BREAKING: Massive explosion at Texas fertilizer plant

An explosion ripped through a fertilizer plant Wednesday night in the town of West, Texas, sending a massive fireball into the sky and causing dozens of injuries, officials said. A hospital in nearby Waco, Texas, has been told to anticipate 100 injured people coming in from the fertilizer plant area, an official at the medical facility said.

Glenn Robinson, CEO of Hillcrest Hospital, said a field triage station was being set up on a football field near the plant some 18 miles north of Waco after the Wednesday night explosion. "We have had a steady flow of patients coming in by ambulance as well as by private vehicles," Robinson told CNN's Anderson Cooper. He said more than a dozen injured people had been brought in by ambulances and "more than 20 -- that number is continuing to climb -- by private vehicle."Hazardous material teams were being rushed to the scene, an emergency management official said. At least six helicopters are going to fly out those who are injured, 

Robinson said. Others are being transported by ambulance, and some are getting to the hospital by car, he added.  Two other hospitals in the region were also assisting. Photos of the explosion -- which reportedly happened around 7:50 p.m. (8:50 p.m. ET) -- showed a huge blaze and flames leaping over the roof of a structure and a plume of smoke rising high into the air. The West Fertilizer Plant is just north of Waco. A school and a nursing home are among the buildings near the plant, CNN affiliate KWTX reported. Sen. Brian Birdwell said he was aware of the explosion and trying to get more information, a spokesman said."I stand ready to assist with any and all state resources that might aid the affected area," Birdwell said in a written statement.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is also aware of the explosion, a spokesman said, and was working to get resources into the area. Tommy Alford, who works in a convenience store about three miles from the plant, told CNN that several volunteer firefighters were at the store when they spotted smoke. Alford said the firefighters headed toward the scene and then between five and 10 minutes later, he heard a massive explosion. "It was massive; it was intense," Alford said.

Secret Service: Suspicious Letter Mailed to Obama

The U.S. Secret Service has intercepted a letter addressed to President Barack Obama that contained a "suspicious substance." A law enforcement official said the letter is very similar to one recently mailed to Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker. That letter tested positive Tuesday for poisonous ricin. The official requested anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

The letters were received at separate facilities that sort mail addressed to the White House and Capitol Hill. The mail facilities are not located on the main White House and Capitol Hill complexes.
Word of the suspicious letters comes amid already heightened tensions in Washington and across the country since the deadly bombings on Monday at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured more than 170. Law enforcement officials haven't said whether they believe the letters are related in any way to the Boston bombings.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said the letter to Obama was intercepted Tuesday, the same day congressional officials alerted the public to the letter sent to Wicker. Secret Service is working with the FBI, as well as U.S. Capitol Police, on the investigation, Donovan said.

Explosions rock Boston Marathon, several injured

CNN Reports-- A pair of explosions rocked the finish line at the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon, injuring at least a half-dozen people, a CNN producer at the scene said.

The blasts occurred a few seconds apart, shrouding downtown Boston's Copley Square in smoke. Paramedics were treating several victims at the scene, and police ordered onlookers to back away from the area, CNN Producer Matt Frucci reported.

The explosions occurred about 2:45 p.m., about an hour after the first runners had crossed the finish line, Frucci said.

Tonto Dike set to represent Nigeria in Big Brother Africa

The next series of Big Brother Africa, (BBA) Season 8 tagged Stargames is set to feature Nigeria's most controversial Nollywood movie idol, Tonto Dikeh. The actress who has since been receiving congratulatory messages from her friends is one of the people to watch out for this new season.

Remember, the last year edition featured the deceased entertainer, Goldie Susan Harvey, Tonto who is already controversially inclined is representing her country Nigeria.

Now, what is yet to be cleared is her declaration the other day about her not being a Nigeria, is she still maintaining this stand? Let's all wish her luck, for the sake of the country

14 wounded, 2 in critical condition in Texas college stabbing attack

A student went on a building-to-building stabbing attack at a Texas community college Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people — many in the face and neck — before being subdued and arrested, authorities and witnesses said.

The attack about 11:20 a.m. on the Lone Star Community College System's campus in Cypress sent at least 12 people to hospitals, while several others refused treatment at the scene, according to Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Robert Rasa. Two people remained in critical condition Tuesday evening at Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute, spokeswoman Alex Rodriguez said.
Diante Cotton, 20, said he was sitting in a cafeteria with some friends when a girl clutching her neck walked in, yelling, "He's stabbing people! He's stabbing people!" Cotton said he could not see the girl's injuries, but when he and his friends went outside, they saw a half-dozen people with injuries to their faces and necks being loaded into ambulances and medical helicopters.

Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said it was not immediately clear what type of weapon was used, but there were indications when calls came in to the department that "students or faculty were actively responding to work to subdue this individual." "So we're proud of those folks, but we're glad no one else is injured any more severely than they are," Garcia said. Garcia confirmed that one white 21-year-old male was in custody. Authorities would not provide more details about the suspect including his name; CBS Houston affiliate KHOU identified the suspect as Dylan Quick. Witnesses told the police department a man was "on the loose" and attacking people. After reviewing video evidence, police have determined the rest of the student body is safe and that there are no other suspects.

Lone Star officials initially urged people on campus, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Houston, to take shelter and be on alert for a second suspect. But Gilliland said a short time later that authorities believed just one person was responsible. He did not say whether the suspect is a student.
"It was the same suspect going from building to building," Gilliland said. Gilliland said the attacker is believed to have had some type of knife or a pencil, but authorities could not immediately confirm the weapon used. Student Teaundrae Perryman said he was in class when he received a text message from a friend and went outside to see a young woman being loaded into an ambulance with what appeared to be stab wounds to either her neck or head. He said he didn't receive an email alert from the college until 11:56 a.m.

"I was concerned but I wasn't afraid because I was with a large group of people," the 21-year-old said, later adding, "The police got to the scene very quickly." The four people flown by helicopter and two others with moderate injuries were taken to Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute. One student said she learned one of her classmates was stabbed after leaving the school's Health Science Center building.

"I called to check on another classmate who was still inside the building and she said the classroom was on lockdown and she said one of the classmates had been stabbed," said Margo Shimfarr-Evans told CBS Houston. "It happened in the hallway." Courtland Sedlachek, 18, was in class when his phone started buzzing along with the phones of everyone else in class. The room was temporarily locked down, but students were let out and off campus a short time later, in what Sedlachek described as an orderly evacuation. He described his reaction as a "little bit of nervousness." The attack came three months after a different Lone Star campus was the site of a shooting in which two people were hurt. The suspected gunman in that incident is charged with aggravated assault.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has died, her spokeswoman told CNN Monday.

Margaret Thatcher, the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of Great Britain and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century has died at age 87.

Pastor Rick Warren's son, Matthew, commits suicide, church says

One of the most popular pastors in America, Pastor Rick Warren, is grieving with his family after his son took his own life on Friday. Warren's brother-in-law called for prayers for the family, and said Warren and his wife are facing the news together. NBC's Diana Alvear reports.

The youngest son of Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," has committed suicide, the evangelical pastor said in a letter to members of his church on Saturday.

Matthew Warren, the youngest son of Warren and his wife Kay, died after a long struggle with mental illness, according to the statement from Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif. The church asked for “everyone to join us in praying for the entire Warren family” on Saturday.

“At 27 years of age, Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many,” Saddleback Church said in the statement. “Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts.” Matthew Warren was found dead of what appeared to be suicide by gunshot in his home in Mission Viejo, Calif., said Supervising Deputy Dan Aikin of the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Department. The estimated time of death was 10 a.m. on Friday morning. The sheriff’s department was called to the home at about 5:15 p.m., Aikin told NBC News. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

 Warren wrote about his son’s death in an emotional letter to his church, calling his son “an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man.” “No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now,” Warren wrote in the letter. “He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He’d then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them.”
“In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided,” Warren wrote to church members. “Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.”