Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A man angry about a parking dispute stabbed two people and then drove into a group of pedestrians on a sidewalk Sunday, leaving one person dead and several others injured, one critically, police said.

The violent altercation started around 4:30 a.m. outside a hookah lounge in Queens, when the driver of a white Hyundai sedan got out of his car and stabbed two other people, New York Police Department Assistant Chief David Barrere said. They were both stabbed in the chest, authorities said.   Continue reading “Police: Man angry about parking stabbed 2, mowed down others”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Economists expect a tax overhaul to provide a modest boost to the U.S. economy but are increasingly worried that a rewrite of the North American Free Trade Agreement will take a toll on growth.

The National Association of Business Economics survey found that forecasters expect tax law changes to add 0.2 percentage points of growth to the U.S. economy, down slightly from what they expected in the previous NABE survey in September. The survey was taken Nov. 6-15, before the Senate passed a major tax overhaul early Saturday.   Continue reading “Economists expect modest boost from tax cuts”

RT

At least 800 civilians have been killed by US-led coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since 2014, a coalition report says. It adds that the group holds itself accountable for “unintentional injury or death to civilians.”

“To date, based on information available, [the coalition] assesses at least 801 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition strikes since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve [in 2014],” Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) said in statement on Thursday.   Continue reading “US-led coalition acknowledges killing 800+ civilians in Iraq & Syria airstrikes”

Mail.com

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Protests were growing in Honduras as incumbent President Juan Orlando Hernandez emerged with a slim lead Thursday for re-election following a reported computer glitch that shut down vote counting for several hours.

Challenger Salvador Nasralla has alleged fraud and said he won’t respect the official results. He’s watched an initial five-point lead diminish in recent days as official results have trickled out. By early Thursday, Hernandez was ahead by about 22,000 votes, with about 88 percent of Sunday’s votes processed. He had 42.4 percent of the vote to Nasralla’s 41.7 percent.   Continue reading “Protests rise as vote count in Honduras drags on”

Mail.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — While U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi faced criticism for not being more strident in responding to sexual harassment allegations, back in her home state of California her daughter is throwing verbal hand grenades, alleging state lawmakers are protecting rapists at the Capitol.

At a hearing Tuesday on the California Legislature’s sexual harassment policies, Christine Pelosi produced gasps when she said “everybody here knows we have rapists in this building” as well as “enablers.” While many others testified, sometimes angrily, about a dysfunctional system they say protects the powerful and encourages silence from victims, Christine Pelosi’s comments stood apart with their bare-knuckle boldness.  Continue reading “Pelosi’s daughter: California lawmakers enable harassment”

RT

Crude prices could return to the levels last seen in 2014, according to a prediction by economist Jim O’Neill, former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

“While oil prices could be about $60 per barrel in November 2018, my guess is that they will have risen to about $80 per barrel in the meantime,” O’Neill wrote in Barron’s magazine.

The economist admits his prediction in January 2016 that the price slide would not continue failed. Now, he is among the few, who say prices are likely to rise, not stay stagnant around the current $60.   Continue reading “Oil price could jump to $80 per barrel says economist Jim O’Neill”

Mail.com

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — A conservative commentator who was arrested at the University of Connecticut and charged with breach of peace following an altercation blamed some UConn students for being “violent and disruptive.”

Lucian Wintrich’s Tuesday night speech titled “It’s OK To Be White” was repeatedly interrupted by people in the audience booing and chanting before coming to an abrupt end when a woman appeared to take paperwork off the lectern he was using and then began to leave.   Continue reading “Conservative speaker arrested at UConn blames students”

Mail.com

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A recent college graduate who has been accused of four slayings that terrorized a Tampa neighborhood had “no apparent motive” and used the same gun to kill innocent people near bus stops, the police chief said Wednesday.

The crack in the case that has lasted 51 days occurred when the suspect, 24-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson, brought a loaded gun to his job at a McDonald’s and asked a co-worker to hold it, authorities said.   Continue reading “Tampa police: Suspect in 4 slayings used same gun”

RT

The risk of a large-scale correction in US stocks is on the rise, say researchers from Vanguard Group. They warn the probability is 30 percent higher than what has been typical over the past sixty years.

Vanguard’s chief economist Joe Davis said investors do need to be prepared for a significant downturn which is now a 70 percent chance.   Continue reading “US stock market has 70 percent chance of crashing… now! – research”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the Iran sanctions trial of a Turkish banker (all times local): 10:45 a.m. A U.S. prosecutor says Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab has pleaded guilty to charges and will reveal at a New York trial how he helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions in an “economic jihad.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Denton said Tuesday that Zarrab will be a key witness against Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla. The prosecutor said the scheme to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran since 2011 enabled billions of dollars to be moved and threatened U.S. security.   Continue reading “The Latest: Prosecutor: Turkish gold trader pleaded guilty”

Mail.com

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Families of Navajo war veterans who were honored at the White House say they were dumbfounded that President Donald Trump used the event to take a political jab at a Massachusetts senator, demeaning their work with an unbreakable code that helped the U.S. win World War II.

Trump turned to a nickname he often deployed for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the 2016 presidential campaign: Pocahontas. He then told the three Navajo Code Talkers on stage Monday that he had affection for them that he doesn’t have for Warren.  Continue reading “Trump’s ‘Pocahontas’ jab stuns families of Navajo war vets”

RT

Dozens of police departments across the US are using special devices to track suspects without warrants. However, the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers also capture data from regular people on the street.

The technology, which was developed for the military, mimics cell phone towers and tricks phones into routing signals through them. This allows police to a track suspect’s location. The machines even allow police to get the location of a phone without the user making a call or sending a text. The most common of these devices is called a “StingRay.”  Continue reading “US police covertly spy on innocent citizens with military hardware – report”

RT

More and more jobs are at risk of being outsourced to a cheaper and more efficient robot. Is your job one of them – and if so, will a universal basic income (UBI) prove to be the panacea for increased automation?

Many or most of us wish we could work shorter hours and have more time for family, friends and fun. The struggle to reduce the working day spans several generations. In the 19th century our ancestors, fighting tooth-and-nail with banner in hand, won several victories. Following the February 1848 Revolution in France, the nation’s working day was capped at 12 hours.  Continue reading “21st-century industrial revolution: Will robots steal your job?”

Mail.com

MEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Officials at Tufts University in Massachusetts have postponed an event with Anthony Scaramucci after the former White House communications director threatened a lawsuit over an opinion piece published in the student newspaper.

The Boston Globe reports Scaramucci was scheduled to speak at the Medford university’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy on Monday. Earlier this month, 26-year-old Camilo Caballero wrote a piece in The Tufts Daily newspaper criticizing Scaramucci’s position on a Fletcher advisory board.   Continue reading “School cancels Anthony Scaramucci event over lawsuit threats”

Mail.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An upcoming ruling by California’s highest court in a legal battle between the union launched by labor leader Cesar Chavez and one of the nation’s largest fruit farms could dramatically reduce the power of organized farm labor in the state.

The California Supreme Court was expected to decide Monday whether a law allowing the state to order unions and farming companies to reach binding contracts is unconstitutional. Labor activists say the mandatory mediation and conciliation law is key to helping farm workers improve labor conditions.   Continue reading “California high court to decide legality of farm worker law”

RT

A US Navy aircraft has crashed into the Philippine Sea with 11 crew and passengers on board. In a statement, the US 7th Fleet commander says a search operation is underway involving the USS Ronald Reagan.

Eight of the missing have been found, they have been transferred to the USS Ronald Reagan and are said to be in good condition. A search is continuing for the three missing people.   Continue reading “US Navy aircraft with 11 on board crashes into ocean southeast of Okinawa”

Mail.com

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump started off his first day of Thanksgiving vacation by resuming his taunts of the father of a UCLA basketball player detained for shoplifting in China, saying Wednesday that he was an “ungrateful fool.”

In a series of tweets fired off before dawn, the president complained yet again that LaVar Ball, father of LiAngelo Ball, hasn’t given him credit for the release of his son and two other UCLA basketball players from detention in China.   Continue reading “Trump calls father of freed UCLA player an ‘ungrateful fool’”