Could the Chevy Silverado Cheyenne concept be headed for production?

 

Just a few days ago Chevy dropped the news of its Silverado Cheyenne concept truck, a high-power pickup with Camaro Z/28 parts that looks an awful lot like the spiritual successor to hot-rod trucks like the the GMC Syclone. Theoretically, a performance pickup like the Cheyenne could do serious battle with Ford's sport-oriented 2014 F-150 Tremor. Too bad it's just a concept... or is it?

Last night Chevy showed us the Cheyenne in the flesh at a pre-SEMA dinner party (with a couple of Transformers to boot). While strolling around the cars on display, we were given a subtle heads-up, by a highly placed General Motors source, that the Cheyenne concept was one to pay special attention to. Far from confirmation of production intent, we'll grant you, but we think there's some credence to the idea of Chevy building the thing.

To start, it's clear that Chevy is getting pretty aggressive in moving performance parts developed for the Camaro out into its larger model ecosystem. Just yesterday we attended a driving event with the Performance Parts division (look for more on that later this week) where it was announced that ZL1 and 1LE Camaro suspension and powertrain parts would be offered for sale in the aftermarket and through dealers. Further, Chevy showed off Z/28 "concept parts" last night, indicating that aftermarket bits from the raciest Camaro are in the works, too.

Combine that parts accessibility with the spec sheet for the fast Silverado – Z/28 brakes and lightweight wheels, ZL1-like steering wheel, 420-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8 engine – with the fact that cross-town rival Ford is making moves to recapture some of the performance truck niche, and we think something like a production Cheyenne makes a ton of sense. Plus, of course, we really want it to happen.

We don't expect to get anything like an official confirmation about Cheyenne plans in the near future, but we'll stay tuned for updates in the news cycle. In the meantime, SEMA is just starting to wake up, so expect a lot more out of Vegas this afternoon and evening.

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2017 Aston Martin Lagonda could live on Mercedes M-Class platform

 

A few weeks ago, we brought you news from the launch of the Aston Martin Vanquish Volante that the British brand, which is formally known as Aston Martin Lagonda, was still planning on going ahead with a Lagonda-badged crossover. Now comes word that that vehicle could very well be based on a Mercedes-Benz M-Class.

When the first Lagonda Concept debuted at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, it sat on a Mercedes-Benz GL-Class platform, some four years before Aston Martin and Mercedes-AMG deal was inked. And with that partnership, which will see Aston Martin gain access to AMG electrics and "bespoke, V8 powertrains," the opportunities for platform sharing are many.

Dr. Ulrich Bez, the boss of Aston Martin, told the UK's AutoCar, "I look at what Porsche is doing with the 911 as its core business and then it is able to do models like the Cayenne based on the Volkswagen Touareg. It is good business." We've said many times that we'll tolerate exotic CUVs and SUVs if it means keeping the beloved core models alive, which has been the case with Porsche. We see no reason Aston Martin wouldn't be able to do the same.

The Lagonda, which is getting a full rework following a critically poor reception when it debuted in Geneva, will likely arrive in 2017, meaning that there are a lot of details to work out, not least of which is where it will be built. The only two factories that build the M-Class currently are in Tuscaloosa, AL and Pune, Maharashtra, India.

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Shutdown could freeze payments to Denver firm

Five people were killed when a rockslide buried them Monday, September 30, 2013, at a ...

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PFT Denver could be record-setting favorite against Jacksonville

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Possible shutdown could hurt Colo. flood recovery

Five people were killed when a rockslide buried them Monday, September 30, 2013, at a ...

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Could 'Nairobi attack' happen in Britain?

26 September 2013 Last updated at 00:49 GMT By Frank Gardner BBC security correspondent Shoppers and workers fled from the Westgate mall as the attack began The deadly assault by extremists on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall is prompting some to ask themselves the inevitable question: could such an attack happen in Britain?

In theory yes it could, because it would be impossible and impractical to give every crowded place in the country 100% protection around the clock.

But in Britain elements of the police, the security service and the military have spent much of the last five years refining their plans and preparing for any repetition of the Mumbai siege of 2008.

That attack, which lasted three days and killed 166 people, was a wake-up call for the counter-terrorism community around the world.

It got them wondering how they would respond if this happened in their own cities.

In Britain there was a sudden realisation that the Metropolitan Police mobile armed response units were woefully lacking in firepower.

In practice this meant that if they ever found themselves in a shootout with suicidal jihadists armed with automatic weapons, in a built-up area, they were likely to come off worse and would have to pull back and wait for military special forces to arrive from their barracks.

Since then there has been a series of secret exercises held all around the country, codenamed Wooden Pride, whereby police counter-terrorism and firearms units have worked closely with units of the SAS and SBS to fine tune how they would respond to such an attack as quickly and effectively as possible with minimal loss of life.

Police firearms capabilities have also been upgraded.

The 2008 attack in Mumbai prompted a UK government re-think on security

So could the same Somalia-based group, al-Shabab, that carried out the Nairobi attack repeat it in Britain?

Computer memory sticks recovered from a senior al-Shabab operative killed in Somalia in 2011 revealed ambitious plans to attack targets in Britain including hotels, Eton College and "Jewish" residential areas of north London.

Regional agenda

But Whitehall officials said on Wednesday that these plans had been only an aspiration and that there had never been any workable plot by the group to attack Britain.

They said the automatic weapons, grenades and large quantities of ammunition used in the Nairobi attack would be harder to acquire here in Britain.

Moreover, their geographical home is East Africa, where they have been able to move across porous borders, and it is a rich resource of funding and the recruits and facilitators who would have helped lay the groundwork for the Nairobi attack.

Al-Shabab, although formally in alliance with al-Qaeda since 2012, has as its primary focus the expulsion of UN-backed African forces from Somalia and then the establishment there of a strict Islamic state.

In other words, it tends to have a regional agenda, rather than a global one.

It does have sympathisers and fundraisers here in Britain, but its violent actions are condemned by much of the Somali community.

The Nairobi attack led to a stand-off at the shopping centre

As of today it's estimated that somewhere close to 50 UK-based jihadists are still in Somalia, training and fighting alongside al-Shabab.

Around half are believed to be of Somali origin and the remainder from South Asia and other backgrounds. The authorities remain concerned that some may eventually return to Britain with new-found terrorist skills.

In recent years Somalia had been eclipsed by Syria as the jihadist destination of choice and very few British-based recruits are returning here from Somalia.

Meanwhile, British counter-terrorism officials have been studying what happened in Nairobi to consider what lessons, if any, can be applied in the UK.

The Metropolitan Police says existing advice to large organisations may be updated and the Home Office says it will be up to local police forces to give advice, if they choose, to shopping centres in their area on how best to protect themselves.

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Aaron Hernandez's arrest, release could lead to end of Patriots' run of excellence (Yahoo! Sports) (Yahoo!)

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Federer, Nadal could clash in Wimbledon q-finals

LONDON — Seven-time champion Roger Federer could face arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Yesterday’s draw for the grass-court Grand Slam, which begins on Monday, placed the third-seeded Federer and No 5 Nadal in the same half.

Federer is the defending champion at the All England Club, while Nadal is a two-time winner.

Home favourite Andy Murray, who is seeded No 2, is also in the same bottom half and could meet Nadal or Federer in the semi-final.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic is in the top half and has a much easier path to the final, facing a possible semi-final against No 4 David Ferrer.

Last year, Federer won his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title by beating Murray in the final. Murray, who beat Federer in the Olympic final at the same venue, will be bidding to become the first British player to win the men’s title since Fred Perry in 1936.

The other possible men’s quarter-finals are: Djokovic against No 7 Tomas Berdych; Ferrer versus No 8 Juan Martin Del Potro; and Murray against No 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Wimbledon’s seeding order is determined using the ATP rankings and points are added for achievements in grass-court tournaments in the past 12 months.

Nadal, coming off his eighth French Open victory, has been seeded No 5 after being sidelined for about seven months with a left-knee injury following his surprise loss in the second round at Wimbledon last year.

Federer, Nadal and Murray will all play on Monday at Wimbledon. Federer will open the defence of his title against Victor Hanescu of Romania, while Nadal will take on Steve Darcis of Belgium and Murray takes on Benjamin Becker of Germany.

Djokovic will start on Tuesday against Florian Mayer of Germany.

In the women’s draw, five-time champion and top-seeded Serena Williams will open against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg. Second-seeded Victoria Azarenka has a first-round match against Maria Joao Koehler of Portugal. AP

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Early release could help ill prisoners and U.S. prisons: Justice Department

An inmate stands in his cell at the Orange County jail in Santa Ana, California, in this May 24, 2011 file photo. Co

Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson/Files

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON | Wed May 1, 2013 3:21pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Compassionate release programs at overcrowded U.S. federal prisons are poorly run and lack clear standards, resulting in some eligible inmates dying before they can be freed, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

Few prisoners are released early on compassionate grounds. An average of 24 gravely ill prisoners were freed each year from 2006 to 2011, but another 28 died in custody during that time while waiting for the Bureau of Prisons to make a decision on their cases, the department's inspector general said in a report.

The report recommended 11 ways to improve the program, including taking a look at how much it costs to keep seriously ill prisoners in custody.

"We concluded that an effectively managed compassionate release program would result in cost savings ... as well as assist the (bureau) in managing its continually growing inmate population," the inspector general's report said.

The way the program has been run "has likely resulted in potentially eligible inmates not being considered for release," it added.

The compassionate release program allows prisoners to be freed on extraordinary grounds, including terminal illness and severe medical conditions. To gain release, a prisoner must initiate a request through the Bureau of Prisons and a judge must approve the release.

The report found that inmates at some prisons were eligible for release only if they had a life expectancy of six months or less. At other prisons, eligibility was set at 12 months or less.

NO NON-MEDICAL RELEASES

Although bureau rules provide for compassionate release on non-medical grounds, those requests were routinely rejected. None were approved in the six years examined by the inspector general's report.

Prison agency officials are revising rules on compassionate release to include inmates with up to 18 months of life expectancy, the report said.

The Bureau of Prisons also lacks standards on how much time it should take to review requests, taking from five to 65 days. Appeals of denied requests can take up to five months.

It also does not have a procedure to tell inmates about the program. Only eight of 111 handbooks that prisons give to inmates had information about it, the report said.

Even though the prisons agency has told Congress it could save $3.2 million by expanding the release program, it has not studied medical cost benefits from freeing inmates. It also lacks a system to track all requests, it said.

Amy Fettig, senior staff counsel for the National Prison Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, welcomed the report as a "hard-hitting" response to the Bureau of Prisons' contention that it needed more beds for a growing number of inmates.

"It's really nice seeing the IG office taking a hard look at that premise and pushing back at it," she said.

Federal prisons are at 130 percent of capacity, with 30 percent of inmates in for immigration violations, Fettig said.

Among inmates released on compassionate grounds, 3.5 percent were rearrested. The overall recidivism rate for federal prisoners has been estimated at up to 41 percent, the report said.

The inspector general recommended expanding the release program to include non-medical conditions and updating written criteria. It also called for setting time limits for the release process, informing inmates of the program and examining the savings from releasing ill prisoners.

The Bureau of Prisons said it agreed with nine of the 11 recommendations and partly accepted that it should assess the costs of healthcare for ill inmates and set time limits for processing requests.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Jackie Frank)

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Could 'mystery woman' shed light on UK sex scandal?

By Costas Pitas

LONDON | Wed May 1, 2013 9:40am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - She has dark eyes, full lips and short hair in one of the favorite styles of London in the "swinging 60s" but who is she?

And could she help shed light on the infamous Profumo scandal, the heady tale of espionage, sex and politics that held Britain spellbound in the early 1960s and helped bring down the government of the time.

Britain's National Portrait Gallery is appealing for help in identifying a woman who was sketched by one of the scandal's key figures, Stephen Ward, on the back of a picture of the woman at the center of the Profumo affair, showgirl Christine Keeler.

"This drawing is of me by Stephen Ward," wrote Keeler in a 1975 note. "I don't know who the girl on the back is - she is somebody we just picked up at a bus-stop."

The gallery believes the mystery woman may have been present at the first meeting in 1961 between Keeler and John Profumo, the then minister for war.

Against a backdrop of hedonistic parties and naked swimming sessions in the pool of an English stately home, the two embarked on a brief affair that ended in scandal and disgrace.

Not only was Profumo married, it was widely alleged that Keeler had also been the girlfriend of the Soviet naval attache in London, Yevgeny Ivanov.

To have the war minister's name linked to such a figure at the height of the Cold War was political dynamite. Profumo lied about the affair in parliament and was eventually forced to resign in 1963, leaving then Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan to cope with the damaging repercussions.

Macmillan also resigned in 1963, citing poor health.

Keeler later said in a book that she and Ward - a society osteopath who effectively acted as a party organizer for the aristocracy - picked up the mystery woman at the bus stop near London airport.

"She seemed so nice that we invited her to the party at Stephen's cottage," she wrote.

That cottage was on the estate of Lord Astor's stately home, Cliveden, where Profumo first cast eyes on the 19-year-old Keeler swimming naked in the pool and where Ivanov was also a party guest.

The portrait gallery's assistant curator Clare Freestone, who found the new drawing while organizing a display marking the 50th anniversary of the scandal, believes the woman's story could be fascinating.

"If this is the girl on the reverse, she would have been witness to the first meeting between Keeler, Profumo and Ivanov," she said in a statement.

Terence Pepper, the gallery's curator of photographs, told Reuters: "There are often cases of someone who never said anything at the time but is prepared to talk later on."

Keeler, now 71, has not commented on reports of the mystery woman.

(Reporting By Costas Pitas, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

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