughtered in a terrorist attack yesterday reacted with unease at what the incident meant for immigrant relations.

Prime Minister David Cameron called the killing by two men wielding knives and meat cleavers a “betrayal of Islam” and warned against “knee-jerk responses.” In Woolwich, the area where the attack occurred outside an army barracks, residents said they were concerned at the effect it would have on a changing neighborhood.

“We are worrying so much about the problem of radicalism,” Saeed Omer, a 44-year-old resident of Woolwich who is Muslim and originally from Somalia, said in an interview. “Our communities will suffer.” (ITV screengrab // JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

nationalpostsports:

BETTER DAYS.
Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia at the Masters tournament in 1999. Is it dusty…in here…or something…(Photo: Elise Amendola/AP files)

Trudeau’s Liberals hit historic highs as senate scandal has ‘drastic effect’ on Tories: poll
With the Conservatives ensnarled in the biggest political scandal in their seven years in government, a new poll suggests Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are en route to winning a massive majority in the next election.

More than four in 10 Canadians, 44%, said they would vote Liberal in the next federal election, according to latest Forum Poll for the National Post, compared to 27% support for the ruling Conservatives and 20% for the opposition NDP.

The Liberals would claim 192 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons with that support, leaving the Tories with 77 and dropping the NDP all the way back to 37. (CP)

‘You are going to lose’: Incredible photo captures moment London mom stands up to knife-wielding terrorist
A mother of two described Wednesday how she put her life on the line by trying to persuade the terrorists to hand over their weapons.

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, a cub scout leader, talked with the killers and kept her nerve as one of them told her: “We want to start a war in London tonight.”

Loyau-Kennett, 48, from Cornwall, was one of the first people on the scene after the two Islamists butchered a soldier in Woolwich, south-east London Wednesday. She was photographed by onlookers confronting one of the attackers who was holding a bloodied knife. (Twitter)

nparts:

Man finds Action Comics No. 1 — worth $100K — in walls of his house. Then rips cover by accident
It’s a mole, it’s a dust bunny — no, it’s a Superman comic book.

A Minnesota man discovered what is being called “the most valuable comic book of all time” inside the walls of a home he is remodeling. David Gonzalez says what he found is worth some $100,000. That’s more than 10 times what he says he paid for the house.

‘Sickening and appalling’: British soldier beheaded with machete in suspected London terrorist attack
A brazen, brutal attack near a military barracks in London on Wednesday afternoon left one man dead and two suspects in the hospital in what British Prime Minister David Cameron said appeared to be a terror-related incident.

The attack occurred in the southeast London neighborhood of Woolwich, just a few blocks from the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Two men reportedly attacked another man. Witnesses said the two men were shot by police and a number of weapons – including butchers’ knives – could be seen on the street, which was splattered by blood.

French President Francois Hollande, speaking at a press conference in Paris with Cameron, said it was a British soldier who was killed. (ITV)

postarcadenp:

You got questions, we got answers. 

(Almost) everything you want to know about the Xbox One

http://bit.ly/168oZHn

Benghazi suspects under surveillance, U.S. wants to try them in court instead of seizing them as terrorists
Five men are under round-the-clock U.S. surveillance in Libya, wanted for questioning in the attack last year on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. The White House believes there is enough proof for a military force to seize them as terrorist suspects, officials say, but prefers to wait until investigators have enough evidence to try them in a U.S. civilian courtroom.

The decision not to seize the men militarily underscores the White House aim to move away from hunting terrorists as enemy combatants and toward a process in which most are apprehended and tried by the countries where they are living, or arrested by the U.S. with the host country’s cooperation and tried in the U.S. criminal justice system. Using military force to detain the men might also harm fledgling relations with Libya and other post-Arab Spring governments with which the U.S. is trying to build partnerships to hunt al-Qaida as the organization expands throughout the region. (FBI)

‘He’s cleaning up the city by smoking all the crack in it’: U.S. late night TV hosts turn Rob Ford into international laughing stock
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may not have a word to say about the growing crack cocaine video scandal, but U.S. comedians are finding plenty to say about the besieged leader of Canada’s biggest city.

Ford’s alleged crack cocaine use, not to mention his colourful past, was the butt of jokes on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night.

The high-profile airings in the U.S. should only increase the bidding on Gawker’s “Crackstarter” — a crowdfunded attempt to raise $200,000 to buy the alleged video. Bidding topped $107,000 Wednesday morning with six days to go. (YouTube)

‘I’m sure that man had a bad day’: Victim of Miami ‘zombie attack’ thanks supporters, doesn’t blame attacker
A homeless man whose face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre attack last year in Miami appeared Tuesday to be mostly at peace with his disfigurement, strumming a guitar, making jokes and thanking people for their donations to help pay for his care.

Ronald Poppo doesn’t like to leave his hospital room, though, and he won’t allow anyone to visit, other than his doctors and nurses. “My face,” he said.

The 66-year-old Poppo lost his left eye, his nose and most of the surrounding skin when a naked man attacked him for no reason beside a highway a year ago. (YouTube)

npostlife:

Irish potato famine mystery solved: After 170 years, biologists identify pathogen that led to mass starvation
The Irish potato famine of the 1840s was caused by a plant-pathogen strain that was unknown until now, scientists said after examining dried leaves that were as much as 170 years old.
[John Miller/AP file photo]

Graphic: Anatomy of a supercell tornado