Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

MEXICO CITY (AP) — It’s another big score for the Mexican government, which has been tearing through its list of most-wanted drug lords in recent years.

Still, no one expects drug trafficking or violence to decrease after the capture of Servando “La Tuta” Gomez, a former grade-school teacher whose Knights Templar cartel once terrorized the western state of Michoacan.

Crime will only shift around as the now weakened cartel regroups, or even splinters, as has happened with some of Mexico’s drug gangs after the killings or capture of top leaders. Others continue business as usual after top leadership hits.   Continue reading “Mexico drug lord captures change but don’t lower trafficking”

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OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — Federal investigators said a pickup truck driver who turned on to railroad tracks before a crash that derailed a California commuter train made a “mistake,” while prosecutors released him from jail as they considered whether to pursue criminal charges.

“We know a mistake was made,” Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency leading the investigation, said. “We want to figure out why.” They believe the truck made a premature right turn onto the tracks, turning 55 feet before the street the driver was apparently intending to use.   Continue reading “Driver freed without charges in California train crash”

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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger known for speaking out against religious extremism was hacked to death as he walked through Bangladesh’s capital with his wife, police said Friday.

The attack Thursday night on Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, occurred on a crowded sidewalk as he and his wife, Rafida Ahmed, were returning from a book fair at Dhaka University. Ahmed, who is also a blogger, was seriously injured. It was the latest in a series of attacks on secular writers in Bangladesh in recent years.   Continue reading “Attackers in Bangladesh hack to death American blogger”

RT

A military judge has put the oft-delayed 9/11 trial on hold until the Department of Defense walks back an order requiring the judges presiding over the case to move to Guantanamo Bay in order to proceed with the trial.

The Defense Department’s interference stems from a controversial order issued in January requiring the judges in three active terror trials to relocate to the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It would also strip military judges of other duties, including presiding over US service members’ court martials.   Continue reading “Military judge halts 9/11 trial citing Defense Dept. overreach”

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LONDON (AP) — A London-based Muslim lobbying group says there are “striking similarities” between the masked militant known as “Jihadi John” and a London man named Mohammed Emwazi.

Emwazi has been identified by news organizations as the masked militant with a British accent shown in beheading videos released by the Islamic State group in Syria. CAGE, which works with Muslims in conflict with British intelligence services, said Thursday its research director, Asim Qureshi, saw strong similarities but due to the hood won by the militant, “there was no way he could be 100 percent certain.”     Continue reading “Muslim group: ‘Jihadi John’ resembles UK man Mohammed Emwazi”

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Another round of snowy and icy weather led to school closings, dangerous driving conditions and power outages Thursday across the South and even delayed a Georgia execution.

A wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell across the Gulf Coast states, the Carolinas and the D.C. area. This system may also bring severe thunderstorms to parts of Georgia and Florida, forecasters said. Already parts of northern Alabama have seen more than 10 inches of heavy, wet snow, causing tree damage and power outages.   Continue reading “New round of winter weather dumps more snow on the South”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia defied threats from Congress and moved forward Thursday with legalizing possession of marijuana after a voter-approved initiative.

Despite last-minute maneuvers by Republican leaders in Congress and threats that city leaders could face prison time, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city was implementing marijuana legalization as approved by voters. The new law took effect at 12:01 a.m.   Continue reading “DC legalizes pot in capital, despite threats from Congress”

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MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) — Four Wesleyan University students were arrested Tuesday in connection with about a dozen hospitalizations among people who took a party drug known as Molly.

The students, including one from Brazil, were arrested on assorted drug charges and were suspended from the university. Eleven Wesleyan students, some of whom had attended a rave music show on Saturday night, received medical attention over the weekend, police said. Two students were still being treated Tuesday, they said.   Continue reading “4 Wesleyan students arrested in Molly drug hospitalizations”

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BEIRUT (AP) — Islamic State group militants have moved a large group of Christian hostages to a city they control in northeastern Syria, while they continue to battle Kurdish and Christian militiamen for control of a chain of villages along the Khabur River, activists and state-run media said Wednesday.

Hassakeh province which borders Turkey and Iraq has become the latest battleground for the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. It is predominantly Kurdish but also has populations of Arabs and predominantly Christian Assyrians and Armenians.   Continue reading “Fate of abducted Christians unclear, Syria clashes continue”

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STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury has rejected the insanity defense of a former Marine in the deaths of famed “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and another man.

After a two-week trial in which jurors heard testimony about defendant Eddie Ray Routh’s erratic behavior, including statements about anarchy, the apocalypse and pig-human hybrids, they convicted Routh Tuesday night in the deaths of Kyle and Chad Littlefield at a Texas shooting range two years ago.   Continue reading “Ex-Marine convicted in ‘Sniper’ trial faces life in prison”

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A wide swath of the country was shivering in freezing, record-breaking temperatures while other areas were expecting more winter precipitation that forecasters warned could lead to dangerous road conditions Tuesday.

A mix of snow, sleet, rain and freezing rain was expected in parts of the southern Plains and South, where school districts in more than a half-dozen states from Texas east have canceled or delayed classes. Even parts of the coastal Carolinas were bracing for some precipitation.   Continue reading “Winter precipitation could hamper commute across South”

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ANSTED, W.Va. (AP) — Morris Bounds Sr. wanted to make sure his home was tidy when his wife was let out of the hospital, so he cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed their bedroom.

While doing the mindless chores, he noticed his cellphone on the bed and thought to himself: “I might need this.” After all, friends and family had been coming and going from the house since his wife’s heart surgery, and he expected her home any day.   Continue reading “Man runs from home as train derails nearby, engulfs property”

RT

The Department of Homeland Security has denied it is aware of any credible terrorist plots against shopping centers on US soil after their chief advised shoppers, particularly in the Mall of America, to be careful following threats from Somali extremists.

“We are not aware of any specific, credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic commercial shopping center,” Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Marsha Catron said in a statement. She noted, however, that federal agents have shared the information with local law enforcement and “private sector partners.”   Continue reading “‘No credible plot’: DHS distances itself from chief’s ‘mall terror threat’ warnings”

RT

France has deployed its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq, as part of the US-led military campaign, French media report, citing government officials.

“The integration of the Charles de Gaulle in the operation… (in Iraq) begins this morning,” a member of Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s staff told AFP.   Continue reading “France deploys aircraft carrier against ISIS in Iraq – ministry”

Mail.com

LONDON (AP) — Turkish police searched Monday for three missing British schoolgirls believed to have gone to Syria to join the Islamic State extremist group and their families issued emotional appeals urging the girls to return home.

The girls, said to be “straight-A students” from the same east London school, disappeared last Tuesday without leaving any messages. Authorities said they boarded a plane to Istanbul. The relatives of Shamima Begum and Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, broke down in tears as they spoke of their loss in televised interviews on British media.   Continue reading “Families of 3 missing UK girls urge ‘Please come home!’”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people could lose health insurance subsidies in the coming months if the Supreme Court sides with opponents of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

And one thing was clear this weekend as the nation’s governors gathered in Washington: Many of the states that could be affected are not prepared for the potential fallout. In rounds of interviews at the National Governors Association’s winter meeting, several governors indicated they could do little about the estimated 8 million people who could drop coverage if they were to lose health insurance subsidies later this year — a scenario that legal experts suggest is a real possibility. While preliminary state-level discussions have begun in some cases, many governors charged that Congress should bear the burden of fixing any problems.   Continue reading “Governors: No clear plan if health care subsidies fall”

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BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A Maine jury will hear opening statements in the murder case of a 21-year-old man who is accused of using Facebook to lure a teenager to her death.

The trial of Kyle Dube (DOO’-bee) of Orono begins in Bangor on Monday and is expected to last two weeks. Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to comment on the trial in the weeks leading up to their court statements.   Continue reading “Trial of Maine man accused of luring teen via Facebook opens”

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Two people were killed and about a dozen injured in a bomb explosion at a march Sunday in Ukraine’s second-largest city marking the first anniversary of the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych, the country’s interior ministry said.

The Interior Ministry said the blast in the eastern city Kharkiv was due to an “unknown explosive device” and was being considered a terrorist act. A police officer was one of the dead, it said. The violence comes as Ukraine continues to be riven by tension and bloodshed stemming from Yanukovych’s fall a year ago. The Ukrainian parliament voted Feb. 22, 2014 to remove the Russia-friendly president, following months of increasingly violent protests in the capital, Kiev.   Continue reading “Ukraine: blast hits march in Kharkiv, killing 2, injuring 8”

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish soldiers launched an overnight raid into neighboring Syria, evacuating dozens of besieged troops guarding an Ottoman tomb and moving the crypt Sunday back to Turkey after ceremonially planting the country’s crescent-and-star flag.

In a one-line report on the incident, Syria’s state news agency denounced what it called a “blatant aggression” by Turkey. The mission, saving Turkish soldiers reportedly stuck for months at the tomb of the grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, saw hundreds of troops backed by tanks cross the border near the border town of Kobani once besieged by the Islamic State group.   Continue reading “Turkish military enters Syria to evacuate troops, tomb”