Free Republic

SNIPPET: "They say they police intelligence unit arrested Asdatul Sahirun on Sunday at a shopping mall in the capital's Malate tourist district."

SNIPPET: ""If these attacks were aimed at seizing control of Kandahar city, as the Taliban proclaimed, they failed," a senior official from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. Shooting erupted after the first explosion hours earlier and insurgents opened fire from a five-storey shopping mall toward the governor's fortified compound, from where security forces returned fire as black smoke rose over the city."

DENVER, Colo. -- The man police said planted a pipe bomb at a Littleton mall was released from prison one week before the incident. A nation-wide manhunt is underway for Earl Albert Moore, 65, who's accused of planting the explosives Wednesday, the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Moore is considered armed and dangerous. The FBI confirmed that he had been serving time in a Georgia prison for a 2005 armed robbery in West Virginia. Moore had been sentenced to 18 years, but was released early on April 13. Authorities said just seven days later, he planted a pipe...

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Olympic organisers are "very alive" to the threat of a cyber attack on the London 2012 Olympics, made more challenging because of its evolving nature, senior Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday. Ticketing systems, the transport network and hotel bookings as well as security are among potential targets. Olympic security officials are also planning for the possible diversion of aircraft to protect airspace around the venues from terrorist attacks, the officials said. The greatest threat to security at the Games is international terrorism, the government's latest "Safety and Security Strategy" report said.

Online retail sales keep climbing, big box retailers keep wondering what to do with all their space, and small stores struggle to survive at all. As a result of that nasty brew, Malls Face Surge in Vacancies. Mall vacancies hit their highest level in at least 11 years in the first quarter, new figures from real-estate research company Reis Inc. showed. In the top 80 U.S. markets, the average vacancy rate was 9.1%, up from 8.7%. The outlook is especially bad for strip malls and other neighborhood shopping centers. Their vacancy rate is expected to top 11.1% later this year,...

AMSTERDAM -A gunman opened fire at a Dutch shopping mall, killing at least two people and wounding several others Saturday, state broadcaster NOS reported. A witness identified as Maart Verbeek said the attacker had a machine gun and that he had seen at least five people he believed were killed and numerous people wounded at the mall in the town of Alphen aan den Rijn, 13 miles (21 kilometers) southwest of Amsterdam, NOS reported. The broadcaster, however, cited the government as saying that at least two were killed at the Ridderhof mall. But the city government issued a statement saying...

Cathy Cruz Marrero ponders lawsuit after video of her fountain fall goes viral.

Video: Woman falls into fountain while textingTuesday, 18 January, 2011 10:20 AM WE all know that you shouldn’t text and drive - but texting and walking seems to be equally hazardous if this video is anything to go by.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- A man who dressed up as Santa Claus was kicked out of a mall in Boynton Beach. Larry Lester said he wanted to spread some Christmas cheer.Lester said he put on his Santa suit after doing some shopping at the Boynton Beach Mall Wednesday night. Mall security asked him to leave after receiving complaints from families in line to see the official Santa.--snip--"I enjoy seeing the kids tell me what they want for Christmas and they get excited seeing Santa Claus," Lester said.

Hamas has announced that a new mall will be built in the Gaza Strip. Yusuf Mansi, Minister of Housing and Public Works of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, told Gaza-based news agency Safa on Thursday that his office is currently on a plan to build a new mall. The 44-acre mall will be located in Gaza City and will be the largest shopping center in the Strip, said Mansi. The mall will be built on land that was established in 1929 by the British Mandate as the region’s military headquarters, and as of 1948 served as the headquarters...

ROSEVILLE, Calif. -- A regional shopping center in suburban Sacramento has been evacuated after a man started a fire, then barricaded himself in the back room of an electronics store.

PHOTO CAPTION: "Yasir Afifi said the FBI planted a GPS device on his car and later confiscated it when a friend posted this photo online. (Credit: khaledthegypsy/REDDIT)" SNIPPET: "Yasir Afifi, a 20-year-old student and U.S.-born citizen found a GPS tracking device on his car. A friend posted pictures of the device, which resulted in the FBI coming by Afifi's Santa Clara, Calif., apartment to retrieve the surveillance equipment. It seems the FBI was tracking Afifi's movements..."

Maybe Ed Schultz was right about being able to attract more people than Glenn Beck: organizers of today’s “One Nation Together Rally” are claiming that, based on a “satellite image,” there are definitively more people on the Washington Mall today than there were on the 29th of August. Congratulations, liberals! Except “Restoring Honor” was on the 28th. It was bound to happen that the organizers of this rally, the goal of which was decidedly to undermine the strength in numbers of the Tea Party, would claim to have brought together a larger number of people than Glenn Beck’s crew. Given...

Civil rights, labor groups rally on National MallThe goal is to arouse enthusiasm among Democratic voters and stave off an expected GOP comeback in the midterm elections. The rally is also a liberal response to conservative commentator Glenn Beck's rally in August. By Jordan Steffen, Tribune Washington Bureau 11:52 a.m. CDT, October 2, 2010 WASHINGTON - Thousands of activists from groups that support the Democratic Party gathered for a march and rally on the National Mall on Saturday in a bid to rejuvenate the enthusiasm of more liberal voters and stave off an expected GOP comeback in next month's midterm...

On Friday and Saturday nights, at an increasing number of malls across the country, teenagers are being forced to bring along the one person they'd most likely rather leave behind: a parent. Dozens of malls now have what they call a "parental escort policy," meaning teens under the age of 18 have to be with a parent or guardian who is 21 or over to enter. Most shopping centers have these restrictions only on weekend evenings, but some keep them in place seven days a week. The Mid Rivers Mall in St. Louis, Mo., started sending away teens at the...

A brawl involving juveniles outside the AMC 24 Theaters in the Aventura Mall on Saturday night resulted in 16 arrests and the early closing of the theater and nearby restaurants. Aventura police evacuated the area outside the theater shortly after they arrived at 10:09 p.m. Several police and mall security officers were struck by suspects who were resisting arrest, and a few officers reported minor injuries, according to Aventura Police spokesperson Chris Goranitis. Officers used Taser guns on several suspects while making the arrests, Goranitis said.

ROSEVILLE, Calif - A California appeals court struck down a mall's rules banning strangers from talking about subjects other than the mall while inside the facility. A three-judge 3rd District Court of Appeals panel issued a 43-page opinion Wednesday describing the rules, which ban the unacquainted for discussing anything other than Roseville's Westfield Galleria mall and its stores while in the mall, as "unconstitutional on their face" due to violations of free speech as outlined in the California Constitution, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday. The mall's rules, which were previously upheld by Placer Superior Court Judge Larry Gaddis, allow for...

Look what I found on my last trip home. You have to see it to believe it!

A British holidaymaker has been charged with indecency in Dubai after walking through the world's largest shopping centre in a bikini. The woman was buying clothes and gifts in the Dubai Mall, fully dressed but in a low-cut top, when she was accosted by an Arabic woman and criticised for wearing 'revealing clothing'. The pair then became embroiled in a heated row in front of hundreds of bemused shoppers. Incensed by the Arabic woman's comments, the British woman told her to 'mind her own business' before stripping out of her clothes and 'taunting' the locals by walking around in only...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Authorities in Las Cruces say someone stole a gun and a Taser out of a Dona Ana County Sheriff's car at the Mesilla Valley Mall. According to investigators, an off-duty sheriff's sergeant had his marked vehicle parked at the mall when someone broke the front window before taking off with a gun, ammunition, a Taser, and handcuffs. When questioned why the sergeant took all his equipment to the mall, investigators say he was just obeying the rules. "Yes, he was off-duty; however, he was on-duty so far as being on call which required him to have...

A thief with an eye for fancy lingerie stole more than $8,300 worth of underwear and bras from the Victoria's Secret at Orlando Fashion Square Mall on Tuesday. Police said the bra bandit emptied 11 drawers and a couple of display trays — containing about 200 panties and 140 bras — from the East Colonial Drive store in less than 30 minutes. An employee said workers had filled their drawers with the underwear and bras for the upcoming sale at 5:30 p.m. and noticed someone had lifted the undies at 6 p.m. Workers said they don't know how the thief...

City Creek Center may be trying to attract retail tenants during tough economic times, but that doesn't mean there will be lots of empty storefronts when the massive project opens for business in early 2012, a representative said Wednesday. Interest in City Creek -- one of the few large shopping centers in development nationally -- is high, Mark Gibbons, president of City Creek Reserve, said without elaborating. SNIP But City Creek Reserve, a development arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has yet to release much information about retailers that will fill 80 smaller speciality shops. The...

SEATTLE -- There are more questions than answers in the case of a suspected international arms dealer caught in Washington state with a stockpile of sniper rifles. Oliver King is an Iranian citizen who, in the past, has been a licensed gun dealer. King appeared in court in Seattle on Wednesday, accused of keeping a stash of guns and ammunition hidden in a storage unit near the U.S.-Canada border. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, King lied to enter the U.S. near Blaine last week. Agents with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement became suspicious of King when he showed up...

ORLANDO, Fla.- A Florida shopping mall had an unexpected, and unwelcome, visitor Wednesday when a 10-foot alligator took up residence on a nearby sidewalk, authorities said. Trappers were called to the Millenia Mall in Orlando, Fla., early in the morning to capture and remove the animal, WESH-TV, Orlando, reported. They said more of the reptiles are seen at this time of year when the alligators' mating season begins. "Most of the time when you have a big single alligator, it's usually a male adult searching for a girlfriend," gator trapper Terry Parlier said.

Six people have been injured in a shooting at Arrowhead Mall in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Three of the victims are reported to be in critical condition. Muskogee, United States - Muskogee Police confirm that there was a shooting at the mall and that there are victims. At this time the duty desk officer said during a phone interview that there is no other information that they can give out.

How do you keep more than 6,300 people fed, housed and having the time of their life while floating in the middle of the ocean? The Oasis of the Seas -- the world's largest cruise ship -- aims to accomplish that feat nearly every week. Almost five times as large as the Titanic, it has a population during its seven-day Caribbean sailings that is larger than many American small towns -- more than 8,600 when it is fully booked and including staff. The Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ship, which first set sail last December, is almost as long as five...

A father was told he was not allowed take pictures of his four-year-old son at a Sunderland shopping centre because of fears he could be a paedophile. Kevin Geraghty-Shewan, of Kent, was challenged by a security guard at The Bridges after photographing his son Ben on a children's train ride. He was told he could not prove Ben was his son and later quizzed by a police officer called to the centre. Bosses at the shopping centre have apologised for the "misunderstanding". Mr Geraghty-Shewan, 48, of Gillingham, said they had visited the shopping centre after Ben was given £10 from...

Arguments have moved to the appellate court level in a California case in which a man talking to two willing strangers in a shopping mall was arrested because the subject of the conversation was God. The case developed several years ago when a youth pastor was arrested at the Galleria Mall in Roseville, Calif., for having a conversation about religion with two other people. Matthew Snatchko, who works with youth at his church, was interrupted in the middle of a conversation by a security guard. A second guard joined the confrontation and told Snatchko he was being placed under citizen's...

The shopping malls of America will be among the next major terrorist targets. Malls make such obvious high-value targets that it's difficult to grasp why they haven't been hit up until now. Shopping malls are America's marketplaces, constantly packed with people, with uncontrolled entry, and openly vulnerable to any given form of attack. We need only consider the darkest days of the Iraqi terror campaign of 2006-2007 to grasp how the jihadis view marketplaces. Scarcely a week went by without another Iraqi marketplace bombing, with casualties largely consisting of women and children, mounting from the dozens to the hundreds. We...

A Muslim immigrant opened fire and killed five people in Finland today before turning the gun on himself.
CNN reported: A gunman opened fire inside a busy shopping center near the Finnish capital of Helsinki Thursday, leaving five people dead, police said. Four of the victims — three men and one woman — were killed at the Sello shopping center in Espoo, just west of Helsinki, police said. Some were employees of a grocery store at the mall, police said. A fifth victim, also an employee of the grocery store, was found later at an apartment in Espoo, police said, without...

Shots have been fired at a shopping centre in the town of Espoo, near the capital of Finland, Helsinki. An eyewitness said at least one person was left lying on the floor after shooting broke out, the national broadcaster YLE said on its website.

Rocky Mount, N.C. — Rocky Mount police officers are searching for Risheem Robinson, 18, who was accused of shooting inside Golden East Crossing Mall, at 1100 N. Wesleyan Blvd., around 7 p.m. Saturday. Robinson shot at three young men – ages 16, 15 and 14 – in the mall's common area near the entrance to Best Buy, Rocky Mount police Capt. Laura Fahnestock said. No one was injured, but a wall and glass doors were damaged. Police arrested the 16-year-old, Murray Chamberlain, and the 14-year-old, whose name was not released. The 15-year-old was released after questioning. Police charged Chamberlain and...

"Stop, stop, you're killing me: Knoxville Muslim says he was joking about carrying out jihad terror attack at shopping mall Ha ha! A real side splitter! Look out, Letterman!" SNIPPET: "...pushed for the detention pending trial of Hazam Ali Ahmed. The 35-year-old Ahmed was charged with being a felon in possession of firearms after authorities last week found two guns inside the Central Convenience Store on Keith Avenue that he operated. However, testimony at Monday's hearing shows Ahmed has been on the radar screen of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force since at least January 2006." SNIPPET: ""He referred to...

A man was arrested for allegedly throwing two tomatoes at Sarah Palin from the second floor balcony during a book signing event at the Mall of America in Minnesota, MyFoxTwinCities.com. reported. Neither tomato came close hitting the former 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, but did hit a police officer in the face, the station reported. The unidentified man may face charges for assaulting a police officer, according to the station. Die-hard supporters treated the event like another Black Friday, lining up outside in freezing weather before the mall doors opened at 5 a.m. Emily Calhoon, a high school junior from...

Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix from a person's neck and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center. Hamid, an employee at a mall kiosk near Starbucks, has been charged with battery, terrorist threats and grand theft. According to reports, Hamid was yelling "Allah is power" and "Islam is great" while holding a pen in a fist over his head. Witnesses said he shouted anti-Christian comments, said police. Lt. Mike Elerick of the Pleasanton Police Department said the man was not provoked and didn't threaten violence,...

Man arrested for 'anti-Christian' mall disturbance Kiosk employee allegedly tore a crucifix from someone's neck Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix from a person's neck and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center. Hamid, an employee at a mall kiosk near Starbucks, has been charged with battery, terrorist threats and grand theft. According to reports, Hamid was yelling "Allah is power" and "Islam is great" while holding a pen in a fist over his head. Witnesses said he shouted anti-Christian comments, said police. "We had multiple...

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A shooting has been reported and confirmed at a Tualatin strip mall, police said. Few details were available. According to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, there may be as many as 10 victims. The shooting was reported at 7575 SW Mohawk at the Martinazzi intersection. Police first confirmed that a shooting had occurred sometime after 11 a.m.

SNIPPET: "Shopping malls stepped up security measures and terrorism awareness training after 9/11, but it’s unlikely they could prevent a shooting rampage by a terrorist hell-bent on killing, according to industry experts. Malls lack access control, and their civilian security officers usually are unarmed, making them much more vulnerable to an attack such as the one suspect Tarek Mehanna allegedly suggested, although they are less likely terrorism targets than more high-profile, class-A office buildings, other iconic centers or power facilities.

BOSTON - A pharmacy college graduate conspired with two other men on a terror plot to kill two prominent U.S. politicians and carry out a holy war by attacking shoppers in U.S. malls and American troops in Iraq, prosecutors said Wednesday. But their plans — in which the men used code words like "peanut butter and jelly" for fighting in Somalia and "culinary school" for terrorist camps — were thwarted in part when they could not find training and were unable to buy automatic weapons, authorities said. Tarek Mehanna worked with the men from 2001 to May 2008 on the...

Via ABC News: A pharmacy college graduate made a defiant appearance in federal court Wednesday, hours after being charged with conspiring with two other men in a terror plot to kill two prominent U.S. politicians and carry out a holy war by attacking shoppers in U.S. malls and American troops in Iraq. Authorities say the men's plans — in which they used code words like "peanut butter and jelly" for fighting in Somalia and "culinary school" for terrorist camps — were thwarted in part when they could not find training and were unable to buy automatic weapons, authorities said....

Dan Fuchs is a local businessman who set up a graphic arts kiosk at The Johnson City, Tennessee mall. Business was slow until a customer suggested he try selling stickers with the NoBama message. Business picked up and he expanded his line of 'anti-Obama' stickers. Today, mall administration terminated Fuchs' lease after it began receiving complaints about the allegedly 'anti-Obama' merchandise. Fuchs said he also sold 'pro-Obama' stickers, but the mall administration felt he wasn't offering a fair balance between anti and pro Obama stickers. In the video story on Channel 11's website, the mall spokeswoman inexplicably says that the...

A man who sells conservative merchandise at a kiosk in a North Carolina mall says he hopes he'll be able to keep pushing "Impeach Obama" bumper stickers after his lease expires on Friday. Loren Spivack says his kiosk, Free Market Warrior, is being nudged out of the Concord Mills mall in Concord, N.C., beacause of political reasons. The hottest sellers at the kiosk, which has been in the mall for roughly three months, are items that are critical of President Obama, Spivack said. They include a “Work Harder, Obama Needs the Money” bumper sticker and a T-shirt that lists the...

Is Concord Mills infringing on a business owner’s first amendment rights?

CONCORD, N.C. -- “Impeach Obama. “ “Al Qaeda’s favorite days: 9/11/01 and 11/04/08.” “Work Harder. Obama needs the money.” The bumper stickers and posters sold at “Free Market Warrior” at Concord Mills are meant to be “biting,” the kiosk’s owner Loren Spivack said. At least one passer-by found them racist and bigoted, and took time to tell the mall in a letter and a letter to the editor of the Charlotte Observer. Whatever your opinion, the fact is this: At the end of July, “Free Market Warrior” will not be allowed at Concord Mills Mall. The kiosk chain’s owner shared...

Shopping centres on alert for terrorism attack The security services are preparing shopping centres across the country for a successful terrorist attack that would probably result in the deaths of dozens of innocent people. Duncan Gardham 18 Jul 2009 Ibrahim's attempt was the third time in four years that terrorists have targeted the large crowds that gather in these relatively unguarded places. In March 2004 a plot to blow up the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent with half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was foiled by MI5 and a month after Ibrahim's arrest last year, Nicky Reilly, another Muslim...

Prominent Vietnam veterans and their families are appalled by an advertisement for a major local mall that shows a woman in front of a wall that strongly resembles the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with the names of the center’s stores appearing instead of the names of the war dead. Tysons Corner Center reacted quickly to condemnation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and ordered the immediate removal of 440 of the ads from the Metrorail cars where they have been posted, mall spokeswoman Allison Fischer said Tuesday afternoon. The Tysons ad features a black granite wall engraved with a list of...

New Delhi: There is an unusual calm, amid hectic police activity, in the Lajpat Nagar market these days. The popular 3Cs Mall and the entire area around it has been turned into a fortress after the Delhi Police received specific security inputs that the building would be blown up in the next 15 days. According to sources in the Southeast district police, they got inputs from intelligence agencies about a possible threat to the mall a few days ago. After the message was forwarded to the local police, they cordoned off the entire market. Intelligence agencies reportedly told the police...

PHOTO CAPTION: "A second al-Qaeda terror cell is believed to be planning carnage in the UK." SNIPPET: "Senior security sources last night revealed they are hunting extremists aiming to bomb a location such as a nightclub or shopping centre. They believe the cell will target London rather than the North- West, where 11 men were arrested on Wednesday, as the capital holds more "international significance"." Evidence gleaned from the arrests was revealed to Cobra, Whitehall's emergency committee of intelligence chiefs and ministers.

Michael Steele, with a knowing laugh, notes how "packed'' the shopping malls are these days, in the midst of a daunting recession. The Republican National Committee chairman was commenting on a caller's comment on Bill Bennett's radio show. The caller questioned how bad the economy really is, considering the fact that when he looks around he doesn't "see people spending any less money than they have been.'' "I've heard a number of people say that across the country,'' Steele replied with a laugh, and pretty well laughing all the way through the nodding comment: "The malls are just as packed...

If you've ever arrived home safely from a shopping spree, thank a mall cop. Tom Walton of AlliedBarton Security Services, one of the nation's largest providers of mall security professionals, complains that his people aren't getting any respect from Hollywood filmmakers who increasingly portray them as dorks, slackers and wannabe police officers. "These hard-working, highly trained men and women are our country's first responders who have a wide range of skills — from the sensitivity to deal with lost children to the ability to address criminal activity," Walton wrote in an article carried in several publications. As if malls didn't...