Brit pensioner fights off 6 thugs with handbag

Six sledgehammer-wielding robbers, who were smashing their way into a jewellery store, got the shock of their lives when a Brit pensioner clobbered them with her handbag.
The unidentified brave woman in her 70s ran across the street when she saw them attempt a smash and grab raid on Michael Jones Jewellers in Northampton on Monday morning, reports the Daily Mail.
The attack captured on video by a passer-by clearly shows the woman bashing the stunned raiders with her large black handbag as they tried to escape on mopeds.
In the mobile phone footage, the fearless woman is seen attacking the robbers who towered over her, knocking them around the head and shoulders with her bag as they grabbed handfuls of watches and designer jewellery from the store's cabinet displays.
Startled, they dropped their haul on the ground and attempted to bid a hasty retreat as terrified staff inside the jewellers seized the opportunity to lower the store's security shutters.
But the brave woman continued her onslaught as the hapless gang attempted to get away on mopeds.
She clobbered one of the thieves on the back of the moped leading to the driver to crash to the ground.
Other shoppers witnessing the attack detained one of the robbers after wrestling him to the ground.
The rest of the mob managed to escape, but three were arrested shortly afterwards.
The four arrested men are aged 18, 22, 25 and 39. Police are now seeking a further two other people who are believed to have been involved and have appealed for witnesses.
"She was absolutely amazing. We were terrified but we looked out of the window to see her running down the road with her handbag in the air. She did not seem scared or ruffled at all," said Sarah-Jane Brown, who works at a salon next to the jewellery shop. (ANI)

Jordan Rice

Australia floods: teenage victim died after asking rescuer to save brother first

Father of Jordan Rice tells Toowoomba Chronicle of teenager's sacrifice as floods kill at least 18 people in Queensland city

Jordan Rice died in the Queensland floods with his mother Donna. Photograph: Lucyrc Photography/Newspix

A 13-year-old victim of the devastating floods that swept through the Australian city of Toowoomba earlier this week died after asking his rescuer to save his little brother first.

Jordan Rice and his mother, Donna, were killed on Monday afternoon after being carried off by the floodwaters that had risen around their stranded car.

At least 10 people lost their lives in what police in the Queensland city described as an "inland instant tsunami". Another 18 are feared dead.

Details of the teenager's sacrifice emerged today after his father spoke to the local paper.

John Tyson told the Toowoomba Chronicle that Ms Rice and their sons, Jordan and Blake, were on their way back from a trip to buy school uniform when the waters rose up around their car as they drove through the city's central business district at around 2pm on Monday.

After the engine cut out, Rice, 43, managed to get through to the emergency services, who told the family to stay where they were.

But as the waters grew higher, the three had to climb on to the roof of the car.

"All these people were just standing around until an old scrawny guy grabbed a bit of rope, wrapped it around himself and jumped in," said Tyson.

"Jordan can't swim and is terrified of water. But when the man went to rescue him, he said, 'Save my brother first'."

Although the rescuer managed to save 10-year-old Blake, the rope broke when he tried to tie it around Rice and Jordan, and mother and son were swept downstream.

After holding on to a tree for a little while, the pair were carried off by the floodwaters.

Tyson began to cry as his spoke of the bravery his son had shown in his final moments.

"I can only imagine what was going on inside to give up his life to save his brother, even though he was petrified of water," he told the Chronicle. "He is our little hero."

The father described his partner and Jordan as "the unsung heroes of my life", adding: "She was my soulmate."

Tyson also thanked the man who had risked his own life to help his family and save Blake.

20 miners free; Chile rescue past halfway mark

SAN JOSE MINE, Chile – The miners who spent 69 agonizing days deep under the Chilean earth were hoisted one by one to freedom Wednesday, their rescue moving with remarkable speed while their countrymen erupted in cheers and the world watched transfixed.

Beginning at midnight and sometimes as quickly as once every 30 minutes, the men climbed into a slender cage nearly a half-mile underground and made a smooth ascent into fresh air. By early afternoon, more than half the men — 20 of 33 — had been rescued.

In a meticulously planned operation, they were monitored by video on the way up for any sign of panic. They had oxygen masks, dark glasses to protect their eyes from unfamiliar daylight and sweaters for the jarring climate change, subterranean swelter to the chillier air above.

They emerged looking healthier than many had expected and even clean-shaven, and at least one, Mario Sepulveda, the second to taste freedom, bounded out and thrust a fist upward like a prizefighter.

"I think I had extraordinary luck. I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God," he said as he awaited the air force helicopter ride to a nearby hospital where all the miners were to spend 48 hours under medical observation.

The operation moved past the halfway point with the rescue of the 17th miner, a 56-year-old electrician named Omar Reygadas who helped organized life underground. His fourth great-grandchild was born a month after the men were sealed into the mine's lower reaches by an Aug. 5 collapse of 700,000 tons of rock.

As it traveled down and up, down and up, the rescue capsule was not rotating as much inside the 2,041-foot escape shaft as officials expected, allowing for faster trips, and officials said the operation could be complete by sunrise Thursday, if not sooner.

AP/Hugo Infante, Chilean government

No one in recorded history has survived as long trapped underground as the 33 men. For the first 17 days, no one even knew whether they were alive. In the weeks that followed, the world was captivated by their endurance and unity.

As trying as their time underground has been, the miners now face challenges so bewildering that no amount of coaching can fully prepare them. Rejoining a world intensely curious about their ordeal, they have been invited to presidential palaces, take all-expenses-paid vacations and appear on countless TV shows.

Book and movie deals are pending, along with job offers.

Sepulveda's performance exiting from the shaft appeared to confirm what many Chileans thought when they saw his engaging performances in videos sent up from below — that he could have a future as a TV personality.

But he tried to quash the idea as he spoke to viewers of Chile's state television channel while sitting with his wife and children shortly after his rescue.

"The only thing I'll ask of you is that you don't treat me as an artist or a journalist, but as a miner," he said. "I was born a miner and I'll die a miner."