Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas airman accused of aggravated assault for exposing multiple sex partners to HIV at swinger parties in Wichita will have his appeal heard this week before the nation’s highest military court.

The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces will take up on Tuesday in the case against David Gutierrez, an appeal the defense contends could upend similar prosecutions in the U.S. military. “This case will have the potential of decriminalizing sexual contact with someone with HIV,” defense attorney Kevin McDermott said.   Continue reading “Military appeals court to hear Kansas HIV case”

Mail.com

JERUSALEM (AP) — Two decades after Israeli spies helped Syrian Jews whisk ancient Hebrew bibles from Damascus to Jerusalem, Israel’s national library asked an Israeli court on Monday to grant it custodianship over the manuscripts — a move that could spark an ownership battle over some of the Syrian Jewish community’s most important treasures.

Known as the Crowns of Damascus, the nine leather-bound parchment books — some featuring microscopic calligraphy and gold-leaf illumination — were written mostly in Spain and Italy between 700 and 1,000 years ago. For hundreds of years, they were guarded inside synagogues in the Syrian capital, presented only on special occasions.   Continue reading “Syrian Jewish bibles could spark ownership dispute”

RT

An investigation into a failed US commando attempt to rescue two prisoners held by Yemeni Al-Qaeda, points out that short planning time and bad odds combined to lead to the deaths of two hostages.

American Luke Somers and South African Pierre Korkie were fatally wounded by militants from the Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) who were holding them, in a botched attempt by the US special operations forces to rescue them.   Continue reading “Barking dog reportedly ruined US attempt to save Luke Somers”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans will hold at least 246 House seats come January, according to election results Saturday, giving the GOP a commanding majority that matches the party’s post-World War II high during Democratic President Harry S. Truman’s administration.

The GOP retained control of two seats in runoffs in Louisiana, expanding the advantage for Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who can afford defections from his increasingly conservative caucus and still get legislation passed. Combined with the Republican takeover of the Senate, Congress will be all-GOP for the final two years of President Barack Obama’s second term.   Continue reading “GOP to match Truman-era high with 246 House seats”

Mail.com

MIAMI (AP) — Six prisoners held for 12 years at Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Uruguay to be resettled as refugees, the U.S. government announced Sunday — a deal that had been delayed for months by security concerns at the Pentagon and political considerations in the South American country.

The six men — four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian — are the first prisoners transferred to South America from the U.S. base in Cuba, part of a flurry of recent releases amid a renewed push by President Barack Obama to close the prison.   Continue reading “US sends 6 prisoners from Guantanamo to Uruguay”

RT

US House members admitted they had not read the entire $585 billion, 1,648-page National Defense Authorization Act, which predominantly specifies budgeting for the Defense Department, before it was voted on Thursday in Congress.

“Of course not. Are you kidding?” Rep. Jim Moran (D-Virginia) said when asked by CNSNews if he had perused the entire bill, which was just posted online late Tuesday night before it was ultimately passed in by the House by a vote of 300-119 about 36 hours later.   Continue reading “Congressmen admit to not reading NDAA before voting for it: ‘I trust the leadership’”

Mail.com

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani soldiers killed a top al-Qaida operative Saturday who was indicted in the U.S. for his alleged involvement in a plot to bomb New York’s subway system, the military said in a statement.

The death of Adnan Shukrijumah is the latest blow to the terror organization still reeling from the 2011 killing of leader Osama bin Laden and now largely eclipsed by the militant Islamic State group. It also marks a major achievement for the Pakistani military, which mounted a widespread military operation in the northwest this summer.   Continue reading “Pakistan says top al-Qaida militant killed in raid”

Mail.com

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — The girlfriend of a Montana man accused of killing a German exchange student in his garage testified that she kept a baseball bat with her while he kept a shotgun nearby after their home had been burglarized twice in the days before the fatal shooting.

Janelle Pflager said she bought a baseball bat for safety and set up multiple motion detectors fearing the burglars would return. She said Markus Kaarma brought a shotgun upstairs from the basement, loaded it and kept it in the dining room.   Continue reading “Student’s killing: Girlfriend details home defense”

New Jersey.com – by KIM LUEDDEKE

Authorities have arrested a driver suspected of running over two brothers in North Bergen and leaving the scene, according to a media advisory from Hudson County Sheriff Frank X. Schillari on Friday.

One of the brothers, 20-year-old Michael Viruet, has since died, according to family members.

Schillari will announce the arrest at an 11 a.m. press conference today, the release stated.   Continue reading “20-year-old struck in North Bergen hit-and-run dies; suspected driver arrested”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill that would block suspected Nazi war criminals from receiving Social Security benefits is heading to President Barack Obama for his signature.

By voice vote late Thursday, the Senate gave final congressional approval to a measure that would shut a loophole that allowed suspected Nazis to be paid millions of dollars in benefits, clearing it for the White House. Under the bill, benefits would be terminated for Nazi suspects who have lost their American citizenship, a step called denaturalization. U.S. law currently requires a higher threshold — a final order of deportation — before Social Security benefits can be stopped.   Continue reading “Congress sends Obama bill to stop Nazi benefits”

Mail.com

GROZNY, Russia (AP) — Police waged hours-long gunbattles with Islamic militants who attacked Chechnya’s capital Thursday, leaving at least 20 people dead and underscoring Russia’s vulnerability just as President Vladimir Putin used patriotic and religious imagery in his state-of-the-nation address to defend his standoff with the West.

The clashes in Grozny, the city’s biggest in years, dented a carefully nurtured image of stability created by Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed strongman after two separatist conflicts. The new violence raised fears of more attacks in Chechnya and widening unrest in the rest of Russia’s volatile North Caucasus region.   Continue reading “Islamic militants attack Chechen capital; 20 dead”

RT

The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a document which strongly condemns Moscow’s actions against its neighbors, calling them a policy of aggression.

Passed with 411-10 votes, the resolution slams Russia’s “continuing political, economic, and military aggression” against Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova and the “continuing violation of their sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”   Continue reading “House of Representatives passes resolution against Russia”

Mail.com

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Attorneys for a Montana man say he was defending his home against a prowler when he fired a shotgun into his garage late one April night, killing a 17-year-old German exchange student.

Montana prosecutors contend that Markus Kaarma lured high-schooler Diren Dede into the garage by leaving the door partially open and a purse inside. Opening statements in Kaarma’s murder trial began Thursday in what’s become another test of “stand your ground” laws in the U.S.   Continue reading “Exchange student’s death tests ‘stand your ground’”

Mail.com

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates’ interior minister said Thursday that police have arrested a female suspect in the stabbing death of an American schoolteacher in the country’s capital and revealed that the attacker also planted a bomb outside the home of another American.

Word of the gruesome killing, which left a trail of blood in a public restroom at an Abu Dhabi mall, has rattled the Emirates, a Western-allied, seven-state Gulf federation that includes the glitzy commercial hub of Dubai.   Continue reading “Emirates police make arrest in American’s stabbing”

Mail.com

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Al-Qaida’s branch in Yemen has threatened an American hostage kidnapped over a year ago, giving Washington three days to meet unspecified demands and denouncing U.S. actions in the Arabian Peninsula country in a new video released Thursday.

The hostage, identified as 33-year-old Luke Somers, an American photojournalist born in Britain, is featured for the first time in the video, which was posted on the al-Qaida offshoot’s Twitter account. It was first reported by SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant sites.   Continue reading “Yemen’s al-Qaida threatens US hostage in new video”