Author: Sunfire

RT

NORAD fighter jets escorted two flights to Atlanta airport after authorities received bomb threats via Twitter they deemed “credible”. Bomb squads swept the planes, which landed safely. Passengers were evacuated and questioned.

Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, was partly shut down Saturday after Delta flight 1156 and Southwest flight 2492 landed there safely, and bomb squads with canine units were sent to search the planes for explosives.   Continue reading “Bomb squads sweep Atlanta airport, fighter jets scrambled after threats on Twitter”

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NEW YORK (AP) — A major snowstorm with blizzard-like conditions could drop a foot or more of snow across most parts of the Northeast as they gear up for the workweek right after the first real storm of the winter hit them with rain, several inches of snow and messy slush.

A storm system diving out of the Midwest has the potential to slowly coat from Philadelphia up to Massachusetts and Maine with snow beginning late Sunday night into Monday and intensifying greatly well into Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.   Continue reading “Blizzard-like conditions possible in Northeast’s next storm”

RT

Yellowstone National Park’s bison population is about to start getting much smaller, as the park has reportedly sent at least 200 bison to slaughter in an effort to cull the winter population by approximately 900 animals.

The statistics come from an American conservation group called the Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), which has traditionally been against the park’s annual attempts at bison population control, pinning the behavior on outdated laws and pressure from the livestock industry. Officials say that the culling of the herd is necessary to ensure that bison infected with a problematic bacterial disease do not transmit it to cattle herds raised by Montana ranchers.   Continue reading “Yellowstone Park ships 200+ bison to slaughter, more planned – conservation group”

RT

Iran is stopping mutual settlements in dollars with foreign countries and agreements on bilateral swap in new currencies will be signed in the near future, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has said.

“In trade exchanges with foreign countries, Iran uses other currencies, including Chinese yuan, euro, Turkish lira, Russian ruble and South Korean won,” Gholamali Kamyab, CBI deputy head, told the Tasnim state news agency.   Continue reading “Iran moves away from US dollar in foreign trade”

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The RIA Novosti news agency is citing eastern Ukrainian rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko as saying an offensive has begun on the strategic government-held port of Mariupol has begun.

Earlier Saturday, rockets rained down on Mariupol’s outskirts, killing at least 21 people, according to city authorities. The report came a day after the rebels rejected a peace deal and said they were going on a multi-prong offensive against the government in Kiev.   Continue reading “Ukraine Rebel Leader: Offensive has begun upon Key Government City”

RT

New research carried out over 90 years has found that up to half of California’s iconic big trees have disappeared, with scientists suspecting climate change as the prime reason.

The report published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined changes in the number of large trees – two feet in diameter or more – between data gathered in the 1920s and 30’s and the first decade of this century.   Continue reading “Scientists blame climate change for world’s biggest trees dying”

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Drug smugglers are turning “trusted travelers” into unwitting mules by placing containers with powerful magnets under their cars in Mexico and then recovering the illegal cargo far from the view of border authorities in the United States.

One motorist spotted the containers while pumping gas after crossing into Southern California on Jan. 12 and thought it might be a bomb. His call to police prompted an emergency response at the Chevron station, and then a shocker: 13.2 pounds of heroin were pulled from under the vehicle, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. San Diego police said the drugs were packed inside six magnetized cylinders.   Continue reading “Surprise! Magnets used to plant drugs under cars”

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Eerie fluorescent blue patches of water glimmering off Hong Kong’s seashore are magnificent, disturbing and potentially toxic, marine biologists say.

The glow is an indicator of a harmful algal bloom created by something called Noctiluca scintillans, nicknamed Sea Sparkle. It looks like algae and can act like algae. But it’s not quite. It is a single-celled organism that technically can function as both animal and plant.   Continue reading “Magnificent blue glow of Hong Kong seas also disturbing”

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HILDALE, Utah (AP) — As polygamist leader Warren Jeffs awaited his fate in a Texas prison, he sent an order to his followers on the Utah-Arizona border: Build me a new compound.

Hundreds of men worked around the clock for three months to construct a mammoth, two-story edifice with dozens of rooms. It was encircled by a 15-foot wall of special white cement. The carpets were turquoise, just as he liked.   Continue reading “Town once run by polygamist leader is sharply divided”

RT

Soybean workers exposed to the agrochemicals like glyphosate, the main component in Monsanto’s ‘Roundup’ herbicide and other biocides, suffer from elevated DNA and cell damage, according to a new study.

The study, published in the journal Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis, involved 127 people, including 81 exposed to biocides while working in the Brazilian soybean industry and 46 non-exposed individuals in a control group.   Continue reading “Monsanto agrochemicals cause genetic damage in soybean workers – study”

RT

Plans to route 911 location calls via Russia’s GLONASS satellite system have sparked national security concerns among some members of Congress, despite assurances that its use will be limited and it will help save lives in emergencies.

Chairman of the Armed Services subcommittee, Rep. Mike Rogers, has sent an angry letter to the Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) after learning about the intentions of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).   Continue reading “Congress alarmed by plans to use Russian system to route 911 calls”

RT

Author and philosopher Noam Chomsky has challenged a hypocritical approach concerning US drone attacks and the bombing of a media organization in Yugoslavia in the light of the outburst following the Charlie Hebdo attack.

In a blog post first published by CNN on Monday this week, the noted academic raised questions about America’s interpretation of the terrorist attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo earlier this month that left 12 people dead.   Continue reading “Two ways of terrorism: theirs v ours – Chomsky lambasts US for drone attacks and media deaths”

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Around two-thirds of American colleges and universities now have armed law enforcement officers with full arrest powers, according to a Justice Department report. This is despite crime rates continuing to fall across the United States.

Colleges employ 32,000 law enforcement personnel, according to the review. Sworn campus police officers are used for security at 92 percent of public institutions, a much higher number than at private campuses, where 38 percent of schools have sworn officers. Those personnel used at public establishments have full arrest powers.   Continue reading “More campus police officers armed despite falling crime rates – report”

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BOSTON (AP) — Administrators and staff at a leading Boston hospital are mourning the death of a cardiac surgeon who was fatally shot at the hospital by a man who then killed himself.

Officials at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said Dr. Michael J. Davidson, director of endovascular cardiac surgery, died late Tuesday after being shot around 11 a.m. “Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for,” said a statement issued by the hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. “It is truly devastating that his own life was taken in this horrible manner.”   Continue reading “Hospital staff mourns surgeon fatally wounded by gunman”

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CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — The first time James Holmes appeared in court, he wore chains and a jail jumpsuit and looked dazed, with his hair dyed a comic-book shade of orange.

As the first day of jury selection ended Tuesday in the Colorado theater shooting case, it was a far different Holmes at the defense table: The jail uniform was replaced by khaki slacks, a light-colored dress shirt and a blue blazer. His hair, now a dark brown, was neatly trimmed.   Continue reading “Jury selection starts in Colorado theater shooting trial”

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NEW YORK (AP) — For years, Etan Patz’ parents were sure they knew who had kidnapped the first-grader on his way to school in 1979, and they devoted themselves to trying to hold him accountable.

Testimony will soon start in the murder trial they so long awaited — with a different man at the defense table, a man never suspected until he gave a 2012 confession he now disavows. The trial partly reflects Stan and Julie Patz’ efforts to keep the investigation going and make missing children a national priority. But it stands to be both searing and complex for the parents, who had pressed authorities to prosecute the earlier suspect — a convicted Pennsylvania child molester — and even brought their own wrongful-death suit against him.   Continue reading “For Etan Patz’s parents, man’s murder trial a complex case”