Author: Sunfire

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TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A South Carolina couple that wants to adopt a young Cherokee girl took their fight to Oklahoma on Wednesday, hoping to visit the child who previously lived with them for 27 months and seeking a compromise with her biological family that would return Veronica to their home.

Matt and Melanie Capobianco believe they have done everything necessary to regain custody of the girl, who is about to turn 4. The U.S. Supreme Court said in June that provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which would favor the girl’s father, didn’t apply in the case, and a South Carolina court awarded the couple custody on July 31.   Continue reading “SC couple seeks deal in Cherokee custody case”

RT News

A hostage-taking situation at a bank in rural Louisiana ended in tragedy as one of the two shot hostages has died, while the hostage taker was shot and killed by police.

Louisiana State Police superintendent Col. Mike Edmonson said that during negotiations with law enforcement officers, the suspect, identified as 20-year-old Fuaed Abdo Ahmed, said he was going to kill the remaining hostages, AP reported.    Continue reading “Two hostages shot at Louisiana bank, police kill suspect”

RT News

More than a dozen sailors on board an Indian Navy submarine are feared dead after it caught fire, exploding and partially sinking at a naval dockyard in Mumbai. India’s defense minister A. K. Antony confirmed that navy personnel had died in the explosion.

Earlier reports stated that at least 18 people were believed to be on board when the submarine caught fire.    Continue reading “Crewmembers killed as Indian submarine explodes, sinks at naval dockyard”

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A vote to end prohibition and allow alcohol on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation got most of the votes, but the election outcome was too close to call late Tuesday because of a high number of challenged ballots.

The measure got a majority of yes votes in the unofficial count — 1,645 to 1,494, according tribal spokeswoman Tony Red Cloud, who texted a photo of the handwritten results Tuesday night to The Associated Press.   Continue reading “SD reservation alcohol vote too close to call”

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel released 26 Palestinian inmates, including many convicted in grisly killings, on the eve of long-stalled Mideast peace talks, angering families of those slain by the prisoners, who were welcomed as heroes in the West Bank and Gaza.

Buses carrying the inmates departed the Ayalon prison in central Israel late Tuesday, a nighttime release that was aimed at preventing the spectacle of prisoners flashing victory signs as has happened in the past. Relatives of the victims, many with their hands painted red to symbolize what they say is the blood on the hands of the inmates, held protests throughout the day, and some protesters tried briefly to block the buses from leaving.   Continue reading “Israel frees 26 Palestinian prisoners before talks”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that if Congress doesn’t pass immigration overhaul legislation, President Barack Obama may act on his own to legalize the 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. illegally.

Rubio, a potential presidential candidate and an author of the sweeping immigration bill that passed the Senate in June but stalled in the House, noted that the Obama administration took action a year ago to give legal status to many immigrants brought here illegally as children. He said without congressional action, the president might well be tempted to do the same for everyone else here illegally, too.   Continue reading “Rubio warns Obama could act to legalize immigrants”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — An Air Force unit that operates one-third of the nation’s land-based nuclear missiles has failed a safety and security inspection, marking the second major setback this year for a force charged with the military’s most sensitive mission, the general in charge of the nuclear air force told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. James M. Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said a team of “relatively low-ranking” airmen failed one exercise as part of a broader inspection, which began last week and ended Tuesday. He said that for security reasons he could not be specific about the team or the exercise.   Continue reading “Air Force nuclear unit fails key security test”

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JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military shot down a rocket launched toward a Red Sea resort town near the border with Egypt on Tuesday, the army said.

It was the first time Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system successfully intercepted a rocket attack on the resort of Eilat, the military said. The incident came after days of heightened tension along the Egypt-Israel border.   Continue reading “Israel army shoots down rocket near Egypt border”

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DETROIT (AP) — Billboards promoting Detroit’s upcoming general election offered up some erroneous information about when to go to the polls.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/14J4HEc ) that many of the 14 billboards gave a September date for the election. The vote will actually take place Nov. 5. City Clerk Janice Winfrey says the billboards were updated Saturday with information about the general election, and she calls the September date “a mistake” by the business that handles the billboards.   Continue reading “Billboards give wrong date for Detroit election”

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PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) — Jobs and confidence are in short supply on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the rugged beauty of South Dakota’s Badlands contrasts sharply with dilapidated houses, rusted-out vehicles on blocks and trash in the streets — symbols of a helplessness fueled largely by an influx of bootlegged alcohol.

Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe are voting all day Tuesday on whether to give up the fight against bootlegging by allowing alcohol to be sold on the reservation — the last place in the state’s American Indian territory where it’s not allowed. Profits would be used for education, detoxification and treatment centers, for which there is currently little to no funding.   Continue reading “Last dry SD reservation voting on alcohol sales”

RT News

US prisons are operating at 40 percent above capacity, with half of all inmates locked up for drug-related crimes. Attorney General Eric Holder has proposed changes to the criminal justice system that would reduce sentences for non-violent crimes.

In an announcement scheduled for delivery on Monday, Holder outlined a plan to free up prisons and keep non-violent drug offenders from ending up in jail cells. Under a major policy shift, federal prosecutors will no longer push for “mandatory minimum” sentences for low-level drug offenders, and will instead send more people to drug treatment and community service programs. Additionally, Holder wants prisons to release elderly, non-violent offenders.   Continue reading “Facing overcrowded prisons, US wants to cut drug sentences”

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The billionaire inventor and entrepreneur behind PayPal and SpaceX unveiled details on Monday about a new transportation system that might someday shuttle people around the world quicker than an airplane and at a fraction of the cost.

Elon Musk, the South African-born scientist who also oversees operations of the Tesla electric car, revealed on Monday the most information yet about his Hyperloop project, a transportation system that he previously said could move people from Los Angeles, California to San Francisco in half an hour.   Continue reading “Inventor Elon Musk reveals new super-fast ‘Hyperloop’ transport”

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Brazilian officials have expressed reluctance to purchasing dozens of military planes from the US after it was revealed that the NSA not only closely monitored Brazilian energy and military affairs, but also mined for commercial secrets.

The US had planned to sell Brazil – a country in the process of revitalizing its Air Force – 36 fighter jets in a deal worth more than US$4 billion. But when US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday, the leaders will not discuss the deal, a source near to the situation told Reuters.    Continue reading “Brazil may reject US fighter jet deal over NSA spying scandal”

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A controversial, genetically modified super-maize from Monsanto is set to be approved for cultivation across the European Union by late October despite safety concerns, German media reports.

Despite EU regulators last month thwarting the expansion of the world’s largest seed corporation, it appears Germany won’t escape new GMO crops.    Continue reading “Monsanto’s SmartStax maize ‘to be approved for growth in October’ in EU”

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A man and a child were found dead at the YWCA in Manchester, New Hampshire, police said according to local news outlet WMUR.com. It comes after fire officials responded to an alleged shooting on Concord Street.

Security and emergency services responded around 10:30am local time to a report of shots fired inside the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association), located at 72 Concord Street.   Continue reading “2 dead including child in New Hampshire YWCA shooting”

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DALLAS (AP) — A suspect in the fatal shootings of four people in two Dallas-area homes was in custody Thursday as police tried to determine what prompted the attacks just minutes apart and whether an explosive was used.

Four people were also wounded in the attacks. The first shooting took place at a house in southwest Dallas late Wednesday and another was about 15 minutes later in DeSoto, some 10 miles away, Dallas police Sgt. Warren Mitchell said.   Continue reading “Police: 4 dead, 4 wounded in Dallas-area shootings”

RT News – by Robert Bridge

The Internal Revenue Service reportedly received incriminating information on US citizens from the Drug Enforcement Agency, with the assistance of the National Security Agency, before concealing the paper trail from defendants.

Details of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) program that provides tips to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and then advises them to “recreate the investigative trail” were published in a manual used by IRS agents for two years, Reuters revealed.    Continue reading “IRS gets help from DEA and NSA to collect data”

RT News

A software developer has discovered a critical security flaw in the highly popular Google Chrome browser that could put the privacy of potentially millions of users at risk.

Chrome is among the most widely used browsers on the Web, but security researchers are now warning that it’s far from safe. Developer Elliot Kember from New Zealand discovered that anyone with physical access to a computer running Chrome can see any password stored in the browser without having to bypass a single security barrier.  Continue reading “Google Chrome security flaw allows access to users’ passwords”

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The rate at which contaminated water has been pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant is worse than thought before, an Industry Ministry official said as PM Shinzo Abe pledged to step up efforts to halt the crisis.

“We think that the volume of water is about 300 tons a day,” said Yushi Yoneyama, an official with the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, which regulates Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).    Continue reading “Fukushima leaking radioactive water for ‘2 years, 300 tons flowing into Pacific daily’”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a rare diplomatic rebuke, President Barack Obama on Wednesday canceled his Moscow summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The decision reflected both U.S. anger over Russia’s harboring of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and growing frustration within the Obama administration over what it sees as Moscow’s stubbornness on other key issues, including missile defense and human rights.   Continue reading “In rebuke, Obama cancels Moscow summit with Putin”