Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The driver of a school bus that was filled with elementary students when it crashed in Chattanooga, killing at least five children, has been arrested and faces charges including vehicular homicide.

Calling the Monday afternoon crash “every public safety professional’s worst nightmare,” Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher told an overnight news conference that 24-year-old bus driver Johnthony Walker was charged with five counts of vehicular homicide. Walker was also charged with reckless driving and reckless endangerment.   Continue reading “School bus driver charged in deadly Chattanooga crash”

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LOS EBANOS, Texas (AP) — All along the winding Rio Grande, the people who live in this bustling, fertile region where the U.S. border meets the Gulf of Mexico never quite understood how Donald Trump’s great wall could ever be much more than campaign rhetoric.

Erecting a concrete barrier across the entire 1,954-mile frontier with Mexico, they know, collides head-on with multiple realities: the geology of the river valley, fierce local resistance and the immense cost.   Continue reading “Americans who live near border say Trump’s wall is unwelcome”

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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber killed at least 28 people inside a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital, Kabul, officials and eyewitnesses said. Ismail Kawasi, spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, said Monday that at least 45 others were wounded in the attack. Kawasi added that at least one small child is among the dead.

Faredoon Obiadi, head of the criminal investigation department for the Kabul police, said the attacker detonated his suicide vest among the crowds inside the Baqir-ul Ulom mosque in western Kabul. The attack took place on the first floor of the two-story building where Shiite worshippers had gathered to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson and an iconic Shiite martyr, in Karbala, Iraq in 680 A.D.  Continue reading “Afghan official: Suicide bomber kills 28 in Shiite mosque”

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PUKHRAYAN, India (AP) — The death toll from India’s worst train accident in years rose to 146 on Monday after rescuers used cranes to lift the last of the twisted metal wreckage to check for bodies underneath.

About 2,000 workers were clearing the tracks and checking for damage to the rail line in hopes of resuming traffic through one of India’s busiest railway junctions by Monday evening, railway official Amit Kumar said. The government called for an investigation into what caused the accident, promising to punish anyone found responsible.   Continue reading “Search for bodies at Indian train crash site ends; 146 dead”

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis police sergeant was hospitalized in critical condition but expected to survive after being shot Sunday night in what the police chief called an “ambush.” Police Chief Sam Dotson said the 46-year-old officer was shot twice in the face. The male suspect was later killed in a shootout with police.

“Fortunately for the blessing of God the officer’s going to survive,” Dotson said during a brief news conference after the shooting. He declined to name the officer but said he is a married father of three who has been with the department for about 20 years.   Continue reading “St. Louis police officer shot in ‘ambush’ attack, chief says”

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BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials plan to block new mining claims outside Yellowstone National Park as the Obama administration races in its last days to keep industry out of pristine and environmentally sensitive areas.

Mining claims on 30,000 acres north of the nation’s first national park would be prohibited for at least two years while a long-term ban is considered. Details were obtained by The Associated Press in advance of Monday’s formal announcement by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.   Continue reading “US moves to block mining near Yellowstone”

RT

A ruling out of Missouri’s Court of Appeals found that frozen embryos have the same rights as any other marital property, but not children. The case was the result of a woman who wanted to use frozen embryos from her and her ex-husband against his wishes.

Corporations are still people under the eyes of justice, but embryos are not, according to a ruling out of Kansas City’s Court of Appeals. This will come as bad news to Jalesia “Jasha” McQueen, 44, and as great news to her ex-husband, Justin Gadberry, 34.   Continue reading “Frozen embryos are property, not people – court ruling”

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TANQUIAN DE ESCOBEDO, Mexico (AP) — When Juan Carlos Soni Bulos heard his front door being smashed in one November morning, he frantically scrolled through his phone to call for help. Outside the human rights activist’s bedroom window, a Mexican marine in a black mask and helmet trained a rifle on him. “Drop the phone or I’ll shoot,” he said.

The marines blindfolded him, bound him and took him with four relatives and friends to a dimly lit, windowless warehouse. Then hours of torture began, Soni says — beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, sexual abuse. He heard his teenage nephew scream as they applied electric shocks to the boy’s ribs.   Continue reading “Torture haunts Mexico despite laws meant to eliminate it”

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on a fatal shooting at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport (all times local): 5:25 p.m. The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office says a Southwest Airlines employee shot and killed outside of an Oklahoma City airport died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Office spokeswoman Amy Elliott said Wednesday that 52-year-old Michael Winchester’s death was ruled a homicide. Oklahoma City police say the suspect in Tuesday’s shooting was 45-year-old Lloyd Dean Buie, a former Southwest Airlines employee who likely shot Winchester in retaliation for circumstances that led to his leaving his job last year.   Continue reading “The Latest: Airport victim died from single gunshot to chest”

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ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia has carried out its eighth execution of 2016, putting to death a man who told a psychiatrist he didn’t really want to die but also didn’t want to continue living in prison. Warden Eric Sellers told witnesses Steven Frederick Spears’ time of death was 7:30 p.m. Wednesday following an injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. Spears, 54, was convicted of murder in the August 2001 slaying of his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, at her home in Dahlonega, about 65 miles northeast of Atlanta.   Continue reading “Convicted killer who gave up on his case executed in Georgia”

RT

The FBI, CIA and NSA must release any potential evidence that they spied on Occupy Philadelphia protesters back in 2011, a federal judge has reportedly ruled in a “right-to-know” case against the government. The agencies have about a month to comply.

Senior US District Judge Berle Schiller has ordered documents as well as any records to be turned over no later than early next year. In case the agencies believe that this information should not be publicly disclosed, they must also provide justification of that.     Continue reading “Judge orders CIA, FBI & NSA to disclose whether they spied on Occupy Philadelphia protests – report”

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The horrific shooting of an Anchorage police officer has led to an unexpected break in a series of outdoor deaths that have gone unsolved for months and left people uneasy to use the city’s extensive trail system.

Ballistics tests matched the gun to two double homicides and a single killing last summer that helped set off fears a serial killer was roaming the Anchorage trails, picking off one or two people at a time.   Continue reading “Officer shooting probe gives Alaska police break in 5 cases”

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DENVER (AP) — It seemed like a no-brainer: Colorado’s voters were asked to eliminate an archaic and offensive reference to slavery as a punishment for a crime in the state Constitution. But a week after the vote, the poorly-written amendment is on the cusp of failing, and a lack of clarity from lawmakers may be to blame.

Adopted before President Ulysses S. Grant proclaimed Colorado a state in 1876, the constitution declares: “There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime.”   Continue reading “Colorado recount possible on slavery in state Constitution”

RT

The FBI has gained access to Twitter-linked analytics tool Dataminr, citing the use of Twitter by terrorist organizations. But that appears to violate Twitter’s fine print, which forbids its data from being used to “investigate, track, or surveil” users.

The bureau hired Dataminr last week to provide an “advanced alerting tool” to over 200 users, The Verge reported.   Continue reading “FBI gains access to tweet-mining app despite Twitter snooping ban”

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MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday urged the United States to respect the “irreversible” Paris Agreement on climate change, and said France will lead a dialogue on the topic with President-elect Donald Trump “on behalf of the 100 countries that have ratified” the deal.

Speaking to a U.N. climate conference in Morocco, Hollande praised U.S. President Barack Obama for his role in getting the landmark pact adopted in the French capital last year. “The United States, the most powerful economy in the world, the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, must respect the commitments that were made,” he said. “It’s not simply their duty, it’s in their interest.”   Continue reading “Hollande: US must respect ‘irreversible’ climate deal”

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BEIRUT (AP) — Russia launched new strikes in Syria on Tuesday involving carrier-borne jets and long-range missiles as opposition activists on the ground reported that the first airstrikes in nearly a month struck the besieged, rebel-held parts of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

According to activists, between four and 10 people were killed in the strikes on Aleppo, raising concerns of a return to daily deadly bombardment in Syria’s largest city. The Russian blitz began hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria over the phone and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their No. 1 enemy — “international terrorism and extremism.”   Continue reading “Russia launches new offensive, airstrikes hit Syria’s Aleppo”

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BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — After pulling his lifeless son from the car where the toddler had been left sweltering and alone for hours, Justin Ross Harris insisted it had been a fatal accident. Police found the death suspicious — from the short drive during which Harris said he forgot about his son to the fact he returned to his SUV once without noticing the boy.

After a month-long trial and four days of deliberations, a jury Monday sided with authorities and convicted 35-year-old Harris of malice murder — concluding not only that he should be held criminally responsible, but that he left his 22-month-old son, Cooper, to die on purpose.   Continue reading “Verdict: Georgia man deliberately killed son left in hot car”

RT

The EPA has quietly approved the usage of Monsanto’s brand new herbicide, which the company says is less “volatile” than all alternative dicamba-based compounds that have caused massive crop damage, lawsuits and even bloodshed in the past.

The US Environmental Protection Agency approved the usage of the dicamba-based herbicide XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology, on Wednesday, although the event went almost unnoticed by the media and activists, who have been otherwise preoccupied with the US Presidential elections’ fallout.   Continue reading “Monsanto’s ‘less-volatile’ dicamba herbicide receives quiet EPA approval”

RT

US President-elect Donald Trump has named the Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his future White House chief of staff, and appointed his campaign CEO and chairman of Breitbart News Stephen Bannon as chief strategist.

“I am thrilled to have my very successful team continue with me in leading our country,” Trump said in a statement. “Steve and Reince are highly qualified leaders who worked well together on our campaign and led us to a historic victory. Now I will have them both with me in the White House.”   Continue reading “America Trump picks RNC chair Priebus as WH chief of staff, campaign CEO Bannon as top strategist”