From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
Five people have escaped from a popular Sydney cafe after they had been taken hostage — with others still held inside as neighboring blocks remain locked down, authorities said.
Two people inside the cafe were seen holding up a flag with Arabic writing on it that has been used by extremists in the past — raising fears that a terror attack was unfolding in Australia’s largest city. Continue reading “Sydney Hostage Crisis: 5 People Escape Lindt Chocolate Shop, Standoff Continues”
OLYMPIA — About 1,000 gun-rights advocates, many openly carrying rifles and handguns, rallied Saturday outside the Capitol to protest a new expanded gun background check law in Washington state.
Organizers of the “I Will Not Comply” rally promised to exchange and sell firearms without conducting background checks during the daylong rally in opposition to the state’s voter-approved universal background check law.
“We’re going to stand up for our rights,” rally organizer Gavin Seim said. “Our rights are not up for negotiation.” Continue reading “1,000 protest new Washington gun law”
PORTLAND, Ore. — A 22-year-old man arrested in connection with a shooting outside an alternative high school in Portland has ties to a gang, as do two of the victims, police said Saturday.
Sgt. Pete Simpson said Lonzo Murphy is a person of interest in the Friday shooting, but officers aren’t prepared to say whether he was the gunman, Simpson said. Continue reading “Gang ties cited in school shooting arrest in Portland, Ore.”
LIMA, Peru — The latest round of United Nations climate talks ended in the early hours of Sunday morning — nearly 33 hours later than scheduled — with a deal that barely kept hopes for a meaningful global agreement next year.
The conference, which started on Dec. 1., had two main goals: to agree to a series of measures aimed at reducing the greenhouse gases scientists say cause climate change in the near term, and to pave the way for an agreement that will include action from all countries by the end of the next edition of the talks, a year from now in Paris. Continue reading “Deal reached at U.N. climate talks in Peru”
The Senate passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill late Saturday that funds the government through next September, averting a partial government shutdown and sending the measure to President Obama’s desk.
The Senate voted 56-40 for the long-term funding bill, the main item left on Congress’ year-end agenda. The measure provides money for nearly the entire government through the end of the current budget year Sept. 30. The sole exception is the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded only until Feb. 27. Continue reading “Senate passes $1.1 trillion spending bill, averting partial gov’t shutdown”
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DENVER – Denver Police Officer John Adsit, who was critically injured when a car struck him, has made some progress in his recovery.
“We were thrilled that John was finally able to open his eyes on Thursday. He remains in critical condition and faces another intense, long and vital surgery (Friday),” the family said in a statement released by Denver Health. Continue reading “Officer hit by car during protest can now open eyes”
Police in Portland have arrested a suspect in the shooting that injured three people outside an alternative high school.
Authorities said they stopped a vehicle around 1:30 a.m. Saturday at North Interstate Avenue and Going Street and arrested a 22-year-old man. A handgun was found in the vehicle. Continue reading “Police Arrest Suspect in Shooting Near High School”
Police are responding to reports of a shooting outside Rosemary Anderson High School in North Portland.
Early reports say a 17-year-old was shot in back and a separate female student was shot in the chest.
Police are searching for suspects in the shooting. Continue reading “Shooting reported near Rosemary Anderson High School in North Portland”
CNS News – by Terrence P. Jeffrey
House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama joined forces Thursday to push their respective party members to provide 219 votes–one more than was needed–to ensure passage of an omnibus government funding bill that permits the administration to spend money implementing Obamacare and Obama’s planned unilateral actions that will effectively amnesty as many as five million illegal aliens.
The bill, according to the Congressional Budget Office, will allow the administration to spend $1,188,927,000,000 on discretionary government programs. It provides funding for amost all of the government through the end of this fiscal year–which occurs on Sept. 30, 2015–and for the Department of Homeland Security through Feb. 27, 2015. Continue reading “Boehner and Obama Join to Pass Bill Funding Obamacare and Amnesty”
Relishing an opportunity to turn the tables on the U.S., Russia says the Senate’s investigation into the CIA torture practices has highlighted rampant rights abuse.
The Foreign Ministry’s rights envoy, Konstantin Dolgov, said in Thursday’s statement that the evidence contained in the report “contradict the U.S. aspirations to serve as a model of democracy.” Continue reading “Russia Criticizes US Over CIA Torture Report”
The Big Story Torture Everyone Is Missing
While the torture report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee is very important, it doesn’t address the big scoop regarding torture.
Instead, it is the Senate Armed Services Committee’s report that dropped the big bombshell regarding the U.S. torture program. Continue reading “The Media Is Focusing On the WRONG Senate Torture Report”
CIA agents who tortured inmates can be prosecuted anywhere in the world, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, Ben Emmerson, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday.
“They are considered as war crimes, they are crimes of international jurisdiction,” he said.
“Any country in the world can prosecute CIA agents involved in this activity, and Italy already has prosecuted, convicted 22 CIA agents, including the Milan station chief, and sentenced them to significant periods in prison in absentia.” Continue reading “UN official: CIA agents could be prosecuted”
CLEVELAND (Reuters) – The death of a 12-year-old Cleveland boy fatally shot by police in November has been formally ruled a homicide, according to a Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report released on Friday that found he was struck once in the abdomen.
Tamir Rice, who was black, was shot on Nov. 22 by police responding to a call of a suspect waving a handgun around in a Cleveland park. The weapon turned out to be a replica that typically fires plastic pellets. He died the next day. Continue reading “Cleveland boy’s death in police shooting declared homicide”
London airspace has been closed until 19:00 GMT after a computer failure, air traffic controllers have said.
The news was announced in a brief message on flight safety body Eurocontrol’s website.
UK air traffic controllers Nats confirmed a “technical problem” at its Swanwick control centre in Hampshire. Continue reading “London airspace closed after computer failure”
After a full day spent lying on her back on a muddy wooden plank, chipping with painstaking care at the underside of a stone block to free the time capsule hidden within, Museum of Fine Arts conservator Pam Hatchfield sat up in front of the State House to a round of applause, a green box held delicately in her hands.
“I feel happy and relieved. And excited. And really interested to see what’s in this box,” she said Thursday night, after posing for a selfie with the capsule for her mom. The extrication took more than seven hours and involved about a dozen workers. Continue reading “State House time capsule from 1795 unearthed”
ABC News – JEFF ZELENY and ARLETTE SAENZ
Just hours before a midnight deadline approached, the House of Representatives voted to approve a $1.1 trillion spending package to keep the federal government open — sending the measure over to the Senate for final passage.
The House voted 219-206 to approve the measure with 57 Democrats joining 162 Republicans to pass the package.
At the conclusion of the House vote, House Speaker John Boehner, said “My job tonight is to say thank you and Merry Christmas.” Continue reading “House Approves $1.1T Bill to Avoid Government Shutdown, Sends Bill to Senate”
In a major blow to privacy rights, the Supreme Court of Canada has decreed that police are allowed to conduct limited searches of suspects’ cellphones upon arrest, without obtaining a search warrant, though officers must follow strict guidelines.
In a 4-3 ruling on Wednesday the Court ruled that the seizure of information from the unlocked phone of armed robbery suspect, Kevin Fearon, in 2009 was constitutional and that evidence gathered from the search is admissible in court, setting a historic precedent for cellphone privacy, reports the Toronto Star. Continue reading “Top Canada court rules cops don’t need warrants to search cell phones”
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