Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

GWER, Iraq (AP) — Misspelled graffiti on walls pockmarked by bullets and torn up propaganda stickers make up the few remaining traces of the Islamic State group in this northern Iraqi ghost town after Kurdish forces finally managed to free it from militant control.

Also missing are as many as 20,000 residents who once lived in the town and are now too scared to return after Kurdish peshmerga forces reclaimed Gwer from militants last month with the help of American airstrikes.   Continue reading “After Iraqi battles, residents choose displacement”

Mail.com

LUHANSK, Ukraine (AP) — A convoy of more than 200 white trucks crossed the Russian border to deliver humanitarian aid to a battered Ukrainian city on Saturday, a move made without Kiev’s consent yet met with silence by Ukraine’s top leaders.

“Early in the morning, we entered Ukraine to bring aid to Luhansk,” said Yury Stepanov, a Russian who was overseeing the convoy. “We came in around 215 vehicles,” he added, as workers unloaded boxes into a local warehouse.   Continue reading “Ukraine government repels rebel attack on airport”

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BRITAL, Lebanon (AP) — Syrian refugee Ibrahim Abbas Ali and his family awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of gunfire outside their tent in Lebanon, and for a second time they raced off into the fields, fleeing a war that now seems to have followed them across the border.

The gunmen who attacked the makeshift camp housing around 200 refugees set fire to several of the tents, including the two used by Ali, his two wives and 15 children, destroying the few belongings they had managed to bring with them from Syria, including their official documents and U.N. refugee cards.   Continue reading “Syrians attacked in Lebanon after soldiers killed”

Mail.com

BLACKSTONE, Mass. (AP) — A woman who lived in a squalid, vermin-infested home where the bodies of three infants were found was charged Friday with covering up the deaths, while neighbors said they wish they had acted themselves to call attention to the house with the foul smell and the shades that were always drawn.

Erika Murray, 31, was arraigned on charges including fetal death concealment, witness intimidation and permitting substantial injury to a child. But basic facts remain a mystery or aren’t being explained by authorities.   Continue reading “Charges in dead babies case; neighbors soul-search”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the cusp of intensified air strikes in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama is using the legal grounding of the Congressional authorizations President George W. Bush relied on more than a decade ago to go to war. But Obama has made no effort to ask Congress to explicitly authorize his own conflict.   Continue reading “Can Obama wage war without consent of Congress?”

Mail.com

DUBLIN (AP) — Much like the Ulster weather, Ian Paisley could offer beaming sunshine one minute, stinging hailstones the next.

The international image of Paisley — that of Northern Ireland’s most dangerous demagogue, a belligerent bigot committed to keeping Irish Catholics at bay and out of power — was well-documented in its own right. But understanding the worst of the public Paisley wouldn’t prepare you for meeting him in the flesh.   Continue reading “Ian Paisley’s many faces: orator, inciter, charmer”

Mail.com

BLACKSTONE, Mass. (AP) — A woman who lived at a squalid, vermin-infested home where the bodies of three infants were found this week was arraigned Friday on charges including fetal death concealment and ordered held without bail as the search for more possible bodies continued.

Detectives investigating a case of reckless endangerment of children found the bodies at a house in Blackstone, about 50 miles southwest of Boston, littered with soiled diapers. Four other children had been removed from the home two weeks earlier.   Continue reading “Woman held without bail after 3 dead babies found”

Mail.com

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — A judge convicted Oscar Pistorius of culpable homicide Friday in the death of his girlfriend, ruling that the former track star was negligent when he opened fire in his home after hearing what he said sounded like an intruder in a bathroom in the middle of the night.

The judge acquitted Pistorius of a more serious murder charge, a day after saying that the onetime Olympian could have called security guards or screamed for help on the balcony instead of grabbing his handgun and blasting multiple rounds through the door of a toilet stall.   Continue reading “Oscar Pistorius convicted of culpable homicide”

RT

France may take part in the US bombing campaign in Iraq aimed at crippling the Islamic State militants if it is asked to do so. The US is now calling for an international coalition to defeat IS, but the UK and Germany are reluctant to join in the strikes.

“In Iraq… we support the formation of an inclusive government. We will participate if necessary in an aerial military action,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday in a speech in Paris.   Continue reading “ISIS Fight Club: France is in, Germany and Britain not so willing”

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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian and Iranian officials criticized the Obama administration on Thursday for excluding them from an international coalition coming together in the battle against the Islamic State group, while a state-run Syrian daily warned that unauthorized U.S. airstrikes on Syria may trigger the “first sparks of fire” in the region.

The strongest reaction, however, came from Russia, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main international ally. A Russian Foreign Ministry statement said such military action without a U.N. Security Council resolution “would be an act of aggression and flagrant violation of international law.”   Continue reading “Syria, Iran slam US strategy in fighting militants”

Mail.com

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The judge in Oscar Pistorius’ trial ruled out a murder conviction for the double-amputee Olympian Thursday in the shooting death of his girlfriend but said he was negligent, raising the possibility he’ll be convicted of culpable homicide.

The verdict in the case that has riveted much of South Africa and the world is expected on Friday when Judge Thokozile Masipa reconvenes the judgment phase, climaxing the trial that began in March. If Pistorius is acquitted of murder, he could still be sent to jail for a maximum of 15 years if convicted of culpable homicide, which is the killing of someone through reckless or negligent behavior, although five years in prison is a guideline when a firearm is used.   Continue reading “Judge: Pistorius can’t be found guilty of murder”

RT

The Mayor of Philadelphia has agreed to endorse legislation that decriminalizes the possession and public consumption of marijuana, making it one of the largest American cities to turn back punitive drug laws.

The bill, which Mayor Michael Nutter said he will endorse, was proposed by the city council, and – with the latest amendments – would levy fines of $25 on people caught possessing small amounts of the drug, and $100 for smoking it in public. In neither case would an offender face a criminal charge or arrest.    Continue reading “Philadelphia set to decriminalize marijuana possession”

RT

A fourth American aid worker stricken with the Ebola virus arrived early Tuesday in Atlanta for treatment at Emory University Hospital. Two Americans were successfully treated for Ebola at Emory last month.

The patient, whose identity was not released, will be housed in a special isolation unit, according to hospital officials. No additional details were offered.   Continue reading “Fourth American with Ebola treated in Atlanta”

RT

A Pentagon investigation of the “kill vehicle” warhead, part of a weapons system plagued with years of failed tests, found dozens of quality control problems, according to a new report.

The Pentagon’s inspector general said in the report released Monday that the “kill vehicle,” a warhead meant to intercept missiles, fell short of quality standards in 48 specific cases, including issues with software testing, supply chain demands, and design changes, making the kill vehicle “susceptible to quality assurance failures.”   Continue reading “Pentagon: Missile defense ‘kill vehicle’ still plagued with problems after years of failure”

RT

The American fast-food giant witnessed a sharp decline in global profits in August, hit by the closure of its restaurants across Russia and a “rotten meat” scandal in China.

McDonald’s earnings slid with stores open at least 13 months taking a worse-than-expected hit in August, falling 3.7 percent, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based hamburger chain said in a statement on Wednesday. This is the biggest monthly drop since 2003, according to Bloomberg. Market analysts had expected a 3.1 percent drop in earnings.   Continue reading “​McDonald’s suffers worst monthly decline in more than a decade”

Mail.com

Thirteen years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, this was supposed to be a season of relief, with Iraq managing on its own and most U.S. troops finally ending their combat duty in Afghanistan. Instead, Americans are bracing for another upsurge of military engagement in a region where one war blurs into another. Across the world, a generation has now grown up amid this continuous conflict, and there’s no end in sight.

“The Cold War took 45 years,” said Elliott Abrams, a longtime diplomat who was top Middle East adviser to President George W. Bush. “It’s certainly plausible that this could be the same. … It’s harder to see how this ends.”   Continue reading “No end in sight for America’s Mideast war duties”

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CAMDEN, Ala. (AP) — Authorities expect to charge a South Carolina man in connection with the deaths of his five children after he led them to a secluded dirt road in Alabama where their bodies lay wrapped in individual garbage bags.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr. has been charged with child neglect and police expect to lodge additional charges against him, the Lexington County, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. Jones, 32, is awaiting extradition to South Carolina from Mississippi, where he has been jailed since his arrest Saturday on a drunken-driving charge, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said in a statement.   Continue reading “Charges expected against father of 5 dead children”