The following stories are brought to you by the fine folks on the News4 assignment desk.
DOZENS OF CABBIES CHARGED IN CORRUPTION CASE
With the cooperation of the chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, the FBI has charged dozens of people -- mostly taxi drivers -- with conspiring to commit bribery.
Indictments unsealed Friday allege Yitbarek Syume, 51, of Silver Spring, Md.; Berhane Leghese, 47, of Arlington, Va.; and Amanuel Ghirmazion, 53, of Hyattsville, Md., made a series of payments totaling about $220,000 to Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain Jr. to secure multi-vehicle taxi company licenses, which became more valuable when the D.C. Council passed a moratorium on them a year ago.
(NBC Washington)
OBAMA'S PAIN IS RIO'S GAIN
Like sweet, sultry samba music, Rio hit all the right notes. Chicago had Barack Obama. Tokyo had $4 billion in the bank. Madrid had powerful friends. But none of that mattered. Rio de Janeiro had the enchanting story _ of about 400 million sports-mad people on a giant untapped and vibrant continent yearning, hoping, that the Olympics finally might come to them. And the International Olympic Committee was hooked. (WTOP)
THAT NEW PHONE IS THE (H) BOMB
Taiwanese researchers said Friday they have developed hydrogen-powered mobile phone chargers, in a development that could boost the island's efforts to become a player in green technologies.
The device can recharge a mobile phone battery in two hours without being plugged, according to scientists at the Industrial Technology Research Institute in north Taiwan's Hsinchu city.
(Breitbart.com)
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA PLANNED FOR ZOMBIE ATTACK
The University of Florida's response plans for a zombie apocalypse are no longer available for public consumption.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
University spokesman Steve Orlando said Friday the university removed a link to a disaster recovery exercise, which detailed how the school could respond to an outbreak of the undead. The link was taken down late Thursday afternoon.
Orlando says officials felt the joke "didn't really belong" on the site, which also included plans for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics. (MSNBC)
