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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — In part of a sweeping debate about the public display of Confederate symbols across the South, some black legislators in Mississippi say they are boycotting a regional meeting that their own state is hosting this summer, to protest the rebel emblem on the state flag.

The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus is asking the Southern Legislative Conference to push Mississippi to lose its status as the last state with a flag featuring the Confederate battle emblem — a red field topped by a blue tilted cross dotted by 13 white stars.   Continue reading “Black lawmakers to protest over Confederate emblem on flag”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — An American company that was paid nearly $700 million to secure an Iraqi base for F-16 fighter jets turned a blind eye to alcohol smuggling, theft, security violations, and allegations of sex trafficking — then terminated investigators who uncovered wrongdoing, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Documents and interviews with two former internal investigators and a half-dozen former or current Sallyport Global staff describe schemes at Iraq’s Balad Air Base that were major contract violations at best and, if proven, illegal.   Continue reading “US firm in Iraq ignores smuggling, security risks for F-16s”

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A jury is recommending charges against seven Milwaukee County Jail staffers in connection with the death of an inmate whose water was shut off and never turned back on. Sheriff David Clarke, a possible Trump administration add-on, is not part of the group.

On Monday, following a six-day inquest that heard from jail officials and included the county prosecutor’s evidence related to the dehydration death of Terrill Thomas, a Milwaukee County jury determined there to be probable cause for “abuse of a resident of a penal facility,”according to the Associated Press.   Continue reading “Milwaukee jury urges criminal charges against county jail officials over inmate dehydration death”

RT

Since the start of OPEC’s production cuts, oil market analysts and experts have been focusing on how US shale would respond to the relatively higher and stable oil prices, possibly eating up some of the cartel’s global market share while the cuts last.

The market share war is also going on a micro level within OPEC itself – a diverse group of producers, with each pushing and pursuing their own agenda in every meeting and collective decision. This time around it is no different.   Continue reading “OPEC deal backfires: Saudis lose market share to Iran, Iraq”

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SEATTLE (AP) — Tens of thousands across the country peacefully chanted, picketed and protested Monday against President Donald Trump’s immigration and labor policies on May Day, despite a small pocket of violent unrest in the Pacific Northwest.

Peaceful protesters flocked to the streets in Chicago. At the White House gates, they demanded “Donald Trump has got to go!” But police shut down a protest in Portland, Oregon, that they said had become a riot, after marchers began throwing smoke bombs and other items at officers. Police said they made more than two dozen arrests as a group of anarchists wearing black bandanas and ski masks grew unruly, reportedly breaking windows at businesses, setting fires on downtown streets and damaging a police car.  Continue reading “Arrests made as thousands rally in US for and against Trump”

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MIDDLETOWN, Del. (AP) — A man suspected of fatally shooting a Delaware state trooper has been shot and killed by officers after an overnight standoff, state police said Thursday. The man, who has not been identified, walked out of the home where he had been holed up since the fatal shooting of the trooper a day earlier, “engaged officers” and was shot by law enforcement and died at the scene, police said in a statement. Police planned a news conference Thursday afternoon to release more details.

The man had been barricaded inside the home since Wednesday afternoon, not long after Cpl. Stephen J. Ballard, 32, was shot several times after he approached a vehicle in the parking lot of a Wawa convenience store near Bear.   Continue reading “Police: Trooper slaying suspect shot dead after barricade”

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MILFORD, Pa. (AP) — The bell atop the Pike County Courthouse last tolled the fate of a condemned killer in the 1980s. On Wednesday, it rang again. Eric Frein, the would-be revolutionary who shot two Pennsylvania troopers, one fatally, in a late-night attack at their barracks, was sentenced to death late Wednesday. The jury’s decision that Frein should die by lethal injection brought a shouted “yes!” from a gallery that included high-ranking state police brass, the slain officer’s mother and the trooper who suffered debilitating injuries after Frein shot him with a high-powered rifle.  Continue reading “Trooper ambush killer sentenced to death in Pennsylvania”

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DALLAS (AP) — United Airlines says it will raise the limit — to $10,000 — on payments to customers who give up seats on oversold flights and will increase training for employees as it deals with fallout from the video of a passenger being violently dragged from his seat.

United is also vowing to reduce, but not eliminate, overbooking — the selling of more tickets than there are seats on the plane. The airline made the promises Thursday as it released a report detailing mistakes that led to the April 9 incident on a United Express plane in Chicago.  Continue reading “United raising limit on payments to bumped flyers to $10,000”

RT

Three Islamic State terrorists have reportedly been killed by a stampeding herd of wild boars during a failed attempt to set up an ambush in Northern Iraq.

According to Iraqi News, the trio of militants were killed on Sunday night after an altercation with the wild beasts in southern Kirkuk. Quoting local sources, The Times reports that the boars also injured a further five militants in the bitterly contested area.  Continue reading “Rampaging wild boars kill 3 ISIS terrorists in Iraq”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is proposing tax cuts for individuals and businesses even as Washington struggles with mounting debt and the populist president tries to make good on promises to bring jobs and prosperity to the middle class.

Trump is scheduled Wednesday to unveil the broad outlines of a tax overhaul that would provide massive tax cuts to businesses big and small. The top tax rate for individuals would be cut by a few percentage points, from 39.6 percent to the “mid-30s,” said an official with knowledge of the plan.   Continue reading “Massive Trump tax cuts face big hurdles as debt mounts”

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NEW YORK (AP) — Internet companies are readying for a showdown with telecoms and a Republican-controlled government over a policy near and dear to their hearts: net neutrality. Net neutrality basically prevents broadband providers from playing favorites or steering users toward (or away from) particular internet sites. Under rules enacted during the Obama administration, the likes of Comcast and Verizon — which offer their own video services they’d very much like subscribers to use — can’t slow down Netflix, can’t block YouTube, and can’t charge Spotify extra to stream faster than Pandora.   Continue reading “Internet firms winding up for a fight on ‘net neutrality’”

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — For the third time in two months, a federal judge has knocked down an immigration order by President Donald Trump and used Trump’s own language against him. In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Orrick quoted Trump to support his decision to block the president’s order to withhold funding from “sanctuary cities” that do not cooperate with U.S. immigration officials.

Trump called the sanctuary cities order a “weapon” against communities that disagree with his preferred immigration policy, Orrick said. The judge also cited a February interview in which he said the president threatened to cut off funding to California, saying the state “in many ways is out of control.”   Continue reading “Judge cites Trump’s comment in ‘sanctuary city’ ruling”

RT

A group of up to 50 armed assailants laid siege to a police headquarters in Paraguay on Monday while stealing up to $40 million from a security firm. Four people were killed in what was dubbed the “robbery of the century” and subsequent police operations.

The gang, believed by police to include members of notorious Brazilian drug gang First Capital Command, targeted the headquarters of Prosegur, a security company specialising in the transportation of cash in the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este.   Continue reading “‘Robbery of the century’: Gang unleashes war tactics as up to $40mn stolen”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will mark the end of his first 100 days in office with a flurry of executive orders, looking to fulfill campaign promises and rack up victories ahead of that milestone by turning to a presidential tool he once derided. But Trump’s frequent use of the executive order points to his struggles getting legislation through a Congress controlled by his own party and few of the orders themselves appear to deliver the sweeping changes the president has promised.   Continue reading “Trump touts executive orders he once lambasted”

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DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — One by one, the Mexican men stood in the jury box, shackles rattling as they fidgeted slightly and pleaded guilty to crossing the U.S. border illegally. They had come for better jobs, many to earn more money to help raise their children, their defense lawyer told a federal magistrate in a quiet west Texas courtroom about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of the Mexican border. The magistrate, Collis White, warned that a guilty plea would mean jail time and they couldn’t return to the United States legally for years. Speaking in Spanish, each of the 15 men said they understood. They faced up to six months in jail, but most were sentenced to just a few days.   Continue reading “Tough court on immigration serves as model for Trump plans”

RT

Suspected Taliban insurgents set off a car bomb at a US-operated base in Afghanistan, according to officials. At least four people were reportedly killed and six others wounded. It occurred shortly after US Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived in the country.

The attackers detonated the car bomb at an entrance to Camp Chapman, a secretive facility manned by US forces and private military contractors, said Mubarez Mohammad Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial governor, as cited by Reuters.   Continue reading “Bomb attack hits US base in Afghanistan as Defense Sec Mattis visits Kabul, casualties reported”

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CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is set to hold the first public event of his post-presidential life in the place where he started his political career. Obama will speak Monday at the University of Chicago, where his presidential library is planned.

College students from around the Chicago area are expected to attend. The invitation-only event is being billed as part of his post-presidency goal to “encourage and support the next generation of leaders.”   Continue reading “Obama to deliver first post-presidency speech in Chicago”

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United States must confront Russia for providing weapons to the Taliban for use against American-backed forces in Afghanistan, top U.S. military officials said Monday. At a news conference with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at his side, Gen. John Nicholson, the American commander in Afghanistan, wouldn’t provide specifics about Russia’s role in Afghanistan. But said he would “not refute” that Moscow’s involvement includes giving weapons to the Taliban.   Continue reading “US general in Afghanistan suggests Russia arming the Taliban”

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Two condemned Arkansas killers who admit they’re guilty but fear their poor health could lead to extreme pain during lethal injections set for Monday might become the first inmates put to death in a double execution in the U.S. in more than 16 years.

Jack Jones and Marcel Williams are set to die in what would be the second and third executions in Arkansas this month. The state set an aggressive plan to execute several inmates before one of its lethal injection drugs expires at the end of April.   Continue reading “Arkansas prepares for 1st double execution in US since 2000”

RT

Facebook says it is developing non-invasive technology that will allow people to transform thoughts into text through sheer mind power, sparing them the time and effort required to type words. The project has received a fairly mixed response, however.

The social media giant announced its intention to create the potentially revolutionary technology at its developer conference, F8, on Wednesday. The far-reaching plans to combine the “convenience of voice” and “the privacy of text” were presented by the head of Facebook’s Building 8 hardware research division, Regina Dugan.   Continue reading “‘Type messages with your brain’: Facebook teases development of new silent speech technology”