Author: Sunfire

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man stabbed to death last week on a Las Vegas Strip pedestrian walkway was identified Tuesday as a homeless ex-convict from Pennsylvania dubbed the “pantyhose prankster” and sentenced to prison for making lurid telephone calls to women in several Eastern states.

Rip Alan Swartz, 46, made thousands of random calls to banks, restaurants and other numbers he found in telephone books before he provided his real name to a Virginia woman and was arrested in 2011, said Detective Sgt. Thomas Kauffman, of the Upper Allen Township Police Department in Pennsylvania.   Continue reading “Vegas Strip slaying victim was Pennsylvania ex-con”

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BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi official denied Wednesday that a woman detained in Lebanon is a wife of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State group, adding that she is the sister of a terror suspect being held in Iraq.

The statement by Iraq’s Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan adds to the confusion surrounding the identity of the woman and child who were detained about 10 days ago in northern Lebanon travelling with a fake ID.   Continue reading “Iraq official: Arrested woman not IS leader’s wife”

RT

A global study of adolescents from low-income neighborhoods revealed that teenagers from Baltimore, a city located just 40 miles from the US capital, are faring worse than their counterparts in Nigeria.

Many people tend to associate child poverty with desperate scenes out of Africa or India. But according to a recent WAVE study, an international survey that examined the living conditions of 15-19 year olds in poor areas in Baltimore, Shanghai, Johannesburg, New Delhi and Ibadan (third largest city in Nigeria), the problem is much closer to home than many people realize.   Continue reading “Poor teens in Baltimore face worse conditions than those in Nigeria – study”

RT

France’s Socialist-led parliament has passed a symbolic vote to recognize Palestinian statehood, despite staunch objections from Israel. MPs in Britain and Spain have already passed similar motions.

The proposal was passed with 339 votes in favor and 151 against, meaning that it was supported by more than two-thirds of French lawmakers.

Israel immediately responded, saying that the motion would “harm the peace process,” AFP reported.   Continue reading “French parliament votes to recognize Palestinian state”

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NEW YORK (AP) — The New York City mayor wants to spend $130 million over four years to overhaul how the nation’s most populous city deals with mentally ill and drug-addicted suspects, diverting many to treatment instead of the city’s troubled Rikers Island jail complex.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans, to be announced Tuesday, are based on the recommendations of a task force he appointed following a series of reports by The Associated Press detailing problems at Rikers, including the deaths of two inmates suffering from serious mental illness.   Continue reading “Mayor: $130M to revamp NYC jails for mentally ill”

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — More than 50 crew members from a South Korean fishing ship that sank in the western Bering Sea were feared dead Tuesday, as furious relatives blamed the ship’s owner and its captain for not doing enough to save their family members from the frigid waters a day earlier.

Russian coast guard helicopters and at least five fishing ships were scouring the area in search of the missing, with authorities finding at least one empty lifeboat Tuesday. Officials from the ship’s South Korean parent company said they were hanging onto a “glimmer of hope,” but with continued rough seas and bad weather, there were dwindling expectations that the fishermen would be found.   Continue reading “Fears rise for over 50 missing from S. Korean ship”

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BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities detained a wife and suspected son of the leader of the Islamic State group several days ago, and she is being questioned, two senior Lebanese officials said Tuesday.

A military official said the woman and child were detained about 10 days ago while carrying fake identification cards. Both officials refused to give further details about the woman who is believed to be one of the wives of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group’s reclusive leader. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.   Continue reading “Officials: Wife of IS Leader Detained in Lebanon”

RT

Ten Amazon warehouses in five US states are making use of 15,000 Kiva robots, hoping they can cut operating costs for the mega retailer by some 20 percent during the Christmas gift fest.

The 145-kilogram robots are produced by Kiva Systems, which Amazon bought in 2012 for $775 million.

The company showcased the technology on Sunday at its year-old warehouse in Tracy, California, a day ahead of the Cyber Monday frenzy. This facility alone has more than 3,000 Kiva carriers working along with 1,500 humans.   Continue reading “Amazon unleashes 15,000 hauler robots for Cyber Monday packaging”

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Indicted Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom on Monday defeated efforts by prosecutors to send him back to a New Zealand jail or make him wear an electronic monitoring bracelet but says his long-running legal battle has left him broke.

After a three-day hearing, Auckland District Court Judge Nevin Dawson ruled there was no evidence Dotcom had secret assets or posed a flight risk, according to Fairfax Media. U.S. and New Zealand prosecutors had sought to have Dotcom’s bail revoked, arguing he might try to flee the country after earning tens of millions of dollars since his 2012 arrest. Prosecutors said he’d breached his bail conditions in several ways, including indirectly contacting a former associate.   Continue reading “Indicted Internet entrepreneur Dotcom avoids jail”

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American couple cleared by a Qatari appeals court of wrongdoing in the death of their 8-year-old adopted daughter but blocked from leaving the country held out hope Monday that they would soon be allowed to leave the tiny Gulf nation as a family representative blasted a continued travel ban against them as “institutional kidnapping.”

A Qatari appeals court on Sunday overturned a child endangerment conviction against Matthew and Grace Huang of Los Angeles over the death of their daughter, Gloria, and said they were free to leave the energy-rich OPEC nation. They were stopped at the airport as they tried to depart hours later despite efforts by the U.S. ambassador herself to intervene.   Continue reading “Red tape may be blocking US couple’s Qatar exit”

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FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson did not receive a severance package when he resigned over the weekend, the St. Louis suburb’s mayor said Sunday.

Wilson, 28, won’t receive any further pay or benefits, and he and the city have cut their ties, Mayor James Knowles told reporters a day after Wilson tendered his resignation, which was effective immediately.   Continue reading “Ferguson mayor: No severance package for Wilson”

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BALTIMORE (AP) — A 15-year-old murder case that landed a popular teenager from Baltimore County behind bars for life is being revived in a podcast that offers more questions than answers about the crime and its fallout.

Ultimately, a Maryland appeals court will decide the man’s fate. Millions of listeners are anxiously awaiting the next installment of Serial, a podcast from the creators of “This American Life” that tells the story of Adnan Syed, a Woodlawn High School student who was found guilty in 2000 of murdering his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee. The podcast is the brainchild of longtime radio producer and former Baltimore Sun reporter Sarah Koenig, who spent more than a year digging into Syed’s case and reporting her findings in almost real-time in hour-long segments released online every Thursday (with the exception of Thanksgiving).   Continue reading “Case highlighted in podcast moves through appeal”

Imagine that you had won the following *PRIZE* in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has rules:

The set of rules:

1. Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.
2. You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
3. You may only spend it.   Continue reading “The Magic Bank Account”

RT

A 13-year-old boy, who was reported missing back in 2010, has been found alive, imprisoned behind a fake wall in his father’s Georgia home.

Five people who were living in the residence in Jonesboro, some 17 miles south of Atlanta, were arrested following the boy’s discovery. His father was among those taken into custody, according to the police in Clayton country.   Continue reading “Atlanta boy missing for 4 yrs found alive behind fake wall at father’s house”

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ISTANBUL (AP) — Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians demanded an end to the persecution of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and called for a “constructive dialogue” with Muslims, capping Francis’ three-day visit to Turkey with a strong show of Christian unity in the face of suffering and violence.

Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I issued a joint declaration urging leaders in the region to intensify assistance to victims of the Islamic State group, and especially to allow Christians who have had a presence in the region for 2,000 years to remain on their native lands.   Continue reading “Pope, patriarch demand end to IS attacks”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Anthony Elonis claimed he was just kidding when he posted a series of graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a kindergarten class and attacking an FBI agent.

But his wife didn’t see it that way. Neither did a federal jury. Elonis, who’s from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was convicted of violating a federal law that makes it a crime to threaten another person. In a far-reaching case that probes the limits of free speech over the Internet, the Supreme Court on Monday was to consider whether Elonis’ Facebook posts, and others like it, deserve protection under the First Amendment.   Continue reading “Justices weigh limits of free speech over Internet”

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NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) — U.S. Coast Guard crews rescued five people whose fishing boat sank Saturday in the chilly Pacific waters off the Oregon coast.

The Coast Guard says it received a mayday call about 4:20 a.m. from the crew of the 75-foot Blazer saying they were taking on water 8 miles west of Siletz Bay. The boat crew called 10 minutes later to report that they were putting on cold water immersion suits and deploying a life raft.   Continue reading “Coast Guard rescues 5 after boat sinks off Oregon”

RT

A man who lived for weeks with a decomposing human corpse has been sentenced to five years in prison. He and his girlfriend had allegedly been collecting the victim’s benefits and social security.

Police found the body of Tiffany Kain, 33, on Halloween in 2013 after a well-being check in Todd LaDuke’s house, where it had been kept for around three weeks. Kain had suffered from spina bifida and multiple sclerosis, according to Wfmynews2.com.   Continue reading “Forcing kids to live with decomposing body lands FL man in jail”

Mail.com

ISTANBUL (AP) — His head bowed and hands clasped in front of him, Pope Francis stood Saturday for two minutes of silent prayer facing east inside one of Istanbul’s most important mosques, as he shifted gears toward more religious affairs on the second leg of his three-day visit to mainly Muslim Turkey.

Following in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI who visited Turkey in 2006, Francis prayed alongside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran, who had his palms turned toward the sky in a Muslim prayer, inside the 17th-century Sultan Ahmet mosque.   Continue reading “Pope prays in Istanbul mosque in new outreach”

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NEW YORK (AP) — Some well-off Manhattan residents paid $100 Friday for the honor of eating a candlelit holiday dinner with homeless people at a church, an intersection of two worlds that left one down-on-his luck man thinking the seemingly impossible.

“What if a love connection happened tonight between the haves and the have-nots?” 44-year-old Craig James said before guests arrived. James, who has been homeless since losing a security job four years ago, also volunteers at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan, where the dinner occurred.   Continue reading “NY dinner puts wealthy and homeless at same tables”