Author: Sunfire

RT News

One day after Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his apartment, police are looking into whether his apparent heroin overdose is linked to a lethal batch of the drug that recently arrived on the East Coast.

As noted by Raw Story, law enforcement agencies have spent the last month pursuing batches of heroin laced with fentanyl – a powerful painkiller – that have been deemed responsible for dozens of deaths in multiple states. The deadly drug cocktail has made its way east from Pennsylvania, and has been detected in states such as Maryland, New York and Rhode Island.   Continue reading “Lethal heroin batches hit East Coast same week as actor Seymour Hoffman died”

Mail.com

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A tiny minnow that lives only in Oregon backwaters is the first fish ever taken off U.S. Endangered Species Act protection because it is no longer threatened with extinction.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was to announce Tuesday that the Oregon chub was recovered, 21 years after it went on the endangered species list. The agency will monitor the fish for nine years to make sure populations continue to grow.   Continue reading “Tiny minnow is 1st fish taken off endangered list”

Mail.com

IONIA, Mich. (AP) — A convicted killer captured after a one-day escape from a Michigan prison has been charged with kidnapping, carjacking and escape.

The Ionia County District Court says charges were filed Monday while authorities were still hunting for Michael David Elliot. He was captured Monday night in a stolen car in LaPorte County, Ind., more than 150 miles from the Ionia prison.   Continue reading “Charges filed against escaped Michigan prisoner”

RT News

The apparent suicide death of the chief economist of a US investment house brings the number of financial workers who have died allegedly by their own hand to four in the last week.

50-year-old Mike Dueker, who had worked for Russell Investment for five years, was found dead close to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State, says AP.   Continue reading “Financial world shaken by 4 bankers’ apparent suicides in a week”

Mail.com

MOSCOW (AP) — A 10th-grade student with two rifles burst into his Moscow school on Monday, killing his geography teacher and a policeman in front of about 20 students, investigators said. His father played a key role in freeing those students before police stormed the classroom and took his son into custody, the city police chief said.

The student gunman also seriously wounded a second police officer who had responded to an alarm from the school, investigators said. None of the approximately 400 children in School No. 263 at the time were hurt, said Karina Sabitova, a police spokeswoman. But students were so fearful that some ran from the building with their teachers without stopping to put on coats in below-freezing temperatures. The school in northeast Moscow is for children in grades one through 11.   Continue reading “Student kills teacher, policeman in Moscow school”

RT News

Israel has come under fire from the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories over the demolition of 36 homes in the Jordan Valley. The UN has called for the bulldozers to stop.

The destruction of the homes has displaced 66 people, with 36 of them children, according to the UN data.   Continue reading “UN condemns Israel over destruction of Jordan Valley homes”

RT News

Intelligence minister Yuval Steinitz has lashed out against John Kerry’s warning of a boycott if Israeli-Palestinian peace talks fail, and said the IDF may invade Gaza if Hamas doesn’t end rocket attacks on Israel.

In a heated attack on John Kerry’s speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Steinitz accused the US Secretary of State of holding a gun to Israel’s head in the peace negotiations. Kerry triggered a wave of criticism in Israel when he said there is “talk of boycotts” if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does not come to an end.   Continue reading “Israeli security minister slams Kerry over boycott threat, warns IDF may invade Gaza”

RT News

The US has deployed a ballistic missile defense destroyer to Spain to boost NATO’s anti-missile shield in Europe. The move, allegedly aimed at curbing the Iranian threat, has sparked talks about Russia possibly scrapping the START nuclear treaty.

The deployment of the Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook, equipped with the Aegis shipboard integrated combat weapons system, was announced by US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.   Continue reading “Russia threatens to quit START as US deploys Aegis destroyer to Spain”

RT News

Weeks after spilling about 10,000 gallons of chemicals into West Virginia’s Elk River, chemical maker Freedom Industries reported another toxic leak Thursday at their facility in Charleston. Yet none of the material has reached the river, officials said.

Contractors for Freedom Industries hit an underground pipe with an excavator Thursday night, unleashing water and the same crude MCHM chemical that leaked from the company’s tank farm into the Elk River on Jan. 9. The earlier incident ultimately spoiled drinking water for around 300,000 nearby residents.   Continue reading “West Virginia’s Freedom Industries suffers another chemical spill”

RT News

The Transportation Security Agency was aware that, before they were even introduced, the full-body scanners used at airport security checkpoints were flawed, according to a former TSA agent who alleges employees regularly peered and laughed at travelers.

Jason Edward Harrington, who spent years for the TSA as he studied for a creative writing degree, wrote a long piece in Politico detailing the ineptitude and casual jokes that often came at the expense of the agency’s own inability to prevent an airplane hijacking.   Continue reading “‘Useless’ TSA scanners provided endless fodder for employees, former agent alleges”

RT News

The US State Department raised few objections to the environmental impact of the Keystone XL pipeline in a report released Friday, saying that the project won’t impact the pace of Canadian oil sands development and its contribution to climate change.

While the State Department took no position on the project and stopped short of recommending if the line should be built, it did claim the pipeline is more environmentally sound than other options.   Continue reading “Keystone pipeline won’t hurt environment much, US govt report says”

RT News

Mass starvation, disease and hopelessness abound in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. Although a UN agency has managed to make its first food aid delivery to the rebel-held camp in weeks, many people are on the brink of starvation.

Mass starvation, disease and hopelessness abound in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. Although a UN agency has managed to make its first food aid delivery to the rebel-held camp in weeks, many people are on the brink of starvation.   Continue reading “‘We want to go out!’: 18,000 starving inside Syrian refugee camp”

Mail.com

SPANISH FORK, Utah (AP) — A man accused of killing one Utah deputy and wounding another was a fugitive who previously served 4 1/2 years in prison for attempted homicide, authorities said Friday.

Jose Angel Garcia Juaregui, 27, is in extremely critical condition after being shot by law enforcement officials Thursday afternoon in Juab County, and his prognosis isn’t good, Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy said at a news conference.   Continue reading “Suspect in Utah deputy’s killing was fugitive, 27”

RT News

The United States Customs and Border Protection has grounded an entire fleet of drones, the agency admitted on Tuesday, after a mechanical function the night before forced a crew to crash an unmanned aircraft valued at $12 million.

A spokesperson for the CBP said in a statement Tuesday that the drone, a maritime variant of the Predator B, was deliberately crashed into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California after it encountered problems shortly after 11 p.m. local time late Monday.   Continue reading “US Customs grounds drone fleet after $12 million unmanned aircraft crashes off of California”

RT News

Scientists have reconstructed the genome of the first recorded bubonic plague and compared it to two later pandemics. New sophisticated strains of the disease that killed millions of Europeans in the Middle Ages could break out in future, they warn.

Researchers have managed to extract the DNA from the teeth of two victims of the Plague of Justinian, a pandemic that swept through the Byzantine Empire in AD 541-542, found in an early medieval cemetery in German Bavaria, according to a study published Tuesday by The Lancet Infectious Diseases.   Continue reading “Scientists find DNA of first-ever bubonic plague, warn of new outbreaks”

Mail.com

AURORA, Ill. (AP) — Down the road from an emergency food pantry where a small crowd waits for the chance to gather free groceries, there is a church sign that reads: “If you need help, ask God. If you don’t, thank God.”

Debbie Jurcak, one of those in line, will tell you that it is indeed divine help — or, anyway, faith-based organizations — that she and her family have relied on in recent weeks. Late last month, the federal government ended her unemployment benefits, six months after she was laid off from an administrative job.   Continue reading “‘Long-term unemployment’ _ one mom’s story”

Mail.com

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Highway access to the city at the end of the trans-Alaska pipeline has been cut off indefinitely by avalanches, including one that dammed a river and created a lake up to a half-mile long across the roadway in a 300-foot wide mountain canyon.

State Department of Transportation officials said Monday that the snow slide about 12 miles outside Valdez on the Richardson Highway cannot be cleared until water behind the snow drains. The water in Keystone Canyon is too deep on the upstream side for crews to approach the snow dam. Officials fear that digging from the downstream side could trigger a dangerous surge of water and harm work crews.   Continue reading “Avalanches cut off only road to Alaska city”

Mail.com

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Legislature on Monday merged what had been separate but parallel investigations into allegations that Gov. Chris Christie’s aides manufactured traffic jams as political payback.

The state Assembly and Senate voted to establish a joint bipartisan committee with power to subpoena people and correspondence related to the traffic scandal and other matters. The panel will continue the investigation into allegations that top Christie aides blocked two traffic lanes approaching the George Washington Bridge, creating hours-long backups in the town at the base of the span to send a message to the Democratic mayor there.   Continue reading “NJ Democrats combine traffic jam probes”