Author: Sunfire

RT

Boosting the sanctioned economy of North Korea would not be easy or cheap, but there are geopolitical benefits for South Korea, according to research by Citibank analysts.

Citi estimated that $63.1 billion would be needed to rebuild transportation and infrastructure. Among the costs is an estimated $24.1 billion – needed for 28 railroad projects, $22.8 billion would be required for 33 road projects and 16 power plant projects would cost around $10 billion. The immediate building costs would require an estimated $11.6 billion.   Continue reading “Rebuilding North Korea’s economy would cost $63bn, but South Korea would benefit – Citi”

RT

The notorious White Helmets have brought chemicals, protective gear and cameras to militant-controlled Idlib in Syria, in an apparent preparation of yet another false-flag attack, locals told the Russian Reconciliation Center.

A convoy of six vehicles, bearing the emblems of the White Helmets, reportedly arrived in the capital of Idlib province over the weekend, the head of the Russian Reconciliation Center, major general Aleksey Tsygankov, told journalists on Wednesday.  Continue reading “White Helmets are helping Syrian militants prepare ‘false flag’ chemical attack – Idlib residents”

Mail.com

SEATTLE (AP) — Your Amazon packages, which usually show up in a UPS truck, an unmarked vehicle or in the hands of a mail carrier, may soon be delivered from an Amazon van. The online retailer, wanting more control over how its packages are delivered, rolled out a program Thursday that lets entrepreneurs around the country launch businesses that deliver Amazon packages. They’ll be able to lease blue vans with the Amazon logo stamped on it, buy Amazon uniforms for drivers and get support from Amazon to grow their business. In return, Amazon gets more ways to ship its packages to shoppers without having to rely on UPS, FedEx and other package delivery services.   Continue reading “Move over UPS truck: Amazon delivery vans to hit the street”

Mail.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The boyfriend of a Southern California woman whose 10-year-old son died last week under suspicious circumstances — which followed a dozen referrals of suspected child abuse to child welfare officials over several years — was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Kareem Leiva, 32, was arrested in the death of Anthony Avalos after an interview with sheriff’s detectives on Wednesday. The arrest came a day after county child welfare officials revealed that the boy had previously reported being beaten, locked up and not fed.  Continue reading “Arrest made in death of boy who had complained about abuse”

RT

OPEC leader Saudi Arabia is set to increase oil production to a record 10.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, Bloomberg reports.

This is a significant rise from 10.03 million bpd in May. That would surpass the previous high of 10.72 million in November 2016, according to Bloomberg.  Continue reading “Saudi Arabia to boost oil production to record high – report”

RT

The Trump administration is going to extreme lengths to disrupt as much oil from Iran as possible, and the implications for the oil market could be severe.

When the Obama administration sought to isolate Iran, it built an international coalition, put in place tight sanctions, and tried to curtail Iran’s oil exports. It worked, knocking around 1 million barrels per day offline. Still, the Obama administration granted leeway to an array of countries that depended on Iranian oil, including India, Japan and much of the EU, by granting them exemptions from sanctions as long as they did their best to reduce purchases.   Continue reading “Oil jumps as Trump asks allies to cut off Iranian oil”

Mail.com

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban may have a silver lining for people fighting other administration immigration policies after the 5-4 majority ruled that the president’s prior comments about Muslims were not off limits when evaluating the ban, legal experts said.

Trump — a prolific Twitter user— has had his words turned against him in lawsuits over his administration’s decisions to separate families at the border, end legal protections for young immigrants and revoke temporary status for people from particular countries.  Continue reading “Experts: Travel ruling could boost other immigration suits”

Mail.com

EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) — A white police officer was charged Wednesday with homicide in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager who fled a traffic stop last week, and investigators said the officer gave inconsistent statements about whether he saw a gun in the teen’s hand.

East Pittsburgh officer Michael Rosfeld first told investigators that the teen turned his hand toward him when he ran from the car and he “saw something dark he perceived as a gun,” according to the criminal complaint.   Continue reading “Officer charged with homicide in shooting of black teen”

RT

A family trip to Ikea ended with a bang when a child fired a loaded handgun it found wedged in one of the store’s couches in Fishers, Indiana.

The child, whose age has not been released, found the gun in one of the store’s couches and pulled the trigger, firing at least one shot, Fishers Police Department said, the Indy Star reports. Luckily, no one was injured in the shooting.   Continue reading “Child fires gun found inside couch at Ikea store”

RT

Touted by some as the planet’s greenest vehicles, electric Teslas may be as bad for the environment as traditional petrol and diesel cars, the latest research reveals.

According to researchers at the UK-based climate data provider Engaged Tracking, the production of Tesla cars, as well as fossil fuel-powered plants used for generating electricity to charge the vehicles produce nearly the same amount of emissions that conventional engines do.   Continue reading “Teslas may produce as much CO2 as gasoline powered cars”

Mail.com

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The 4-month-old Honduran had just entered the United States illegally with a man who first claimed to be her father, then said he was her uncle, and presented what appeared to be a false birth certificate.

The girl, wrapped in white bedding, was placed in a white crib under close watch of U.S. investigators, who waited for a Honduran consular official to arrive Monday. She was among about 1,100 people in a former warehouse that tripled in size last year, largely to accommodate people — many from Central America — traveling as families, and children traveling alone.   Continue reading “A day with Border Patrol: imperiled infant, distraught dad”

RT

James Mattis is poised to make his first visit to Beijing weeks after he said the US will “vigorously compete” with China and accused America’s Asian rival of “intimidation and coercion” in the contested South China Sea area.

Defense Secretary James Mattis’ trip is scheduled for June 26-28 and comes as part of his Asian tour spanning across China, South Korea and Japan, the Pentagon said in a press release. This will be the first time a US defense chief is visiting China since 2014.  Continue reading “‘I’ll do a lot of listening there’: Mattis becomes 1st Pentagon chief to visit China in 4 years”

RT

Su-57 retains a considerable advantage over the F-35 in the air, according to Military Watch. But there is a big question: is the comparison legitimate in the absence of real data?

Military Watch says the two fighters are significantly different. Lockheed Martin F-35 is a light aircraft with lower than average maneuverability. It was designed as a lighter and less costly complement to the elite F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter, a platform no longer in production.   Continue reading “Russian Su-57 v US F-35: Which is better?”

RT

Fact-checker and writer at New Yorker magazine Talia Lavin has resigned from her position after she falsely accused an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent of having a Nazi tattoo on his arm.

Lavin, who worked for the Condé Nast-published magazine for three years, caused a furore online when she tweeted in a since-deleted post about an inking on the arm of ICE Agent Justin Gaertner.   Continue reading “Tattoo blunder: New Yorker writer resigns for branding wounded marine a Nazi”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it won’t weigh in on the case of a teenager convicted of rape and murder whose story was documented in the Netflix series “Making a Murderer.” As is typical, the justices did not explain their decision declining to take the case. The justices’ decision leaves in place a lower court ruling against Brendan Dassey.

Dassey was 16 years old when he confessed to Wisconsin authorities that he had joined his uncle in raping and murdering photographer Teresa Halbach before burning her body in a bonfire. Dassey’s attorneys, however, say he’s borderline intellectually disabled and was manipulated by experienced police officers into accepting their story of how Halbach’s murder happened. They wanted his confession thrown out and a new trial.   Continue reading “Supreme Court declines to hear ‘Making a Murderer’ case”

RT

It’s parallel universe time when US Pentagon chief James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis complains that America’s “moral authority” is being undermined by others – specifically Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

This is the ex-Marine general who gained his ruthless reputation from when illegally occupying US troops razed the Iraqi city of Fallujah in the 2004-2005 using “shake and bake” bombardment of inhabitants with banned white phosphorus incendiaries.  Continue reading “Mad Dog Mattis, the destroyer of Raqqa, frets about losing moral authority”

RT

The political standoff started in 2014, shortly after the conflict in Ukraine and the referendum in Crimea in favor of joining Russia. Several rounds of US sanctions followed, with the latest affecting major Russian companies and individuals who run them.

In April, Russia sold half of its US sovereign debt bonds, getting rid of nearly $47 billion worth of securities, according to US Treasury data released last week. The sell-off is a signal that Russia’s financial regulators are diversifying the country’s foreign exchange reserves, say analysts at the Copenhagen-based Danske Bank.  Continue reading “Russia gets rid of US Treasury securities and buys gold”

Mail.com

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — South Sudan’s armed opposition on Thursday rejected any “imposition” of a peace deal and asked for more time after the first face-to-face meeting between President Salva Kiir and rival Riek Machar in almost two years.

An opposition statement called Wednesday night’s meeting “cordial” and said the two sides discussed the prospects for peace “in broad terms.” But it warned that the current model for the peace process is “unrealistic” and that “there is no shortcut to peace.”  Continue reading “South Sudan’s armed opposition rejects ‘imposition’ of peace”

Mail.com

EAST PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) — A 17-year-old boy fatally shot by a police officer in Pennsylvania seconds after he fled a traffic stop did not pose a threat to anyone, a lawyer for the family of the teen said.

Civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt said late Wednesday that he doesn’t see any apparent justification for the use of deadly force by an East Pittsburgh police officer that left Antwon Rose Jr. dead. Allegheny County police are conducting an independent investigation of the shooting in East Pittsburgh, a borough about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.  Continue reading “Lawyer: No apparent justification for fatal shooting of teen”