Author: Sunfire

RT News

Panama and the United States are locked in a dispute over unexploded chemical weapons US soldiers left on an island of the Central American country over 60 years ago, now in the way of a major canal expansion project.

Panamanian officials say they are growing more optimistic that its campaign to compel the US to retrieve its own weapons will be recognized by the Barack Obama administration despite disagreements in the past, McClatchy reported.    Continue reading “Panama hopeful US will finally clean up chemical weapons left from WWII”

RT News

A Chicago woman was arrested late last week after confronting the president of her long-time employer McDonald’s over the low wages she earns as she struggles to raise two young children.

Nancy Salgado, 26, interrupted a speech by McDonald’s Corporation President Jeff Stratton at the Union League Club of Chicago on Friday, saying her wages weren’t enough for her to supply her kids with basic necessities like shoes.    Continue reading “McDonald’s employee arrested for confronting CEO on low wages”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Five years after U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering a global financial crisis and shattering confidence worldwide, families in major countries around the world are still hunkered down, too spooked and distrustful to take chances with their money.

An Associated Press analysis of households in the 10 biggest economies shows that families continue to spend cautiously and have pulled hundreds of billions of dollars out of stocks, cut borrowing for the first time in decades and poured money into savings and bonds that offer puny interest payments, often too low to keep up with inflation.   Continue reading “AP IMPACT: Families hoard cash 5 yrs after crisis”

RT News

Egyptian celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Arab-Israeli War were marred by a fresh wave of violence, with 34 people killed and dozens wounded in clashes between police and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

According to an Egyptian Health Ministry official, 30 people were killed in the capital of Cairo and in Giza on Sunday. Three persons were also killed in Beni Suef, and one in Delga in Minya, Ahram Online reported. Most of the dead had gunshot wounds, security sources told Reuters. Over 200 got injuries.    Continue reading “34 killed, over 200 wounded as Egypt protests turn violent – report”

Mail.com

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, the brilliant and ruthless commander who led a ragtag army of guerrillas to victory in Vietnam over first the French and then the Americans, died Friday. The last of the country’s old-guard revolutionaries was 102.

A national hero, Giap enjoyed a legacy second only to that of his mentor, founding president and independence leader Ho Chi Minh. Giap died in a military hospital in the capital of Hanoi, where he had spent nearly four years because of illnesses, according to a government official and a person close to him. Both spoke on condition of anonymity before the death was announced in state-controlled media.   Continue reading “Legendary Vietnam Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap dies at 102”

RT News

Researchers have found high levels of radioactivity, salts, and metals in water and sediment located downstream from a treatment facility which processes fracking wastewater from oil and gas production sites in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale formation.

A Duke University team analyzed water and sediment samples from the Josephine Brine Treatment Facility in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, finding radium levels 200 times greater than samples taken upstream from the plant and far higher than what’s allowed under the Clean Water Act.    Continue reading “‘Alarming’ presence of radioactivity found by Pennsylvania fracking wastewater study”

RT News

An attack on Russia’s embassy in Libyan Tripoli comes as retaliation after a Russian woman killed local officer and injured his mother, Foreign Ministry confirmed.

Embassy staffers and their families have left Libya following the attack.   Continue reading “Tripoli embassy attack sparked after Libyan officer killed by Russian woman – FM”

Mail.com

TOKYO (AP) — The United States and Japan moved Thursday to modernize and expand their defense alliance to counter new challenges, including a nuclear-armed North Korea and potential aggression from China over disputed territory.

In the first update to the defense partnership in 16 years, the allies agreed to position a second early-warning radar in Japan within the next year to help protect against North Korea. And by next spring, they will deploy new long-range surveillance drones to help monitor disputed islands in the East China Sea, a move that may well raise tensions with Beijing.   Continue reading “US, Japan to deploy new radar, drones in next year”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Agricultural business giant Monsanto Co. reported worse-than-expected losses for its fiscal fourth quarter on Wednesday, due to lower sales of its genetically engineered seeds.

The company forecast for fiscal 2014 also came in below Wall Street expectations, and it revealed plans to buy farming software and data firm The Climate Corporation. The combination sent shares lower in morning trading.   Continue reading “Monsanto loss widens, announces $930M acquisition”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — New York is indeed an expensive place, but experts say that alone doesn’t explain a recent report that found the city’s annual cost per inmate was $167,731 last year — nearly as much as it costs to pay for four years of tuition at an Ivy League university.

They say a big part of it is due to New York’s most notorious lockup, Rikers Island, and the costs that go along with staffing, maintaining and securing a facility that is literally an island unto itself.   Continue reading “NYC inmate almost as costly as Ivy League tuition”

RT News

US officials have accused Iran of recently hacking unclassified Navy computers. If the allegations prove true, the incident would be one of the most serious cyberintrusions of American computer systems by the Islamic Republic.

The officials said hackers working for the Iranian government or a proxy group with approval from Iranian leaders are responsible for penetrating the unclassified Navy computer network.    Continue reading “Iran-backed hackers infiltrated Navy computers – US officials”

RT News

At least 15 people have reportedly been killed as a second powerful earthquake has struck Balochistan in southwestern Pakistan, the region where another deadly quake claimed over 500 lives earlier this week.

Over 50 people were reportedly injured on Saturday.   Continue reading “6.8 tremor hits Pakistan’s Balochistan days after first quake killed hundreds”

RT News

Eight people on board Greenpeace’s ship Arctic Sunrise will spend two months in pre-trial detention, accused of “piracy” in the boarding of a Russian oil rig platform, a Murmansk court ruled, the environmental group said on its Twitter account.

The group of defendants ordered to be detained includes two Russians and six foreigners – from Canada, US, Poland, New Zealand and France.   Continue reading “Eight members of Greenpeace detained for 2 months in Arctic oil rig case”

RT News

The US state department, citing “credible information” regarding potential “terrorist actions and violence” against US citizens and US interests, has sounded the alarm for its countrymen worldwide just days after a deadly attack in Kenya.

The department cautioned Americans to “maintain a high level of vigilance,” warning that international terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda could be planning attacks.    Continue reading “US renews global terrorism alert for American citizens”

RT News

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Wednesday the court eventually will have to determine the legality of far-reaching National Security Agency spying programs, though he is not convinced the court is equipped to based on modern security threats.

Scalia, speaking at the Northern Virginia Technology Council, said elected officials are most qualified to discern how much personal information of Americans the NSA can collect, and under what circumstances.    Continue reading “Supreme Court is ill-equipped to judge NSA surveillance programs – Scalia”

Huffington Post – by Samantha Henry

NEWARK, N.J. — A defense attorney who once had a roster of celebrity clients and boasted of having tried hundreds of cases in federal court was sentenced there on Monday to life in prison without parole after his conviction on nearly two dozen counts including murder conspiracy and racketeering.

Paul Bergrin, in custody since his 2009 arrest, wore khaki prison scrubs and showed little reaction as a judge read what amounted to several life sentences Monday afternoon in a federal courtroom in Newark.   Continue reading “Paul Bergrin, Former Lawyer, Sentenced To Life For Murder Conspiracy, Racketeering”

RT News

An Egyptian court has banned all activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in the country. Its assets will also be confiscated according to the court ruling.

“The court bans the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and its non-governmental organization and all the activities that it participates in and any organization derived from it,” said the presiding judge Mohammed Sayed.    Continue reading “Egypt court bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities nationwide”

RT News

Iranian officials say they have completed decoding the surveillance data and software extracted from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) drone that the United States lost possession of nearly two years ago near the city of Kashmar.

Hossein Salami, the lieutenant commander general of Iran’s Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, told the country’s Fars news agency that analysts have finally cracked the systems used within the RQ-170 Sentinel drone obtained in December 2011.   Continue reading “Iran says they’ve finished decoding downed CIA drone”

Mail.com

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry’s largest shareholder has reached a tentative agreement to pay $4.7 billion for the troubled smartphone maker, even as many investors fret about its potential demise.

BlackBerry Ltd. said Monday that Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has signed a letter of intent to buy the company for $9 per share in cash and take it private. The tentative deal comes just days after the Canadian company announced plans to lay off 40 percent of its global workforce. The offer price is below what the company had been trading at before the layoff announcement.   Continue reading “Fairfax reaches tentative deal to buy BlackBerry”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a possible firing, the Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the agency’s tea party scandal retired Monday, ending one chapter in a ruckus that has engulfed the tax-collection agency since spring.

Lois Lerner headed the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status when she was placed on paid leave in May. While she was in charge, the agency acknowledged that agents improperly targeted tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections.   Continue reading “IRS official at heart of tea party scandal retires”