Author: Sunfire

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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian prime minister on Monday confirmed that he did not tell President-elect Donald Trump that the United States had agreed to resettle an unspecified number of refugees languishing at Australia’s expense in Pacific island camps.

In announcing the deal on Sunday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would not say whether he had discussed it with Trump during their telephone conversation on Thursday. “We deal with one administration at a time and you don’t discuss confidential matters with one administration with a future administration,” Turnbull told Nine Network television.   Continue reading “Australian prime minister did not tell Trump of refugee deal”

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A woman who was accused of killing her twin sister by driving their vehicle off a Hawaii cliff in May was being held in a New York jail Monday after again being charged with murder.

New York State Police announced over the weekend that Alexandria Duval, 38, was arrested Friday after being tracked down at an Albany home. Police say when they spotted Duval outside the residence she tried to flee, but she was soon caught.   Continue reading “Sister accused of killing twin in Hawaii cliff crash in jail”

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BEIJING (AP) — A top Chinese police official was elected president of Interpol on Thursday, setting off alarm bells among rights advocates over abuses and a lack of transparency within China’s legal system, as well as the potential misuse of the police organization to attack Beijing’s political opponents.

Vice Public Security Minister Meng Hongwei was named as the first Chinese to hold the post at the organization’s general assembly on the Indonesian island of Bali, Interpol announced in a press release.   Continue reading “Chinese official named head of Interpol, drawing criticism”

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — Donald Trump is scheduled to go on trial this month in a class-action lawsuit against him and his now-defunct Trump University, potentially taking the witness stand weeks before his inauguration as president of the United States.

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, the Indiana-born jurist who was accused of bias by Trump during the campaign for his Mexican heritage, will hold a hearing Thursday on jury instructions and what evidence to allow at trial, which begins Nov. 28.   Continue reading “Trump University lawsuit heads toward Nov. 28 trial”

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Jurors are set to resume deliberations in the murder trial of a white former police officer who said he feared for his life before fatally shooting an unarmed black man during a traffic stop over a missing front license plate in Ohio.

Hamilton County Judge Megan Shanahan sequestered the jurors Wednesday night, telling them that they would resume deliberating Thursday morning. Before they got the case, Shanahan instructed them to apply the law to the facts presented in court, and to judge the facts “from the perspective of a reasonable officer at the scene,” not in “20-20 hindsight.”   Continue reading “Jury deliberations to resume in Ohio police shooting trial”

RT

Crude prices stopped falling after Wednesday morning’s sell-off, triggered by Donald Trump winning the US presidential election.

North Sea benchmark Brent was trading flat at $46.03 per barrel at noon GMT. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate slid 0.14 percent trading at $44.84 per barrel.   Continue reading “Oil prices recover after panicked speculators shorted on Trump win”

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TOKYO (AP) — Parts of a main street collapsed in the heart of a major city in southern Japan on Tuesday, creating a massive sinkhole and cutting off power, water and gas supplies to parts of the city.

Authorities said no injuries were reported from the pre-sunrise collapse in downtown Fukuoka, which created a sinkhole more than half the size of an Olympic pool in the middle of the business district.   Continue reading “Parts of street collapse in southern Japan city; no injuries”

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WOODRUFF, S.C. (AP) — Investigators discovered a third body on the property of a South Carolina man who is now linked to seven deaths and the kidnapping of a woman who was found chained inside a storage container, authorities said Monday.

Todd Kohlhepp, 45, became a suspect after the woman was found Thursday chained by her neck and ankle in a metal storage container on his 95-acre property near rural Woodruff. The body of her boyfriend was found a day later. The couple had been missing for about two months.   Continue reading “Authorities: 3rd body found on South Carolina man’s property”

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BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi investigators were probing a mass grave on Tuesday discovered by troops advancing on the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, where soldiers have captured a sliver of land but later halted their advance.

It appeared to be the latest of several mass graves found in territory retaken from IS, which massacred hundreds of people as it swept across northern and central Iraq in 2014 and is believed to have waged a brutal crackdown since the start of the Mosul offensive.   Continue reading “Iraqis probe mass grave found near IS-held Mosul”

RT

The US Navy’s newest warship is designed to carry two huge guns that can hit targets 80 miles away – but although that may sound impressive, the Navy has now decided that the necessary ammunition is too expensive.

The Long Range Land-Attack Projectile (LRLAP) is a guided munition capable of hitting targets in “urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage,” manufacturer Lockheed Martin said.   Continue reading “US Navy to cancel newest warship ammunition costing $800,000 per round – report”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The gunman who killed a federal security officer and wounded three other people during a rampage at Los Angeles International Airport has shown no remorse and clings to the beliefs that led to the violence in 2013, prosecutors said in advance of his sentencing Monday.

Paul Ciancia, 26, faces a mandatory life sentence in federal prison for the attack that crippled the nation’s second-busiest airport and disrupted air travel nationwide. Ciancia “plotted to commit mass murder at one of the nation’s foremost transportation hubs, murdered a beloved public servant in cold blood, seriously injured two other federal officers whom he shot and was attempting to kill, shot and injured a passenger who was traveling to attend a wedding, and terrified hundreds of other passengers and employees at Los Angeles International Airport who feared for their lives and the safety of their families,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wrote in sentencing papers.   Continue reading “Prosecutor: LA airport gunman lacks remorse, holds to views”

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NEAR BASHIQA, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish fighters exchanged heavy fire with militants early on Monday as they advanced from two directions into a town held by the Islamic State group east of the city of Mosul.

The offensive to reclaim the town of Bashiqa is part of the broader push to drive IS out of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and the militants’ last major urban stronghold in the country. Combat began at dawn with a Kurdish barrage of heavy artillery, Katyusha rockets and mortar rounds slamming into IS positions, providing cover for the advance of armored columns.   Continue reading “Iraqi Kurdish forces advance into IS-held town east of Mosul”

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CINCINNATI (AP) — With the nation focused on the closing days of the long, heated race for the presidency, two trials related to the country’s continued racial divisions have just begun. Juries in Cincinnati and Charleston, South Carolina, will decide the fates of white former police officers charged with murder in the shootings of black men.

The cases are among a series of deaths of blacks in police encounters over the past two years that have raised attention to how police deal with black people. There have been widespread protests, some violent, in cities such as Baltimore, Charlotte, North Carolina; Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri, over police killings of black men.   Continue reading “Trials for killings of blacks by police unfold in 2 cities”

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IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — The shadowy leader of the Islamic State group has released a new message urging his followers to keep up the fight for Mosul as they defend the city against a major offensive aimed at routing the militants from their last urban stronghold in Iraq.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s rallying cry came in a sermon-like recording, more than half an hour long, distributed by the militant group’s al-Furqan media arm late on Wednesday. It was not clear when the recording was produced. Al-Baghdadi’s whereabouts are unknown.   Continue reading “Islamic State group leader rallies his fighters in Mosul”

RT

A mock-up of a wide-body passenger aircraft jointly being developed by Moscow and Beijing has been presented at Airshow China. The new plane is expected to challenge the Airbus-Boeing duopoly.

Manufacturers Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) have announced the start of the search for suppliers. They didn’t provide any details on financing or technical specification.   Continue reading “Russia & China reveal their alternative to Airbus & Boeing”

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GOGJALI, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi special forces paused their advance in an eastern district of Mosul on Wednesday to clear a neighborhood of any remaining Islamic State militants, killing eight while carrying out house-to-house clearances.

Six of the militants were killed inside a tunnel in the newly-recaptured Gogjali neighborhood, while the other two were shot dead as they advanced on troops, Lt. Col. Muhanad al-Timimi of the Iraqi special forces told The Associated Press. One of the militants was wearing an explosives-laden vest, he added.   Continue reading “Iraqi’s Mosul advance pauses in east, gains in south”