Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of immigrants crossing the border illegally into the U.S. appears to be on the rise again after dropping during the recession.

The total number of immigrants living in this country unlawfully edged up from 11.3 million in 2009 to 11.7 million last year, with those from countries other than Mexico at an apparent all-time high, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project.   Continue reading “New signs of rising illegal immigration into US”

Mail.com

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — They face parole hearings soon, but ex-Tyco executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz have already left a minimum-security prison in Harlem for steady clerical jobs and overnights in apartments following their headline-grabbing $134 million corporate fraud convictions.

Former CEO Kozlowski and ex-chief financial officer Swartz are among 304 inmates in the state’s work-release program, according to prison officials. After a period where they spent nights or weekends back at Lincoln Correctional Facility, they have only had to report in weekly since July.   Continue reading “Ex-Tyco execs out of prison, face parole hearings”

Mail.com

BERLIN (AP) — The fingerprint-based security system used to unlock Apple’s latest iPhone can be bypassed using a household printer and some wood glue, a German hacking group has claimed.

A spokesman for the Chaos Computer Club said the group managed to fool the biometric sensor in the iPhone 5S over the weekend by creating an artificial copy of a genuine fingerprint. “It was surprisingly easy,” Dirk Engling told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday, a day after the group announced the exploit on its website.   Continue reading “German group claims iPhone fingerprint hack”

Things that make you wonder.  If the human body produces these flu-fighting cells on its own, why would anyone need a vaccine? 

RT News

Scientists have reached a breakthrough in their pursuit of a universal vaccine for flu, which includes even future deadly strains. The answer lay within the human body itself, after eluding specialists for decades.

The foundations for a possible revolutionary flu vaccine were discovered as part of a UK study following the 2009 swine flu pandemic.    Continue reading “Through with flu? Universal influenza vaccine on its way”

Mail.com

FALFURRIAS, Texas (AP) — By the time the woman perished, she had probably slogged 25 miles through dry ranch lands in her quest to enter the United States. She was found just feet from a highway where she might have been picked up and taken to Houston with other migrants making the same journey.

Not long ago, her body would have been taken to a funeral home for a cursory attempt at identification, then buried in this town an hour north of the Mexico border under a sign reading “unknown female.”   Continue reading “Rising immigrant deaths put burden on Texas county”

Mail.com

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan freed the Afghan Taliban’s former deputy leader on Saturday after years of detention in a move that many officials in Islamabad and Kabul hope will aid Afghanistan’s struggling peace process.

But others doubt Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will do much good, and the United States, which opposed his release, is worried he could return to the battlefield. That could give the Taliban in Afghanistan a boost at a time when the U.S. is drawing down its troops and increasingly relying on Afghan forces to fight insurgents.  Continue reading “Pakistan releases top Afghan Taliban prisoner”

Mail.com

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A human-trafficking charge against a Saudi princess was abruptly dismissed Friday after prosecutors were unable to support claims by a Kenyan maid who said she had to escape from her employer’s condominium after having her passport taken and being forced to work long hours for meager pay.

The announcement came during what had been expected to be the arraignment of Meshael Alayban, 42, on the felony charge punishable by up to 12 years in prison. Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas told the judge that investigators tried to corroborate the allegations but found the evidence did not support the claim.  Continue reading “Trafficking case against Saudi princess dismissed”

Mail.com

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Gunmen threw grenades, fired automatic weapons and targeted non-Muslims at the upscale Westgate mall in Kenya’s capital on Saturday, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens more, a Red Cross official and witnesses said.

Police blamed the attack on terrorists. Kenyan military and police surrounded the mall, which had been hosting a children’s day event, and helicopters flew overhead. Gunmen remained inside hours after the attack, although firing subsided.  Continue reading “Kenya Red Cross: 22 dead in upscale mall attack”

RT News

African-American middle school students were forced to act as slaves, pretending to be sold at auction and standing in the darkness of a would-be slave ship, all while enduring racial epithets, a human rights lawsuit filed by a student’s mother claims.

Sandra Baker told the Hartford Courant this week that her  daughter, who is black, said she and other students in her  seventh grade class were “terrorized” during a field trip  to Nature’s Classroom in Charlton, Massachusetts. Parents of the  students, who traveled from Hartford Magnet Trinity College  Academy 45 minutes away, were not told their children would be  participating in a slavery reenactment when giving permission for  the trip.    Continue reading “Parent files lawsuit over slavery reenactment on school field trip”

RT News

Drones used by the US to spy on, hunt, and kill terror suspects are “useless” in just about every other combat-related scenario, a top Air Force general said.

The fleet of MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones are no match for aircraft that can fly higher and faster, like those employed by the most basic of air defenses around the world, Gen. Mike Hostage, chief of the air service’s Air Combat Command, said at an Air Force Association conference.   Continue reading “Predator drones ‘useless’ in combat scenarios – Air Force general”

RT News

Bolivian President Evo Morales will file a lawsuit against the US government for crimes against humanity. He has decried the US for its intimidation tactics and fear-mongering after the Venezuelan presidential jet was blocked from entering US airspace.

“I would like to announce that we are preparing a lawsuit against Barack Obama to condemn him for crimes against humanity,” said President Morales at a press conference in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. He branded the US president as a “criminal” who violates international law.    Continue reading “Bolivian president to sue US govt for crimes against humanity”

Mail.com

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pfc. John Eddington was preparing for deployment to Europe in World War II when he learned his wife gave birth to a daughter. He penned a letter, sweetly telling the little girl how much he loved her and longed to see her.

But he never got to meet her, and the letter and his Purple Heart medal ended up in a box thousands of miles away from Peggy Smith, the daughter who was told nearly nothing about him. Years after a Missouri woman found the box of mementos and underwent an exhaustive search to find the daughter who grew up hesitant to ask about her father because it upset her mother, the letter and medal will be handed over to Smith on Saturday in what figures to be an emotional ceremony in Dayton, Nev., where Smith lives.   Continue reading “7 decades later, Purple Heart given to daughter”

Mail.com

GROSSPRIEL, Austria (AP) — In Austria, hunting game such as deer and wild boar is a hallowed way of life, one that follows age-old codes of honor and requires a license bestowed only after passing rigorous exams. In that exalted world, Alois Huber was a brazen outlaw even before he went on a murderous rampage that left four people dead.

Not only did he poach game illegally in the middle of the night, he violated one of hunting’s most sacred rules: Kill for meat, not just the trophy of the wild animal’s head. Huber shot countless deer in the forests outside Vienna, sawed off their antlered heads to mount at home — and left their decapitated bodies to rot in the underbrush.   Continue reading “Austrian hunter’s obsession turns to murder”

Mail.com

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than two years ago, federal prosecutors exchanged hugs and held hands with victims’ relatives after a jury convicted five former New Orleans police officers of civil rights violations stemming from deadly shootings on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina.

But a judge threw out those convictions Tuesday and ordered a new trial for the officers, concluding the case had been tainted by “grotesque prosecutorial misconduct.” Romell Madison, whose mentally disabled brother, Ronald, was one of two unarmed people gunned down on the Danziger Bridge, said the family is “extremely disappointed” and urged the Justice Department to appeal the judge’s ruling.   Continue reading “Judge orders new trial in Katrina bridge killings”

Mail.com

ELLENWOOD, Ga. (AP) — A 14-year-old Georgia girl abducted in a home invasion robbery was found alive on Wednesday after a massive search by multiple law enforcement agencies, and two suspects were in custody, police said.

Ayvani Hope Perez had been taken from her home early Tuesday after authorities said robbers broke in, demanded money and jewelry and were told there was none. Authorities have said the robbery and abduction appeared to be random.   Continue reading “Police: Ga. teen abducted from home found alive”

RT News

Damascus has presented to Russia additional evidence regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Earlier Western countries accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against civilians, citing a controversial UN report.

The evidence was handed over on Wednesday to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem and President Bashar Assad in Damascus.   Continue reading “West-accused Syria gives Russia new evidence of rebel hand in chem attacks”

RT News

No telecommunications company ever refused to follow the secret US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s orders to turn over bulk phone records under the Patriot Act, despite a legal mechanism to do so, the court has revealed.

“To date, no holder of records who has received an order to produce bulk telephony metadata has challenged the legality of such an order,” Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Judge Claire Eagan wrote. Her opinion was made public on Tuesday.    Continue reading “Privacy perverted: No telco ever disobeyed NSA phone record orders”

RT News

Thousands of Occupy protesters demonstrated in New York City to mark the second anniversary of the movement on Tuesday, just as new figures show that poverty remains steady and the so-called “1 percent” have only grown wealthier.

Small groups of protesters marched near Zuccotti Park, the birthplace of the movement in 2011, while others marched through Washington Square Park and other areas of Manhattan.     Continue reading “2 years after Occupy Wall Street: Poverty persists, economic inequality grows”

RT News

A growing number of US universities now offer degree programs for students hoping to study the military technology of the future: drones. Flying an unmanned aerial device is now a viable career in a world of growing surveillance and fewer job options.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida became the first American university to offer postgraduate education in drone warfare this autumn, opening a program that promises students job security right after school – when many of their friends could be moving back in with their parents.   Continue reading “US colleges train students in drone warfare as job opportunities beckon”

RT News

A lack of new antibiotics, coupled with the over-prescription of existing ones, is making many formerly routine diseases untreatable, according to a new report published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

At least two million people in the US are infected each year – and 23,000 of those die – from bacteria that does not respond to treatment by usual or any antibiotics, claims the Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States 2013 report.   Continue reading “Drug-resistant bacteria: 23,000 deaths a year in US and getting worse”