Author: Admin

The Hill – by Ellen Mitchell

A U.S. destroyer used a “maneuvering drill” near Chinese-built islands in the South China Sea to send a message about territorial claims on the water around them, Reuters reported Thursday.

U.S. officials told Reuters that the USS Dewey “engaged in normal operations” by conducting a “man overboard” exercise within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef, which houses the Spratly Islands, an area that China and its neighbors have fought over.    Continue reading “US warship drill challenges China’s sea territory claims: report”

The Hill – by Max Greenwood

President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner has reportedly come under scrutiny in the FBI’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The FBI’s focus on Kushner does not necessarily mean he is suspected of a crime, nor is he considered a subject of the bureau’s wider Russia probe, like former national security adviser Michael Flynn, NBC News reported.   Continue reading “Jared Kushner under FBI scrutiny in Russia probe: reports”

AP

FIRESTONE, Colo. (AP) — The company that owns a gas well linked to a fatal home explosion in Colorado says it will permanently shut down that well and two others in the neighborhood.

Anadarko Petroleum announced the shut-down Wednesday in Firestone, where an April 17 explosion killed two people. Investigators blamed the explosion on unrefined, odorless natural gas from a severed 1-inch (2.5-centimeter) pipeline.   Continue reading “Company to shut down well linked to fatal Colorado explosion”

Breitbart – by Ryan Saavedra

Authorities say an illegal immigrant pursued a 12-year-old Florida girl and within three days of meeting, asked intimate details about her sexuality and wanted her to run away with him.

Joel Bautista Trinidad, 34 of Mexico, was arrested by Palm Beach County detectives on May 15 after a 12-year-old girl’s mother found explicit text messages on her phone from Trinidad, WPBF-ABC reported.   Continue reading “Mexican National Allegedly Tried to Lure Young Girls into Prostitution”

Fuel Fix – by James Osborne

President Donald Trump wants the federal government to stop sharing oil and gas royalties from the Gulf of Mexico with Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast.

In his budget proposal for 2018, the White House proposes eliminating a decade old program that was set to deliver up to $275 million to Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi next year.  Continue reading “Trump proposes slashing Gulf royalty payments to Texas, other states”

The Guardian – by Benjamin Lee

He was the epitome of the suave English gent, quipping sweatlessly in a bespoke three-piece suit, who enjoyed an acting career spanning eight decades. On Tuesday, Roger Moore’s children announced his death at the age of 89 in Switzerland, saying: “he passed away today … after a short but brave battle with cancer”.

Moore was best known for playing the third incarnation of James Bond as well as his roles in hit shows The Saint and The Persuaders. He also devoted a lot of his time to humanitarian work, becoming a Unicef goodwill ambassador in 1991.   Continue reading “Roger Moore – Saint, Persuader and the suavest James Bond – dies at 89”

Washington Times

DENVER (AP) – Colorado’s governor on Friday pardoned a Cuban immigrant for an armed robbery he committed 19 years ago in an effort stave off the man’s deportation after immigration authorities detained him following a judge’s ruling that he should no longer be imprisoned.

The pardon from Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, was the latest twist in the saga of Rene Lima-Marin, 38. He came to the U.S. as a toddler as part of the 1980 Mariel boat lift from Cuba and had legal residency until it was revoked following his 2000 criminal conviction. Lima-Marin was sentenced to 98 years in prison for the robbery. But he was mistakenly paroled from Colorado state prison in 2008.   Continue reading “Colorado governor pardons felon to stave off deportation”

Reuters – by Patricia Zengerle and Matt Spetalnick

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the chief judge and seven other members of Venezuela’s Supreme Court on

Thursday as punishment for annulling the opposition-led Congress earlier this year, U.S. officials said.

The new sanctions package was aimed at stepping up pressure on the leftist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his loyalists amid growing concern over a crackdown on street protests and his efforts to consolidate his rule over the South American oil-producing country.   Continue reading “Venezuela Supreme Court judges hit with U.S. sanctions”

Freedom Outpost – by Tim Brown

In a similar fashion as to how the prosecution in the Bundy Ranch trials tried to hide Bureau of Land Management agent Daniel P. Love’s misconduct, they seem to have failed to disclose an FBI agent’s arrest for impersonating a journalist/private investigator.

Charles Johnson, undercover agent of “Long Bow Fame,” was busted last year in Colorado for impersonating a private investigator and the government failed to inform the defense of this fact.   Continue reading “Government Hid Fact That FBI Witness at Bundy Ranch Trial Ended Up in Jail for Impersonating a Journalist/Private Investigator”

ABC News

A framework agreement between China and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations on a code of conduct in the South China Sea marks a potentially significant step toward cooling tensions in the strategic waterway, analysts said Friday.

While details of the agreement reached Thursday weren’t disclosed, it is a definite sign of progress on reaching a final code of conduct that the parties committed to 15 years ago, the experts said.   Continue reading “Draft a sign of progress on South China Sea code of conduct”

Reuters

Two Chinese SU-30 aircraft carried out what the U.S. military described as an “unprofessional” intercept of a U.S. aircraft designed to detect radiation while it was flying in international airspace over the East China Sea.

“The issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels,” said Air Force spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Lori Hodge.   Continue reading “Chinese jets intercept U.S. radiation-sniffing plane, U.S. says”

BBC News

Sweden’s director of public prosecutions has decided to drop the rape investigation into Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Marianne Ny filed a request to the Stockholm District Court to revoke his arrest warrant, apparently ending a seven-year stand-off.

Mr Assange, 45, has lived in the Ecuadorean embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition.   Continue reading “Julian Assange: Sweden drops rape investigation”

ABC News

The Latest Syria developments (all times local):

8:15 p.m.

U.S. officials say an American airstrike has hit pro-Syrian government forces in southern Syria as they were setting up fighting positions in a protected area.

The officials say the strike near Tanf hit a tank and a bulldozer and forces there, but it was not clear if they were Syrian army troops or other pro-government allies.   Continue reading “The Latest: Officials: US Strike Hits Pro-Assad Forces Syria”

Reuters

A speeding car plowed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in New York City’s busy Times Square on Thursday, killing one person and injuring a dozen, according to witnesses, and police said the incident did not appear to be an act of terrorism.

A Reuters witness said one person was covered with a bloodstained blanket after the collision, which occurred around noon ET (1600 GMT) at the Midtown Manhattan tourist venue.   Continue reading “Car slams into Times Square pedestrians, killing one, injuring others”