EDM Wednesday Briefing: Safe Houses Found in Belgium, Russians Detained, Snow Causes Pileup

EDM Wednesday Briefing, 1/13/2016: Detained U.S. sailors are released by Iran, police officers deliver water in Flint, MI, a suicide bombing kills 10 in Cameroon, safe houses of Paris attackers are found in Belgium, and Russians are detained in Turkey.

U.S. Soldiers Released, Flint, Michigan Police Officers Deliver Water, Port Washington Seeking Power Grid Infrastructure Resilience

1. U.S. sailors detained by Iran have reportedly been released.  Two U. S. Navy patrol boats [link url=”http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/world/middleeast/iran-holds-us-navy-boats-crew.html?_r=0″ title=”reportedly experienced some system failures and traveled into waters“] claimed by Iranians.  Reports are [link url=”http://bigstory.ap.org/article/78c98f06474d4481bcb9c50f43d0cb0a/pentagon-2-us-navy-boats-held-iran-will-be-returned” title=”unclear as to the return“] of the patrol boats.
2. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/40-vehicle-pileup-shuts-indiana-highway-74-snow/story?id=36249651″ title=”Snow and whiteout conditions“] are being blamed for the 40-car pileup on I-74 in southeast Indiana.  The reported cause of the pileup was a jackknifed semi-tractor trailer that occurred due to the slick road conditions.  According to reports, only six people were transported to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
3. In Flint, Michigan, [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/Health/michigan-police-delivering-water-door-door-amid-contamination/story?id=36244428″ title=”police officers are going door-to-door to deliver bottled water“], testing kits, water filters, and replacement cartridges to residents after the state of emergency declaration by Governor Rick Snyder last week.  Locations are also available for residents to pick up clean water supplies.
4. Infrastructure is aging in the United States, and that includes the nation’s power grid.  The [link url=”http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/energy/” title=”American Society of Civil Engineers releases a report card regarding the nation’s infrastructure“], and the nation’s current energy rating is a D+.  Some residents of New York’s Long Island are hoping to make their city, Port Washington, more resilient and less susceptible to power outages.  The [link url=”http://insideenergy.org/2016/01/11/no-more-blackouts-how-new-york-is-protecting-the-power-grid/” title=”city is taking part in a contest to develop a micro-grid, or a standalone electrical system that would operate independently of the main grid“] during a power failure.

Suicide Bombing in Cameroon, Three Russians Detained in Turkey, Paris Attackers Safe Houses Found

5. Kolofata, Cameroon was the scene of a [link url=”http://bigstory.ap.org/article/089fb50a4d754c589ef23bb3385691ed/2-female-suicide-bombers-attack-cameroon-mosque-killing-10″ title=”deadly terrorist attack allegedly perpetrated by two female suicide bombers“]. The attack was against a mosque in the Far North region, where it killed ten people and wounded approximately twelve others.
6. Three [link url=”http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/13/turkey-arrests-three-russians-istanbul-suicide-attack” title=”Russian Nationals are being held in Turkey“] in connection with the recent attack in Istanbul that killed a total of ten people, and wounded another fifteen.  The Russians being held are suspected of having links with ISIS, the alleged perpetrators of the attack.  The [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-idUSKCN0UQ0UJ20160113″ title=”attack was said to be carried out by a suicide bomber“] thought to be from Syria and affiliated with the Islamic State.  [link url=”http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7f62c18861ba4b70bcf4a1bde6ec78c9/latest-2-reported-hospitalized-after-blast-turkey” title=”Eight of those killed were Germans and another nine were wounded“] according to Germany’s foreign minister .
7. Suspected [link url=”http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-shooting-belgium-idUSKCN0UR0OY20160113″ title=”safe houses used by the Paris attackers have been found“] by investigators in Belgium.  Two apartments, one in Brussels, the other in Charleroi, along with a house in Auvelais, were rented under false identities and paid in advance with cash for one year.  [link url=”http://www.politico.eu/article/belgian-police-identify-third-paris-attack-safe-house-terrorism-brussels-charleroi-france-abaaoud/” title=”Fingerprints of both Bilal Hadfi and Abdelhamid Abaaoud were discovered“] in the apartment in Charleroi.
8. Vehicles rented by the suspects made stops near the suspected rentals, including a [link url=”http://www.ibtimes.com/belgium-identifies-3-paris-attack-plot-safe-houses-2262840″ title=”Seat Leon Hatchback that stopped in Auvelais and Charleroi, and a BMW“] that stopped nearby all the suspected rental locations.
9. The location of an alleged [link url=”http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-terror-attacks/paris-attack-fugitive-salah-abdeslam-s-fingerprint-found-belgium-n492641″ title=”bomb factory was also found in the Schaerbeek district of Brussels last week“] which held traces of explosives and handmade belts.