Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court argument over subsidies that help millions of people afford their health insurance suggests that the Obama administration has two chances to attract one critical vote.

The justices will gather in private Friday to cast their votes in the case. The outcome after Wednesday’s argument appears to be in the hands of two conservative justices — one who voted with the court’s four liberals to uphold the law in 2012 and the other who joins the liberals more often, but who would have killed the whole thing three years ago.   Continue reading “Fate of Obama health law subsidies rests with 2 justices”

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Much of the South was forecast to see temperatures drop 30 to 45 degrees in a 24-hour period thanks to yet another arctic cold front, according to the latest forecasts.

Some locations may even see their coldest temperatures ever recorded so late in the season, including Nashville and Louisville, Kentucky, where temperatures may drop into the single digits. Meanwhile, areas farther north, such as Maryland and New Jersey, were already seeing snow early Thursday and federal workers in the Washington area were told to stay home. State offices in New Jersey and Delaware also closed Thursday.   Continue reading “Temps drop at over 30 degrees ahead of next winter storm”

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WILSON, N.C. (AP) — Details emerging from the theft of nearly $5 million in gold bars on an interstate highway indicate the heist was carefully planned and raise questions about who was involved other than the three armed robbers.

The robbers pulled up almost immediately after the drivers made an unscheduled stop on a dark stretch of highway in North Carolina, according to a warrant. When the crew got out of the truck, they left their firearms behind in violation of their employer’s security rules, the sheriff said. And while the workers told authorities they had to pull over because strong gasoline fumes were making at least one of them sick, a mechanic found no problems with the truck.   Continue reading “Strange circumstances surround gold heist on Interstate 95”

RT

The Nobel Peace Prize Committee’s chairman has been removed from his post for the first time in the award’s 114-year history. He’s been criticized over a number of the panel’s controversial picks, like US president and the EU.

Ousted Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland, a former Norwegian Labor prime minister, had been in charge of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee for six years before he was voted out on Tuesday. He will remain a member of the committee, but the leading role has been passed on to the panel’s deputy chairman, Kaci Kullmann Five, a former conservative party leader.    Continue reading “Unprecedented: Nobel Peace Prize chair who oversaw Obama award demoted”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is sharply divided over the tax subsidies that make insurance affordable for millions of Americans under President Barack Obama’s health overhaul.

The justices on Wednesday aggressively questioned the lawyers on both sides of the latest politically charged fight over the Affordable Care Act. Chief Justice John Roberts said almost nothing in nearly 90 minutes of back-and-forth, and Justice Anthony Kennedy’s questions did not suggest how he will come out. Roberts was the decisive vote to uphold the law in 2012.   Continue reading “Justices sharply divided over health care law subsidies”

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FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Less than an hour’s drive from one of Earth’s great fresh water sources, some people in Flint are searching for a drop worth drinking.

Since the financially struggling city broke away from the Detroit water system last year, residents have been unhappy with the smell, taste and appearance of water from the city’s river as they await the completion of a pipe to Lake Huron. They also have raised health concerns, reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. A General Motors plant stopped using the water, saying it was rusting its parts.   Continue reading “Protests on water taste, smell as city breaks tie to Detroit”

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PLACENTIA, Calif. (AP) — The Southern California teacher whose students found her hanging from her classroom ceiling knew the devastating effects of suicide: Her own father went missing and was found dead with a bullet wound to his head after committing suicide nearly four years earlier.

Jillian Jacobson, 31, had spoken with students about her father’s suicide and had counseled one class of students just a few weeks ago, saying if they ever felt down, they should ask for help. Jacobson did a weeklong unit on depression for freshmen, emphasizing that suicide wasn’t the answer to anyone’s problems and it affected many people greatly.   Continue reading “California teacher found hanging knew suicide’s devastation”

RT

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might have violated a federal law during her four years in office after conducting all of her state business using a private e-mail account instead of an official State Department domain.

What is a surprising is that the State Department never bothered to create an account for Clinton, The New York Times reported. Furthermore, her staff did not abide by the Federal Records Act, which requires government employees to preserve correspondence on departmental servers. Letters and emails by federal officials are considered government property and should thus remain in the public sphere, not private emails, so they can be used in the National Archives.   Continue reading “Hillary Clinton may have broken law by using personal email at State Dept.”

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Taser International, the stun-gun maker emerging as a leading supplier of body cameras for police, has cultivated financial ties to police chiefs whose departments have bought the recording devices, raising a host of conflict-of-interest questions.

A review of records and interviews by The Associated Press show Taser is covering airfare and hotel stays for police chiefs who speak at promotional conferences. It is also hiring recently retired chiefs as consultants, sometimes just months after their cities signed contracts with Taser.   Continue reading “Body-camera maker has financial ties to police chiefs”

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New assessment tests that have angered parents and teachers across the nation prompted walkouts Monday by hundreds of high school students in New Mexico who had been set to take the exams.

The backlash came as millions of U.S. students started taking the rigorous tests aligned with Common Core standards that outline math and language skills that should be mastered in each grade. New Mexico is among a dozen states debuting the tests this year.   Continue reading “New Mexico students join others in nation against new tests”

RT

King Abdullah of Jordan has called the battle against the Islamic State “World War 3” in what is a “generational fight” to overcome these “outlaws of Islam.” Speaking to CNN, he implored all religions to come together, adding “this is our war.”

He made a point of referring to the fight against the Islamic State as a “third World War” and called upon all nations to come together to help counter the threat posed by the militant group since they conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria last year.   Continue reading “King of Jordan wants to wage ‘WW3’ on ISIS”

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BOSTON (AP) — It has topped more than 100 inches of snow this season, but Boston is just short of surpassing its 20-year-old snowfall record — for now that is.

Sunday’s snowfall brought the city’s total to 103.9 inches. It needs just 3.7 inches more to break the 1995-1996 record of 107.6. Two small snowfalls, Tuesday night and Wednesday into Thursday, could be just what’s needed, said Frank Nocera, a National Weather Service meteorologist in the Taunton, Massachusetts, office. “The combination of those two events could put us over the record,” he said.   Continue reading “Boston falls short of season snow record – for now”

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BAGHDAD (AP) — Backed by allied Shiite, Sunni and Iranian fighters, Iraqi security forces launched a large-scale military operation Monday to recapture Saddam Hussein’s hometown from the Islamic State extremist group, a major step in a campaign to reclaim territory in northern Iraq controlled by the militants.

But hours into the operation, a key test for the embattled Iraqi army, the military said it still hadn’t entered the city of Tikrit, indicating a long battle lies ahead. State-run Al-Iraqiya television said that forces were attacking Tikrit from different directions, backed by artillery and airstrikes by Iraqi fighter jets. It said the militants were dislodged from some areas outside the city. Several hours into the operation, it gave no additional details.   Continue reading “Iraq launches operation to retake Tikrit from Islamic State”

RT

US authorities reportedly plan to deport at least 150 Bosnians suspected of committing atrocities during the Bosnian War of 1992-95. Some are accused of participating in the mass executions in Srebrenica in 1995.

Hundreds of Bosnians are under investigation in the US because of their questionable past and possible involvement in war in Europe two decades ago, The New York Times reported Saturday.   Continue reading “Over 100 Bosnians to be deported from the US over 90s war crimes – report”

RT

Uruguay’s president, Jose “Pepe” Mujica, a former guerrilla who lives on a farm and gives most of his salary to charity, is stepping down after five years in office, ending his term as one of the world’s most popular leaders ever.

Mujica, 79, is leaving office with a 65 percent approval rating. He is constitutionally prohibited from serving consecutive terms.   Continue reading “Ex-guerrilla, pot-legalizing, champion of the poor president: Uruguay’s Mujica steps down”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Parts of California were getting a welcome dose of rain and snow from a storm system moving through the state, while late-winter weather dumped snow elsewhere in the Southwest.

The snow was well received by California and Nevada ski resorts. It began snowing in the Sierra Nevada late Friday, and the resorts reported receiving 12 to 18 inches of snow at 8,000 to 10,000 feet, said Jim Matthews, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.   Continue reading “Late-winter storms spread across areas of Southwest”

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ALTON, N.H. (AP) — Winter on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee means ice fishing, hockey tournaments and, if the ice is strong enough, airplanes.

After being grounded by bad ice and worse weather for most of the winter, the Alton Bay Seaplane Base and its ice runway are open. Dozens of pilots from all over the Northeast took advantage of a rare, sunny, storm-free Saturday to touch down on the frozen lake, the only ice runway in the lower 48 states approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.   Continue reading “New Hampshire lake is Lower 48’s only ice runway”

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SYDNEY (AP) — Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial of an enhanced method of tracking aircraft over remote oceans to allow planes to be more easily found should they vanish like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australia’s transport minister said Sunday.

The announcement comes one week ahead of the anniversary of the disappearance of Flight 370, which vanished last year during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people on board. No trace of the plane has been found.   Continue reading “New plane tracking to be tested after Malaysia jet mystery”

RT

A leading environmental group has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, accusing regulators of dismissing dangers about a certain chemical used in herbicides, including Monsanto’s widely used Roundup.

The lawsuit, filed Friday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in federal district court in New York, argues that an ingredient in the herbicide – glyphosate – has had devastating effects on monarch butterflies, causing the population to halve in seven years.   Continue reading “EPA sued over shrinking monarch butterfly population”

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BOSTON (AP) — Publicity hasn’t jeopardized Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s right to an impartial jury, a federal appeals panel says, and opening statements can proceed next week as scheduled in the city where the deadly explosions occurred almost two years ago.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said in a 2-1 ruling Friday that a U.S. district judge correctly denied Tsarnaev’s requests on three occasions to move the trial, especially given the “particularly unusual” timing with jury selection already underway.   Continue reading “Marathon bombing trial stays in Boston, federal panel says”