Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

BERLIN (AP) — Air France and Germany’s two largest airlines on Wednesday canceled more flights to Tel Aviv because of safety concerns amid the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Lufthansa and Air Berlin extended their cancelations through Thursday and Air France said it was suspending its flights “until further notice.” The European Aviation Safety Agency late Tuesday said it “strongly recommends” that airlines refrain from operating flights to and from Tel Aviv. It said it would “monitor the situation and advise on any update as the situation develops.   Continue reading “European carriers suspend more Tel Aviv flights”

Mail.com

PLAINFIELD, Ind. (AP) — His pilot’s license fresh in his hands, an Indiana teenager set out in June for the adventure of a lifetime: an around-the-world flight with his father designed to break a record and raise money to build schools in his father’s native Pakistan.

Just days before the father and son were to return home to Indiana, the trip turned tragic when their plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa on Tuesday night. The body of 17-year-old Haris Suleman was recovered, but crews were still searching Wednesday for the father, Babar Suleman.   Continue reading “Ocean crash kills teen pilot seeking world record”

RT

Despite moving forward with the construction of 20 Littoral Combat Ships, the Navy is considering major changes to the beleaguered program – and one that may potentially involve replacing it entirely.

According toNational Defense Magazine, back in April the Navy released a request seeking information on technologies and methods that could be used to improve the current version of the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). A separate information request, meanwhile, asked for designs for brand new ships.   Continue reading “US Navy’s troubled Littoral Combat Ship program could face the axe”

RT

A federal judge has denied Google Inc’s attempt to dismiss a privacy lawsuit brought against the technology giant for commingling user data across its different products and offering that data to advertisers without permission.

US District Judge Paul Grewal ruled Monday evening that Google has to face the breach of contract and fraud claims brought by users of Android devices who downloaded at least one Android application through Google Play.   Continue reading “Google to face lawsuit over providing consumer data to advertisers”

Mail.com

BOSTON (AP) — It has been one of the lingering questions since the dramatic manhunt that gripped the Boston area in the days after the marathon bombings: Where did the suspects get the gun that authorities say they used to kill a university police officer?

Answers may come soon with the arrest of a friend of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev who people with knowledge of the investigation say was the source of the weapon. Stephen Silva made an initial appearance Tuesday in federal court on charges related to heroin trafficking and possession of a handgun with an obliterated serial number.   Continue reading “Arrest linked to gun used after Boston bombings”

RT

Israel kept up attacks on Gaza on Tuesday, killing three Palestinians and hitting over 70 targets, including five mosques, a sports stadium and the home of the deceased Hamas military chief.

The latest casualties in the fortnight-long violence have brought the Palestinian death toll to 570, according to AP. Almost 100 of them are children and many others are civilians.

Additionally, nearly 500 homes have been destroyed in the Israeli bombardments and 100,000 people have been displaced, said Jens Laerke, spokesman of the UN Office for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) at a Geneva news briefing.   Continue reading “600 deaths in Israeli Gaza op: Military hits mosques, stadium, homes, hospital”

Mail.com

The two Americans killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip followed in the footsteps of scores of Jews from around the world who have volunteered to fight for Israel.

Israel calls them the lone soldiers: They are men and women in the prime of their lives who have left their parents and often comfortable lives behind in places like Sydney, London, Los Angeles and elsewhere to join the Israel Defense Forces, marching in the desert and taking up arms to defend the Jewish state.   Continue reading “American Jews, other ‘lone soldiers’ serve Israel”

Mail.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man who says he is the father of two of three teens charged with fatally beating two homeless men says that they too were once homeless, and he has no idea what prompted the brutal Friday night attack that police say left the victims unrecognizable.

After their arrest, the 15-year-old told police that the trio had been targeting homeless people for the past year, according to a criminal complaint. He said they had attacked about 50 people over the last few months, but had never gone that far, according to the criminal complaint.   Continue reading “Dad: Boys charged in homeless deaths once homeless”

RT

Four Palestinian’s have been killed and dozens wounded after an Israeli tank shell hit the third floor of Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza, according to a Health Ministry spokesman.

Ashraf Al-Qidra said that the third floor housed an intensive care unit and operating theaters. Other shells had fallen around the hospital, he added, with officials calling on the Red Cross to help evacuate patients.   Continue reading “Israeli tank strikes on Gaza hospital kill 4, scores injured – medics”

RT

A spate of gun violence in Chicago over the weekend left at least 40 people shot and four dead, including an 11-year-old girl struck in the head by a stray bullet during a slumber party.

The weekend shootings occurred between 18:00 CDT Friday and early Monday, according to NBC Chicago. As of Sunday, the Chicago Police Department had not released an official tally of the violence.   Continue reading “40 shot, 4 dead from gun violence in Chicago over weekend”

RT

China has sent an electronic surveillance vessel to international waters off Hawaii to keep an eye on a US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) involving 22 countries, despite Beijing being one of the countries invited to participate in the drills.

The Chinese Dongdiao-class auxiliary general intelligence (AGI) surveillance ship is stationed outside US territorial seas but within the 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, according to Captain Darryn James, chief spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet.   Continue reading “Chinese spy ship surveys US-led drills off Hawaii”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Four emergency workers involved in the medical response for a New York City man who died in police custody after being put in an apparent chokehold have been barred from responding to 911 calls, the Fire Department of New York said.

The two EMTs and two paramedics removed from the city’s emergency response system are the latest public safety workers to face reassignment as questions mount about Thursday’s death of Eric Garner. Two police officers — including the one who put his arm around Garner’s neck — have been put on desk duty.   Continue reading “‘Modified duty’ for medics after fatal NYC arrest”

Mail.com

DETROIT (AP) — Roused from sleep by the sound of pounding in the wee hours, a suburban Detroit man grabbed his shotgun, opened the front door and blasted a young woman in the face.

Is Theodore Wafer guilty of murder? Or did the 55-year-old use deadly force based on a reasonable fear that he was at risk? Jury selection starts Monday in a trial that will put Wafer’s self-defense claim to a tough test. The 19-year-old woman, Renisha McBride, was drunk but unarmed when she climbed the steps of his Dearborn Heights porch, 3 ½ hours after crashing her car a few blocks away.   Continue reading “Trial to start in death of unarmed woman on porch”

RT

Criminal prosecution is likely to be expanded on Americans involved in recruiting and supervising activities of German officials spying for the US intelligence, Germany’s Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Welt am Sonntag.

If investigators find a body of evidence that alleged double agents in Germany’s federal intelligence service and Defense Ministry have been spying to the benefit of American intelligence, “the investigation would extend on their feasible patrons,” Maas declared.   Continue reading “Berlin wants to prosecute US handlers of German spies”

RT

Scores of Palestinians and Israeli soldiers have been killed on Sunday as hostilities continue in the Gaza strip. Both sides earlier agreed to a brief ceasefire to allow medics to reach those wounded by Israeli shells.

At least 87 Palestinians were killed on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, as the Israeli Defense Forces shelled the Shejaia district in the north east of Gaza. The casualties are the heaviest since Israel launched its offensive on the Palestinian territory on July 8.   Continue reading “Deadly Sunday in Gaza: At least 87 Palestinians & 13 Israeli soldiers killed”

Mail.com

FRESNO, California (AP) — Police were investigating whether the same men who robbed a bank, took hostages and led a deadly chase and shootout carried out other recent bank heists in the same part of Northern California, including one earlier this year at the very same branch.

There were striking similarities between a late-January robbery at the Bank of the West and the one this week that left a hostage and two robbers dead, police said. In both cases, armed robbers made their getaway by stealing a bank employee’s car.   Continue reading “Police: Men may have robbed California bank before”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer involved in the arrest of a man who died in custody after being placed in an apparent chokehold has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty, police said Saturday.

Officer Daniel Pantaleo, an eight-year NYPD veteran, and an officer who has been with the force for four years were both taken off the street after the death Thursday of 43-year-old Eric Garner on Staten Island, police said.   Continue reading “Officer in fatal NY arrest stripped of gun, badge”

RT

The protest was organized by the group National Nurses United, which says the termination of water supplies, in the middle of summer, could turn into a public health emergency. The group’s co-president, Jean Ross, called the shutoffs an “attack on the basic human right of access to safe, clean water.”

“What’s happening here is inhumane,” Ross told WWJ news radio. “We know that you need water to sustain yourself and no one, no one should shut off the water to the people.”   Continue reading “Thirsty for justice: Detroit protesters flood streets over water shutdown”

RT

Referring to the tragic downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine, former Texas congressman Ron Paul warned against jumping to conclusions over the culprits.

Drawing parallels between the potential for a Russian-made missile system’s connection to the attack of the passenger jet on Thursday over the restive Donetsk region of Ukraine and the capture of US-made weapons by Islamist insurgents in Iraq, Paul pointed out that the missile’s potential source of manufacture was largely immaterial.   Continue reading “Malaysian jet tragedy propagandized – Ron Paul”