Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

BALTIMORE (AP) — A photo editor for a Baltimore newspaper says he was beaten by police at a protest over the death of Freddie Gray.

J.M. Giordano, who works at the City Paper, says Baltimore police “swarmed over” him and hit him repeatedly. A video posted to the newspaper’s website Sunday shows at least two police officers in riot gear hitting and kicking Giordano as the person filming screams, “He’s a photographer! He’s press!”   Continue reading “Photographer says Baltimore police beat him during protest”

Mail.com

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (AP) — Coast Guard officers say one of five boaters believed missing after a deadly storm off the Alabama coast has turned up safe at home, but four others remain unaccounted for.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Seth Johnson said Monday that a check of names of boaters believed to be missing led authorities to make contact with the person, who was found safe at home. It was unclear if he was on the water during the storm.   Continue reading “1 missing boater found safe after deadly storm at sea”

RT

Hawaii is on its way to becoming the first ever US state to raise the tobacco smoking age to 21. The groundbreaking bill passed the Legislature on Friday and is awaiting the governor’s signature.

The bill was pushed through by the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii and scored an overwhelming 19-4 in favor. It will affect the smoking, buying and possession of cigarettes, including the electronic kind.   Continue reading “Hawaii on tobacco road to becoming first state to ban smoking for under-21s”

Mail.com

BALTIMORE (AP) — A protest over the death of Freddie Gray, who was critically injured in police custody, started peacefully with thousands marching through downtown streets before the demonstration turned violent and volatile.

The chaotic scene Saturday night prompted the first public remarks from Freddie Gray’s twin sister, who pleaded for peace at a news conference alongside the mayor. “My family wants to say, can you all please, please stop the violence?” Fredricka Gray said. “Freddie Gray would not want this.”   Continue reading “Freddie Gray protests turn violent in Baltimore”

Mail.com

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — An avalanche triggered by Nepal’s massive earthquake slammed into a section of the Mount Everest mountaineering base camp, killing at least 17, injuring 61 and leaving an unknown number of climbers and guides unaccounted for on other routes, an official said Sunday.

Twenty-two of the most seriously injured were taken by helicopter to Pheriche village, the nearest medical facility. However, bad weather and communications were hampering more helicopter sorties, said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.   Continue reading “Avalanche sweeps Everest base camp, killing 17, injuring 61”

RT

A Sixteen-year-old Palestinian armed with a large knife was shot dead by Israeli troops in eastern Jerusalem. Israeli police said he tried to attack border patrol officers near a checkpoint.

The police statement said that the Palestinian youth began running towards the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) officers wielding a knife. One of the officers pushed him away and teenager started to sprint towards the crossing.    Continue reading “Israeli soldiers kill 16yo Palestinian wielding butcher’s knife”

Yahoo News

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck Nepal Saturday, killing at least 906 people across a swath of four countries as the violently shaking earth collapsed houses, leveled centuries-old temples and triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest. It was the worst tremor to hit the poor South Asian nation in over 80 years.

At least 876 people were confirmed dead in Nepal, according to the police. Another 20 were killed in India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border. The death toll is almost certain to rise, said deputy Inspector General of Police Komal Singh Bam.   Continue reading “Nepal quake: Hundreds dead, history crumbled, Everest shaken”

RT

US Vice President Joe Biden said that Israel will be getting a shipment of the United States’ new F-35 fighter jet so that its military can retain its “qualitative edge” in the Middle East.

Biden made the announcement in Washington, DC while giving a speech during a celebration of Israel’s Independence Day, Reuters reported. The relationship between Israel and the US has been strained over the past few years due to disagreements about Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories and Iran’s nuclear program, but the two nations continue to maintain strong military ties.   Continue reading “US to deliver F-35 jets to Israel to maintain military edge”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — What killed Comcast’s $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable? Regulators’ desire to protect the Internet video industry that is reshaping TV.

A combination of the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. cable companies would have put nearly 30 percent of TV and about 55 percent of broadband subscribers under one roof, along with NBCUniversal, giving the resulting behemoth unprecedented power over what Americans watch and download.   Continue reading “Comcast abandons Time Warner Cable bid after gov’t pushback”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Blaming the “fog of war,” President Barack Obama revealed Thursday that U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan inadvertently killed an American and an Italian, two hostages held by al-Qaida, as well as two other Americans who had leadership roles with the terror network.

Obama somberly said he took full responsibility for the January CIA strikes and regretted the deaths of hostages Warren Weinstein of Rockville, Maryland, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker. The president cast the incident as a tragic consequence of the special difficulties of the fight against terrorists.   Continue reading “American, Italian hostages killed in US drone strike”

Tices Shoal – by OceanCountyJournal.com

For 30+ years Tices Shoal has been the Boaters Summer Party Hot Spot, located on the bayside of Island Beach State Park, Tices Shoal has been visited by thousands of boaters and there has never been a fee to cross from Tices Shoal to the Oceanside of Island Beach State Park.

This summer, starting mid June 2015 access to the Oceanside of Island Beach State Park from Tices Shoal will now cost $3 per person, and boaters are angry and feeling targeted because you can walk or ride a bike at the main entrance of Island Beach State Park and not be charged an entrance fee, many people park their vehicles outside the park and enter by foot to avoid paying for vehicle parking, a car load of people driving in at the main entrance will cost about $10 whereas a family of four walking in from the Tices Shoal entrance will cost $12, boaters feel that they should not be charged since they are not arriving at the park inside a vehicle.   Continue reading “Tices Shoal Boaters Angry Over Island Beach State Parks $3 beach access charge.”

Mail.com

GARNER, Iowa (AP) — A jury in Iowa has acquitted a longtime state lawmaker accused of sexually abusing his wife, an Alzheimer’s patient, bringing to a close a trial that raised questions about the capacity of people with dementia to consent to sex.

After about 13 hours of deliberation over three days, jurors on Wednesday found Henry Rayhons, 78, not guilty of third-degree sexual abuse of his wife, Donna Lou Rayhons, who died in August. He was accused of having sex with her at a nursing home in May after being told by staff that she was no longer capable of consenting due to dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease.   Continue reading “Former Iowa lawmaker acquitted in spousal sex abuse trial”

Mail.com

GUANAJUATO, Mexico (AP) — When a woman in Texas claimed that Alondra Luna Nunez was her long-lost daughter, the girl’s real parents in Mexico say they presented more than a dozen documents from baptismal records and a copy of her birth certificate to family photographs. They were sure it was enough to demonstrate her true origins.

In the end, they say, Alondra was sent screaming to the U.S. based on a scar on the bridge of her nose resulting from a remote-control car mishap as a young girl. And they blame their traumatic weeklong separation squarely on the judge who made the final call.   Continue reading “Officials seized wrong girl, DNA tests reveal”

RT

President Barack Obama isn’t likely to hear many kind words from Republicans looking to succeed him in office. However, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is praising him for continuing a controversial surveillance program.

Considered a frontrunner for the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination, Bush recently said that Obama’s decision to keep in place the National Security Agency’s ability to monitor metadata – information such as when a phone call was made, who it was made to and how long it lasted – has helped keep the United States safe.   Continue reading “Jeb Bush praises Obama for continuing NSA metadata surveillance”

Mail.com

AUSTIN, Ind. (AP) — Main Street in this southern Indiana city is lined with blooming dogwood and redbud trees and punctuated by a short stretch of well-kept storefronts. It’s a tidy appearance that masks a darker side of the community — the worst HIV outbreak in state history, which health officials warn hasn’t yet peaked.

The outbreak is tied to needle-sharing among drug users who are mostly shooting up a liquefied prescription painkiller called Opana. A Scott County health department nurse described the desperate measures some users took before the recent emergency needle-exchange program, saying they’d told her they used the same needle hundreds of times.   Continue reading “HIV outbreak in Indiana affecting residents’ quality of life”

Mail.com

SEATTLE (AP) — One of the officers who killed an immigrant farmworker in Washington state in a shooting that helped fuel the nationwide debate over police use of force had dragged the man away from his burning rental home just weeks earlier.

Antonio Zambrano-Montes, who in another case had pleaded with police to kill him, was sitting on the ground in January in a meth-induced trance near the fire when Officer Adam Wright found him, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press under public records requests.   Continue reading “Officer who shot Washington farmworker dragged him from fire”

Mail.com

PHOENIX (AP) — A father was arrested on manslaughter and child abuse charges after police said he left his toddler son in a hot car during a day of heavy drinking.

James Koryor, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday after detectives determined he went to a liquor store with his 2 year old, bought a bottle of gin, drank it on the way home and fell asleep inside his house.   Continue reading “Phoenix father arrested after boy left in hot car, dies”

Mail.com

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court found an American couple guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced them to prison on Tuesday in the killing of the woman’s mother on the resort island of Bali.

The Denpasar District Court sentenced Tommy Schaefer to 18 years in prison and Heather Mack to 10 years for intentionally killing Sheila von Wiese-Mack while vacationing last August. The badly battered body was found stuffed in a suitcase inside the trunk of a taxi at the St. Regis Bali Resort.   Continue reading “US couple sentenced to prison in Bali suitcase killing”