Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

DAVIS, Okla. (AP) — Four members of a Texas college softball team were killed after a tractor-trailer crossed the center median and collided with the team’s van Friday night just south of Turner Falls, authorities said.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Ronnie Hampton said three young women — all members of the North Central Texas College softball team — died at the scene following the accident that happened on Interstate 35 about 9 p.m. Friday. A fourth woman died at a hospital.   Continue reading “College softball bus crashes in Oklahoma, 4 dead”

RT

The companies responsible for powering nearly 95 percent of the smart phones in the United States say they’re embracing encryption for the sake of their customers’ privacy, and that’s concerning to the head of the FBI.

On Thursday this week, FBI Director James Comey attacked recent reports regarding both Apple and Google’s efforts to provide customers of their respective operating systems with the ability to secure data with encryption unlike anything previously available for mainstream mobile devices: Apple claims that even its own Palo Alto, California engineers can’t crack into locked phones running the iOS 8 platform released this month, and Google says its new Android devices will offer data encryption by default.   Continue reading “FBI director lashes out at Apple, Google for encrypting smartphones”

RT

Monsanto’s experimental genetically modified wheat has been discovered growing in the second US field in Montana, about a year after the discovery of the company’s unapproved crop growing in Oregon disrupted US wheat exports.

The plants were discovered at a test site at Montana State University, where back in 2000-2003 Monsanto was conducting field trials of its wheat, genetically modified to tolerate Roundup herbicide.   Continue reading “Monsanto GMO wheat contamination discovered in Montana”

RT

Less than two weeks after the 13th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, three New York firefighters who worked at Ground Zero died of cancer, all on the same day, the Fire Department of New York said.

Lt. Howard Bischoff, 58, and firefighters Robert Leaver, 56, and Daniel Heglund, 58, died within hours of one another Monday. Bischoff had colon cancer, Leaver had leukemia and Heglund had esophageal cancer. Many believe the diseases were related to their time serving as first responders at the World Trade Center in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. FDNY officials say 850 firefighters and ambulance workers at the scene have been diagnosed with cancer since then, related to that work at Ground Zero.   Continue reading “Three 9/11 first responders died of cancer on the same day”

RT

A volcano in central Japan has erupted, sending ash clouds down the mountains’ slope for more than 3 kilometers. At least eight people have been injured and aircraft have been forced to divert to avoid the dangerous area.

The Ontake volcano on the border of Nagano and Gifu prefectures, 200 kilometers west of Tokyo, started erupting at about 11:53 local time (02:53 GMT), NHK reported, citing Japan’s Meteorological Agency.   Continue reading “Volcano erupts in central Japan, several injured”

Mail.com

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana teacher was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison in a notorious student rape case that dragged on for years and led to the censure of a judge who partially blamed the victim.

Stacey Dean Rambold, 55, was resentenced by a new judge exactly a year after he completed an initial one-month prison term for the crime. Rambold appeared to grimace as Friday’s sentence was read by Judge Randal Spaulding. He was then handcuffed and led away by deputies, pausing briefly to exchange words with family as he exited the courtroom.   Continue reading “Teacher gets 10 years prison in student rape”

RT

Six movie making and television companies have finally been given a go-ahead to use drones for filming after the FAA endorsed their requests for exemptions from a ban on commercial drone operations in the US, paving way for further easing.

With the government’s announcement, six companies — Aerial MOB LLC, Astraeus Aerial, HeliVideo Productions LLC, Pictorvision Inc., Vortex Aerial and Snaproll Media LLC — now have the green light to incorporate the bird’s eye view in movie making and television programs, lifting a ban that was stifling creativity.   Continue reading “Drones, Camera, Action! FAA approves unmanned aircraft usage in movie and TV production”

RT

The FBI believes it has identified the masked Islamic State militant responsible for beheading Westerners in ISIS videos, but law enforcement will not reveal the identity of the man known only as “Jihadi John,” agency director James Comey told reporters.

“I believe that we have identified him, I’m not going to tell you who I believe it is,” Comey said. He also declined to detail the militant’s nationality, despite the fact that the man speaks with a British accent ‒ likely from the London area, according to The Wire, which called the news “a major step to taking down the terrorist network.”   Continue reading “FBI Director: We have identified man in ISIS beheading videos”

RT

Western drug manufacturers are set to roll out thousands of experimental Ebola vaccine doses by early 2015 in the countries worst affected, the WHO has said. Aid workers have criticized the global response to the virus for being slow to develop a vaccine.

The experimental vaccines, one made by UK-based drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and the other by US group NewLink Genetics, have proved promising, an official from the world health body said Friday.   Continue reading “Experimental Ebola vaccine doses ready by early 2015 – WHO”

Mail.com

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Friday that the latest round of talks with Iran has failed to make substantial headway on imposing nuclear curbs that country can accept in exchange for an end to sanctions clamped on Tehran’s economy.

With the talks being held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, expectations had been high that foreign ministers of the six powers negotiating with Iran would join the talks. But Fabius told reporters that he and his counterparts would not do so because “there are no significant advances at the moment.”   Continue reading “France: no high level Iran nuke talks meeting”

Mail.com

LONDON (AP) — Britain, Belgium and Denmark on Friday joined the U.S.-led coalition of nations that are launching airstrikes on Islamic State group militants in Iraq, committing warplanes to the struggle against the extremists.

The European lawmakers flatly described the moves as critical to security on home soil, arguing that facing down terrorists has become a matter of urgency. British Prime Minister David Cameron made a passionate plea that spelled out the consequences of inaction in drastic terms — noting that the militants had beheaded their victims, gouged out eyes and carried out crucifixions to promote goals “from the Dark Ages.”   Continue reading “Britain joins fight against Islamic State group”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal court in New York has summoned India’s prime minister to respond to a lawsuit accusing him of human rights abuses, casting a shadow over the Indian leader’s first trip to the U.S. on Friday as head of government.

The lawsuit against Narendra Modi stems from long-standing allegations that he didn’t do enough to stop devastating religious riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002, when he served as chief minister there. The human rights group American Justice Center filed the suit Thursday in Manhattan federal court on behalf of two unnamed survivors of the violence.   Continue reading “Lawsuit accuses Indian PM of role in 2002 violence”

Mail.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Now that they have captured the man charged with abducting a missing University of Virginia student, police face two other major challenges: making the charge stick and, most important, finding Hannah Graham.

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. agreed Thursday not to fight his extradition from Texas, where he was arrested the previous day on a charge of abduction with intent to defile the 18-year-old Graham. Before turning up on a beach near Galveston, the 32-year-old Matthew was last seen speeding away from police, who had him under surveillance in Charlottesville on Saturday.   Continue reading “Challenges remain in missing UVa student case”

RT

Thousands of Americans living overseas continue to give up their citizenship as foreign banks turn them away over the burden of completing increasingly expensive and complicated tax returns required by a controversial new tax law.

More than 1,500 Americans have renounced their citizenship in so far 2014,the Guardian reports. This year’s total may not top last year’s record-setting statistic – nearly 3,000 Americans gave up their citizenship in 2013 – but the high numbers shows that new tax law implemented by the US continues to force those living abroad to make difficult decisions.   Continue reading “Overseas Americans continue to give up citizenship as banks refuse to deal with US tax returns”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of shootings in which a gunman wounds or kills multiple people has increased dramatically in recent years, with the majority of attacks in the last decade occurring at a business or a school, according to an FBI report released Wednesday.

The study focused on 160 “active shooter incidents” between 2000 and 2013. Those are typically defined as cases in which a gunman in an attack shoots or attempts to shoot people in a populated area. The goal of the report, which excluded shootings that are gang and drug related, was to compile accurate data about the attacks and to help local police prepare for or respond to similar killings in the future, federal law enforcement officials said.   Continue reading “FBI releases report examining mass shootings”

Mail.com

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerian forces expanded their search on Thursday through the mountainous region where a newly-formed extremist group claiming allegiance to the Syria-based Islamic State group beheaded a French hiker the day before.

French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, held a special defense meeting Thursday about Paris’ role in fighting the Islamic State group, and said afterward, “This crime will not remain unpunished.”   Continue reading “Algerian forces search for extremists in beheading”

Mail.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Samuel Little has a rap sheet across half the continental U.S., but has very little time in prison to show for it.

That is likely to change Thursday. Little, 74, faces life in prison without parole for murdering three women in the late 1980s during the crack cocaine scourge when several serial killers prowled the streets of South Los Angeles and preyed on drug users and prostitutes.   Continue reading “Strangler faces life term in old Los Angeles cases”

Mail.com

CANADENSIS, Pa. (AP) — The suspected killer of a state trooper, who has eluded a massive dragnet for nearly two weeks, might be treating the manhunt in the Pennsylvania woods as a game against law enforcement, according to police.

Eric Frein, 31, appears to have purposely made himself visible at times, staying just far enough away to make it unlikely he’d be caught in the rough terrain, said state police Lt. Col George Bivens. “I almost think that some of this is a game to him,” Bivens said Wednesday.   Continue reading “Trooper ambush suspect making manhunt a ‘game’”

RT

This week’s strike against Islamic State militants in Syria by the United States marked the first time that the Pentagon has deployed its F-22 Raptor jets into combat, the Defense Department acknowledged on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. William Mayville, the director of ops for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged during a Department of Defense briefing on Tuesday morning that the strikes launched by the US hours earlier were the first ever to involve F-22s — a fifth-generation aircraft that’s capable of dropping precisions bombs on targets from 15 miles away.   Continue reading “Pentagon: F-22s used in combat for first time in Syria”

RT

The American corporations labeled unpatriotic for exploiting loopholes to avoid US taxes may see the so-called tax inversion schemes much less lucrative with the new rules announced by the US Treasury to crack down on the practice.

The American corporations labeled unpatriotic for exploiting loopholes to avoid US taxes may see the so-called tax inversion schemes much less lucrative with the new rules announced by the US Treasury to crack down on the practice.    Continue reading “US cracks down on ‘unpatriotic’ corporations’ tax inversion deals”