Yahoo News

(Reuters) – The Trump administration lost a court bid on Thursday aimed at striking down California’s “sanctuary” statutes that prevent local law enforcement from helping the U.S. government’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco largely affirmed a July ruling from a lower court, which had found the California laws do not conflict with federal immigration rules.  Continue reading “U.S. court upholds most of California’s ‘sanctuary’ migrant laws”

Fox News

Under President Trump’s new tax law, 60 of America’s biggest corporations paid $0 in federal taxes. in 2018, despite earning billions of dollars in profits.

Amazon, Netflix, General Motors, Chevron, JetBlue, IBM and U.S. Steel were all among the companies that avoided taxes last year using a diverse array of loopholes and tax breaks, according to a new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think-tank.  Continue reading “Amazon isn’t the only company that paid $0 in federal taxes last year”

Fox News

WASHINGTON – The Americas saw the greatest deterioration in press freedom of any part of the world during the last year, a press advocacy group said Thursday.

The 2019 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders shows that Nicaragua fell 24 places from the previous year’s list due to attacks on journalists covering protests against President Daniel Ortega. Some journalists fled abroad, fearing they might be jailed on terrorism charges.  Continue reading “Group: Americas saw greatest deterioration of press freedom”

Fox News

A manhunt for a woman allegedly “infatuated” with the Columbine massacre who traveled from Florida and forced schools in Colorado to close after threatening violence came to an end Wednesday after she was found dead of an apparent suicide in the mountains southwest of Denver.

Sol Pais,18, was found near the base of Mount Evans in Clear Creek County, located about 60 miles southwest of Denver, according to Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Shrader. Shrader said that Pais was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Continue reading “Woman ‘infatuated’ with Columbine, connected to Colorado school threats found dead, source says”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Update 2: Ever careful to watch for false-flags and conspiracy theory concerns, video is emerging of a Gilets-Jaunes in black clothes at one of the two towers half an hour after the start of the fire at Notre-Dame… Continue reading “The Internet Erupts With Speculation About Who Started The Notre Dame Fire”

Breitbart – by AWR Hawkins

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed into law on Friday the Democrats’ gun confiscatory Red Flag legislation.

The legislation allows courts to issue orders for the confiscation of individuals’ guns.

Tribune Ledger News reported that the legislation, House Bill 1177, did not garner a single Republican vote. And more than half of Colorado’s county governments have voiced opposition to the bill, making clear they have no plans to enforce it.  Continue reading “Colorado Gov. Jared Polis Signs Democrat-Sponsored Gun Confiscation Bill”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors announced charges on Thursday against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history.

Assange, arrested by British police in London and carried out of Ecuador’s embassy, faces up to five years in prison on the American charge, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. His arrest paved the way for his possible extradition to the United States. Continue reading “U.S. charges WikiLeaks’ Assange with hacking conspiracy with Manning”

AP News

CROSBY, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump’s support for shifting more power to states on Wednesday faded next to his affinity for oil and gas production, as he aimed to make it harder for states to block pipelines and other energy projects due to environmental concerns.

At the urging of business groups, Trump signed two executive orders designed to speed up oil and gas pipeline projects. The action came after officials in Washington state and New York used the permitting process to stop new energy projects in recent years, prompting complaints from Republican members of Congress and the fossil fuel industry.  Continue reading “Trump signs orders making it harder to block pipelines”

Fox News

Alexa is like having your own personal assistant that never asks for a raise. The problem is she’s always listening — and so are thousands of Amazon workers, according to a report.

Teams stationed around the world listen to and transcribe recordings, then send them back into the Echo’s software to erase the gaps in Alexa’s ability to understand speech, a report from Bloomberg said.  Continue reading “Thousands of Amazon workers listen to recordings from Alexa: reports”

Fox News

The son of a Louisiana sheriff’s deputy was arrested Wednesday in connection with fires that burned down three historically black churches in the past two weeks, police said.

Holden Matthews, 21, has been booked into the St. Landry Parish jail on suspicion of arson, KATC-TV reported, citing law enforcement sources. Matthews is the son of St. Landry Parish Deputy Roy Matthews. Authorities have not released a mug shot of the suspect.  Continue reading “Son of sheriff’s deputy arrested in connection with historically black church fires: report”

RT

A lawyer for whistleblower Julian Assange has confirmed that he has been arrested partly in relation to a request for extradition from the United States.

Writing on Twitter, Jen Robinson said Assange’s arrest in London was “not just for breach of bail conditions but also in relation to a US extradition request.”   Continue reading “Assange has been arrested ‘in relation to a US extradition request’ – lawyer”

Yahoo News

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — A gas explosion that partially collapsed a North Carolina building and set it ablaze Wednesday morning killed one person and injured more than a dozen others, police said.

Police cars blocked the streets near the explosion in downtown Durham and a thick, acrid smoke hung over the shopping district created from remodeled tobacco warehouses. At least two ladder trucks sprayed blasts of water into the smoldering rubble nearly two hours after the explosion.  Continue reading “Police: 1 dead, 15 injured in North Carolina gas explosion”

Vox – by Zack Beauchamp

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to hold on to power, winning what will be a record fifth term in office despite having faced a bruising reelection fight.

The preliminary results from Israel’s Tuesday election have Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party getting 35 seats out of a total 120 seats in the Knesset (Israel’s parliament). While Likud didn’t win an outright majority of seats, that’s typical in Israeli elections.  Continue reading “Benjamin Netanyahu won Israel’s election. Here’s what comes next.”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents on Tuesday broke up a billion dollar Medicare scam that peddled unneeded orthopedic braces to hundreds of thousands of seniors. Two dozen people were charged, including doctors accused of writing bogus prescriptions.

The Justice Department said the scheme relied on overseas call centers to pry Medicare numbers from beneficiaries. Authorities also announced charges against owners of call centers, telemedicine firms and medical equipment companies that shipped unneeded back, shoulder, wrist and knee braces.  Continue reading “Feds charge 2 dozen in billion dollar Medicare brace scam”

Yahoo News

A day after Donald Trump designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organisation, reports are reemerging of the Trump Organization’s alleged participation in a scheme that likely helped the IRGC launder money to fund its interests abroad.

The US government made the unprecedented move to blacklist another country’s military because, Mr Trump said, the IRGC “actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft”.  Continue reading “Trump’s ‘business ties’ to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reemerge, a day after he designated it a terror group”

Washington Examiner – by Susan Ferrechio

The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a travel advisory for “immigrants and people of color to use extreme caution” in Florida because of a pending immigration bill the state legislature is considering that would ban so-called sanctuary cities.

The Florida Legislature has advanced legislation that would require local law enforcement to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in detaining undocumented immigrants.  Continue reading “ACLU warns ‘immigrants and people of color,’ against travel in Florida”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Following former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s Sunday resignation due to her “abysmal failure” to curb the crisis at the southern border (indeed, the number of migrants and asylum seekers pouring into the US has reached unprecedented levels this year), President Trump appears to be embarking on a purge of all Nielsen’s allies and direct reports – starting with Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles. Continue reading “Trump Fires Head Of Secret Service”

RT

In response to Washington’s decision to put Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on the terrorist list, the Iranian Supreme Security Council declared the US a “terrorist government” while calling the US CENTCOM a terrorist group as well.

Following what it called an “unlawful and unreasonable action” of the US, Tehran officially declared the US “a terrorist government and the US Central Command known as CENTCOM as well as all its affiliates a terrorist group,” a statement of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council headed by President Hassan Rouhani said. Continue reading “Iran’s Supreme Security Council puts US troops on its terrorist groups list”

Fox News

President Trump announced Sunday afternoon that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen “will be leaving her position” after 16 months in the job.

Trump also announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will replace Nielsen as acting secretary, tweeting: “I have confidence that Kevin will do a great job!” Continue reading “Nielsen resigns as DHS secretary after White House meeting with Trump”

Fox News

A Texas state trooper was in critical but stable condition early Sunday after being shot while approaching a driver who had fled from a crash scene not far from the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.

Further information on the trooper’s condition, along with his name, was not immediately available.  Continue reading “Suspect held in shootout near US-Mexico border; Texas trooper ‘critical’ but stable”