Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law was convicted Wednesday for his role as al-Qaida’s fiery chief spokesman after 9/11 — a verdict prosecutors said vindicated the Obama administration’s strategy of bringing terror suspects to justice in civilian court.

A federal jury deliberated six hours over two days before finding 48-year-old Sulaiman Abu Ghaith guilty of charges that included conspiracy to kill Americans and providing support to al-Qaida. Abu Ghaith, a Kuwaiti-born imam who married bin Laden’s eldest daughter about five years ago, is the highest-ranking al-Qaida figure brought to trial on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.   Continue reading “Feds praise verdict against bin Laden son-in-law”

RT News

An Ankara administrative court has issued a stay of execution on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s controversial decision to block access to Twitter.

The move comes just six days after Turkey’s telecoms authority blocked access to the popular social networking service following the PM’s vow to “wipe out Twitter” ahead of elections.   Continue reading “Turkish court lifts controversial Twitter ban”

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Researchers are working to create “living materials” that are a combination of bacterial cells and nonliving materials that conduct electricity, which could create more efficient solar panels or biosensors.

A team at MIT used E. coli – which produces biofilms, or coalesced bacteria that organizes to survive – to grow proteins on a surface. Different protein fibers chose to interact with various nonliving molecules, Quartz reported on the team’s ongoing study first published in the journal Nature Materials.   Continue reading “‘Living materials’ could revolutionize solar panels and biosensors”

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The Arab League has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, backing Palestine’s stance on the issue. The demand by Israel threatened to destabilize US-Palestinian peace talks, according to Arab leaders.

“We express our total rejection of the call to consider Israel as a Jewish state,” said the declaration, issued at the close of the two-day long meeting which has been taking place in Kuwait City. The leaders also criticized “the continuation of settlements, Judaization of Jerusalem and attacks in its Muslim and Christian shrines and changing its demographics and geography.”   Continue reading “Arab summit rejects Israel as ‘Jewish state’”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York police commissioner denounced the parachute jump off 1 World Trade Center last fall by three skydiving enthusiasts as a lawless act that put others in danger.

“The Port Authority joins the NYPD in condemning this lawless and selfish act that clearly endangered the public,” the agency said in a statement early Tuesday. “One of the jumpers worked construction at the WTC and violated the spirit of respect and reverence for this sacred site that almost all connected with the WTC project feel.”   Continue reading “WTC parachute jump condemned as ‘selfish act’”

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After investing $1 billion in behavior detection techniques and training since 2007, the Transportation Security Administration has little to show for its efforts, the New York Times stated in a new report.

According to the newspaper, critics of the TSA’s attempt to read body language claim there’s no evidence to suggest the agency has been able to link chosen passengers to anything beyond carrying drugs or holding undeclared currency, much less a terrorist attack. In fact, a review of numerous studies seems to suggest that even those trained to look for various tics are no more capable of identifying liars than normal individuals.   Continue reading “TSA spent $1 bln on ‘body language’ program”

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A Florida lawmaker is attempting to curb the media’s access to ‘Stand Your Ground’ court records after a local newspaper review examined hundreds of cases and found that the controversial law is applied unevenly and with unpredictable results.

Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican representing Fort Walton Beach, proposed an amendment to a state bill that would greatly limit the public’s ability to view records from self-defense cases.   Continue reading “Media access to Florida ‘Stand Your Ground’ details could be drastically reduced”

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The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill have likely inflicted serious heart defects and possibly premature death in tuna and other large marine fish, according to a study initiated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Embryos of three fish – bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and an amberjack – have been exposed to the field-collected Deepwater Horizon crude oil samples by a group of scientists led by NOAA.   Continue reading “Deepwater Horizon oil spill cause fatal heart defects in tuna – study”

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Former American president is aware his emails could be monitored by US intelligence agencies excessively “liberalized” under President Obama so he prefers to send letters via ‘snail mail’ to ensure the privacy of correspondence.

In an interview with the NBC TV channel dedicated to the publication of his new book, ‘A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power’, 89-year-old Jimmy Carter said he does not trust electronic communications because they could be monitored.   Continue reading “Jimmy Carter entrusts secrets to snail mail: NSA might monitor his email”

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Attorneys for a 62-year-old anti-fracking activist from Pennsylvania are in court on Monday attempting to overturn a ruling that keeps their client from stepping foot in nearly half of the county she lives in.

Since October, a preliminary injunction filed against Vera Scroggins of Brackney, PA has barred the retired nurse’s aide and grandmother from being on the property of any part of Susquehanna County leased by Cabot Oil and Gas — a Texas-based energy company that conducts shale gas extraction in the region through the controversial practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.   Continue reading “Anti-fracking activist asks court to lift ban keeping her from local hospital, grocery store”

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In an expanded attempt to continue the hunt for warlord Joseph Kony, President Obama has authorized the deployment of military aircraft and about 150 Special Operations forces to Uganda.

According to the Washington Post, the administration notified Congress of the deployments as they began on Sunday, and the troop movement was later confirmed to Reuters by the Defense Department.   Continue reading “US sends more troops, aircraft to hunt down Kony”

Mail.com

TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) — The Coast Guard could soon reopen the Houston Ship Channel that was the scene of an oil spill over the weekend.

The channel is one of the nation’s busiest seaports. Coast Guard Warrant Officer Kimberly Smith says the goal is to reopen part of it sometime Monday. The closure has forced more than 80 ships to wait to enter or leave the bay.   Continue reading “Texas ship channel could partly reopen after spill”

Mail.com

GULBERWICK, Scotland (AP) — In the late winter dusk, hundreds of Vikings are marching down to the beach, bearing flaming torches. Their studded leather breastplates glint in the firelight as they roar and sing.

It’s a scene that would have struck terror into the hearts of Dark Age Britons — and also perhaps an unsettling one for modern politicians on both sides of Scotland’s independence debate. The fearsome-looking participants in a Viking fire festival known as Up Helly Aa live in Scotland’s remote Shetland Islands, a wind-whipped northern archipelago where many claim descent from Scandinavian raiders. They are cool to the idea of Scotland leaving Britain to form an independent nation, and determined that their rugged islands — closer to Norway than to Edinburgh — will retain their autonomy, whatever the outcome of September’s referendum.   Continue reading “Scotland’s Vikings go own way in independence vote”

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A rarely reported but highly extensive database managed by a Pentagon law enforcement agency that contains millions of details including criminal records and minor infractions alike is being called into question.

Although the Law Enforcement Information Exchange, or LInX, contains police records pertaining to run-of-the-mill 911 calls and even mere traffic citations, millions of these records concerning harmless civilian activity are stored in a system run by the United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the primary law enforcement agency of the US Navy that’s headquartered at the Quantico, Virginia military base.   Continue reading “Pentagon database amasses millions of non-military police records”

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A United States military veteran who was critically injured by the police during an Occupy Wall Street protest in October 2011 will be awarded $4.5 million by the city of Oakland, California.

Attorneys for the man, 26-year-old Scott Olsen, said on Friday this week that city officials have agreed on a multi-million dollar settlement that will resolve a federal lawsuit filed after the Oct. 25, 2011 incident.   Continue reading “Oakland will pay $4.5 million to injured Occupy activist Scott Olsen”

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The cause of the radiation leaks at the United States’ first nuclear waste repository are still under investigation, but in the meantime government officials have decided to move a stalled shipment of waste to a private dump in Texas.

According to Reuters, the shipment of approximately 1,000 barrels of radioactive leftovers to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, was put on hold when the facility began leaking radioactive material in February. On Thursday, the Department of Energy announced it would temporarily relocate those barrels to a rural site in western Texas.   Continue reading “Radiation leaks force transfer of nuclear waste from New Mexico to Texas”

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Thousands of people have trekked across Spain to protest austerity they claim is destroying their country. Under the banner of “no more cuts!” the protesters are calling for an end to the Spanish government’s “empty promises.”

Six “columns” of trains, cars and buses, as well as bands of pedestrians have travelled from Extremadura, Andalusia, Valencia, Murcia, Asturias, Galicia and Aragon, among other Spanish regions, to converge on Madrid in mass protest this Saturday. The demonstration itself has been dubbed 22-M, Marches for dignity.   Continue reading “‘March for dignity’: Thousands arrive in Madrid to protest govt austerity”

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The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down the state’s broad eavesdropping law that prohibited the audio recording of any person, public or not, without consent. Opponents of the law said it chilled free speech and the ability to watch law enforcement.

The state Supreme Court ruled that the law “criminalizes a wide range of innocent conduct,” the Chicago Tribune reported.   Continue reading “Illinois strikes down law that prohibited First Amendment right to record”

Mail.com

CHICAGO (AP) — For uninsured people, the nation’s new health care law may offer an escape from worry about unexpected, astronomical medical bills. But for Stephanie Payne of St. Louis, who already had good insurance, the law could offer another kind of escape: the chance to quit her job.

At 62, Payne has worked for three decades as a nurse, most recently traveling house to house caring for 30 elderly and disabled patients. But she’s ready to leave that behind, including the job-based health benefits, to move to Oregon and promote her self-published book. She envisions herself blogging, doing radio interviews and speaking to seniors groups.   Continue reading “With health law, workers ponder the I-Quit option”