Chron – by Jeff Chiu and Haven Daley, Associated Press

LOWER LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Blazes raging in forests and woodlands across California have taken the life of a firefighter and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes as an army of firefighters continue to battle them from the air and the ground.

Twenty-three large fires, many sparked by lightning strikes, were burning across Northern California on Saturday, said state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant. Some 8,000 firefighters were attempting to subdue them, something made incredibly difficult by several years of drought that have dried out California.   Continue reading “Firefighter killed, hundreds flee as California blazes burn”

Reuters – by TIMOTHY GARDNER AND VALERIE VOLCOVICI

The U.S. Senate Energy Committee on Thursday narrowly passed a bill to lift a 40-year-old ban on the export of crude oil, but the measure faces an uphill battle in getting passed by the full Senate.

The bill to allow the United States to export oil and boost state revenue-sharing for offshore oil and gas drilling passed along party lines by a vote of 12-10.   Continue reading “Senate energy panel votes to lift oil export ban”

Defense One – by Marcus Weisgerber

Just two weeks after Western nations and Tehran struck a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program, the Pentagon says Saudi Arabia wants to buy 600 new Patriot missile interceptors.

The $5 billion-plus purchase is likely just the first of many more as America’s Middle Eastern allies arm themselves in response to the nuclear deal, which would lift Iran’s conventional-arms embargo sanctions in five years and sanctions on long-range missile projects in eight.   Continue reading “Saudi Arabia Responds to Iran Deal: Give Us 600 Patriot Missiles”

Sent to us by a reader.

Heavy – by Paul Farrell

An 18-year-old man from Wyoming is the only suspect in the seemingly unprovoked killings of two Montana residents. The alleged perp is Jesus Deniz. He’s accused of slaying Jason, 52, and Tana Shane, 50, of Pryor, Montana, and leaving their 24-year-old daughter, Jora, for dead after shooting her in the head and back. The heinous attack happened close to the Crow Nation reservation in Pryor after the Shane’s tried to help Deniz as he had run out of gas. They went to a store to get gasoline from him, but it was closed, upon returning, Deniz opened fire on the family killing Jason and Tana while wounding Jora, that’s according to family spokesman Bryce Hugs. Hugs added that Deniz then absconded in the Shane’s car.   Continue reading “Jesus Deniz: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know”

Sent to us by a reader.

Yahoo News – by JOAN LOWY and LORI HINNANT, AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Air safety investigators have a “high degree of confidence” that a photo of aircraft debris found in the Indian Ocean is of a wing component unique to the Boeing 777, the same model as the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared last year, a U.S. official said Wednesday.   Continue reading “US official: Debris in photo belongs to Boeing 777”

Fox News

CLEVELAND –  U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents told Ohio sheriff’s deputies weeks ago not to detain a man who is in the U.S. illegally and now suspected of killing a woman and wounding another during a crime spree, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

Lake County sheriff’s deputies questioned 35-year-old Juan Emmanuel Razo on July 7 after finding him alone in a car in Painesville, about 30 miles east of Cleveland. Unsure of Razo’s status, the deputies contacted Border Protection officials and were told he is from Mexico and in the U.S. illegally but they didn’t want him detained.   Continue reading “Ohio murder suspect in country illegally; ordered not to be detained in earlier traffic stop”

Fox News

A Florida man has uncovered gold artifacts worth over $1 million from the wreckage of a Spanish fleet that sank in a storm off the Florida coast three centuries ago.

The find by Eric Schmitt was announced late Monday by a salvage company that owns the rights to the site where the coins and jewels were found.   Continue reading “Florida family unearths gold coins worth over $1M from 1715 shipwreck”

Business Insider – by Michael B. Kelley

Convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard will be released in November after have been granted parole, according to his lawyers and an Israeli official.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the decision by the federal parole board was unanimous and the US government didn’t oppose his release.

Pollard, 60, was serving a life term in a North Carolina prison after pleading guilty to spying for Israel from June 1984 until his arrest in November 1985.   Continue reading “Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard granted parole, will be released in November”

Fox News

A federal judge in California has ruled that hundreds of illegal immigrant women and children in U.S. holding facilities should be released, another apparent setback for President Obama’s immigration policy, according to The Los Angeles Times.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee said Friday that the conditions in which the detainees are being held are “deplorable” and violate parts of an 18-year-old court settlement that put restrictions on the detention of migrant children.    Continue reading “Judge orders Obama administration to release illegal immigrants from ‘deplorable’ facilities”

CNBC – by Kate Rogers

After the Senate voted to revive the federal Export-Import Bank, a key source of loans for smaller U.S. companies that do business abroad, the fate of the agency now moves to a potential House showdown.

The bank’s authorization expired June 30, halting all new loan guarantees and other assistance to foreign customers seeking to purchase goods from American companies. The agency continues to service existing loans.   Continue reading “Battle lines drawn over Export-Import Bank renewal”

Reuters – by MARICE RICHTER

The Boy Scouts of America is expected to end its ban on gay adult leaders on Monday, dismantling a policy that has deeply divided the membership of the 105-year-old Texas-based organization.

The Boy Scouts National Executive Board will consider a resolution that was unanimously approved by the organization’s executive committee on July 13. The organization is urging an end to the ban because of “sea change in the law with respect to gay rights.”   Continue reading “Boy Scouts expected to lift ban on gay adult leaders on Monday”

Sent to us by a reader.

I don’t believe that it is a coincidence that all of these latest “incidents” are located in southern states. The International Communists have not been as successful at pushing their “gun control’ in the South. This is their big push. I’m sure other agendas are at play as well.  I’m sure that you are aware that anomalies have been found in previous “events” as well.   Continue reading “Lafayette Theater Shooting Hoax”

Star Tribune – by Erica Werner, AP

WASHINGTON — It’s a rare Sunday session for senators, and on the agenda are efforts to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law and reviving the federal Export-Import Bank.

Both are amendments to a must-pass highway bill that the Senate is trying to complete ahead of a July 31 deadline. If Congress doesn’t act by then, states will lose money for highway and transit projects in the middle of the summer construction season.   Continue reading “Senate set to meet in rare Sunday session; health care repeal, lending bank renewal on agenda”

Sent to us by Vekar.

Yahoo News

Nairobi (AFP) – A batch of Kenyan newborn babies have been named in honour of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country — with some mothers evidently hoping their offspring will be future high-flyers.

Already there are numerous young Barack Obamas living in Kogelo, the president’s ancestral village, but soon after Obama touched down on Friday night two mothers in the western city of Kisumu took the unusual decision to name their sons after the president’s jet, Air Force One.   Continue reading “‘Air Force One Obama’ – Kenyan babies named for presidential visit”

NBC News – by Chris Jansing

NAIROBI, Kenya — President Barack Obama spoke proudly of his Kenyan heritage before a raucous and affectionate crowd in Nairobi on Sunday.

“I am proud to be the first American president to come to Kenya, and of course I’m the first Kenyan-American to be president of the United States,” he told the packed sports hall in Nairobi. It is the time he referred to himself as such.   Continue reading “Obama in Africa: I’m Proud To Be First Kenyan-American President”

Fox News

HEMPSTEAD, Texas –  A black woman found dead in a Southeast Texas jail three days after a traffic-stop confrontation with a white officer hanged herself using a clear plastic bag tied into a slip knot, according to an autopsy report released Friday.

The medical examiner’s report, which the Waller County District Attorney’s Office made public, corroborates findings prosecutors detailed a day earlier about the death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland.   Continue reading “Autopsy: Woman found dead in Texas jail hanged herself using plastic bag tied into slip knot”

Huffington Post – by Paige Lavender

Louisiana state Rep. Terry Landry Sr. (D) called for more gun control at a press conference Friday after the shooting at a Lafayette, Louisiana movie theater.

A shooter identified by police as 59-year-old John Russel Houser opened fire in a movie theater Thursday night, killing two people and himself.   Continue reading “Louisiana State Rep. Calls For Stricter Gun Control Laws After Theater Shooting”