South sudan army offensive rebelsGlobal Post

As South Sudan’s army signaled Monday that it was poised for a major offensive against rebel forces, the leaders of both sides said they were ready to talk.

President Salva Kiir told US special envoy Donald Booth that he was ready for talks with rival Riek Machar “without preconditions.”   Continue reading “South Sudan president and rebel leader signal willingness to talk”

CNN – by Holly Yan

(CNN) — A compounding pharmacy at the center of a fungal meningitis outbreak last year has agreed to a preliminary settlement that would create a $100 million fund for victims.

The fund will also be used to pay off creditors of the bankrupt New England Compounding Center, attorneys in the case said. A judge will have to approve the plan before it goes into effect.   Continue reading “Pharmacy owners agree to $100 million settlement after meningitis outbreak”

The Motley Fool – by Bob Ciura

The United States becoming a net exporter of natural gas is an idea that seemed virtually impossible just a few years ago. The increase in domestic natural gas production has been dramatic, thanks to technological developments that have made previously untapped resources suddenly viable. Due to new ‘fracking’ technologies, the vast ocean of natural gas the United States is currently sitting on may hold the keys to our national energy independence.   Continue reading “Natural Gas Storage Tanks are Drying Up With Exports on the Horizon”

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 2, 2009 file photo, former South African President Nelson Mandela reacts at the Mandela foundation, in Johannesburg, South Africa, during a meeting with a group of American and South African students as part of a series of activities leading to Mandela Day on July 18th. Israel's state archive has published a 50-year-old letter stating that the Mossad spy service unwittingly offered paramilitary training to a young Nelson Mandela in 1962, and released a number of other documents showing a tense relationship between the Jewish state and apartheid-era South Africa. The release of the documents in the wake of Mandela’s death appear to be aimed at blunting criticism of Israel's close alliance with South Africa's apartheid rulers. (AP Photo/Theana Calitz-Bilt, Pool, File)Yahoo News – by JOSEF FEDERMAN

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s state archives has published a 50-year-old letter from the Mossad spy agency claiming it unknowingly offered paramilitary training to a young Nelson Mandela, along with documents illustrating the Jewish state’s sympathy for the anti-apartheid struggle in the 1960s.

The release of the documents on the archives’ website in the wake of Mandela’s death appear to be aimed at blunting criticism of the close alliance Israel later developed with South Africa’s apartheid rulers.   Continue reading “Document: Israeli Mossad trained Mandela”

Homeland Security News Wire

Last Friday, Mississippi joined forty other states and announced it would comply with the REAL ID Act, according to the U.S.Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Coalition For A Secure Driver License(CSDL). Forty-one states and territories are fully or partially compliant withREAL ID – of which twenty states are fully compliant.

The Examiner reports that the deadline for other states to adopt the measure has been postponed until 2016.   Continue reading “Mississippi to comply with REAL ID”

imagePoor Richard’s News

President Obama wants you to know that he’s just like you! He signed up for health insurance, just like he’s forcing you to do. The only difference that while the little people are stuck getting error messages on the Obamacare website or getting the runaround by a navigator on the phone, Obama is on vacation while his staffers work to enroll him in a “symbolic” plan that he won’t even use.   Continue reading “Privilege: Obama vacations as staffers bypass Obamacare site to enroll him in “symbolic” insurance”

People take shelter Sunday at a makeshift camp at a U.N. compound in Juba, SouthSudan.CNN – by Marie-Louise Gumuchian. Barbara Starr and Antonia Mortensen

(CNN) — About 150 U.S. Marines are poised to enter turbulent South Sudan to help evacuate Americans and provide security for the U.S. Embassy, two U.S. military officials said Monday.

The troops are moving from Spain to Africa, probably to the nation of Djibouti, the officials told CNN’s Barbara Starr on Monday.   Continue reading “U.S. Marines poised to enter South Sudan”

Mikhail Kalashnikov.(Reuters)RT News

The inventor of the iconic AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has died at the age of 94. His ingenuity earned him widespread admiration, but his legacy became more controversial when his weapons were used in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts.

“Mikhail Kalashnikov’s entire life is a shining example of dedication to serving your country,” said a statement from Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.   Continue reading “Inventor of AK-47 rifle Mikhail Kalashnikov dies at 94”

The Hill – by Jeremy Herb

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday criticized U.S. spying on Israel; he’s the latest world leader to take aim at the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities.

Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden to The Guardian and others on Friday showed that the NSA and Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters had targeted an email address for then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2009, as well as the Israeli defense minister.   Continue reading “Netanyahu: NSA spying on Israel ‘not acceptable’”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is traveling to China to promote trade with Chicago and city tourism.Daily Herald – by Associated Press

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is traveling to China to promote trade with Chicago and city tourism.

He’s set deliver remarks at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Monday morning and later at a Choose Chicago luncheon. He’s also scheduled to address the minister of commerce, vice mayors and leaders of several major Chinese cities to sign an agreement related to trade with Chicago.   Continue reading “Emanuel Travels To China To Promote Chicago”

article imageOpposing Views – by Sarah Fruchtnicht

A recent college graduate in Washington says he wants an apology after deputies in Spokane County mistakenly raided his home, with guns drawn, giving him the scare of his life.

Conner Guerrero says he noticed somebody sneaking around his yard at night and assumed it was burglars.

“Just trying to enjoy my evening. All the sudden, I see a flashlight shining through my doors…” said Guerrero. “I’m thinking this could be a dangerous situation for me.”   Continue reading “Cop Who Raided The Wrong House Tells Homeowner ‘You’re Lucky I Didn’t F–King Shoot You’”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (AP) — A covert CIA program has helped Colombia’s government kill at least two dozen leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the rebel insurgency also known as FARC, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

The National Security Agency has also provided “substantial eavesdropping help” to the Colombian government, according to the Post. And the U.S. provided Colombia with GPS equipment that can be used to transform regular munitions into “smart bombs” that can accurately home in on specific targets, even if they are located in dense jungles.   Continue reading “Report: CIA helped Colombia kill rebel leaders”

New York Times – by CHARLIE SAVAGE and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration moved late Friday to prevent a federal judge in California from ruling on the constitutionality of warrantless surveillance programs authorized during the Bush administration, telling a court that recent disclosures about National Security Agency spying were not enough to undermine its claim that litigating the case would jeopardize state secrets.

In a set of filings in the two long-running cases in the Northern District of California, the government acknowledged for the first time that the N.S.A. started systematically collecting data about Americans’ emails and phone calls in 2001, alongside its program of wiretapping certain calls without warrants. The government had long argued that disclosure of these and other secrets would put the country at risk if they came out in court.   Continue reading “White House Tries to Prevent Judge From Ruling on Surveillance Efforts”

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke billows from a building after a blast in Aleppo, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. In northern Syria, government war planes have bombed rebel-held districts of Aleppo for the fifth straight day, leveling apartment buildings, flooding hospitals with casualties in attacks that have so far killed nearly 200 people, activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP Video)Yahoo News – by DIAA HADID

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels seized control a strategic hospital near Aleppo, giving a boost to beleaguered anti-government forces in the northern city after days of relentless airstrikes on opposition-held neighborhoods there, activists said Saturday.

The rebels’ capture of Kindi hospital does not drastically alter the broader battle for Aleppo, which has been divided for more than a year between opposition and government forces. But it does provide a lift to a rebel movement that has been dogged in recent months by infighting that allowed President Bashar Assad’s forces to chip away at rebel-held territory on several fronts.   Continue reading “Syrian rebels seize strategic hospital in Aleppo”

ABC News

China’s military lashed out Saturday at Japan’s plans to boost defense spending, accusing Tokyo of raising regional tensions under the pretext of safeguarding national security.

China “resolutely opposes” the five-year defense plan adopted by Japan on Tuesday, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website.   Continue reading “China Lashes out at Japan’s New Defense Plan”

No. 2 reactor buildings of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear power plant (AFP Photo / Pool)RT News

TEPCO has found a record 1.9 million becquerels per liter of beta ray-emitting radioactive substances at its No.2 reactor. Also radioactive cesium was detected in deeper groundwater at No.4 unit’s well, as fears grow of a new leak into the ocean.

The level of beta ray-emitting radioactivity in groundwater around the crippled Fukushima reactor No. 2 reactor has been rising since November, NHK reported.   Continue reading “TEPCO detects record radiation at Fukushima’s reactor 2, new leak suspected”