Author: Sunfire

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PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — With a big anniversary drawing near, North Korea declared Tuesday it has upgraded and restarted all of its atomic fuel plants — meaning it could possibly make more, and more sophisticated, nuclear weapons.

The statement, coming just a day after it said it is ready to conduct more rocket launches any time it sees fit, has heightened concerns the North may soon either conduct a launch — which Washington and its allies see as a pretext for testing missile technology — or hold another test of nuclear weapons that it could conceivably place on such a rocket.   Continue reading “NKorea warns it has restarted all nuclear bomb fuel plants”

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LA PLATA, Md. (AP) — The facts are hard to fathom: a mother alone with her 3-year-old son in a playground for two days straight, pushing him in a swing until he died of dehydration and low body temperature; pushing him even after he died until finally sheriff’s deputies came to investigate.

To Vontasha Simms, whose daughter Romechia Simms is now charged with manslaughter, the facts are a clear indication that Romechia Simms was suffering from mental illness so severe that a criminal prosecution is misplaced.   Continue reading “Mom found with dead son in playground swing indicted”

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GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) — After an intense manhunt, authorities in Mississippi said a college instructor wanted in the deaths of a woman he lived with and a university professor he worked with died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as police closed in on him.

News of Shannon Lamb’s death late Monday night brought to a close a chaotic, frightening day during which students and faculty at Delta State University hid in their rooms as authorities scoured the campus looking for Lamb.   Continue reading “Suspect in 2 Mississippi killings dies of apparent suicide”

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BERLIN (AP) — The latest developments as European governments rush to cope with the huge number of people moving across Europe. All times local (CET):

1:55 p.m.

Poland’s prime minister says the European Union’s outside borders must be strictly controlled in the face of a huge surge of immigrants.   Continue reading “The Latest: Poland: EU’s outside borders must be secured”

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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — Some 400 homes were among the hundreds of structures destroyed as fast-moving wildfires raged through communities in Northern California, leaving at least one person dead and sending residents fleeing along roads where some buildings and vehicles were still in flames.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection confirmed Sunday one fatality in the wildfire north of San Francisco that raced through dry brush and exploded in size within hours. In addition to the homes, officials also counted two apartment complexes and 10 businesses destroyed by the flames, department spokeswoman Lynn Valentine said.   Continue reading “Northern California wildfire kills 1, destroys 400 homes”

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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s beleaguered prime minister was ousted from power in an internal party ballot on Monday as the ruling conservative party attempts to win back a disenchanted public by replacing the nation’s polarizing, gaffe-prone leader with his more moderate rival.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott lost a leadership ballot by members of his party, who voted 54 to 44 to replace him with former Liberal Party leader and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Liberal Party whip Scott Buchholz told reporters. Turnbull had called for a leadership ballot earlier Monday amid flagging opinion polls for the 2-year-old conservative coalition government.   Continue reading “Party ousts Australian PM Abbott for more moderate rival”

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ABOVE THE CARIBBEAN SEA (AP) — As soon as the aging P-3 surveillance plane rumbles off the island runway, a crew of three agents for U.S. Customs and Border Protection begins hunting with high-tech radar for anything that looks out of the ordinary in the vast Caribbean Sea.

It could be a fishing boat with no obvious fishing gear. A speed boat in the middle of open water and loaded with more gas cans than passengers. A sail boat that doesn’t quite sit right on the surface.   Continue reading “Homeland Security taking to the sky in drug smuggling fight”

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BALTIMORE (AP) — Despite the days of riots, protests and a multimillion-dollar settlement that followed the death of Freddie Gray, a fair trial can be held in Baltimore for the six officers charged in Gray’s arrest and death, a judge ruled Thursday.

While the decision may be a blow to defense attorneys, the judge left open the possibility of revisiting his ruling if they cannot find impartial jurors who have not been influenced by coverage of the case. Legal experts say it’s likely the defense will continue to ask for the trials to be moved outside of the city.   Continue reading “Judge rules trials in Freddie Gray case to stay in Baltimore”

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MAGALIESBURG, South Africa (AP) — Scientists say they’ve discovered a new member of the human family tree, revealed by a huge trove of bones in a barely accessible, pitch-dark chamber of a cave in South Africa.

The creature shows a surprising mix of human-like and more primitive characteristics — some experts called it “bizarre” and “weird.” And the discovery presents some key mysteries: How old are the bones? And how did they get into that chamber, reachable only by a complicated pathway that includes squeezing through passages as narrow as about 7½ inches (17.8 centimeters)?   Continue reading “Study: Bones in South African cave reveal new human relative”

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FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (AP) — At first glance, the text messages appear to show a disturbing case of cyberbullying: one teen urging another to kill himself.

But the texts were not sent by a school bully. They were from a 17-year-old girl to her boyfriend, whom she called the love of her life. “You can’t think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don’t get why you aren’t,” Michelle Carter allegedly wrote to Conrad Roy III the day he parked his truck outside a Fairhaven Kmart and killed himself through carbon monoxide poisoning.   Continue reading “Teen charged with encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself”

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DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s unusual tax law is forcing the state to suspend taxes on recreational marijuana for one day.

The sales-tax break on Sept. 16 will shave $20 off the price of a mid-grade ounce of pot in the Denver area, where ounces this summer sell for about $200 before tax. It’s unusual for a state that has many times rejected sales-tax holidays on things like school supplies, clothing or energy-efficient appliances. Officials say it could cost the state $3 million to $4 million.   Continue reading “Tax quirk forces Colorado to waive pot taxes for a day”

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BEIRUT (AP) — Protesters were back on the streets of Beirut on Wednesday as senior Lebanese politicians met for talks on ways to break a government deadlock that has sparked the most serious anti-government demonstrations in decades.

A group of activists gathered near the parliament building, which was closed off by security forces, shouting “thieves!” as convoys of politicians drove by and pelting their cars with eggs. Tensions rose ahead of a huge anti-government protest planned for Wednesday night.   Continue reading “Protesters back on Beirut streets as leaders debate crisis”

RT

The UK Ministry of Defence admits that a submarine that damaged a British trawler in April this year was one of its own, not Russian. Earlier, Fleet Street was awash with speculation that a ‘hostile Russian sub’ had nearly destroyed the fishing vessel.

“…the RN [the Royal Navy] has now confirmed that a UK submarine was, in fact, responsible for snagging the KAREN’s [fishing vessel] nets,” Penny Mordaunt, minister of state for the Armed Forces, said in a statement.    Continue reading “‘Oops, it was us’: Military concedes British sub, not Russian, damaged UK trawler in April”

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish ground forces crossed into northern Iraq on Tuesday for the first time since 2011 in a “short-term” operation to hunt down Kurdish rebels, a Turkish government official said, as Turkish jets carried out more airstrikes against rebel camps in the region.

A roadside bomb blamed on the rebels, meanwhile, killed 14 police officers in eastern Turkey. The troops crossed the border as part of a “hot pursuit” of rebels belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, who were involved in a roadside bomb attack that killed 16 soldiers on Sunday, the government official said.   Continue reading “Turkish forces cross into Iraq for short-term PKK operation”

Which of these new “codes” will be used to take guns away from American Nationals?

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WASHINGTON (AP) — If things are a bit tense in your doctor’s office come Oct. 1, some behind-the-scenes red tape could be to blame.

That’s the day when the nation’s physicians and hospitals must start using a massive new coding system to describe your visit on insurance claims so they get paid. Today, U.S. health providers use a system of roughly 14,000 codes to designate a diagnosis, for reimbursement purposes and in medical databases. To get more precise, the updated system has about 68,000 codes, essentially an expanded dictionary to capture more of the details from a patient’s chart.   Continue reading “More precise medical codes aim to track quality of care”

RT

Another slam-dunk for American politics was offered up courtesy of master diplomat Sarah Palin. The Alaska governor praised opponent Jeb Bush for his Spanish skills, but confessed she’d rather the general population “speak American.”

One could be forgiving for wondering if such things are actually a PR move, as there’s no shortage of wacky comments coming from the Republican side, with presidential candidates all seemingly vying for the spot of top doofus.   Continue reading “‘You want to be in America, speak American,’ Sarah Palin tells immigrants”

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CHICAGO (AP) — Detectives investigating a lagoon at a Chicago park where dismembered body parts of a young child were discovered waded through cattail reeds and waist-high water Sunday, hoping to find more clues about the victim’s identity.

A dog with a K-9 unit sniffed though shrubbery, branches and boulders on the edge of Garfield Park on the city’s west side, while investigators felt the muddy lagoon bottom with their hands. The search began Saturday afternoon after someone reported seeing what turned out to be a left foot floating in the lagoon. Officers later found a decomposed right foot and a hand about 25 yards away, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.   Continue reading “Parts of toddler’s dismembered body found in Chicago park”

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BERLIN (AP) — The latest news as countries across Europe cope with the arrival of thousands of migrants and refugees. All times local (CET):

1:30 p.m. Two Italian navy ships have ferried to shore 60 bodies of migrants from the April shipwreck in which as many as 800 perished. The navy says the corpses, transported Monday to Sicily, bring to 118 the number of bodies recovered using navy divers and robots.   Continue reading “Italy retrieves 60 bodies from April disaster”