Author: Sunfire

RT

Massive scenes of violence were reported in Zurich, one of the world’s most quiet and prosperous cities. Some 200 masked left-wing radicals clashed with police and set streets in the city center ablaze. Seven policemen were injured in the incident.   Continue reading “Rioters clash with police in downtown Zurich, rampage through city center”

RT

Sony Pictures has temporarily stopped filming after hackers, with alleged links to North Korea, paralyzed its computer network. The security glitches have reportedly meant the studio has been unable to process payments.

This is the latest problem that has rocked the Hollywood studio after an attack by the hacking group, Guardians of Peace. Due to the technical problems with their computer network, the majority of which are offline, Sony Pictures have been unable to pay agencies that are filming for the company, a report in The Times newspaper stated.   Continue reading “Sony Pictures suspends filming after massive hack ‘affects payments’”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters made their way down iconic Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday, marching to the Capitol to call attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and call for legislative action.

With signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Who do you protect? Who do you serve,” the crowd gathered in Freedom Plaza before the march. “Let’s keep it strong, long and meaningful,” Esaw Garner — the widow of Eric Garner, killed by an officer in New York City in July — told the group.   Continue reading “Protesters of police killings march on DC”

Mail.com

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Three separate Taliban attacks killed at least 19 people in Afghanistan on Saturday, including a senior judicial official and personnel working to clear one of the most heavily mined regions of the world.

The attacks came amid a spike in violence just weeks before the international military mission in Afghanistan comes to an end on Dec. 31., 13 years after the September 11 attacks sparked a U.S.-led invasion to rid Afghanistan of the Taliban’s extremist regime.   Continue reading “Day of insurgent violence kills 19 in Afghanistan”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Republicans take control of Congress next month, top on their agenda will be undoing environmental regulations they claim will harm the economy, chief among them President Barack Obama’s plans to limit heat-trapping carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants.

The results of a new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and Yale University show their priorities may be misplaced. Six in 10 Americans, including half of all Republicans, said they support regulation of carbon dioxide pollution, although they weren’t asked how. Nearly half of Republicans said the U.S. should lead the global fight to curb climate change, even if it means taking action when other countries do not. And majorities across party lines said environmental protections “improve economic growth and provide new jobs” in the long run, a popular Obama administration talking point.   Continue reading “Poll: Half of Republicans back limits on carbon”

Mail.com

A year ago, 13-year-old Jahi McMath underwent a tonsillectomy and tissue removal at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California, to treat sleep apnea. The girl suffered massive bleeding, had a heart attack and was declared brain-dead Dec. 12.

Her family battled to keep her on a ventilator and to have breathing and feeding tubes surgically inserted. Under a court agreement, the family and the hospital agreed that Jahi’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, could remove her from the hospital if she took responsibility for the girl’s care.   Continue reading “Teen girl still hooked to machines one year later”

Mail.com

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Southern California man was tackled as he began climbing over the railing of a bridge Thursday and police led his four young sons to safety, a day after his wife was found dead in the trunk of the family car.

Daniel Perez, 43, of Montebello, had been missing since last week when armored vehicles boxed in his car on a San Diego County freeway and he was hit with a beanbag round as he apparently tried to climb over the edge of the 150-foot-high overpass.   Continue reading “Body found in car is mother from California family”

RT

For the first time in two decades, through a spate of school shootings at the likes of Columbine, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut, more Americans say it is more important to protect gun rights rather than to increase gun control, Pew Research found.

Pew’s latest poll on American attitudes regarding gun rights found that 52 percent of respondents are more concerned about the protection of the right to own a gun, opposed to 46 percent who said it was more important to prioritize gun control.   Continue reading “Americans favor gun rights over gun control for the first time in 20 years”

RT

The US Navy continues to tout its sophisticated warship laser system, saying it has performed above expectations for the last four months of operational testing aboard the USS Ponce during its deployment in the Persian Gulf.

The $40 million Laser Weapon System (LaWS) was fully integrated on the USS Ponce at the end of the summer for a year of testing, according to Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, head of the Office of Naval Research.   Continue reading “Not Sci-Fi anymore: Navy’s ‘fully operational’ laser gun blows up boats, drones”

Mail.com

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities demolished a protest camp Thursday at the heart of the city’s 2 ½-month pro-democracy movement but scores of activists taken away by police vowed their fight for genuine elections wasn’t over.

Hundreds of police officers armed with chain saws and bolt cutters methodically dismantled barricades, tore down canopies and removed banners in a daylong operation to shut the protest site sprawled across a normally busy highway next to the specially administered Chinese city’s business district.   Continue reading “Hong Kong police arrest 209 protesters, demolish main camp”

Mail.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio is weighing changes to its lethal injection law that are meant to restart executions, but the updated law will undoubtedly lead to lawsuits that will make carrying out the next scheduled procedure on Feb. 11 impossible, a prosecutor said Thursday.

The Summit County prosecutor’s office is not counting on Ronald Phillips’ execution happening, said Brad Gessner, the office’s chief counsel. He said the condemned child killer’s death is overdue. An earlier court filing by the office said the chances of Phillips’ execution happening were “nil.”   Continue reading “Prosecutor: Chances of February execution ‘nil’”

RT

Five years on from President Barack Obama scooping a Nobel Peace Prize, and the White House has taken anything but a Zen approach to foreign policy under his watch. Here are the top 5 not-so-peaceful moves the laureate has made in the past half-decade.   Continue reading “5 not-so-peaceful Obama actions since nabbing Nobel Prize”

Mail.com

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — More than 150 cattle valued at about $350,000 have been reported missing in southeastern Idaho, and authorities suspect modern-day cattle rustling as beef prices have soared.

“Right now it’s just insane what those things are worth — it scares me to death,” Idaho State Brand Inspector Larry Hayhurst said. “Which means the incentive is there.” Three ranchers say roundup searches in recent weeks in the hills and gulches on the remote summer range where the cattle graze have come up empty in two counties.   Continue reading “As beef prices rise, cattle herds go missing in Idaho”

Mail.com

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru will seek criminal charges against Greenpeace activists who damaged the world-renowned Nazca lines by leaving footprints in the adjacent desert during a publicity stunt, a senior government official said Tuesday.

“It’s a true slap in the face at everything Peruvians consider sacred,” Deputy Culture Minister Luis Jaime Castillo said of Monday’s action by the environmental group at the famed drawings etched into Peru’s coastal desert, a U.N. World Heritage site.   Continue reading “Peru riled by Greenpeace stunt at Nazca lines”

RT

The US Supreme Court has rejected hearing a BP appeal challenging its own multi-billion dollar settlement over a Gulf of Mexico oil spill four years ago. BP claims there has been fraud in some settlements, plaintiffs praised the court’s decision.

Without comment and with no Justices dissenting, the Supreme Court turned down a plea by BP to reopen its 2012 deal aimed at settling hundreds of millions in claims over the April 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This decision leaves intact a lower court opinion approving the settlement that BP negotiated, signed and asked the Court to approve in 2012. It will allow the businesses and families of the Gulf Coast to continue to make claims for another six months.   Continue reading “Supreme Court rejects BP appeal over oil spill payments”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A jail guard accused of skipping her rounds and falsifying a logbook to cover it up was charged Monday in connection with the death of a mentally ill inmate in his stifling 101-degree cell.

Carol Lackner faces multiple counts of falsifying business records, filing a false instrument and official misconduct charges for falsely indicating she checked on homeless ex-Marine Jerome Murdough and other Rikers Island inmates every half-hour on Feb. 14 even though video didn’t show her doing so, prosecutors said.   Continue reading “Guard arrested in death of NYC inmate in hot cell”

Mail.com

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Hundreds of people marched through Berkeley for a third night a row, blocking a major highway and stopping a train as activists in this ultra-liberal bastion protested grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers in the deaths of two unarmed black men on the other side of the country.

Protesters blocked traffic on both sides of Interstate 80 in Berkeley, while another group stood and sat on train tracks, temporarily forcing an Amtrak train to stop Monday night. The California Highway Patrol said a large group of demonstrators destroyed highway perimeter fencing, flooded lanes and threw rocks and other objects at officers. It took about an hour and a half to clear the interstate.   Continue reading “159 arrested in third night of California protests”