GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) — Ten people were killed on early Sunday morning when nearly two dozen vehicles were involved in a pile-up in the U.S. state of Florida, local authorities said on Monday. Several others were injured.

The series of vehicle accidents happened on Sunday morning between 3:45 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, the largest city in Alachua County. The highway was covered with a combination of thick smoke and fog, causing extremely low visibility.

The smoke was coming from a brush fire on Paynes Prairie, reducing visibility on both the north and southbound lanes. At least 12 cars and six semitrailer trucks were involved in the string of deadly crashes as drivers were unable to see. Rescue workers also had difficulty reaching the scene and helping victims as they were only guided by screams and moans.

Local authorities told the Gainseville Sun that ten people were confirmed to have been killed while 21 others were injured. Of those injured, 18 were rushed to Shands at the University in Florida while three others were receiving medical treatment at the North Florida Regional Medical Center. Several people remained in a critical condition on Monday.

After Sunday’s accident, which is being described as one of Florida’s worst vehicle accidents in history, the Florida Highway Patrol closed the highway from around 4 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time in both directions, reports said.

As the fog and smoke cleared up, burnt vehicles were seen across the highway, and some were piled up under other cars.

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ORLANDO, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) — A federal judge in Florida on Monday convicted a 27-year-old man of raping a toddler at SeaWorld while her parents were on a ride, prosecutors said. He faces up to 60 years in prison.

Michael Brian Grzybowicz was arrested on February 19, 2011, after he raped a 2-year-old girl two days earlier while they were at SeaWorld in Orlando. Grzybowicz was with a family, including the two-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy, to celebrate the children’s mother’s birthday.

Grzybowicz had been asked by the parents to watch the two children while they were on a roller coaster. “While the parents were on the roller coaster, Grzybowicz molested the 2-year-old and took explicit photographs of the child, using his cell phone,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said.

According to prosecutors, after leaving the park, Grzybowicz e-mailed the photos to his personal Yahoo! e-mail address. Two days later, at his house in Cocoa, Grzybowicz’s wife found one of the photographs on his cell phone and reported it to the Cocoa Police Department. Grzybowicz’s computer was also found to contain other images of child pornography.

Grzybowicz faces at least 20 years in prison and a maximum of 60 years.

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TAMPA, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) — A Kosovo-born was arrested over the weekend for allegedly plotting to carry out a series of attacks in the city of Tampa in Florida, U.S. prosecutors announced on Monday.

Sami Osmakac, 25, was arrested on Saturday evening after a number of meetings with an undercover officer. Osmakac, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, allegedly plotted to attack several locations in Tampa with a car bomb, firearms and other explosives.

According to the criminal complaint, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was contacted in late September by a person who said Osmakac and another individual had come into his business and asked if he had any flags which represent al-Qaeda. Osmakac soon after began working for the informant at his business.

On November 30, court records indicate Osmakac and the informant drove around the Tampa area while discussing a potential violent attack which Osmakac was seeking to execute. “During this meeting, Osmakac asked the [informant] to help him procure firearms and a belt containing explosives for use in the attack,” according to the criminal complaint.

During the same meeting, the informant allegedly told Osmakac that he knew someone who would be able to provide firearms and explosive devices. However, unknown to Osmakac, the individual the informant was discussing is in fact an FBI undercover officer.

After the informant and Osmakac called the undercover officer on December 19, Osmakac allegedly met with the undercover officer in person. During the meeting, Osmakac told the undercover officer he wished to acquire at least one AK-47-style machine gun, several Uzi submachine guns, at least ten grenades, and an explosive belt with a multi-directional blast range of approximately 15 yards (13.7 meters).

Four days later, Osmakac met with the undercover officer again and provided a $500 down payment for the weapons and explosives. “Osmakac also asked the [undercover officer] if he could build explosives that could be placed in three different vehicles and detonated remotely near the location where Osmakac would conduct an attack using the other weapons he previously asked for,” the criminal complaint alleged.

The undercover officer allegedly told Osmakac that it would be difficult to get three car bombs, but that he could possibly obtain a set of explosives which could be placed in the trunk of a car. “The [undercover officer] further explained that the explosive device for the car would be designed so that it could be triggered by using a cellular phone,” the complaint says.

For the explosive belt, Osmakac allegedly said it should be built to function both outdoors and in an enclosed space in case he was unable to get inside his intended target. “Osmakac told the [undercover officer] that he wanted the explosive belt to be built to kill people,” prosecutors allege.

Another follow-up meeting, which was recorded by audio and video devices, took place on January 1st. “I want to do something, something terrifying, like one day, one night, something’s going to happen, then six hours later, something else,” Osmakac allegedly told the undercover officer.

Osmakac described his attack generally by stating that he wanted to get a hotel room, park the car bomb at his target, leave the area, detonate the bomb in the car, and then retrieve the weapons and explosive belt from the hotel. Osmakac identified several places in Tampa as possible targets, but said he was looking for places with big gatherings.

Among Osmakac’s alleged bomb targets were night clubs in the Ybor City area of Tampa, the Operations Center of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Ybor City, and a business in the South Tampa area of Tampa.

During the same meeting on January 1st, Osmakac allegedly asked how far he should be from the car bomb to avoid being injured in the blast. He also expressed his desire to ‘take down buildings’ and ‘kill people inside.’

“You know, they saying they like 3 trillion in debt, they like 200 trillion in debt, and after all this money they’re spending for homeland security and all this, this is gonna be crushing them, this gonna terrify them,” Osmakac is quoted as saying in the criminal complaint.

During the second portion of the plot, Osmakac said he wanted to use the explosive belt to enter a building with a lot of people and take hostages. He would then demand for certain prisoners to be released before detonating his explosive belt in an attempt to kill his hostages and police officers.

Osmakac also allegedly discussed his desire to attack a U.S. Army base and to take down bridges across the Tampa Bay area, but recognized such a plan would be unrealistic. “I mean, I made many plans, but there’s not enough people,” he said.

At a later point during the same meeting, the undercover officer asked Osmakac when he would be ready to carry out his plan. “I’ve been ready, man. Whenever we can get this done, I’m ready,” he allegedly said. Osmakac later shook his head in the negative when the undercover officer said he could still change his mind because nothing had been delivered yet.

“We all have to die, so why not die the Islamic way,” Osmakac allegedly told the undercover officer. When the officer asked if he didn’t want to have a wife and children first, Osmakac allegedly said that Allah allows people to have children in Jannah (paradise).

On Saturday, Osmakac and the undercover officer agreed via text message and a handwritten note to meet at a hotel in Tampa later that day. During the meeting, Osmakac was shown an item in a truck bed which was designed to resemble a vehicle-born improvised explosive device (VBIED).

When they later arrived at the hotel room, the undercover officer began showing Osmakac a fully automatic AK-47, ammunition and magazines for the AK-47, a pistol, ammunition and a magazine for the pistol, grenades and an explosive belt. He later gave them to Osmakac, although none of them were functional.

After trying on the explosive belt, Osmakac allegedly told the undercover officer to film him with a digital video camera. During the 8-minute video, Osmakac says his belief is that the blood of Muslims is ‘more valuable’ than that of people who do not believe in Islam. He also said he wanted “pay back” for wrongs he felt were done to Muslims.

Following the meeting, Osmakac was taken into custody and charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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STRAITS OF FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) — American swimmer Diana Nyad was forced on Sunday to abandon her attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida after being stung twice by dangerous jellyfish.

Nyad, 62, began her swim on late Friday from the Cuban capital of Havana. After swimming more than 67 nautical miles (124 kilometers) in just over 40 hours, Nyad decided to end her attempt at around 11 a.m. local time on Sunday. The total swim was to be about 103 miles (166 kilometers).

“The medical team said I should not go another two nights in the water and risk additional likely Man-of-War stings which could have a long term cumulative effect on my body,” said Nyad, who suffered two Portuguese Man-of-War stings during her attempt.

She added: “But for each of us, isn’t life about determining your own finish line? This journey has always been about reaching your own other shore no matter what it is, and that dream continues.”

Nyad first attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida in August 1978 but gave up after 42 hours due to strong winds and large swells which slammed her against the steel shark cage she was using. She again tried to make the swim in August, without shark cage, but gave up after an asthma attack.

The Los Angeles woman has set a number of world records, including a record for circling Manhattan Island for nearly eight hours in 1975. Nyad was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1986 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2003.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — Federal regulators on Friday closed three more banks in Florida, Illinois and Georgia, raising the total number of bank failures in the United States so far this year to 68.

The largest bank to be closed on Friday was the Lydian Private Bank which had its headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida. The bank, which had five branches, was closed by Florida’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency after its regular closing time.

After the closing, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said it immediately entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with the Sabadell United Bank in Miami to assume all of the deposits of Lydian Private Bank.

Most customers should see no or little service disruptions despite the closure of the institution as the Lydian Private Bank’s five branches will reopen on Monday as branches of Sabadell United Bank, and all depositors of Lydian Private Bank will automatically become depositors of Sabadell United Bank.

All of the services of the failed bank, including checks, ATM and debit cards, will remain active. “Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed,” the FDIC said in a statement. “Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.”

As of June 30, Lydian Private Bank had approximately $1.70 billion in total assets and $1.24 billion in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Sabadell United Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.

The other two banks to be closed were the First Southern National Bank in Statesboro, Georgia and the First Choice Bank in Geneva, Illinois. Both banks had only one branch.

The First Southern National Bank, which had approximately $164.6 million in total assets and $159.7 million in total deposits, was assumed by the Heritage Bank of the South in Albany, Georgia. The First Choice Bank, which had approximately $141.0 million in total assets and $137.2 million in total deposits, was assumed by the Inland Bank & Trust in Oak Brook, Illinois.

The FDIC estimated that the combined cost of all three bank failures to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be around $363.8 million, but said it was the least costly resolution for the DIF compared to other alternatives.

The failures bring the total number of U.S. bank failures so far this year to 68. It followed the closing of the Public Savings Bank in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania on Thursday.

There were 157 bank failures in 2010.

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LONDON (BNO NEWS) — British police on Wednesday arrested a twelfth person in relation to alleged phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World, officials said. It is believed to be former editor Greg Miskiw.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Weeting team made the arrest by appointment at a London police station on Wednesday afternoon. He was arrested on suspicion of unlawful interception of communications and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

Police only identified the suspect as a 61-year-old man, but it is understood the man arrested is former News of the World editor Greg Miskiw. “The Operation Weeting team is conducting the new investigation into phone hacking. It would be inappropriate to discuss any further details regarding these cases at this time,” a police spokesperson said.

Miskiw was a newsdesk executive at the News of the World until he left the tabloid newspaper in 2005. He currently lives in the Delray Beach area of Florida but voluntarily returned to the United Kingdom on Wednesday to talk with police.

The ‘Operation Weeting’ team was formed in February to investigate phone hacking at the News of the World tabloid newspaper and to inform victims and potential victims. The paper, accused of hacking the phones of celebrities, politicians, and even victims of crime, was closed last month after the scope of the scandal became clear, ending the tabloid’s 168 years in print.

Including Wednesday’s arrest, a total of thirteen arrests involving twelve people have been made in connection with phone hacking and resulting inappropriate payments to police officers. One person, former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman, was arrested twice.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12.25 p.m. local time Friday to begin a five-year journey to Jupiter.

Juno’s principal goal is to reveal the origin and evolution of Jupiter. But as the archetype of giant gas planets, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the origin of our solar system and learn more about planetary systems around other stars.

“Today, with the launch of the Juno spacecraft, NASA began a journey to yet another new frontier,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “The future of exploration includes cutting-edge science like this to help us better understand our solar system and an ever-increasing array of challenging destinations.”

Juno was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket, the most powerful Atlas rocket in NASA’s inventory. Mission controllers now await telemetry from the spacecraft indicating it has achieved its proper orientation, and that its massive solar arrays, the biggest on any NASA deep-space probe, have deployed and are generating power.

“We are on our way, and early indications show we are on our planned trajectory,” said Jan Chodas, Juno project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

Juno will cover the distance from Earth to the moon, about 250,000 miles, in less than one day’s time. But it will take another five years and 1,740 million miles (2800 million kilometers) to complete the journey to Jupiter.

The spacecraft will orbit the planet’s poles 33 times and use its collection of eight science instruments to probe beneath the gas giant’s obscuring cloud cover to learn more about its origins, structure, atmosphere, and magnetosphere, and look for a potential solid planetary core.

Juno’s name comes from a Greek and Roman myth in which god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife, the goddess Juno, was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter’s true nature.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in our solar system. It is by far the oldest planet and contains more material than all the other planets, asteroids and comets combined. Its composition resembles a star’s, and if it had been about 80 times more massive, the planet could have become a star instead. With four large moons and many smaller moons, Jupiter forms its own miniature solar system.

Jupiter has been explored on several occasions. The most recent probe to visit Jupiter was the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft in late February 2007. The probe used Jupiter’s gravity to increase its speed.

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TAMPA, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) – The Cuban government on Wednesday authorized passenger flights to take place between Cuba and Florida’s Tampa International Airport after almost 50 years, the airport announced.

Tessie Aral, President of ABC Charters, a Carrier Service Provider (CSP) with license to provide travel and charter services to Cuba, said it has secured Cuba Landing Rights for Tampa International Airport. She informed airport officials that Tampa’s first flight to the Caribbean island could be as early as September 10, 2011.

“This is a monumental day. It took many people and many years working together to secure Tampa International Airport as the new gateway airport to Cuba,” said Joe Lopano, CEO of Tampa International Airport. “Accessing this vital international destination will benefit all of Tampa Bay with its economic impact and it is great news for our Cuban-American community.”

The State of Florida, by U.S. Census statistics, has the largest Cuban-American population in the United States. The airport said there are nearly 140,000 people of Cuban ancestry living within 90 minutes of Tampa International Airport.

“ABC Charters is proud to facilitate the reunification of the Cuban American families in Tampa and the adjoining areas,” Aral said. “They no longer will need to drive several hours to Miami, so they can visit their families in Cuba.”

During the 1960s, Tampa International Airport provided regularly scheduled services to Havana aboard National Airlines with a pre-jet airliner DC-7B. Since then, there was no flight service between Tampa’s airport, which is the 30th busiest in North America, and the Caribbean island.

On March 7, the Tampa International Airport received official approval from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to operate Cuba flights and now it has Cuban Landing Rights to provide such service.

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MIAMI (BNO NEWS) — An elderly sex offender who was previously convicted of sexually abusing his young daughter has now been sentenced to 40 years in prison after he bragged about it online and attempted to entice a child to engage in sexual activity, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday.

Allen, 68, of West Palm Beach, was previously arrested and convicted after a conversation he had with an undercover police officer who was pretending to be the father of an eight-year-old girl. The middle and last name of Allen have been redacted from this report to protect the identity of his daughter.

According to testimony at trial, Allen entered an internet chat room named “daughteranddaughtersex” and engaged in a chat with who he believed to be the father of an eight-year-old girl.

During the online conversations with the purported father, Allen bragged about having repeatedly molested his own daughter throughout her childhood. Allen later requested that the purported father put his eight-year-old daughter on a webcam.

Following this request, another undercover officer appeared in front of the webcam, making Allen believe she was Allen’s eight-year-old daughter. Allen then masturbated in front of his webcam and asked the father and child to engage in sexual activity as well.

Allen’s computers were soon after seized and were found to contain child pornography, both real child pornography and virtual child pornography in which images are created or modified to make it appear as if children are engaged in sexual activity.

Allen was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday for using a computer to attempt to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, and committing the enticement while being required by law to register as a sexual offender.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (BNO NEWS) — NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday morning, beginning a 12-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Atlantis’ STS-135 mission is the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

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