Interesting, Non Political News

According to The Mercury News, Amazon has patented product-distribution warehouses that could be flown in the sky while being attached to a series of blimps. Amazon is already testing delivery drones, and its aim is to eventually have a number of these blimps flying across the sky. The drones could fly from and back to the blimps to collect another package and fly off again.

“An aerial fulfilment centre may be positioned at an altitude above a metropolitan area and be designed to maintain an inventory of items that may be purchased by a user and delivered to the user by a [drone] that is deployed from the aerial fulfilment centre,” the patent said.

Click to expand...

Kim Sue Endicott, a Southern California woman who was abducted in Uganda several days ago, was returned safely after a ransom was paid for her release. Her guide, Congolese national Jean-Paul Mirenge Remezo, was also freed in the hostage situation, said officials, ABC News reported on April 7.

Endicott and Remezo were abducted at gunpoint inside Queen Elizabeth National Park it was reported. Ransom was $500,000. However, it’s not clear if the figure was paid to the kidnappers. Also unclear is how they were saved.

Uganda Wildlife Authority spokeman Bashir Hangi, said the kidnapping is without precedent.

“We have armed ranger guides, if you’re going out on a drive in the park you’re supposed to have one but these tourists went out on their own without a guard,” Hangi added. “From their camp in the park, they just got into a vehicle and went out. They should have notified us and informed us that they’re going out for a game drive and then we would have availed them a guard but they didn’t do this.”

Click to expand...

Three hostages held by Muslim terrorists in the southern Philippines made a daring escape that left one drowned, another shot in the back in critical condition, and another safe after swimming to his freedom, officials said.

The dramatic escapes leave at least three more hostages in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization due to its brutal history of bombings, ransom kidnappings, extortion, and beheadings. The remaining captives include a Dutch bird-watcher, Elwold Horn, who was kidnapped by the terrorists in 2012, and two Filipinos.

One of the Indonesians, Heri Ardiansyah, was plucked from the waters by marines on board a gunboat while they recovered the body of his companion, Hariadin, who drowned. The marines gunned down three Abu Sayyaf captors who were trying to chase the two Indonesians at sea, military officials said.

Click to expand...