Fourthestate

Two Russians have flown over the Arctic in a hot air balloon and claim to have broken the world record for the longest non-stop flight distance in a thermal balloon. The Russian authorities claim that famous Russian balloonist Fedor Konyukhov and the President of the Russian Ballooning Federation, Ivan Menyailo, flew 2,540 kilometres (1,578 miles). This is 174 kilometres (108 miles) more than the previous record of 2,366 kilometres (1,470 miles) set by Michio Kanda in 1994. Konyukhov reportedly took off in a balloon from the Murmansk region on 24th March and landed in Khatanga in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The balloon reportedly flew over the Arkhangelsk, Nenets, and Yamalo-Nenets regions. The first piece of footage reportedly shows the balloon, sporting the colours of the Russian flag, taking off, with the second piece of footage filmed previously and showing the balloon being inflated. Newsflash obtained a first statement from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on Wednesday, 22nd March, announcing the attempt to break the world record. It said: "The safety of the pilots from the ground will be monitored by rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia "Today, in Kirovsk in the Murmansk region, the crew met with the employees of the Main Directorate of the department for the region and the Murmansk Arctic Comprehensive Emergency Rescue Centre of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. "The largest air balloon in the history of domestic aeronautics has been specially created for the flight - it will be piloted by Fyodor Konyukhov and the president of the Federation of Aeronautical Sports of Russia Ivan Menyaylo. "The air balloon will take off on Friday, 24th March in the morning." The statement continued: "And already at the end of this week, on 26th March, the Arctic expedition of the Russian Emergencies Ministry will start. "Its participants will overcome about 1,600 kilometres off-road and in the real conditions of the north they will test the latest domestic models of machinery and equipment." Newsflash obtained a second statement from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on Friday, 24th March, saying: "The safety of the record balloon flight is under the control of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. "Rescuers of the Murmansk region have organised cooperation with the ground headquarters of the journey of traveller Fyodor Konyukhov and the president of the Federation of Aeronautical Sports of Russia Ivan Menyaylo. "Weather conditions allowed the air expedition to take off as planned, today at 5am." And on Sunday, 26th March, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS claimed that the record had been broken, saying that Konyukhov and Menyailo had landed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory after flying 2,540 kilometres. Konyukhov said on Facebook: "During the transcontinental flight, the 'PhosAgro' hot air balloon piloted by Fedor Konyukhov and Ivan Menyaylo covered a distance of 2,540 kilometres, which is 174 kilometres more than the previous world record set in 1994 by Japanese pilot Michio Kanda. "Thus, both world records for the distance and duration of non-stop flight in a hot air balloon now belong to Russia. "Starting early on 24th March in Kirovsk, Murmansk region, the balloon, flying at an altitude of three to six kilometres, passed through the airspace of the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous districts, as well as the Krasnoyarsk Territory. "After crossing the Putorana Plateau, known for its harsh weather conditions, on 26 March at 03.24 Moscow time, the 'PhosAgro' balloon made a precise landing on the runway of the Khatanga airport located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, at 72 degrees north latitude!" It is currently unclear if the new world record that the Russians claim to have broken has been validated by Guinness World Records.

Two Russians have flown over the Arctic in a hot air balloon and claim to have broken the world record for the longest non-stop flight distance in a thermal balloon. The Russian authorities claim that famous Russian balloonist Fedor Konyukhov and the President of the Russian Ballooning Federation, Ivan Menyailo, flew 2,540 kilometres (1,578 miles). This is 174 kilometres (108 miles) more than the previous record of 2,366 kilometres (1,470 miles) set by Michio Kanda in 1994. Konyukhov reportedly took off in a balloon from the Murmansk region on 24th March and landed in Khatanga in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The balloon reportedly flew over the Arkhangelsk, Nenets, and Yamalo-Nenets regions. The first piece of footage reportedly shows the balloon, sporting the colours of the Russian flag, taking off, with the second piece of footage filmed previously and showing the balloon being inflated. Newsflash obtained a first statement from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on Wednesday, 22nd March, announcing the attempt to break the world record. It said: "The safety of the pilots from the ground will be monitored by rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia "Today, in Kirovsk in the Murmansk region, the crew met with the employees of the Main Directorate of the department for the region and the Murmansk Arctic Comprehensive Emergency Rescue Centre of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. "The largest air balloon in the history of domestic aeronautics has been specially created for the flight - it will be piloted by Fyodor Konyukhov and the president of the Federation of Aeronautical Sports of Russia Ivan Menyaylo. "The air balloon will take off on Friday, 24th March in the morning." The statement continued: "And already at the end of this week, on 26th March, the Arctic expedition of the Russian Emergencies Ministry will start. "Its participants will overcome about 1,600 kilometres off-road and in the real conditions of the north they will test the latest domestic models of machinery and equipment." Newsflash obtained a second statement from the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry on Friday, 24th March, saying: "The safety of the record balloon flight is under the control of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. "Rescuers of the Murmansk region have organised cooperation with the ground headquarters of the journey of traveller Fyodor Konyukhov and the president of the Federation of Aeronautical Sports of Russia Ivan Menyaylo. "Weather conditions allowed the air expedition to take off as planned, today at 5am." And on Sunday, 26th March, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS claimed that the record had been broken, saying that Konyukhov and Menyailo had landed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory after flying 2,540 kilometres. Konyukhov said on Facebook: "During the transcontinental flight, the 'PhosAgro' hot air balloon piloted by Fedor Konyukhov and Ivan Menyaylo covered a distance of 2,540 kilometres, which is 174 kilometres more than the previous world record set in 1994 by Japanese pilot Michio Kanda. "Thus, both world records for the distance and duration of non-stop flight in a hot air balloon now belong to Russia. "Starting early on 24th March in Kirovsk, Murmansk region, the balloon, flying at an altitude of three to six kilometres, passed through the airspace of the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk regions, the Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets autonomous districts, as well as the Krasnoyarsk Territory. "After crossing the Putorana Plateau, known for its harsh weather conditions, on 26 March at 03.24 Moscow time, the 'PhosAgro' balloon made a precise landing on the runway of the Khatanga airport located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, at 72 degrees north latitude!" It is currently unclear if the new world record that the Russians claim to have broken has been validated by Guinness World Records.

Police in California have released footage showing parts of a dramatic seven-hour standoff that ended with officers rescuing an alleged hostage and arresting the suspect. The incident took place in southwest Bakersfield, in the USA, on 17th January. It reportedly began around 8:17 pm in the 7700 block of Cibola Drive, after officers responded to a report of a woman being held against her will by a man, later identified as Richard Frio, who was possibly armed. Video footage shows a woman leaving the house, followed by Frio opening fire with a rifle from inside. Officers returned fire, leading to a nearly seven-hour standoff. Frio continued shooting at officers, hitting several homes and causing a non-life-threatening injury to a bystander. Frio was taken into custody at 3:46 am without injury from the officers' gunfire. The involved officers—Sgt. During the investigation, John Rodrigues, Officer Riley Ludeke, and Officer Issak Beltran have been placed on paid administrative leave. Bakersfield Police are investigating the use of force to ensure compliance with the law and department policy.

Police in California have released footage showing parts of a dramatic seven-hour standoff that ended with officers rescuing an alleged hostage and arresting the suspect. The incident took place in southwest Bakersfield, in the USA, on 17th January. It reportedly began around 8:17 pm in the 7700 block of Cibola Drive, after officers responded to a report of a woman being held against her will by a man, later identified as Richard Frio, who was possibly armed. Video footage shows a woman leaving the house, followed by Frio opening fire with a rifle from inside. Officers returned fire, leading to a nearly seven-hour standoff. Frio continued shooting at officers, hitting several homes and causing a non-life-threatening injury to a bystander. Frio was taken into custody at 3:46 am without injury from the officers' gunfire. The involved officers—Sgt. During the investigation, John Rodrigues, Officer Riley Ludeke, and Officer Issak Beltran have been placed on paid administrative leave. Bakersfield Police are investigating the use of force to ensure compliance with the law and department policy.

This dramatic footage shows cops in Arizona shooting and killing a suspect who reportedly stabbed two women and kept assaulting one of them as they arrived. The incident began when officers with the Phoenix Police Department responded to a report about a stabbing taking place in a residential area in Phoenix on 6th March. Multiple calls alerted the police to the incident at a home on 4100 W. Alta Vista Rd. Upon arrival, officers found an injured elderly woman lying in front of the house. Inside, the suspect was seen holding two knives while kneeling behind another injured woman. Despite several police commands, the suspect continued to assault the woman, leading an officer to fire his rifle and strike the man. The elderly victim was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the second injured woman later died at the hospital. The suspect was pronounced dead on the scene, and additional knives were seized as evidence. The investigation is ongoing.

This is the moment a sorry-looking husky is rescued from the frozen Baltic Sea adrift far from land on an ice floe. Witnesses could barely believe their eyes when they saw the pooch drifting out into the Gulf of Finland from Russia's western coast on Friday, 24th March. But they alerted the Search and Rescue Service in Saint Petersburg, who launched a lifeboat to save the terrified pup. A video of the rescue shows the crew pulling alongside the ice floe with the husky hunched over and clearly frightened and freezing. As crew members reach down to reassure it, they lift up the dog and haul it aboard their rescue launch. When they checked the husky's collar they discovered her name is Bonita and quickly phoned her owner from the name on her ID tag. Russian Emergency Situations Ministry officials said later in a statement obtained by Newsflash: "There it turned out that the name of the victim was Bonita, and the owner's phone number was also indicated on the collar. "Fortunately, very soon they were together again: happy, but pretty scared!" It was not established how the husky ended up on the ice flow, the ministry claimed. They added: "One thing is clear: she is definitely lucky. "And the Saint Petersburg rescuers once again urge all four-legged animals not to go out on the deadly ice reservoirs."

This is the bizarre moment when supermarket workers crack a real-life cold case as they trap a thief trying to flee with a bag of frozen meat. The thief was recorded on shopping mall CCTV as she loaded her bag with choice cuts straight from the shop freezer in the Russian city of Perm. But as she tried to flee, she got lost in the shopping centre's maze of corridors and ended up surrendering to staff. The footage shows the woman as she brazenly loads up her shopping bag without even attempting to hide it. Then as she leaves she begins to run as shop workers spot her and give chase. But as she tried to find a way out of the rabbit warren of aisles and corridors, she gets trapped by the supermarket assistant and hands herself in, Police say the woman - who will be charged with attempted robbery - had a record of similar incidents. Her name has not been revealed. The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement obtained by Newsflash on 22nd March: "The duty unit of the police department of the Industrial District of Perm received a message from a representative of a chain store located on Mira Street about an attempt to steal goods. "A woman entered the trading floor and went to the refrigerators with frozen products. There, she hid six packages of meat in her bag and tried to sneak out of the supermarket. "However, her actions were noticed by vigilant store employees who tried to stop the intruder. The woman took off running, but ran past the exit and ended up getting lost in the mall. "Realising that further resistance was futile, she surrendered to the store employees, who handed her over to the police." They added: "At the police station, a 30-year-old local resident confessed and explained that she had stolen food for further resale. In addition, it turned out that the detainee is already a defendant in criminal cases for the theft of food from stores. "A criminal case was initiated against a young woman on the grounds of a crime under part three of article 30, part one of article 161 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, that is attempted robbery."

This is the shocking moment a people smuggler abandons a one-year-old boy to his fate a stone's throw from the Colorado River before returning to Mexico. A surveillance camera caught the moment the smuggler emerges from the water with the tot in his arms and places him on the ground between two tall fences. The smuggler then returns to the water and, moments later, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle arrives on the scene. An officer can be seen getting out and collecting the toddler before an accident can happen. The smuggler had swum across the river between San Luis Rio Colorado in Mexico's Sonora State and the Yuma Sector of Arizona State, USA, with the lad in his arms. The incident took place on 20th March and officials revealed that the boy was from Guatemala. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said in a statement obtained by Newsflash on 24th March: "A one-year-old Guatemalan child was abandoned along the Colorado River Monday afternoon by a smuggler who took him across the border and then left him to fend for himself along the water's edge. Thanks to our agent's quick response, tragedy was averted! He followed it up with a picture of the child safe with an agent.

Police in Spain have arrested 15 drug traffickers who kidnapped four men over the theft of a stash of drugs and tortured them for information until one nearly died. Officers from the National Police arrested the suspects in raids across the municipalities of Marbella, Benhavis, and Estepona. One of the raids can be seen in this police footage. During the raids, officers seized 937 kilogrammes (2,066 lb) of hashish, 53 ecstasy pills, narcotics, a pistol, ammunition, balaclavas, about EUR 50,000 (GBP 44,000) in cash, multiple vehicles, and forged numberplates. Chillingly, the gang had kidnapped four men in Marbella over the alleged theft of 1,500 kilogrammes of hashish. On 2nd December, six to eight armed individuals arrived at the home of one of the victims, where they tied the men up, put them in a van, and drove them to a villa in another area of the city. During their captivity, the gang beat them, threatened them, and deprived them of food and medicine in order to get information about the whereabouts of the missing stash. They also contacted their relatives and demanded they make ransom payments totalling EUR 5 million (GBP 4.4 million) for their release. Officers began searching for the men after receiving four missing persons reports on 4th and 5th December. Over the course of the investigations, the suspects released two of their captives, one of whom had fallen into a diabetic coma and went on to spend a month in hospital. Investigations finally led the officers to the villa, where they arrested four armed suspects and freed the remaining kidnapped victims, who were tied up and had multiple injuries. The operation ended with 11 more arrests, the National Police reported on 23rd March. The suspects are variously accused of kidnapping, belonging to a criminal organisation, illegal possession of weapons, aggravated robbery, vehicle theft, forging documents, and causing injury.

This is the moment a baby orangutan explores its enclosure in warm spring weather - but always keeps a tight grip on mum. The nine-month-old girl was being shown round the outdoor area of their zoo home by her watchful mother teaching her how to forage for food. The youngster hitched a lift on mum as they patrolled around the public part of their enclosure at Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, the Austrian capital. Charming video footage of the pair released by the zoo on Thursday, 23rd March shows the baby first grabbing hold of mum's leg before being swung up onto her back. Then the pair pick their way through the climbing ropes and logs designed to mimic their natural environment in the Indonesian jungle. As they stop to graze, the mum shows her daughter where to find the sweetest snacks like rose petals, fresh bamboo and newly-sprouting grass. Enclosure head keeper Sandra Keiblinger said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: "Everything is new, our orangutan girl is still careful. "In the indoor area, the little one is already climbing around on her own. "In a few weeks she will also dare to do this in the outdoor enclosure." Orangutans are native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, and can nowadays only be found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra. Keiblinger said: "Orangutans have really big muscles. Their arms are extremely long and strong, their thumbs shortened. "Despite their weight, they can shimmy from branch to branch. "Their feet work like hands – perfect for climbing trees and balancing on ropes." Orangutans are considered highly intelligent and share 96.4 per cent of human genes. But their numbers have significantly decreased due to deforestation and habitat loss in the last decade. Current records say there are less than 105,000 Bornean orangutans in the wild. Projections claim this number is expected to decline further to 47,000 individuals by 2025.

This is the moment a baby orangutan explores its enclosure in warm spring weather - but always keeps a tight grip on mum. The nine-month-old girl was being shown round the outdoor area of their zoo home by her watchful mother teaching her how to forage for food. The youngster hitched a lift on mum as they patrolled around the public part of their enclosure at Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, the Austrian capital. Charming video footage of the pair released by the zoo on Thursday, 23rd March shows the baby first grabbing hold of mum's leg before being swung up onto her back. Then the pair pick their way through the climbing ropes and logs designed to mimic their natural environment in the Indonesian jungle. As they stop to graze, the mum shows her daughter where to find the sweetest snacks like rose petals, fresh bamboo and newly-sprouting grass. Enclosure head keeper Sandra Keiblinger said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: "Everything is new, our orangutan girl is still careful. "In the indoor area, the little one is already climbing around on her own. "In a few weeks she will also dare to do this in the outdoor enclosure." Orangutans are native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia, and can nowadays only be found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra. Keiblinger said: "Orangutans have really big muscles. Their arms are extremely long and strong, their thumbs shortened. "Despite their weight, they can shimmy from branch to branch. "Their feet work like hands – perfect for climbing trees and balancing on ropes." Orangutans are considered highly intelligent and share 96.4 per cent of human genes. But their numbers have significantly decreased due to deforestation and habitat loss in the last decade. Current records say there are less than 105,000 Bornean orangutans in the wild. Projections claim this number is expected to decline further to 47,000 individuals by 2025.

Police in Moscow have reportedly arrested two young men and a woman suspected of a violent robbery. It has been preliminarily established that the assailants provoked a conflict with random passers-by at night. During the altercation, they assaulted their opponents and subsequently stole a waist bag containing money and other belongings from one of the victims. As a result of the investigation, the police detained the suspects at their places of residence in the capital. The Arbat District Police Department has initiated a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 162 of the Russian Criminal Code. The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Irina Volk, reported that the suspects are currently in custody as a preventive measure.