Author: Sunfire

RT

New intelligence has emerged warning Washington that its upcoming confrontation with the Islamic State may leave it blind to a more sinister and direct threat from a much lesser known terrorist group that has arisen from the ashes of the Syrian war.

Very little information is being released at the moment by anyone within American intelligence circles, but the group calling itself Khorasan is said by officials to have concrete plans for striking targets in the United States and Europe as a chosen modus operandi – more so than the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as ISIS.   Continue reading “US admits there is a much scarier terrorist group than ISIS”

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KUCUK KENDIRCILER, Turkey (AP) — The number of refugees seeking shelter in Turkey from the Islamic State group’s advance across northern Syria has hit 100,000 in less than a week, an official said Sunday.

The head of Turkey’s disaster management agency, Fuat Oktay, said the figure relates to Syrians escaping the area near the Syrian border town of Kobani, where fighting has raged between IS and Kurdish fighters since Thursday.   Continue reading “Syria refugee flood to Turkey hits 100,000”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service tightened security outside the White House after an embarrassing breach in which a man with a knife scaled a fence, ran across the lawn and made it all the way inside before agents stopped him.

Increased surveillance and more officer patrols are among the measures that Secret Service Director Julia Pierson ordered. She also began an investigation into what went wrong Friday evening while the first family was away from the White House.   Continue reading “Security breach prompts more White House security”

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Ending months of vote-related tension, Afghanistan’s election commission named a new president on Sunday only hours after the two leading candidates signed a power-sharing deal that names one of them as the country’s new chief executive.

The commission named Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the winner and next president and noted that Abdullah Abdullah will be the next chief executive. But it pointedly did not release final vote totals amid suggestions that doing so could inflame tensions.   Continue reading “New Afghan president, but vote totals kept secret”

RT

Although the parents of slain journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were warned of possible federal charges if they paid a ransom to their jihadist captors, the US Senate has approved a reward for information on the killers.

Just before leaving for a seven-week recess, the US Senate unanimously passed legislation that allocates $10 million for any information leading to the capture of individuals who participated in the beheading of two American journalists this month.   Continue reading “Wanted: US puts $10 million bounty on killers of journalists”

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Dozens of Turkish hostages seized by the Islamic State group in Iraq were freed Saturday, resolving a serious crisis which Turkish officials had long cited as a reason to avoid moving aggressively against the violent militant group.

The 49 hostages were captured from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq on June 11, when the Islamic State group overran the city in its surge to seize large swaths of Iraq and Syria. But the circumstances of their release — which drew flag waving crowds to the Turkish capital’s airport — were clouded in mystery.   Continue reading “Turkey: 49 hostages have been freed”

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BELL, Fla. (AP) — Most people in this rural, north Florida community seemed to know about the Spirit family’s troubled and tragic past.

The patriarch, Don Spirit, who police say killed his daughter and his six grandchildren before committing suicide, served time a decade ago after he accidentally shot his son to death during a hunting trip. His daughter 28-year-old Sarah Lorraine Spirit was on probation at the time she was killed. Two men who fathered her slain children are locked up.   Continue reading “Florida town knew shooter had troubled past”

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ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Food safety advocates say a guilty verdict in a rare federal food-poisoning trial should send a stern warning to anyone who may be tempted to place profits over people’s welfare.

More than five years after hundreds of Americans got sick from eating salmonella-tainted peanut butter, the top executive in the company that owned the Georgia plant where it was made was convicted Friday of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and other crimes related the nationwide outbreak in 2008 and 2009.   Continue reading “Guilty verdict in peanut trial should send warning”

RT

The bodies of eight people – including three journalists – were found in Guinea after an Ebola health team came under attack two days ago, officials said. Meanwhile, the UN plans to deploy a special mission to fight the virus in the worst-hit countries.

The group, which included three doctors and three journalists, is said to have been attacked near Nzerekore, a city near Guinea’s southern tip. With the Ebola death toll now topping 2,600, the team was sent to the area to help raise awareness about the virus. They had been missing since Tuesday.    Continue reading “Throats slit: Ebola health team, journalists brutally killed in Guinea”

RT

The world’s population may reach 11 billion by 2011 – 2 billion more than previously anticipated – largely due to high birth rates on the African continent, according to a UN-led study. Can natural resources keep pace?

Researchers have long held the view that the number of people on the planet would grow to just 9 billion by 2100, and then stabilize or even decline. The latest analysis, however, indicates global population will increase by 4 billion by century’s end, according to a report published in Science journal.    Continue reading “Global population may reach 11 billion by 2100”

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PARIS (AP) — Joining U.S. forces acting in Iraqi skies, French fighter jets struck Friday against the militant Islamic State group, destroying a logistics depot, Iraqi and French officials said.

A pair of Rafale fighter jets accompanied by support planes struck in northern Iraq on Friday morning, and the target was “entirely destroyed,” President Francois Hollande said. Four laser-guided bombs struck the Iraqi military installation that had been overrun by the militants, and hit a munitions and fuel depot, a French military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details.   Continue reading “France strikes Islamic State group’s depot in Iraq”

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Inclement weather made rescue crews in Central Texas suspend the search for a sheriff’s deputy who radioed for help minutes before her empty patrol car was found submerged by floodwaters, while heavy rains in West Texas caused dozens of streets and some houses to flood.

Roger Wade, a spokesman for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, said the search would resume Friday morning. “We were searching all day and we will continue searching until we find something,” he added.   Continue reading “Search for Texas deputy suspended, but will resume”

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BELL, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a man with an extensive criminal record — he spent time in prison a decade ago for the shooting death of his young son — killed six of his grandchildren, his adult daughter and himself in a rampage Thursday at a home in a small Florida town outside of Gainesville.

Don Spirit, 51, called 911 Thursday afternoon from his home in the town of Bell to say that he might hurt himself or others. By the time a deputy arrived, Spirit had committed suicide, according to Gilchrist County Sheriff Robert Schultz. The bodies of his daughter and her six children were found “all over the property,” Schultz said.   Continue reading “Convicted Florida felon kills his 6 grandchildren”

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SUNBURY, Pa. (AP) — A newlywed couple whose Craigslist ad lured a stranger to his death were sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole by a judge who said their “permanent removal” from society is appropriate.

Neither 19-year-old Miranda Barbour nor her 22-year-old husband, Elytte, displayed emotion as they sat with their lawyers in the courtroom while some of the victim’s relatives described the grief and pain they have experience since the Nov. 11 murder.   Continue reading “Couple in Craigslist slaying sentenced to life”

RT

Following revelations that the NSA, in cooperation with various telecom companies, was spying on private communications, Apple Inc. has released new technology that it says cannot be compromised by the police.

In an effort to protect the private communications of iPhone and iPad users, Apple said on Wednesday its latest mobile operating system, the iOS8, has built-in encryption features that does not allow anybody – even police with search warrants – from accessing data stored on handheld devices.   Continue reading “Apple reveals new operating system it claims is police-proof”

RT

Vice President Joe Biden apologized Wednesday for use of the offensive slur ‘Shylock’ to describe home-loan lenders. Yet hours later, Biden dropped two more gaffes during a visit to Iowa, an important state for anyone considering a 2016 presidential run.

On Tuesday, Biden, in a speech before the Legal Services Corporation, called ‘Shylocks’ those who had offered bad home loans to US service members deployed overseas.   Continue reading “Biden apologizes for ‘Shylock’ gaffe, immediately drops another two”

RT

The United States’ top intelligence official said Thursday that he’s disappointed to continuously have his integrity disputed over an unsound remark he made before Congress more than a year ago concerning the National Security Agency’s spy tactics.

Eighteen months after he told lawmakers that the NSA does “not wittingly” collect and store data pertaining to US citizens, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said during an event Thursday morning in Washington, DC that he still takes heat for his infamous answer.   Continue reading “Intelligence Director Clapper insists he didn’t lie to Congress — but ‘misspoke’ about NSA spying”

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WikiLeaks source Chelsea Manning believes military action won’t destroy the Islamic State, and thinks that the United States and its allies should attempt to disrupt the militants into self-destruction through containment.

“Based on my experience as an all-source analyst in Iraq during the organization’s relative infancy, ISIS cannot be defeated by bombs and bullets,” Private Manning, 26, wrote in an editorial published Tuesday in The Guardian.   Continue reading “Chelsea Manning on the Islamic State: ‘ISIS cannot be defeated by bombs and bullets’”

RT

Some 22 million people were displaced by natural disasters in 2013 – three times more than from conflicts and wars. Asia became the displacement ‘hotspot’, accounting for over 80 percent of those affected.

Currently, twice as many people are displaced than there were in the 1970s, researchers stated.

The main cause behind the surge in numbers is the rapid urbanization, with the growth and concentration of urban populations, especially in “vulnerable countries.”   Continue reading “Hurricanes, quakes, tornadoes displace 22mn people in 2013, 3 times more than wars”