Early Start's new website
Visit Us at Our New Home!
The Early Start website has moved over to the brand new CNN.com. Click here to visit us for the latest headlines.
First AirAsia bodies arrive for identification
Surabaya, Indonesia (CNN) - Indonesian searchers battling bad weather in their efforts to find more remains from AirAsia Flight QZ8501 have so far recovered 10 bodies from the sea, officials said Wednesday.
A day after the first bits of debris from the commercial jet were spotted afloat off the coast of Borneo, the search operation was hampered Wednesday by big waves, strong winds and heavy rain. Helicopters scanning for signs of wreckage and victims were halted in their search, while ships continued combing the waters. It was unclear how long aerial operations would be held up.
Answers about why the aircraft, with 162 people on board, fell from the sky Sunday remained elusive.
Among the 10 bodies recovered so far was that of a woman wearing a flight attendant's uniform, said Bambang Soelistyo, Indonesia's national search and rescue chief.
Hope for AirAsia survivors dwindles
(CNN) - The missing AirAsia jet probably crashed into the sea, Indonesia's top rescue official said Monday, citing radar data from the plane's last contact.
"Our early conjecture is that the plane is in the bottom of the sea," Bambang Sulistyo, head of Indonesia's national search and rescue agency, told reporters, saying the view was based on the plane's flight track and last known coordinates.
But searchers still don't know exactly where the aircraft is, he said, and may need help from other countries for an underwater search.
The search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 resumed on Monday, a day after the commercial jet disappeared in Indonesian airspace with 162 people aboard.
Ships, planes and helicopters are looking for the missing aircraft, according to Indonesian authorities, who are leading the search and rescue operations.
World's Richest Lottery Pays Out Nearly $3 Billion
When it comes to mega lottery pay-outs, you may be accustomed to seeing one or two big winners taking the whole jackpot.
Once in a while, you might see an officer or workplace pool splitting the winnings...
But for the world's biggest lotto, held Monday in Spain, spreading the wealth is standard fare.
NYC Cop Killer Had Criminal Record and Angry Social Media Posts, Police Say
The man who shot and killed two New York City police officers as they sat in their patrol car had posted angry messages on social media, ranting against the government and police, New York Police Department's Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Sunday.
Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, also posted messages of self-loathing and despair and made reference online to Michael Brown and Eric Garner, African-American men who were killed by police.
"I'm Putting Wings On Pigs Today. They Take 1 Of Ours, Let's Take 2 of Theirs," an Instagram post read, authorities said.
Brinsley had a lengthy criminal record. He was arrested 15 times in Georgia for assorted crimes and arrested four times in Ohio, Boyce told reporters Sunday.
He was in prison in Georgia between August 2011 and July 2013 for criminal possession of a weapon, Boyce said.
Brinsley had an address connected to him in Georgia but that appears to be his sister's home, and they are estranged, Boyce said. The gunman's connection to Brooklyn is that his mother lives there, but they are also estranged, the chief of detectives said.
On Saturday afternoon, Brinsley fired four rounds at officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The officers, who were hit in head, were assigned from their normal downtown Brooklyn beat to an area of the borough with a high crime rate, authorities said.
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said the officers were shot "with no warning, no provocation."
Eight Children Found Dead at Home in Cairns, Australia
Eight children, the youngest of them only 18 months old, have been found dead at a suburban home in the northeastern Australian city of Cairns in a case that the country's Prime Minister has called "an unspeakable crime."
A woman who the police believe is the mother of the seven of the children is in a hospital suffering from serious injuries.
The discovery of the bodies added to a traumatic week for Australia after a deadly hostage-taking in Sydney only days ago.
Police said they were called to the property in the Manoora area of Cairns on Friday morning after reports of an injured woman.
Pakistan Militants: Children's Massacre was to Avenge Army Strikes
As Pakistan started three days of national mourning Wednesday, the Taliban said they targeted a school that mostly admits soldiers' children because the students aspired to follow in their fathers' footsteps and target militants.
Terrorists ambushed the school in Peshawar on Tuesday, explosives strapped to their bodies, and burst into an auditorium filled with students taking exams.
They sprayed bullets rapidly, killing 145 people. Of those, 132 were children, authorities said.
In an email, the terror group warned Muslims to avoid places with military ties, saying it attacked the school to avenge the deaths of children allegedly killed by soldiers in tribal areas.
It accused the students at the army school of "following the path of their fathers and brothers to take part in the fight against the tribesmen" nationwide.
The Army Public School and Degree College is home to about 1,100 students and staff, most of them sons and daughters of army personnel from around Peshawar. The public school admits children whose parents are in the military, but its classes are not restricted to future soldiers.
A day after the massacre, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a moratorium on the death penalty for terrorism cases.
Cuba Releases American Alan Gross in Prisoner Swap
U.S. contractor Alan Gross, held by theCuban government since 2009, was freed Wednesday as part of alandmark deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in U.S. policy toward the island, senior administration officials tell CNN.
President Obama is expected to announce Gross' release at noon.
Gross' "humanitarian" release by Cuba was accompanied by a separate spy swap, the officials said. Cuba also freed a U.S. intelligence source who has been jailed in Cuba for more than 20 years, although authorities did not identify that person for security reasons. The U.S. released three Cuban intelligence agents convicted of espionage in 2001.
President Barack Obama is also set to announce a broad range of diplomatic and regulatory measures in what officials called the most sweeping change in U.S. policy toward Cuba since the 1961 embargo was imposed.
Taliban Storm Pakistan School, Kill Mostly Children
For the latest numbers and updates go to CNN.com.
7:51amEST – The Taliban stormed a military-run school in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, gunning down at least 126 people – most of them children – in one of the volatile Asian nation's deadliest attacks.
Hours after the attack, Pakistani troops were still exchanging gunfire with the militants inside the Army Public School and Degree College in the violence-plagued city of Peshawar, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the country's capital, Islamabad.
Two explosions were also heard.
By around 4 p.m. (6 a.m. ET), the Pakistani military had pushed the attackers back to four blocks of the school, military spokesman Gen. Asim BajwaI tweeted. BajwaI over an hour later said that six assailants had been killed.
It was unclear, by then, how many of the hundreds of students at the co-ed school – which is for children of army personnel and has a capacity of 1,000 – were still inside, not to mention how many more were dead or alive. More than 100 people were injured, ministers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said.
"2 more children, 2 teachers rescued," BajwaI wrote around 5:15 a.m. "6th terrorist killed in last block. IEDs planted by terrorists hamper speed of clearance."
Sydney Gunman Reportedly Demands ISIS Flag as Some Hostages Escape
A gunman holding hostages in a Sydney cafe is said to be demanding an ISIS flag and a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The reported demands emerged after five hostages managed to flee the building, leaving an unconfirmed number of people still trapped inside during a dramatic standoff that has now lasted more than 10 hours.
The gunman's requests were made through hostages who contacted several media organizations, CNN affiliate Sky News Australia reported. Police said they were aware of the reports but declined to confirm what demands had been made.
Amid the crisis, hundreds of police officers, some of them armed with sniper rifles, shut down a usually bustling area in Australia's most populous city.
"We are doing all we can to set you free," New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said at a news conference Monday evening, directing his comments to the hostages and their loved ones.
