TWO people have been killed in the US after a convertible they were travelling in at high speed went airborne and crashed into the second floor of a commercial building in the state of New Jersey.
Toms River police say the red Porsche Boxster went out of control just after 6.30am on Sunday morning.
It hit the median strip, struck an embankment and went airborne into the building.
Police said two Toms River men, 22-year-old Braden DeMartin and 23-year-old Daniel Foley, were pronounced dead when emergency responders arrived at the scene.
The two are believed to be the only occupants of the vehicle.
Police said the structure, which was unoccupied at the time, had been deemed unsafe by a building inspector.
MEANWHILE, a former British army officer who helped found the White Helmets volunteer organisation in Syria has been found dead in Istanbul, Turkish officials said.
James Le Mesurier’s body was found near his home in the Beyoglu district by worshippers on their way to a mosque, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The Istanbul governor’s office said that investigations have been initiated”.
The Anadolu agency said police established that no one had entered or left his home at the time of the incident, and believe he may have fallen to his death.
Le Mesurier was the founder and CEO of May Day Rescue.
ELSEWHERE, Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to “spare no effort” in bringing an end to anti-government protests that have hit the city for more than five months, following a day of violence in which one person was shot and another set on fire.
Carrie Lam’s comments are likely to fuel speculation that harsher legal and police measures may be in the works to curb the protests.
“I do not want to go into details, but I just want to make it very clear that we will spare no effort in finding ways and means that could end the violence in Hong Kong as soon as possible,” Lam said.
She also refused to accept the protesters’ demands for political concessions.
FINALLY, Syrian President Bashar Assad has said his forces will soon retake control of the last major rebel stronghold in the country’s north-western province of Idlib.
Assad said in an interview with Russia Today that they are now giving civilians some time to leave the area that is dominated by al Qaida-linked militants.
Syrian troops launched a four-month offensive on the province earlier this year, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes and capturing the important town of Khan Sheikhoun.
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