MR GRADY'S DAILY BLOG: AMERICAS NEWS

Massive 5-state Amber Alert ends as two sons found, father in custody after mother discovered stabbed to death in N.J. home

Anthony Jordan, 7, and Nicholas Jordan, 8 (center), were found after a massive daylong manhunt. The boys’ father, John Jordan, 47 (right), was in custody early Saturday, according to the New Jersey State Police being questioned about the alleged abduction and the stabbing of his wife, Tracy (left, between children). read full story »

'Help me, sweet Jesus... I'm going to die': Hot air balloon with 2 passengers and pilot — ALL MISSING — catches fire after crashing into power line at Virginia festival

A balloon carrying two passengers and a pilot is believed to have struck a power line just before 8 p.m. at Meadow Event Park in Doswell, catching fire before ascending into the sky, according to state police and witnesses.

Bronx driver turns tables on carjackers, chasing 2 men down to their vehicles and fatally shooting them

The two men who were slain by the person they were trying to carjack were shot inside their car as they tried to flee from the vicinity of the Dyer Avenue Deli Grocery in Wakefield about 4:40 a.m. Friday, police sources said.

Mother arrested after California police find kids sleeping in BUSHES

Chardenea VanRooyen, 27, was arrested on charges of child abandonment and neglect on May 4 after police received a call about a baby left alone in a stroller, according to a report.

New York TSA supervisor busted for having sex with underage girls in the Dominican Republic: officials

Vernon Lythcott, 48, was arrested for paying two 15-year-old girls $80 to have sex, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Texas drama teacher marries 16-year-old student in Las Vegas with mom’s consent: cops

Exit, pursued by a cop. A Houston-area drama teacher is retreating from the limelight in handcuffs after cops discovered he had married a 16-year-old girl in Las Vegas.

I GOT YOU BABE! Celebs give Cher love at Brooklyn show

House Republicans name six members to special committee for investigating Benghazi attack

House Republicans plowed ahead Friday with a special committee to investigate the Benghazi attack even as Democrats derided the effort as a bid to undermine their party.

Off-duty LAPD officer killed in crash with cement truck; 4th cop killed in crash in 2 months

Friday’s crash around 2 p.m. happened along the same stretch of Loma Vista Drive where another cop was hit and killed by an out-of-control dump truck on March 7.

Florida man kills self on son's grave after fatally shooting wife in front of their kids: cops

Julian Paris, 54, was found dead of a single gunshot wound about 7:20 p.m. Thursday at Woodlawn Cemetery in Gotha, draped across the grave of his teen son, who was killed in a 2012 car crash.

Myers: Jets, other teams will rue passing on Johnny Football

It’s the Johnny Football Payback Tour that will be opening about as off-Broadway as it gets — in Cleveland — even if he could have been a star on Broadway with the Jets.

Angelina makes major makeup gaffe at ‘Maleficent’ photocall

Alabama man charged with shooting family’s two pet zebras dead

Timothy Wayne House Jr., 22, aka 'Boogie,' is behind bars for killing Zippy and Zena, two of five zebras kept on Sherrod Farms in rural Oneonta, Ala. The senseless crime has left community members scratching their heads.

Rob Ford’s brother vows to prove Toronto mayor is in rehab as new video surfaces

Doug Ford vowed Friday to end speculation of the mayor's whereabouts with evidence proving he's indeed in rehab, even as a new foul-mouthed video capturing the mayor letting loose in a bar emerges.

Putin celebrates Victory Day in Crimea as deadly fighting continues in Ukraine

Presiding over a triumphant spectacle of warships and fighter jets, President Vladimir Putin hailed the return of Crimea to Russia as the restoration of "historic justice" before a jubilant, welcoming crowd Friday.

Firefighter wanted in death of prostitute; used same escort service to flee

Wheelchair-bound Connecticut boy stranded at home after heartless thug steals ramp

A boy in Bridgeport, Conn., is marooned inside his own home after some knucklehead stole his wheelchair ramp from the porch.

Colorado man sent back to prison after being released early because of clerical mistake

Rene Lima-Marin should have stayed behind bars for the rest of his life. A court clerk's error led to his release in 2008 — 90 years too soon.

TWO BIRDS WITH ONE FINGER: Woman who ran over neighbor’s hen and put cigarette in its mouth busted again after 'flipping bird to neighbor'

Michelle Conti, 32, gave her neighbor Charles Gable, 80, the middle finger and shouted an obscenity on May 1, in violation of an order to stay away, according to court papers.

She's metal bikini ready! Carrie Fisher drops 40 pounds for 'Star Wars'

NBA picks ex-Citigroup chairman Dick Parsons as interim CEO of the L.A. Clippers

The NBA has appointed former Citigroup chairman Richard Parsons to take the reins of the Los Angeles Clippers as interim CEO in the wake of embattled team owner Donald Sterling’s lifetime ban.

Daniel Nigro gets emotional during FDNY fire commissioner appointment ceremony

Daniel Nigro fought back tears when the son of a friend and colleague — who died during the Sept. 11 terror attacks — introduced him Friday as the city’s new fire commissioner.

Three Oregon players investigated for sex assault kicked off team

Three Oregon basketball players who were investigated but not charged in an alleged sexual assault have been dismissed from the team.

Children, parents could pay hefty fines for bullying in California

Children as young as kindergarten-age could face misdemeanor charges for bullying under a proposed law advancing in a Southern California city.

Model mom Doutzen Kroes shows off bump in skin-tight mini dress

SEE IT Man high on embalming fluid dances naked on Houston street corner, draws crowd

The unidentified man started taking his clothes off as soon as he started dancing in front of bystanders - many of them children - at the busy intersection.

Nigerian security knew Boko Haram was coming hours before 300 girls kidnapped: Amnesty International

Nigerian security forces hey had neither the soldiers nor the guts to take on the Islamic fanatics, according to Amnesty International.

Man admits to killing, dismembering body of New Orleans stripper: cops

A sex offender admitted to killing a Louisiana stripper and chopping up her corpse with his girlfriend before dumping the woman’s body near the shore, police said.

Oscar Pistorius' trial witness calls expert opinions 'all speculation'

Nobody may ever know what happened to Reeva Steenkamp behind the bathroom door. A key defense witness at the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius admitted as much Friday, saying he could only guess whether the doomed model was standing or sitting in a toilet cubicle when she was killed.

No butts about it! Paulina Gretzky shares cheeky snap

Mass. DOT mimics accent with 'use yah blinkah' road signs

Perhaps the reason notoriously aggressive Boston drivers don’t use their turn signals is that no one’s ever put it in terms they understand.

Federal judge to proceed with pre-sentence report for ‘Cannibal Cop’ Gilberto Valle

A federal judge on Friday gave the Probation Department the go-ahead to proceed with a pre-sentence report for Gilberto Valle — a sign he won’t be overturning the guilty verdicts against the former NYPD cop.

Wife of 88-year-old man found beheaded in Georgia home likely an abduction victim, not suspect: sheriff

The 87-year-old woman, Shirley Dermond, was still missing days after her husband, Russell, was found decapitated in the garage of their lakefront home.

Couple swindled out of $800,000 by friend who claimed to know Carl Icahn: court papers

Albert and Linda Jacobs filed a suit in Manhattan Supreme Court alleging Carl Lewis told them he'd invest their money in the non-existent "Icahn Bank."

Missing Brooklyn fashion designer found dead

James (Jay) Ott, a Brooklyn fashion designer missing since March 24, has been found dead, law enforcement sources said Friday.

SEE IT: Awkward Family Photos — Mother's Day edition

Daniel Nigro takes FDNY helm as commissioner 12 years after resigning from department

Daniel Nigro III, the son of an FDNY captain, followed his father into the ranks of New York’s Bravest back in 1969 and stayed through the department’s darkest days after Sept. 11.

Florida woman gets bulldozer to destroy neighbor’s home: cops

A Florida woman disliked her neighbors so much that she got a bulldozer to demolish their home, authorities said.

Four found dead in suspected murder-suicide at southern California home after welfare check

Authorities say four people have been found dead inside a Southern California home following what investigators believe might have been a murder-suicide.

Oil sands workers try to save coworker from bear

Six Canadian oil sands workers desperately tried to save their coworker from a vicious black bear attack - and then were forced to watch the animal drag off her mauled body.

Rolf Harris faces 12 counts of sexually assaulting underage victims

A prosecutor told a British court Friday that veteran TV and music entertainer Rolf Harris got away with brazen sexual assaults on young girls because his fame made him untouchable.

What health scare? Miley hits the club in skimpy bra

CRIMEA IS NOT ENOUGH: Russia plans to colonize moon with permanent base by 2030, report says

The program, which calls to develop long-distance space tech, reportedly aims to build an inhabited moon base to extract minerals by the middle of the century.

Lt. Daniel Sbarra’s NYPD departmental trial: Witness says he was ‘disrespectful’

A Brooklyn woman testified Friday that a “disrepectful” NYPD lieutenant already in hot water for a litany of lawsuits detained her and her boyfriend for no reason.

U.N. study finds 1 BILLION people still defecate in public — despite health risks

One billion people worldwide still practice 'open defecation' and they need to be told that this leads to the spread of fatal diseases, U.N. experts said on Thursday.

Pope Francis calls for 'legitimate redistribution' of wealth during meeting with U.N. leaders

Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.

Teacher will toss final if pupil gets 15,000 retweets

She studies the past, but preps her students for the future. Cindy House, an art history teacher in Texas, promised one of her students that if he got 15,000 retweets she would call off their final exam.

Alaska trooper wrongly fired for having sex with domestic violence victim after arresting her husband: court

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the trooper should not have been fired for having consensual off-duty sex with a victim of domestic violence hours after he participated in arresting her husband.

Michelle Lewin flaunts her super ripped beach body

Satanists to perform ‘black mass’ at Harvard University

Dancing with the stars! Vintage prom pics revealed

African poachers use geo-tagged Instagram photos to track, kill endangered animals: report

Sports

NHL Playoffs: Wild beats Blackhawks 4-2 to even series

Jason Pominville scored for Minnesota in the second period off the back of Chicago goalie Corey Crawford’s skate and the Wild beat the Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday night to even the Western Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.

Dolphins' Pouncey jokes about hazing draft pick in tweet

Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey has heard from management regarding a tweet he sent that joked about hazing the team’s first-round draft pick.

NBA Playoffs: Pacers rout Wizards, and Thunder goes ahead of Clippers

Paul George had his best game of the series with 23 points and eight rebounds, Roy Hibbert was again a factor by scoring 14 points, and the Indiana Pacers held the Washington Wizards to a franchise-low playoff total Friday night in an 85-63 victory.

Bondy: Nets losing age-old bet in second-round series against Heat

Window of opportunity, meet glass ceiling. In brief, that is a transparent description of this second-round playoff series, which returns for Game 3 on Saturday to Barclays Center, where the Nets will try to drum up some buzz-ness.

Autos

photos Ultra-rare Ferrari LaFerrari supercar breaks cover

The first production model of the Ferrari LaFerrari made its debut at a Fiat Chrysler event this week. Only 499 models of the $1.7 million supercar will be produced.