Plans to build a London sculpture using girders retrieved from the World Trade Center, which was destroyed after a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, have been set aside after it received complaints from the 9/11 victim’s families.

The artwork is designed by Miya Ando, a Japanese-Russian artist. It was to be made out of twisted pieces of steel about 5 to 8 meters in height, and to be placed over a lighted pool.

The plans to create the memorial were already approved by London’s Southwark Council in December. It was expected to launch on September along with the commemoration of the attack’s 10th anniversary, as well as an educational program at the Potters Fields Park in London.

The sculpture was commissioned by an educational charity called 9/11 London Project Foundation. Trustees of the charity informed that they want to extend the sculpture’s consultation period after several concerns by the victim’s families were raised.

Hannah Ali was one of the relatives who showed disappointment at the plans to create a sculpture, which will use materials from the collapsed building. Ali’s sister died in the north tower of the World Trade Center.

She asked how someone could even think of making large beam of steel, which had bodies strewn over them, into an artwork.

The 9/11 London Project Foundation aims to increase people’s awareness and widen their comprehension of the events that happened on September 11, 2001. Trustees of the charity said they withheld the sculpture to make sure nothing threatens the effectives or impact of the launch, as well as its development of an educational program.

A college student who recently became the youngest female police chief in Mexico received death threats and is currently in United States to seek for asylum, an advocate for human rights reported on Friday.

Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, an official of the Human Rights Commission in the state of Chihuahua, said that Marisol Valles Garcia had received phone call threats last weekend.

According to a family member, the death threats came from a criminal group that forced her to work for them.

Valles, a 20-year-old single mother, took over the police chief position in the small town of Praxedis in October when two other candidates turned down the offer after the death of the town’s mayor and his son.

The rights activist said Valles was accompanied by a local official when she went to the international bridge between El Porvenir and Fort Hancock in Texas.

However, other media sources said the female chief of police went to United States with two relatives to seek asylum. But, officials in Praxedis G. Guerrero denied the speculations.

Meanwhile, Jose Flores, spokesperson of the city council, said Valles Garcia asked for a leave of absence, but she planned to come back to work on Monday.

Both de la Rosa Hickerson and Flores said they have attempted to contact Valles Garcia since Thursday, but she was not picking up her phone.

Pradexis G. Guerrero is a town with about 8,500 people. It is located southeast of Ciudad Juarez. Drug violence has turned it from a quiet farming community to a violent land.

Valles Garcia’s departure camejust a few months after Erika Gandara, the 28-year-old sole police officer of Pradexis’ nearby town Guadalupe, was kidnapped in December. Her whereabouts is still unknown.

The United States advised citizens currently staying in Yemen to consider leaving the country since protests to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh are obtaining momentum.

It says the safety of the citizens in the state is highly risky.

Thousands of protesters have gathered around major cities in Yemen. On Sunday, violence emerged as loyalists of the country’s government attacked the demonstrators with stones and sticks in the town of Ibb.

Also, six security men were killed in remote provinces. The attacks were blamed on the militant group al Qaeda.

The U.S. Department of State also warned its citizens to avoid traveling to Yemen. The department said people’s security risk in Yemen has been greatly increased because of terrorist activities, as well as civil unrest.

Just like U.S., Britain has also warned its citizens against travel to Yemen. It advised those families and individuals, without great need for staying, to depart by commercial flights.

The increasing protests, as well as the series of flaws by Saleh’s support members have added pressure on President Saleh to stop his 30-year rule in the Republic of Yemen. However, both parties appear unwilling to compromise.

Earlier in February, Saleh announced that he would leave his office in 2013, the year when his current term ends. However, protesters want him to step down this year, if not any sooner.

Yemen is a country located southwest of Arabian Peninsula. Even before the protests, it was already on the brink of falling as Saleh struggles to strengthen a truce with the Shi’ite rebels.

Analysts say the protests, which were inspired by the recent activities in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, might reach a point where it would be difficult for Saleh to cling to its power.

Streams and rivers are overflowing because of melting snow.  Additional rainfall on top of that  poured some flood waters into communities along Ohio, Indiana and Illinois on Tuesday. The flood killed one woman as her vehicle was brushed into a river.

There were four deaths when a storm struck Tennessee. Authorities said flash floods also hit the eastern mountainous part of the state.

The region was lashed with high winds and a five-inch rainfall brought about by the strong storms since Sunday. It added to the run-off from the melting ice and snow, which pushed the rivers off their banks.

In Ohio, several people had to be rescued on Friday as flood waters from the overflowing Blanchard River submerged residential neighborhoods, as well as part of the downtown area.

The river crested in the early hours of Tuesday. It was progressively receding while the city was out of danger as opposed to the worst floods experienced in 2007 and 2008, said Mayor Pete Sehnert via telephone.

Electricity and water services were available in Findlay. Yet, several businesses and schools were closed, according to Sehnert. The city separated its fire and police personnel on both sides of the river in preparation for the bridges to shut down.

The National Weather Service reported that overflowing creeks and rivers in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana flooded some homes, farmland, golf courses and roads. The weather agency gave several flood warnings, taking note of some rivers that had yet to crest.

Tamara McBride, from Ohio Emergency Management Agency, said 700 people were evacuated from their homes across northern Ohio.

Legislation allowing same-sex marriage was approved by the state Senate in Maryland on the night of Thursday.

The Civil Marriage Protection act would officially legalize gay marriage. But, it would not force religious sects to perform marriages of which they do not approve. The majority party has strong support on the legislation, which was approved through the Democratic Senate with a 25-21 vote.

The vote from the Senate came a day after President Obama informed the Department of Justice to discontinue defending the bill opposing same-sex marriages for he believes it is unlawful.

Senator Richard S. Madaleno Jr., the first explicitly gay member in the senate and a Montgomery County Democrat, considered the vote as momentous.

He informed that the bill is similar to a legislation submitted in Washington, D.C., that does not subject religious leaders to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples if they object of it.

The bill now awaits the vote from the Maryland House of Delegates. A hearing on the bill is expected to begin on Friday. Heather Mizeur, a House member and another Montgomery County Democrat, thinks her party is likely a few votes short of 71 vows for the bill.

The Democrats have 98-43 majority in the Maryland House. However, Mizeur says other members of the party are still hesitant to vote for it because of their religious beliefs or concerns regarding the previous election.

Governor Martin O’Mally has announced in public that he would sign the bill into law if it would pass the state legislature. If the legislation is signed into law, Maryland will become the sixth state to permit marriages for lesbian and gay couples.

The Dow Jones Average closed over 12,000 for the first time since June 2008 on Tuesday. This occurred as US stocks shrugged off the turmoil in Egypt and soared on positive corporate earnings.

The entire major US market indices were higher. These were sustained by indications that the United States economy is shifting steadily away from recession. Indications include strong January car sales, better than anticipated growth in manufacturing and solid profits reports from Pfizer, UPS and Archer Daniels Midland.

The blue-chip Dow skipped 1.25 percent or 148.23 points to 12,040.16. That is the first close from the previous 12,000 mark since June 19, 2008.

The broader S&P 500 index leaped 1.67 percent or 21.47 points to 1,307.59, whereas tech-heavy Nasdaq index increased 1.89 percent or 51.11 points to 2,751.19.

The general weakness of markets in U.S., which occurred on Friday and Monday sent a buying signal to investors, analysts said.

Michael James of Wedbush Morgan Securities said the market has been in an upbeat trend for several months now. He said that every shift down over the last six months has confirmed to be an opportunity for buying, and many people viewed the downward move on Friday as the same thing.

However, briefly before President Hosni Mubarak offered to step down after three decades of rule on Tuesday, punters pushed back into stocks.

The near-unanimous increase of markets in Asia and Europe on Tuesday gives another positive atmosphere. The refusal of the stock market to extend Friday’s abrupt decrease was treated as an encouraging sign to buyers. According to analysts at Briefing.com, gains abroad also provided a positive backdrop for further buying this session.

A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and injured over 150 people at the busiest airport in Russia on Monday, the state TV informed. The bombing attacked the capital of Russia and carried the marks of militants brawling for an Islamist state in the region of North Caucasus.

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia promised to track down and punish those who are behind the bombing. The incident occurred during one of the busier late afternoons at Domodedovo airport in Moscow. Some of the people killed were foreigners.

Islamist rebels once declared that they will bring their bombing campaign from North Caucasus to the heartland of Russia during the year prior to the elections for president, saying they will hit transport and economic targets.

They also heightened their threats at the Winter Olympics in 2014, which is scheduled to take place at Black Sea resort town of Sochi, an area where militants consider “occupied.”

Pools of blood spread all over the area outside the arrival halls where, according to Interfax news agency, traces of shrapnel were discovered.

Planes from several countries across Europe had landed from half the hour before the attack occurred. French, Italians and Germans were said to be in the hospitals while two Britains were among the dead, according to investigative committee spokesman Vladimir Markin.

The bomb had been categorized as a terrorist attack, according to the prosecutor’s office. It is the largest since twin suicide bombings on the Moscow metro in March.

The blast was most likely the work of a suicide bomber, state television said. Quoting Markin, state-run RIA said the bomber probably had a belt loaded with explosives.

U.S. President Barack Obama offered Moscow some help as he denounced the outrageous act of terrorism.

Starbucks Corp will be releasing its biggest drink size ever, the 31-ounce “Trenta”, in all of its coffee shops in United States by May 3 of this year, the company informed on Sunday.

The new cup size will be available solely for its iced coffee, iced tea and iced tea lemonade drinks in U.S. The newest Trenta is 7 ounces larger than the Starbucks “Venti” cup for iced beverages, which is presently the largest size they had offered.

The company said that ordering drinks for the Trenta size will probably cost consumers about 50 cents more than getting the smaller Venti-sized iced drinks.

Starbucks based in Seattle tested the new size in many U.S markets last year and they have found that it was answering to the customer’s demand for larger cold drinks.

The Trenta size will be launched in 14 states that includes Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia on January 18 and in California by February 1.

The biggest coffee chain in the world said that unsweetened beverages in the new and bigger size will contain fewer than 90 calories while sweetened versions will contain less than 230 calories.

McDonald’s Corp, the biggest fast-food restaurant chain in the world has taken direct aim at Starbucks with their own frappes, fruit smoothies, and espresso drinks such as cappuccino and lattes. It has also allured customers by selling 32-ounce sweet tea drinks for only $1 each.

U.S convenience stores, which have been competing with restaurant chains with their bigger selection of low-cost and quick-serve fare, have been selling large sizes of fountain drinks for years.

A Boeing 727 aircraft crashed near a north-western city of Iran killing 72 of the 105 passengers and crew on board on Sunday, according to the Fars news agency report.  The information was gathered from the forensic medicine service in the province of West Azerbaijan.

The passenger jet from the state-run airline, Iran Air, was attempting to complete an emergency landing in Orumiyeh when it crashed to the ground and broke into pieces.

The Iran airplane departed from Tehran Mehrabad airport at 6:00 pm local time (1230 GMT) and was expected to arrive at the city of Orumiyeh at 7:45 pm local time (1615 GMT).

However, the plane crashed near a village about 15 km away from the Orumiyeh airport, Mr. Jalzadeh, the West Azerbaijan governor informed the Iran state IRINN TV.

Jalzadeh said ten minutes before the plane was to arrive at the Orumiyeh airport, the pilot told the airport control tower that they could not land due to bad weather conditions.  After that they disappeared from the control tower’s radar.

Officials said that the bad weather was the primary reason why the aircraft crashed. The crew failed to land the plane at first attempt because of heavy snowfall and thick fog. Afterwards, it crash landed about seven kilometers from the city of Orumiyeh, near the southern area of the Orumiyeh Lake.

The crash happened when the aircraft was going down for a landing at 7:45 pm local time on Sunday.

Medical reports said all 12 crew members were killed, as well as a teenager and two new-born babies.

The 31 injured are already out of danger, but two people are still in critical condition, the Mehr news agency reported.

Firefighters bring some Christmas cheer to the most violet city in Mexico by giving thousands of free toys in place of Santa Claus to many poor children the day before the Christmas.

Ciudad Juarez is considered the most harassed city across El Paso, Texas because of the rampant numbers of drug gangs.

Since Thursday night, hundreds of families braved the cold weather and gathered around central plaza just to get some of the care packages filled with different toys such as stuffed animals, dolls, and wooden horses gathered from the annual gift-giving event.

On Friday, some firefighters were even wearing Santa hats and red jackets while handing the gifts to the children. The firefighters redecorated the donated toys from the event. However, they destroyed all of the plastic guns that they have received so as not to encourage violent games.

Drug violence in the city has killed more than 3,000 people this year. Numerous small gangs operate in the area, which are thought to recruit poor children and teenagers to work for them as lookouts or even as hit men.

According to a resident, their city was not like that before. Today, the entire city is very sad as they experience so much violence and corruption, said Beatriz de la Cruz while waiting in line. She was hoping the firefighters would give her granddaughters a bicycle.

While widespread police corruption is observed across Mexico, Tapia, other parents said that they consider the firefighters as one of the few trustworthy bureaus left in the Ciudad Juarez.