Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. (AP) — Hundreds of law enforcement officers fanned out across the dense northeastern Pennsylvania woods Tuesday in the hunt for a heavily armed survivalist suspected of ambushing two troopers as part of a deadly vendetta against police.

Eric Matthew Frein, 31, of Canadensis, is “extremely dangerous” and residents in the area should be alert and cautious, State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said at a news conference in which he revealed the suspect’s name.   Continue reading “Hunt on for survivalist charged in trooper killing”

RT

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Next Generation Identification System, a biometric database reliant on tens of millions of facial-recognition records, is now fully operational, the agency announced Monday.

The NGI system, after three years of development, is billed by the FBI as a new breakthrough for criminal identification and data-sharing between law enforcement agencies.   Continue reading “FBI’s facial recognition program hits ‘full operational capability’”

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EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — On Calton Hill, overlooking Edinburgh, stands Scotland’s National Monument. A colonnade of classical stone pillars modeled on the Parthenon in Athens, it’s grand, inspiring — and unfinished, ever since the money to build it ran out two centuries ago.

It’s a fitting image for the country as seen by independence campaigners, who hope voters will finish Scotland’s incomplete journey to statehood by backing separation from Britain in a referendum on Thursday.   Continue reading “Scotland took long road to independence vote”

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DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — Starting next month, America’s remaining tobacco growers will be totally exposed to the laws of supply and demand.

The very last buyout checks, totaling about $916.5 million, go out in October to about 425,000 tobacco farmers and landowners. They’re the last holdovers from a price-support and quota system that had guaranteed minimum prices for most of the 20th century, sustaining a way of life that began 400 years ago in Virginia, when the leaf became the chief cash crop of the Jamestown colony.   Continue reading “US tobacco growers brace for tougher competition”

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When young men from Minneapolis began traveling to Somalia seven years ago to join a terror group in the midst of a civil war, investigators trying to stop the recruiting went straight to the city’s large Somali community to build trust and gain understanding.

The nationwide effort to stop a new wave of Westerners being recruited, this time for Islamic State militant groups in Syria and Iraq, could take some cues from Minnesota. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday the Justice Department is launching a series of pilot programs to help detect American extremists looking to join terror organizations in countries like Syria and Iraq.   Continue reading “US extremism fight could take cue from Minnesota”

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NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with killing a boy who disappeared in 1979 calmly told investigators that he strangled the child, according to a confession video played in court Monday for a judge who will decide whether the recording can be used as trial evidence.

Pedro Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of Etan Patz, who vanished on his way to school. In the video, Hernandez is sitting in a plain room with lots of chairs as a detective asks him about the child.   Continue reading “Judge sees confession tape in ’79 missing boy case”

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BAGHDAD (AP) — The extremist-held Iraqi city of Mosul is set to usher in a new school year. But unlike years past, there will be no art or music. Classes about history, literature and Christianity have been “permanently annulled.”

The Islamic State group has declared patriotic songs blasphemous and ordered that certain pictures be torn out of textbooks. But instead of compliance, Iraq’s second largest city has — at least so far — responded to the Sunni militants’ demands with silence. Although the extremists stipulated that the school year would begin Sept. 9, pupils have uniformly not shown up for class, according to residents who spoke anonymously because of safety concerns. They said families were keeping their children home out of mixed feelings of fear, resistance and uncertainty.   Continue reading “Islamic State group issues new curriculum in Iraq”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Income inequality is taking a toll on state governments.

The widening gap between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else has been matched by a slowdown in state tax revenue, according to a report being released Monday by Standard & Poor’s. Even as income for the affluent has accelerated, it’s barely kept pace with inflation for most other people. That trend can mean a double-whammy for states: The wealthy often manage to shield much of their income from taxes. And they tend to spend a lower percentage of it than others do, thereby limiting sales tax revenue.   Continue reading “US wealth gap putting the squeeze on state revenue”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday that a Tampa, Florida, woman can pursue her lawsuit alleging that the government invaded her privacy in the scandal over former CIA director David Petraeus.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Jill Kelley can press her claim that the FBI and Defense Department violated her privacy when officials allegedly leaked information about her to the news media.   Continue reading “Judge: Lawsuit in Petraeus scandal can proceed”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday will bestow the Medal of Honor on a pair of soldiers for their acts of bravery in the Vietnam War.

Congress granted an exemption so Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins and Army Spc. Donald P. Sloat could receive the medal, because recommendations typically must be made within two years of the act of heroism, and the medal presented within three.   Continue reading “Vietnam soldiers to receive Medal of Honor”

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BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state trooper who was injured when a gunman ambushed him and killed a colleague outside a police barracks is conscious and talking for the first time.

State police spokesman Trooper Tom Kelly says investigators hope to soon interview Trooper Alex Douglass to get additional information on the shooting. The attack Friday night killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson of Dunmore, a married father of two.   Continue reading “$50K reward offered for tips on trooper’s slaying”

Mail.com

The lawyer for a Massachusetts woman arrested after the bodies of three infants were found in her home said Sunday that he’s optimistic that forensic testing will show the babies weren’t born alive, and therefore weren’t harmed or killed by his client.

Erika Murray, 31, was charged Friday with fetal death concealment and other counts after authorities found the bodies in her squalid, vermin-infested home in Blackstone, a town near the Rhode Island border and about 50 miles southwest of Boston. A medical examiner is determining whether the remains were newborns or fetuses, and how they died.   Continue reading “Lawyer: Hopeful tests show dead infants stillborn”

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INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton, making her return to Iowa for the first time since the 2008 presidential campaign, implored Democrats on Sunday to choose shared economic opportunity over “the guardians of gridlock” in an high-profile appearance that drove speculation about another White House bid into overdrive.

“Hello Iowa. I’m back!” Clinton declared as she took the podium at retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry fundraiser, a fixture on the political calendar in the home of the nation’s first presidential caucus. Clinton joined her husband, former President Bill Clinton, in a tribute to Harkin that brought them before about 10,000 party activists who form the backbone of Iowa’s presidential campaigns every four years.   Continue reading “Hillary Clinton in Iowa stirs 2016 speculation”

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SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — As Eileen Brown and her dog stand on a bluff at Santa Monica’s Palisades Park and survey endless miles of sparkling blue ocean, clear skies and shimmering sandy beaches, she ponders how life could possibly get any better in this corner of paradise.

“Really, it seems just about perfect,” the Los Angeles woman concludes. There’s a picturesque pier off in the distance with an old-fashioned merry-go-round that stands nearly side-by-side with the world’s first solar-powered Ferris wheel. The sun is shining brightly, the temperature is a pleasant 79 degrees and a light sea breeze makes everything feel just right.  Continue reading “Santa Monica using $1M to evaluate its happiness”

RT

Australia is set to deploy hundreds of troops against Islamic State militants in Iraq. The task force, which will include Special Forces military advisors and assault jets, will be stationed in UAE as part of a “humanitarian operation.”

Five years after the complete withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq in July 2009, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that the country’s military would be returning to the Middle East, this time to help defeat militants from the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS / ISIL). The decision was preceded by a formal request for help from the government of new Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi, as well as from the United States, which has already “declared war” on Islamic State.   Continue reading “Australia to deploy 600 troops, fighter jets to help battle Islamic State – PM”

Mail.com

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. (AP) — With the deadly ambush on a state police barracks in the Pocono Mountains, law enforcement in eastern Pennsylvania went on high alert and officers from throughout the region, including New York and New Jersey, joined in a massive search for the shooter or shooters.

But after scouring dense woods on foot and by helicopter Saturday, authorities suspected the assailant had left the area. They had no one in custody as midnight neared, a state police spokesman said. Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said the attack Friday night that left one trooper dead and another critically wounded was directed at state police and a “very dangerous, armed criminal” eluded quick capture.   Continue reading “Police: Deadly ambush ‘has touched us to the core’”

Mail.com

LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — Rescuers on Saturday have called off their search of the Pacific Ocean for a Navy fighter pilot whose jet was one of two that crashed west of Wake Island.

The Navy said Saturday that it presumes the pilot is dead after failing to find him during a 36-hour search. The Navy declined to release the pilot’s name pending notification of his family. The Navy said the crash is under investigation and didn’t release any more details.   Continue reading “Rescuers end ocean search for Navy fighter pilot”

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PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea’s Supreme Court on Sunday sentenced a 24-year-old American man to six years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and trying to commit espionage.

At a trial that lasted about 90 minutes, the court said Matthew Miller, of Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport upon arrival on April 10 and admitted to having the “wild ambition” of experiencing prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea’s human rights situation.   Continue reading “N. Korea sentences US man to 6 years of hard labor”

RT

US lawmakers are keen to prevent the fast food giant Burger King from taking advantage of lower tax rates in Canada, arguing that it is unpatriotically moving its operations there after “profiting” from taxpayer-funded benefits in the US.

In August, the Whopper-maker announced its plans to buy Tim Hortons, Inc. – a Canadian coffee and donut chain – and move its operations to take advantage of Canada’s lower tax rates. The additional benefit of the Canadian tax system is that companies do not pay extra taxes on income earned abroad.   Continue reading “US Senators urge ‘unpatriotic’ Burger King to ditch move to Canada”

RT

Bringing Nazi comparisons into discussions is usually reserved for internet arguments, not middle school classrooms. But one US teacher may have missed that lesson when she assigned her sixth graders homework comparing Adolf Hitler and George W. Bush.

The students of McKinley Tech Middle School in Washington, DC were working on a unit about war and peace this week, when, as if proving the Godwin’s law, the unnamed teacher handed out a worksheet that related to two of their readings.   Continue reading “US 6th-graders told to compare ‘power abusers’ Hitler and Bush”