RT

An Alabama officer gets to keep his job after being caught contemplating the murder of a black man and skewing the evidence to make it look like ‘self-defense’. The case was settled out of court. But the audio recording made it out.

Officer Troy Middlebrooks was heard on tape suggesting the killing of Vincent Bias – a man recently released on bail for drug-related offenses – then advocating playing it off as self-defense.   Continue reading “Alabama cop caught on tape planning to kill man gets to keep job”

Mail.com

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Investigators in the Florida Panhandle are looking into the deaths of a woman and her two adult sons as a ritualistic killing that could be connected to the recent blue moon.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said they’ve identified a person of interest in the July 28 deaths of 77-year-old Voncile Smith, 49-year-old Richard Smith and 47-year-old John Smith. “Initial research had led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing,” Morgan said Tuesday.   Continue reading “Sheriff: ‘Ritualistic’ killings may be tied to blue moon”

RT

Struggling with the pollution of the Spokane River, a town in the state of Washington is taking agrochemical giant Monsanto to court for selling chemicals that endanger human health and the environment, despite it allegedly having known of the hazard for decades.

The lawsuit, filed in a US District Court in Spokane, Washington, holds Monsanto accountable for pollutants flowing into the 111 miles (179 km) long Spokane River that stretches from northern Idaho to eastern Washington.   Continue reading “Monsanto sued over PCB contamination of Spokane River in Washington state”

RT

National anti-police brutality protests, following the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray, have propelled state lawmakers to pass dozens of police reform measures. However, activists want more concrete changes.

In 24 states, 40 new measures to change the way police interact with the public have been introduced since the Ferguson protests. The measures include body-worn cameras, limits on military equipment for use by law enforcement, racial bias awareness training and independent investigations, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.   Continue reading “Police brutality protests forced 24 states to pass 40 new police reform measures”

Mail.com

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) — As firefighters battled a massive Northern California wild land blaze threatening numerous homes, some of the 13,000 people urged to flee their residences were spending what may be just one of many nights in evacuation shelters.

The blaze that has charred nearly 97 square miles of brush and timber, jumped a highway Monday that had served as a containment line. Its rapid growth caught firefighters off guard and shocked residents.   Continue reading “Massive California wildfire jumps containment line”

Mail.com

CANTON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man arrested for fatally shooting another man at a courthouse in a possible case of revenge was scheduled for a bail hearing Tuesday.

William A. Wells, 24, was a former firefighter who had never been in any more serious legal trouble than some traffic tickets — until his mother was shot. Kendrick Armond Brown was facing up to life in prison for felony drug charges under Mississippi’s habitual offender law.   Continue reading “Hearing set in courthouse shooting as revenge motive eyed”

Mail.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A “paramilitary response” by police in New Mexico unnecessarily escalated an encounter last year that ended when two officers unlawfully opened fire and killed a homeless man despite signs that he wanted to surrender, a special prosecutor said Monday.

The two Albuquerque officers charged with murder in the death of James Boyd came to the scene with the intent of attacking him, Special Prosecutor Randi McGinn asserted at a preliminary hearing to decide if the officers should stand trial.   Continue reading “Prosecutor: Police officers unlawfully opened fire in death”

Mail.com

CANTON, Miss. (AP) — A man got out of his pickup, walked up to the defendant in a drug-dealing case and fatally shot him in the chest, then set down his gun and surrendered as deputies confronted him outside a Mississippi courthouse Monday morning, law enforcement officials said.

Police and other officials said they weren’t sure why the suspect — 24-year-old William B. Wells, a former Canton firefighter with no history of trouble — would shoot Kendrick Armond Brown. But it came just days after Wells’ own mother was shot and wounded, a case that police are investigating.   Continue reading “Man shot to death awaiting court appearance in Mississippi”

RT

Windows 10’s pre-installed settings are privacy-intrusive by default, so changing those setting is just a matter of self-respect – and also a message to Microsoft.

Following the release of Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system, experts pointed out that it has little care for privacy, collecting on factory presets all available information about you, be it your location history, text messages and any information your share via them, personal contacts and calendar notes about your plans for exact dates, among other things.   Continue reading “‘Don’t spy on me!’ How to opt out of Windows 10’s intrusive defaults”

“However, as a result the US warplanes may end up bombing government
troops under the command of a legitimate president, Assad, an act of
aggression against a sovereign country that only the UN Security Council
could authorize.”  – In layman’s terms, this would be an act of war.

RT

The US president has reportedly authorized the Air Force to protect Syrian rebels trained by Washington to fight against Islamic State by bombing any force attacking them, including Syrian regular troops.   Continue reading “Taking sides in Syrian civil war? Obama authorizes airstrikes ‘to defend’ US-trained rebels”

NJ.com – by Vernal Coleman

After six-plus months of planning, officials kicked off the city’s municipal ID program at a ribbon-cutting Saturday.

In attendance were dozens of applicants, who gathered inside the lobby of the Mary Eliza Mahoney Health Center to begin the process of obtaining the photo identification card officials say will allow them to take advantage of a host of city services.   Continue reading “Newark officials kick off municipal ID program”

Mail.com

PHOENIX (AP) — A man accused of decapitating his wife and their pet dogs before mutilating himself has gone from a hospital bed to a jail cell, authorities said Sunday.

Phoenix police identified Kenneth Dale Wakefield as the man who has spent nearly a week recovering from self-inflicted wounds. Wakefield, 43, remained in a county lockup on $2 million bail after being booked on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of animal cruelty. According to the jail, a public defender will be appointed to represent Wakefield. But it wasn’t immediately clear Sunday if he had an attorney who could comment on the case.   Continue reading “Man accused of decapitating wife leaves hospital for jail”

RT

An “insatiable” demand for analysts of drone intelligence is driving the US military to hire private contractors, with 1 in 10 analysts now a civilian, says a new report. Civilian analysts describe their work as “gambling,” with innocent lives at stake.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), a UK-based nonprofit, conducted a six-month probe into the US military’s contracting of drone data analysts, using specially designed software to sift through some 8 million transaction records published by the Pentagon between 2009 to 2014. They also interviewed some of the contractors, who asked to remain anonymous.   Continue reading “‘Gambling with lives’: Private contractors pick US drone targets, says report”

Yahoo News – by Josh Cornfield

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — An off-duty state trooper fired shots at a car with three young men inside as they were trying to drive away from his house after knocking on his door by mistake at night while looking for the house of a friend who lives next door, officials said.

The trooper told investigators he suspected the three men were trying to enter his Sparta home, 50 miles northwest of New York City, between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. Sunday, the attorney general’s office said.   Continue reading “Authorities: Off-duty trooper fired at car with 3 men inside”

RT

The death of the Taliban’s supreme commander, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has been confirmed by the Afghan president’s office and the country’s intelligence agency. Omar died two years ago in Pakistan, the presidential palace said.

“The government … based on credible information, confirms that Mullah Mohammad Omar, leader of the Taliban died in April 2013 in Pakistan,” the office of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in a statement on Wednesday. Continue reading “Taliban leader Mullah Omar dead, Afghanistan confirms”

Mail.com

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — A prison worker who got “caught up in the fantasy” of a breakout planned by two killers told investigators she performed sex acts with one of the men and took naked photos of herself for the other.

Joyce Mitchell, 51, an instructor in the tailor shop at the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, tearfully pleaded guilty Tuesday to helping prisoners Richard Matt and David Sweat escape. She faces a sentence of 2 1/3 to seven years in prison under terms of a plea deal with prosecutors.   Continue reading “New York prison worker: I got ‘caught up’ in escape plot”

Mail.com

MIAMI (AP) — Psssst — Need a phony ID? A fraudulent tax refund? Insurance money from a sham car crash? Florida may have just what you’re looking for.

Since the first settlers hacked their way into the mangrove tangles and drained much of the swampland, sunny South Florida has been virtually synonymous with shady deals and scams. Over the past decade or so, the three most populous South Florida counties — Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — have become less renowned for old-school “Miami Vice”-style drug shootouts than for scammers stealing hundreds of millions from the government, banks and individuals by using laptops, stolen identities and fake medical procedures.   Continue reading “By nearly any measure, sunny South Florida is tops in fraud”

RT

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the surviving son of Libya’s slain leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been sentenced to death in the country along with several other members of the former government.

He was sentenced in absentia on Tuesday along with other senior members of the former Libyan government, including Abdullah Senussi, Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief, and two former prime ministers, al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi and Abuzaid Dorda.   Continue reading “Gaddafi’s son, 8 other former government officials sentenced to death by ‘Libyan militia’”

RT

The FBI is assisting the Oregon State Police in a statewide investigation into suspicious mail received at multiple government offices. Three people have been hospitalized and some of the packages contained an “unknown substance,” according to police.

The conditions of those hospitalized are unclear.

Authorities announcing the investigation on Monday said packages had been received at government offices, sheriff’s offices and courthouses, local media reported.   Continue reading “3 hospitalized after state government offices receive suspicious packages in Oregon”

Mail.com

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — A prison worker admitted Tuesday to smuggling hacksaw blades in frozen hamburger meat to two killers who later broke out and spent more than two weeks on the run, and prosecutors said they believed no one else knowingly aided in the elaborate escape.

Joyce Mitchell, a tailor shop instructor at Clinton Correctional Facility, wept as she pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree promoting prison contraband, a felony, and misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal facilitation.   Continue reading “NY prison worker pleads guilty in escape of 2 killers”