NBC DFW

A worker remains missing after a large explosion at an apparent industrial building in Houston early Friday scattered debris across the area, shattered windows and sent another person to the hospital.

At about 4:30 a.m., many people reported hearing a loud explosion and felt buildings shake in the Northwest Houston neighborhood. Police and fire crews responding to the scene went house-to-house to let about 300 residents know to shelter in place, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference.  Continue reading “Worker Unaccounted for, 1 Other Person Hurt After Large Explosion in Houston”

Yahoo News

(Reuters) – Twenty U.S. states sued the Trump administration on Thursday to block what they called its latest effort to allow blueprints for making guns from 3-D printers to be released on the internet, threatening a proliferation of “ghost guns” that spread violence.

Led by Washington state and controlled primarily by Democrats, the states, along with the District of Columbia, said they sued in federal court in Seattle, after the government published final agency rules earlier in the day allowing the necessary files to be posted. Continue reading “U.S. states sue to block White House from allowing 3-D printed guns”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Texas Instruments announced Wednesday that it would close two chip plants in North Texas over the next three to five years, reported Dallas News.

Texas Instruments’ Public Relations manager Nicole Bernard said a factory in Dallas at its north campus would be shuttered, along with a chip facility in Sherman.  Continue reading “Texas Instruments To Close Two Dallas-Area Chip Factories Amid Slowdown”

New York Post – by Ben Feuerherd

Three US firefighters died while battling wildfires in Australia when the C-130 tanker they were flying in crashed in the southern section of the country, officials said Thursday.

The firefighters were killed in the crash after leaving the town of Richmond in New South Wales state on a firebombing mission, local officials said. Continue reading “Three US firefighters killed in plane crash while battling wildfires in Australia”

KTVZ

CHILOQUIN, Ore. (KTVZ) — Klamath County sheriff’s deputies answering a shots-fired call on Highway 97 near Chiloquin were fired upon Sunday afternoon by a man in a log home, prompting a 9-hour highway closure until he allegedly set the home ablaze and was caught trying to escape.

Deputies had responded around 1:30 p.m. to the call of shots fired in the 37000 block of Highway 97, said Brandon Fowler, sheriff’s office public information officer and emergency manager.  Continue reading “Chiloquin shots-fired standoff ends in arson fire, capture”

Hawaii News Now

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) – In a shocking series of events Sunday, a 69-year-old man facing eviction is accused of fatally shooting two Honolulu police officers who were responding to the scene of a stabbing and then apparently setting a raging fire that destroyed seven homes in Diamond Head.

In a news conference Sunday afternoon, a visibly shaken Police Chief Ballard identified those killed as:
Continue reading “Man facing eviction fatally shoots 2 Honolulu police officers before blaze destroys 7 homes in Diamond Head neighborhood”

Fox News

Baltimore’s state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, took aim at the city’s police union Saturday after union officials condemned a violent attack Friday night against a city police officer.

Mosby accused the police union of “fanning the very flames they then call on me to put out,” saying union officials responded to the violent attack with “inappropriate political rhetoric.”

A video posted on social media shows a Baltimore police sergeant wrestling on the ground late Friday with a suspect who allegedly spat in the sergeant’s face. The police officer is then repeatedly kicked by bystanders while trying to make the arrest.  Continue reading “Baltimore state’s attorney blasts police union’s ‘political rhetoric’ after video shows mob attacking officer”

Yahoo News

(Reuters) – President Donald Trump took aim at Virginia Democrats and their push to stiffen the state’s gun laws, saying that the U.S. Constitution was under attack just as thousands of armed militia members began arriving in Richmond for a Monday gun rally.

Trump doubled down with his support of gun enthusiasts in the state, which Hilary Clinton won in 2016 and where Democrats took full control of the state legislature for the first time in a generation in November, as candidates made passing stronger gun control laws a central campaign theme. Continue reading “Ahead of tinder box Virginia gun rally, Trump says Constitution under attack”

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a revamp of the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement that includes tougher rules on labor and automotive content but leaves $1.2 trillion in annual U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade flows largely unchanged.

The legislation to implement the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement passed on an 89-10 bipartisan vote, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for him to sign into law. Continue reading “Senate passes North America trade deal, Canada still to approve”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has subpoenaed Denver law enforcement for information on four foreign nationals wanted for deportation and may consider expanding the unusual practice to other locations if necessary. It’s an escalation of the conflict between federal officials and so-called sanctuary cities.

ICE, the Homeland Security agency responsible for arresting and deporting people in the U.S. illegally, could take the subpoena to a federal judge, who can order them to hand over information and find them in contempt if they don’t comply, officials said.  Continue reading “Immigration agency subpoenas sanctuary city law enforcement”

CNN

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an initial trade deal with China that includes pledges from Beijing to more than double its purchases from American farmers in the first year.

The 86-page agreement comes after nearly two years of fraught negotiations and a punishing trade war between the world’s two largest economies that hit US soybean producers especially hard.  Continue reading “Trump signs first stage of trade deal with China”

CBS Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – School officials say about 40 children and adults were affected Tuesday when jet fuel dumped by a Delta airliner making an emergency return to Los Angeles International Airport fell onto several area schools.

Approximately 20 children and 11 adults at Park Avenue Elementary School reported a reaction after they were exposed to jet fuel that fell on a playground, according to Los Angeles County firefighters.  Continue reading “Delta Flight Dumps Jet Fuel Over LA Schools; Dozens Of Students, Adults Treated For Exposure”

Reuters

HOUSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. crude exports from Corpus Christi, Texas, have surged to a record in recent weeks, often surpassing hubs such as Houston and Beaumont, Texas, thanks to faster-than-expected infrastructure additions.

The infrastructure boom at Corpus Christi helped push crude exports there to a weekly record of 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) in late December, more than doubling levels that held for the first eight months of last year, and above Houston’s 2019 peak of 1.36 million bpd, according to vessel-tracking firm ClipperData.  Continue reading “Record oil volumes shipped from Texas port”

RT

Arrests have been made in connection with the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran, Iran’s judiciary has announced, following President Hassan Rouhani’s call for a special probe into the deadly accident.

Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told Iranian state media on Tuesday that individuals had been detained as part of “extensive investigations” into the incident. He did not disclose how many people had been arrested.  Continue reading “Iran makes arrests over accidental downing of Ukrainian airliner”

RT

Scientists in the US claim to have created zombie robots from reanimated frog cells, giving rise to a living organism never seen or created before which can perform important tasks while healing itself.

These millimeter-wide “xenobots” were designed on a supercomputer using an evolutionary algorithm to create thousands of candidate designs. The winning designs can propel themselves toward a target and deliver a payload, and can also heal themselves when torn apart.  Continue reading “‘Neither robot nor animal’: Scientists develop the ‘Xenobots,’ 1st robots constructed completely from LIVING CELLS”

Fox News

Four gun-control bills on Monday advanced in Virginia’s General Assembly, setting the stage for a contentious showdown between gun-rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers who have vowed to bring comprehensive changes to the state.

The bills that sailed through the state’s Judiciary Committee would require background checks on all firearms purchases, allow law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from people deemed to be a risk to themselves or others, limit handgun purchases to one a month and let localities decide whether to ban weapons from certain events.  Continue reading “4 gun control bills advance in Virginia’s General Assembly”

CNN

More than a dozen Saudi servicemen training at US military installations will be expelled from the United States after a review that followed the deadly shooting last month at a Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, multiple sources told CNN.

The Saudis are not accused of aiding the 21-year-old Saudi Air Force second lieutenant who killed three American sailors in the December shooting, two sources said, but some are said to have connections to extremist movements, according to a person familiar with the situation.  Continue reading “More than a dozen Saudi servicemen to be expelled from US after review of December shooting at Naval Air Station”

Zero Hedge –  by Tyler Durden

As was previewed by Trump two days earlier, moments ago Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed that the Trump administration is imposing new sanctions on Iran, specifically targeting the country’s metals exports and eight senior leaders. The Treasury said the actions Friday target the 13 largest steel and iron manufacturers in Iran and top copper and aluminum producers.  Continue reading “US Imposes Sanctions On Virtually Entire Iranian Economy”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Ashland City, TN — Two police officers who strapped an 18-year-old in a restraint chair and tortured him with a taser were arrested and charged with multiple crimes in June 2018. The horrifying video was so damning that the normal process of sweeping it under the rug was not an option. However, the trial for the cop who did the torturing, concluded last year and ended in a mistrial. Luckily, the system is determined to hold him accountable, and on Tuesday, former Corporal Mark Bryant heads back to court to be tried again for the torture.  Continue reading “Cop Goes to Trial After Horrifying Video Shows Him Torture Teen in a Restraint Chair with Taser”