Sunfire, Author at From the Trenches World Report

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PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Scientists have solved the mystery of the “jelly doughnut” rock on Mars that appeared to come out of nowhere.

NASA said Friday that a wheel of the rover Opportunity broke it off a larger rock and then kicked it into the field of view. The Internet was abuzz last month when the space agency released side-by-side images of the same patch of ground. Only one image showed the rock, which was white around the outside and dark red in the middle, and less than 2 inches wide. Continue reading “Mystery of ‘jelly doughnut’ Martian rock solved”

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — They’re hidden in babies’ diapers, ramen noodle soup packages, footballs, soda cans and even body cavities.

Not drugs or weapons, but cellphones. They’re becoming a growing problem in prisons across the country as they are used to make threats, plan escapes and for inmates to continue to make money from illegal activity even while behind bars. Continue reading “Prisoners’ use of smuggled cellphones on the rise”

RT News

US armed forces misconduct has reached worrying proportions, with drug, alcohol and sexual abuses and expulsions on the rise, documents obtained by the AP reveal.

The past three years seem to have been the hardest on army officers, as they have seen a steep, three-fold increase in departures due to misconduct and internal crimes, according to the documents. A total of 119 Army officers were forced to leave due to misconduct in 2010, which closely matched the average since 2000, but the figure more than tripled in 2013 to 387. For enlisted soldiers, the number jumped from 5,600 in 2007 to upward of 11,000 in 2013. Continue reading “Number of US army officers fired for misconduct tripled in 3 yrs – report”

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Iran’s top air defense commander has announced that the country will launch its Bavar-373 (‘Belief-373’) missile defense system, Iran’s version of Russia’s S-300 long-range system, in the next two years.

Technical problems hampering construction of Bavar-373 have been resolved, and development and construction of the sophisticated anti-missile defense system would be completed by the end of Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili told the Fars news agency Saturday. Continue reading “Iran: Homemade air defense system ready in 2 yrs, ‘better than S-300’”

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The nation that put the first man on the Moon is failing to make the grade today when it comes to basic knowledge of the solar system and other fundamental scientific insight.

That’s according to a new survey which concludes that while most Americans have a world of information at their fingertips, and show tremendous enthusiasm for new technology, they also lack fundamental knowledge of basic science. Continue reading “D’Oh! 1 in 4 Americans don’t know Earth circles Sun”

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The Obama administration is under fire for doling out an unprecedented number of plum diplomatic postings to political appointees, many of which go to top dollar campaign contributors, sidelining career diplomats.

One former ambassador called it the selling of public offices. Another State Department vet blasted it as a patronage practice reflective “of banana republics, dictatorships and two-bit monarchies.” Continue reading “‘Ambassadors for Dummies’: Obama’s payback diplomatic posts make mockery of foreign service”

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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Just 87 votes at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee separated the United Auto Workers union from what would have been its first successful organization of workers at a foreign automaker in the South.

Instead of celebrating a potential watershed moment for labor politics in the region, UAW supporters were left crestfallen by the 712-626 vote against union representation in the election that ended Friday night. Continue reading “UAW falls 87 votes short of major victory in South”

RT News

A member station within the Public Broadcasting Service announced Friday that it would return a $3.5 million grant to a former Enron executive who first provided the money to fund an anti-pension series.

WNET, the New York City affiliate of PBS, said production on the planned series, dubbed “Pension Peril,” would be suspended indefinitely after journalist David Sirota of PandoDaily revealed the money was coming from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Continue reading “PBS returns millions to anti-pension crusader who funded TV series”

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Frustrated by the deadlock of the second round of Geneva 2 talks, Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered to supply the rebels with anti-aircraft missiles. Meanwhile Russia has accused the US of once again hijacking peace talks and pushing for regime change.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Russian-made antitank guided missiles and Chinese man-portable air-defense systems are up for grabs, already waiting in warehouses in Jordan and Turkey. Continue reading “Saudi Arabia to supply Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles – report”

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Tokyo suggested that it would allow the US to bring nuclear weapons into Japanese territory in the event of a serious threat to its security.

In a briefing with lawmakers, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida outlined conditions that would lead Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to make exceptions to Japan’s longstanding posture against possessing, producing, or allowing nuclear weapons within the nation’s borders, Kyodo News reported. Continue reading “Japan indicates US could bring nukes into its territory in case of emergency”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The tea party is teeing off on Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Matt Bevin, who is challenging McConnell in the GOP primary in Kentucky, seized on the senator’s vote Wednesday to move ahead on legislation to increase the nation’s debt limit, describing it as a blank check for President Barack Obama. The tea party-backed businessman and conservative groups signaled they won’t let Senate Republican incumbents forget the vote this election year. Continue reading “Tea party tees off on McConnell after debt vote”

RT News

At least three people have died in violent protests in the Venezuelan capital, officials have confirmed. President Nicolas Maduro has condemned the unrest as an attempt at a coup d’état orchestrated by extremist members of the political opposition.

Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of the Venezuelan capital on Wednesday in the worst unrest since Nicolas Maduro assumed the presidency last year. Demonstrators from several different political factions clashed in Caracas, leaving at least three people dead and over 20 injured. Continue reading “Venezuela coup? Gunfire, clashes as 3 dead in violent Caracas protest”

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LIMA, Peru (AP) — Profuse sweating betrayed Nicole Bartscher’s internal panic over having 10 pounds of cocaine strapped to her body as she negotiated her way through Lima’s international airport in 2010 for a flight to the Netherlands.

Policewomen took the heavyset hairdresser aside, told her to strip and found the drug packages bound to her torso and legs. After a body cavity search, they arrested Bartscher and shuttled her to a crowded holding cell, where she slept on the floor, hungry and cold. Continue reading “Foreign drug mules in Peruvian parole purgatory”

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HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Federal agents intercepted the wealthy Iranian entrepreneur at a U.S. airport, questioned him about his business and charged him with illegal export of American-made satellite equipment to his native country.

Seyed Amin Ghorashi Sarvestani pleaded guilty soon afterward, but changed circumstances now have encouraged him to challenge his 30-month prison sentence. Since his plea, the federal government has approved for export to Iran the very products he was convicted of helping ship, his lawyers say. Then federal prosecutors in New York told a judge after the sentencing hearing that they had mistakenly exaggerated the equipment’s capabilities. The judge hasn’t moved to change the sentence, though lawyers for both sides are continuing to press their arguments. Continue reading “Iranian satellite case in NY takes complex turn”

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The latest storm to roll off nature’s assembly line during this bustling winter spread heavy snow and sleet along the Northeast corridor Thursday, while utility crews in the ice-encrusted South labored to restore power to hundreds of thousands of shivering residents.

The storm shuttered schools and businesses, made driving scary, grounded thousands of flights and made more back-breaking work for people along the East Coast, where shoveling out has become a weekly chore — sometimes a twice-weekly one. Continue reading “Another storm hits Northeast; ‘Oh, no, not again’”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comcast Corp. will buy Time Warner Cable Inc. for about $45.2 billion in a deal that would combine the nation’s top two cable TV companies and create a dominant force in creating and delivering entertainment.

The all-stock deal, which was approved by the boards of both companies, trumps a proposal from Charter Communications to buy Time Warner Cable for about $38 billion. It is expected to close by the end of the year, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. Continue reading “Comcast to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion”

RT News

Tens of thousands of Connecticut residents could soon be considered felons by the state if they continue to ignore restrictive new gun control laws passed last year shortly after an armed rampage at an area elementary school left more than two dozen dead.

Last April, Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law a slew of new firearm restrictions that require, among other items, residents to register powerful assault weapons and high-capacity magazine with the state. Connecticutians had until the end of last year — almost one year to the day after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre — to license their arsenals. Only a fraction has followed the new law, however, and they could all soon face serious consequences if the state decides to take action. Continue reading “Tens of thousands of Connecticut residents refuse to register guns under new law”

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A team of scientists in California announced Wednesday they are one step closer to developing the almost mythical pollution-free, controlled fusion-energy reaction, though the goal of full “ignition” is still far off.

Researchers at the federally-funded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory revealed in a study released Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature that, for the first time, one of their experiments has yielded more energy out of fusion than was used in the fuel that created the reaction. Continue reading “Nuclear fusion breakthrough: US scientists make crucial step to limitless power”

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WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A woman accused of killing her pregnant friend three months after her own miscarriage was convicted Wednesday of beating and strangling the friend, then cutting the baby from her womb and passing the child off as her daughter.

Julie Corey sobbed as a Worcester Superior Court jury found her guilty of the 2009 murder of 23-year-old Darlene Haynes. The jurors had deliberated for 10 hours over two days. Sentencing was scheduled for Tuesday. Continue reading “Mass. woman found guilty in cut-from-womb killing”

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STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The father of a 9-year-old South Florida boy raped and murdered in 1995 said he hopes the killer’s execution sends a strong signal to other would-be child molesters and abductors.

“Don’t kill the child. Because if you do, people will not forget, they will not forgive. We will hunt you down and we will put you to death,” said Don Ryce, whose son Jimmy Ryce was kidnapped at gunpoint after getting off a school bus. Continue reading “Fla. man executed in boy’s rape, murder”