MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

SADDLE UP! Sign The Daily News' petition to stop the Mayor from replacing the city's beloved carriage horses with electric cars

The Daily News is launching a campaign to save the city’s beloved carriage horses. The 156-year-old industry faces extinction after Mayor de Blasio campaigned on a promise to replace the majestic horses trotting through Central Park. read full story »

DEVELOPING Search continues for 293 missing South Korean ferry victims after vessel submerges, killing 2 and injuring 14

A South Korean passenger ship with about 470 people aboard is sinking off the country’s southwestern coast. About 320 of those aboard are students headed to the resort island of Jeju, CNN reported. Frantic passengers were reportedly jumping overboard to escape the sinking vessel.

U.S. Airways’ pornographic tweet was ‘an honest mistake’ by employee, who gets to keep their job: airline

The pornographic tweet by U.S. Airways that was viewed around the world was "inadvertently included" when tweeting to their customers and won't lead to an employee's firing, a spokesman told The News.

Suspect in Kansas pre-Passover shooting spree is follower of neopagan movement Odinism

The 73-year-old bigot who allegedly killed three on Sunday worships at the altars of many pagan gods. He is a self-proclaimed adherent of Odinism, a neopagan movement with strong ties to white supremacy.

New York couple found dead facing each other in tub with nearly empty gallon bottle of vodka nearby: sources

Alicia Wieczorkiewicz, 66, and Jacek Crockiewitz, 58, were found dead Sunday inside apartment in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, sources said. The medical examiner's office is investigating.

Lupica: With Knicks season ending, question for Phil Jackson is simple: Now what?

The easy thing for Phil Jackson, when the Knicks’ season is over on Wednesday night, will be getting rid of Mike Woodson, if that is what Jackson chooses to do. It won’t require much genius, even for an authentic basketball genius like Phil.

HOLA MS. KLUM! Heidi goes topless on beach in Mexico

Graphic photos of Syrian war victims stun, silence U.N Security Council members

The pictures showed people who were emaciated, with their bones protruding, and some bearing the marks of strangulation and repeated beatings, and eyes having been gouged out.

Florida man thrown out of rec basketball game for being HIV-positive

A 21-year-old Florida man was tossed from a Kissimmee rec basketball game after a city employee learned the aspiring rapper is HIV-positive. The game Sunday was in the second half when a referee blew the whistle and called a timeout, Dakota Basinger told the Orlando Sentinel.

Report chronicles incredible and secretive defection of Dodgers' Puig

Yasiel Puig burst on the baseball scene in 2013, sparking the Los Angeles Dodgers to an improbable turnaround seemingly out of nowhere. But a new Los Angeles Magazine piece called "Escape from Cuba: Yasiel Puig's Untold Journey to the Dodgers" details the Cuban defector's long, strange trip - and he didn't just appear out of the corn fields.

Nisha Agarwal thrilled by challenge of being new New York City immigrant affairs commissioner

The city's new commissioner of immigrant affairs has been on the job for just weeks — but she’s been tackling the biggest issues on her office’s agenda for years.

Miley hospitalized for allergic reaction to antibiotics

EXCLUSIVE U.S. attorney general urged to investigate police shooting of unarmed teen

Minority caucuses of the state Legislature and City Council have written to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urging an “exhaustive” investigation into the 2012 police shooting death of an unarmed 18-year-old man.

Second Pakistani cannibal captured for digging up and eating human bodies

Two brothers arrested for the second time over accusations of cannibalism appeared in court Tuesday, police officials said, in a sensational case that has horrified Pakistanis.

NYPD Commissioner disbands unit responsible for spying on Muslim communities: report

The NYPD has disbanded a controversial unit that spied on Muslim communities, tracking where they ate and prayed and what they talked about, according to a report.

Death of baby found in shopping bag at NYC Victoria’s Secret ruled a homicide: officials

Tiona Rodriguez, 17, was stopped for allegedly shoplifting from the Herald Square lingerie store on Oct. 17 when the security guard made the gruesome discovery.

HOT MOMMA! Ivanka Trump shows off post-baby body

Gov. Cuomo's book spikes his salary to $358G

Gov. Cuomo received $188,333 from the first installment of his book advance last year, according to information on the governor’s 2013 tax return. The governor also paid $35,127 in legal fees related to the book.

SEE IT The awkward moment former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist interrupts the Republican pol bad-mouthing him on camera

Delivering an opening salvo in his campaign to return to office, former Gov. Charlie Crist heaped blistering criticism Monday on his successor, a preview of the attack Gov. Rick Scott faces from his likely opponent.

The only good n is a dead n': Hank Aaron's comments lead to new round of racist hate mail sent to Atlanta Braves: report

The Atlanta Braves have received hundreds of letters, emails and phone calls slamming the former home run king for comparing President Obama's critics to the KKK, according to a report.

EXCLUSIVE NYPD Internal Affairs chief sends scathing memo warning cops against making arrests just to earn overtime

New Chief of Internal Affairs Joseph Reznick fired off the fiery missive April 8, telling cops to make arrests they think will lead to intelligence on dirty cops, not just to pad their overtime, the News has learned.

Go behind the scenes of Paulina Gretzky's sultry Golf Digest shoot

Police hunt men who shot Marine who aided them after crash

Police in northern Florida are looking for three young thugs who shot a former Marine in the face after he came to their aid following a car crash.

Arizona man, 79, accused of ‘mercy killing’ wife found dead in suicide

Howard Rudolph — who is accused of killing his 73-year-old wife, Earlene — was on the lam Wednesday after he disappeared while on house arrest, officials said.

Armed Islamic militants storm school, kidnapping at least 100 Nigerian schoolgirls

A radical Islamic group is believed to have carried out the abductions. Boko Haram, whose name means ‘Western education is forbidden,’ is waging a militant campaign for a fundamentalist state.

Kim Kardashian rocks retro-chic 'do in photo shoot

Girl busted for tweeting terror threat released

A 14-year-old Dutch girl arrested for tweeting a terror threat to American Airlines was released Tuesday, but Rotterdam cops say they will continue to investigate.

FBI video warns American students studying overseas to beware of spies

The feds have made a glossy, new video warning college students to be on the lookout for spy recruiters.

The West has formidable enemy in Putin

What’s Russia up to in Ukraine? The very question, which our foreign policy and media establishments are now frantically trying to answer, worries me a lot more than actual Russian behavior.

Predicting Lupita Nyongo's next act is turning into thriller

Rangel's re-election chances are toast: Weiner

Charles Rangel is toast, says former Rep. Anthony Weiner. The dean of New York’s congressional delegation faces a demographic challenge in his fight to retain his seat representing uptown Manhattan and part of the Bronx.

He'll have a lot of time to remember the Alamo: El Paso man sentenced to 18 months after urinating on historic fort

Daniel Athens, the 23-year-old who pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief in February, was sentenced on Monday in San Antonio.

SEE IT Crazed gunman opens fire on cop with assault rifle in Iowa

Aaron E. Scott, 30, fired nearly 20 rounds from an assault rifle at Maquoketa, Police Sgt. Brendan Zeimet during a stop on April 1. Scott fled the scene and was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Robotic sub looking for jet aborts first mission after six hours

A robotic submarine hunting for the missing Malaysian jet aborted its first mission after only six hours, surfacing with no new clues when it exceeded its maximum depth along the floor of the Indian Ocean, officials said Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE Nice work, mom! Community service for Dina Lohan after DUI ruling

Expert: Watchdog needed in modeling industry, which lacks accountability and regulation

The career of a model is inherently transient. We move from market to market with the change of the fashion season. Because of this transient state, it is easy for our checks to fall through the cracks.

Maryland parents charged in death of 21-month-old daughter

A Maryland couple stands accused in the death of their 21-month-old girl after a short lifetime full of alleged child abuse. Frankie Aubrey Williams, 24, was charged with first-degree murder and seven other offenses, authorities said Monday.

Councilmen push for parade for veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan

City council members are pushing a resolution for a ticker-tape parade for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Boy shot in the eye hopes to see again

The family of an 8th-grade choirboy who was shot in the eye while waiting for a Brooklyn bus with his aunt and cousin is anxious to learn if he will ever see out of it again.

Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber get cozy at Coachella

Launch of Falcon rocket called off after leak

A space station cargo ship will remain stuck on Earth awhile longer because of a rocket leak.

Washington Post, Guardian win Pulitzers for NSA exposés

Bombshell disclosures supplied by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden helped The Washington Post and The Guardian earn the Pulitzer Prize Monday in public service.

Adults in developing countries more optimistic for youths' future

Adults in many Western nations foresee a bleaker future for today's youth.

SEE: Pharrell breaks down in tears during Oprah interview

Hamas praises deadly shooting of Israeli family

The prime minister of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday praised a shooting that killed an Israeli and wounded his wife and son as they drove through the West Bank the previous evening en route to a Passover Seder.

Boy uses college rejection letter to ask date to prom

This brave high school senior took a rather risky approach to asking a girl to prom. Instead of popping the question in the usual manner, the teen pretended his girlfriend had been rejected from college.

Anti-Semitic attacks in U.S. down before Kansas shooting: study

A group monitoring anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. cautiously noted a sharp decline in such incidents less than two weeks before the fatal shootings over the weekend outside two Jewish sites in Kansas.

For those about to stop? Rumors swirl of AC/DC retirement

Feds charge Phoenix woman who threw shoe at Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas

79-year-old flute player joins elementary school band

2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show to take place in London

Louisiana Rep. Vance McAllister has business history with smooching staffer

Virginia woman mowed down husband, beat him as he tried to crawl away: cops

Sports

Jets pulled out of ‘Draft Day’ due to QB controversy

Gang Green was scheduled to play a major role in the Kevin Costner film “Draft Day," originally slotted to be the team that Costner's character and the Browns get to trade away its first overall pick in the draft, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Hal Steinbrenner is 'pretty content' with current Yankees roster

It’s two weeks into the 2014 season, and despite a nicked-up infield and several key players already on the disabled list, Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner seems content with the current roster, and unlikely to green light a splashy acquisition like Stephen Drew.

Hate mail to Hammerin' Hank reminds us of double standard

It is 2014, we have twice elected a black president, and Jackie Robinson is an American icon, celebrated annually on April 15. And yet: Hank Aaron is receiving hate mail, which reminds us that black people are still held to a different standard, when it comes to expressing strong opinions on race.

Hot Pursuit: Jets meet with ex-Titans RB Johnson

One week after the Titans released Chris Johnson, the three-time Pro Bowl running back is visiting the Jets on Tuesday, according to sources. The Daily News reported on Monday night that the Jets were one of a few serious suitors in talks with the three-time Pro Bowler.

Autos

Land Rover becomes the official car of Virgin Galactic spaceline

There’s only one SUV to take to your $250,000 sub-orbital space flight! Land Rover has announced a partnership with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceline.