Talking Points Memo

CHICAGO (AP) — A jury on Friday convicted white Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke of second-degree murder in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Van Dyke was charged with first degree-murder in the October 2014 killing, a charge that requires a finding that the shooting was unnecessary and unreasonable. The judge told jurors the second-degree charge was also available, requiring them to find Van Dyke believed his life was in danger but that the belief was unreasonable.  Continue reading “Chicago Cop Convicted Of 2nd-Degree Murder In Laquan McDonald Shooting”

Tech Crunch – by Zach Whittaker

U.S. authorities will soon have the authority to shoot down private drones if they are considered a threat — a move decried by civil liberties and rights groups.

The Senate passed the FAA Reauthorization Act on Wednesday, months after an earlier House vote in April. The bill renews funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) until 2023, and includes several provisions designed to modernize U.S aviation rule — from making commercial flights more comfortable for passengers to including new provisions to act against privately owned drones.   Continue reading “Despite objection, Congress passes bill that lets U.S. authorities shoot down private drones”

Yahoo News

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Most of the roughly 400 guns that were stolen from a United Parcel Service facility in Tennessee have been recovered in the Chicago area, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Authorities seized about 365 Ruger .22-caliber and .380-caliber firearms after police officers responded to a call about suspicious activity in the southern Chicago suburb of Midlothian on Sunday afternoon — about 12 hours after the guns were taken from a UPS facility in Memphis, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent said in court documents.   Continue reading “ATF: Guns stolen from Tennessee found in Chicago suburb”

ABC News

Two envelopes suspected of containing ricin poison, one addressed to Defense Secretary James Mattis, have been identified in the Pentagon’s Central Processing Center, according to a U.S. official.

The envelopes were addressed to Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson, the official said.   Continue reading “Envelopes suspected of containing ricin poison, addressed to defense secretary, found at Pentagon mail center”

ABC News

A 2-year-old boy is among the three dead after a mysterious car explosion this weekend in Allentown, Pennsylvania, authorities said, and one of the adults is suspected to have triggered it.

Jonathan Schmoyer, 2, his father Jacob Schmoyer, 27, and Jacob Schmoyer’s friend David Hallman, 66, all of Allentown, were the three victims of the Saturday night blast, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim said at a news conference Monday.   Continue reading “2-year-old boy among 3 dead in Pennsylvania car explosion: Coroner”

Yahoo News

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese destroyer came aggressively close to a U.S. Navy ship in the South China Sea, forcing it to maneuver to prevent a collision, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday, describing an encounter that could worsen tensions between the nations.

The Chinese warship approached the USS Decatur in an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” on Sunday near Gaven Reefs in the South China Sea, said U.S. Pacific Fleet Spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman.   Continue reading “US says Chinese destroyer came dangerously close to US ship”

Washington Examiner – by Josh Siegel

The petroleum industry on Monday urged Congress to approve the Trump administration’s renegotiated NAFTA agreement, and said the new deal promises to maintain booming exports of oil and natural gas to America’s northern and southern neighbors.

“We urge Congress to approve the USMCA,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the largest U.S. oil and gas trade group. “Having Canada as a trading partner and a party to this agreement is critical for North American energy security and U.S. consumers. Retaining a trade agreement for North America will help ensure the U.S. energy revolution continues into the future.”   Continue reading “Oil and gas industry praises Trump’s new NAFTA deal”

Yahoo News

A mom has been arrested for allowing her 10-year-old son to get a tattoo — by a teenage artist — because she was allegedly tired of the boy begging to get inked, according to Columbus, Ohio, TV station WSYX/WTTE.

The news outlet reported that 34-year-old Nikki Dickinson was charged with first-degree misdemeanor child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after a video of the tattoo session went viral.   Continue reading “Mom arrested for allowing 10-year-old son to get tattooed”

Yahoo News

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — About 400 guns have been stolen from a United Parcel Service facility in Memphis, Tennessee, and authorities are concerned about the theft’s potential effect on public safety in this city and elsewhere.

Two people driving a U-Haul truck stole the weapons from a UPS facility in Memphis on Sunday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday. The agency is asking for the public’s help in the case: It offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.    Continue reading “ATF warns public after 400 guns stolen in Tennessee”

Yahoo News

OTTAWA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Canada forged a last-gasp deal on Sunday to salvage NAFTA as a trilateral pact with Mexico, rescuing a three-country, $1.2 trillion open-trade zone that had been about to collapse after nearly a quarter century.

In a big victory for his agenda to shake-up an era of global free trade that many associate with the signing of NAFTA in 1994, President Donald Trump coerced Canada and Mexico to accept more restrictive commerce with their main export partner.   Continue reading “Canada, U.S. deal saves NAFTA as trilateral pact”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Barely an hour after California Gov. Jerry Brown signed what’s widely believed to be the toughest net neutrality law ever enacted in the US, the US DOJ announced that it would sue California to invalidate the new law, setting up yet another showdown between the federal government and the largest state in the union.

According to the Washington Post, California has become the largest state to adopt its own rules requiring Internet providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon to treat all web traffic equally. State lawmakers wrote their law after the FCC scrapped nationwide protections last year, citing the regulatory burdens they had caused for the telecom industry. The lawsuit opens yet another legal showdown between Brown and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Recently, a federal judge threw out most of the DOJ’s challenge to California’s sanctuary state laws.   Continue reading “DOJ Sues To Block California Net Neutrality Law”

Reuters

Two police officers were shot and killed in a southern Mississippi town during a gunfight with a 25-year-old man before dawn on Saturday, officials said.

The officers from Brookhaven, less than 60 miles (100 km) south of Jackson, had gone to a house to respond to a report that shots had been fired, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said in an email.   Continue reading “Two Mississippi police officers killed in gunfight with man”

The Hill – by Jacqueline Thomsen, Olivia Beavers

Security experts and privacy advocates are hopeful the rollout of the new 5G wireless network could eliminate a glaring surveillance vulnerability that allows spying on nearby phone calls.

Lawmakers have been pressing the Trump administration to crack down on technology known as “Stingrays,” after it was revealed they were found near federal buildings in Washington D.C. earlier this year.   Continue reading “Experts see 5G as defense to ‘Stingray’ spying”

City Journal – by Adam Freedman

Nobody in the United States Senate knows whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers are telling the truth. And yet, quite a few of its members—all Democrats—have already decided that they are telling the truth. Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal and New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand, for example, have declared that they believe the allegations of Professor Christine Blasey Ford, though she has yet to testify. Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii insists that Ford “needs to be believed,” and that men need to “just shut up and step up.”   Continue reading “Due Process for Judge Kavanaugh: Senators eager to destroy his nomination must be restrained by the rule of law.”

ABC News 7

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The suspect in a series of vicious attacks on sleeping homeless men in Los Angeles and Santa Monica had been deported six times and was freed from federal custody last year following an immigration court decision, federal officials said Tuesday.

Ramon Alberto Escobar, 47, has been linked to three murders and four attempted murders in Southern California and the disappearance of his two relatives from the Houston area.   Continue reading “ICE: DTLA murder suspect had been deported 6 times”

The Hill – by Timothy Cama

The Trump administration on Monday repealed a mandate that would have required trains carrying crude oil to use special brakes with new technology.

The Department of Transportation’s Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said it undertook a congressionally mandated analysis of the provision in a 2015 regulation under which oil trains would have had to use electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes.   Continue reading “Trump officials roll back Obama oil train safety rule”

CBS Sacramento

If your paycheck hits your bank account through direct deposit, be on the lookout for emails requesting personal information including log-in credentials — they could be a phishing scam by hackers who want to access your bank account.

The FBI warning comes as cyber criminals target the online payroll accounts of employees in a variety of industries, especially those in education, healthcare and commercial aviation.   Continue reading “FBI: Hackers Targeting Your Payroll Direct Deposits”

ABC News

Authorities in Massachusetts have charged an undocumented immigrant with murder after he allegedly stabbed three fellow crew members, one fatally, on a fishing boat 55 miles off the coast.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts announced the charges on Monday, one day after they say Franklin Freddy Meave Vazquez got into a fight on the ship he was working on, the Captain Billy Haver, and three people were injured. One of those members of the crew died.   Continue reading “Undocumented immigrant charged with murdering shipmate on fishing boat off Massachusetts”

Reuters

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – He has chaired board meetings, cabinet meetings and starred in a reality television show, but on Wednesday U.S. President Donald Trump will wield the gavel in the United Nations Security Council to denounce Iran for what his administration sees as its malign regional behavior.

Trump is able to preside over the 15-member council as the United States holds the monthly rotating presidency, which coincides with the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in New York this week.   Continue reading “From reality TV to U.N., Trump to wield Security Council gavel”