Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Professors at 14 Pennsylvania state universities hit the picket lines Thursday as their strike entered its second day. Members of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties went on strike at Wednesday after contract negotiations with the state stalled. The union represents more than 5,000 faculty and coaches.

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said it made concessions and gave the union its best offer Tuesday night. At West Chester University, outside Philadelphia, a handful of picketers held signs reading “The faculty will not sacrifice quality” and others multitasked by walking their dogs on the line.   Continue reading “Strike enters 2nd day at 14 Pennsylvania state universities”

RT

Two Americans were killed and three more injured in an attack at an Afghan special forces base near Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, the US military has confirmed. The unidentified attacker was killed as well.

One member of the US military and one civilian were killed, while one service member and two civilians were wounded,“during an attack near a coalition base by an unknown assailant,” said the US command in Afghanistan on Wednesday.   Continue reading “2 Americans dead in Afghanistan ‘green-on-blue’ attack”

Mail.com

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine police van rammed into protesters, leaving several bloodied, as an anti-U.S. rally turned violent Wednesday at the American Embassy in Manila. The van’s driver, police officer Franklin Kho, told reporters he did not deliberately hit the protesters but was trying to drive away from them because they were hitting the vehicle with wooden clubs and he feared they would commandeer it and use it to attack other policemen. “They were already trying to seize the vehicle,” Kho told reporters.   Continue reading “Philippine police van rams protesters in front of US Embassy”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Islamic State group sees its territory shrink to half its original size and its dreams of a caliphate evaporate, the extremist fighters are losing access to the sources of revenue that once gave them their power, prompting them to turn to extortion, kidnapping or foreign donations like their predecessors, the militant group al-Qaida.

The Islamic State group had a unique ability to capitalize on the natural resources of its territory in Iraq and Syria and swiftly implement a system of taxation and governance that allowed it to rule an area that once was the size of Switzerland.   Continue reading “As territory shrinks, IS group looks for new money sources”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — One of the nation’s most influential missing-child cases is about to be laid out for a jury — again — as a retrial begins in the 1979 disappearance of Etan Patz. Opening statements are set for Wednesday in a case that eluded investigators for decades, racheted up Americans’ consciousness of missing children and now centers on whether a chilling confession was true.

A jury deadlocked last year on the murder and kidnapping charges against Pedro Hernandez, a former convenience store stock clerk in Etan’s Manhattan neighborhood. Prosecutors say Hernandez hid a brutal secret for more than 30 years. His lawyers say he’s mentally ill and falsely confessed to waylaying and killing Etan as he walked to his school bus stop on May 25, 1979.   Continue reading “Retrial set to open in 1979 missing-child case of Etan Patz”

Oil Price – by Irina Slav

Exxon has turned into a collateral victim of the U.S. economic sanctions against Russia. So while supermajor BP’s chief executive Bob Dudley said earlier this week that he was “a little saddened” with the way the Deepwater Horizon movie has painted his company, Exxon’s Rex Tillerson has perhaps an even greater reason to be a little saddened.

Exxon, the world’s biggest oil and gas company by value, entered Russia in the 1990s and has enjoyed a long and fruitful presence there. This presence was set to expand further with Exxon’s plans to take part in the exploration and exploitation of the country’s Arctic shelf. Unfortunately for Exxon, the U.S. and the EU hit Russia with sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and its support for Eastern Ukrainian rebels.   Continue reading “Exxon has lost over $1 billion from Russian sanctions”

RT

A formal apology from the International Association of Chiefs of Police to “communities of color” for “darker periods” in law enforcement is garnering a mixed reaction. Some are calling it appeasement, while others see it as paying phony lip service.

“Clearly, this is a challenging time for policing,” Chief Terrence M. Cunningham of the Wellesley Police Department in Massachusetts told a massive convention audience in San Diego on Monday.   Continue reading “Top police organization apologizes for ‘historical mistreatment’ of minorities”

RT

The mayor of the popular Bavarian resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen has penned a letter to the regional government begging them to tackle the “massive problems” posed by crime rates among refugees, while police say “blacks are in charge of the town.”

The letter, part warning to regional authorities, part cry for help, has been sent by Garmisch-Partenkirchen Mayor Sigrid Meierhofer to the Vice President of Upper Bavaria’s government Maria Els on Sunday, according to Merkur newspaper which saw the document.    Continue reading “‘Blacks are in charge of town’: Popular Bavarian ski resort begs authorities for help”

Mail.com

ATLANTA (AP) — Thomas Ford, the actor who played Martin Lawrence’s best friend Tommy Strawn on the hit ’90s sitcom “Martin,” died Wednesday in Atlanta. He was 52. The actor played the level-headed pal of Lawrence on “Martin” for the show’s entire five-year run. One running joke was about his apparent lack of employment, prompting the catch phrase: “You don’t got no job, Tommy!”

“It is with great sadness that we announce the untimely passing of our beloved Son, father, brother, husband, and friend Tommy Mykal Ford,” the family said in a statement. “On behalf of the family, we would like to thank everyone for their love, support and prayers.”  Continue reading “‘Martin’ actor Thomas Ford dies at age 52”

Mail.com

HONOLULU (AP) — A group of Hawaii residents want to change local rules for issuing commercial fishing licenses and make the process more transparent after an Associated Press investigation found that hundreds of undocumented fishermen work in the fleet.

A federal loophole allows the foreign men to work but exempts them from most basic labor protections, and some residents are concerned that state rules offer little transparency and leave workers in the dark.   Continue reading “Hawaii agency opposes rule change for foreign fishermen”

RT

It is not the “scary clown” epidemic that makes Americans afraid, but more mundane fears, such as corrupt government. Unfair officials terrify people more than terrorism or economic collapse, according to a new survey.

Over 60 percent of adult Americans have confessed that they are “very afraid” of corrupt government officials. That fear is holding its leading position for the second year in the row and is followed by terrorism and money-related concerns.   Continue reading “Over 60% of Americans fear corrupt government – study”

Mail.com

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — The British territory of Bermuda hunkered down overnight as Hurricane Nicole rapidly strengthened into a major Category 4 storm and took aim at the tiny island in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami called Nicole an “extremely dangerous” storm and urged islanders to rush preparations for its powerful rain and winds. It said Nicole should pass near Bermuda on Thursday morning. The storm was located about 100 miles (165 kilometers) southwest of Bermuda early Thursday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 kph) and was moving north-northeast at 15 mph (24 kph).   Continue reading “‘Extremely dangerous’ Hurricane Nicole to pummel Bermuda”

Mail.com

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations’ 193-member states are expected to appoint Portugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres as the world body’s next secretary-general. Peter Thompson, president of the General Assembly, said in a statement that he hoped Guterres would be approved by a unanimous vote on Thursday.

Guterres, 67, was nominated by acclamation in the 15-member Security Council last week to replace Ban Ki-moon whose second five-year term ends on Dec. 31. He would be the ninth secretary-general in the organization’s 71-year history.   Continue reading “UN expected to approve Guterres for secretary-general”

RT

The UK government is not prepared for the imminent arrival of robots, which will “fundamentally” change lives, take over jobs and raise serious ethical issues, MPs have warned.

Artificial intelligence (AI) such as driverless cars and supercomputers that can help doctors with medical diagnoses will soon be the norm, the Science Technology Committee says, but the government’s role in preparing for the change is“lacking.”   Continue reading “Robots are coming… and will ‘fundamentally’ change human life, MPs warn”

RT

The attack on a UN humanitarian aid convoy near the Syrian city of Aleppo last month, which Washington has blamed on Russia, was actually carried out by one of the terrorist groups present in the area, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

“It was one of the terrorist groups. And we know that, say, the Americans know it too, but prefer to take a different position, to falsely accuse Russia. This is not helping,” Putin said at an economic forum in Moscow.   Continue reading “Putin: We know who destroyed aid convoy in Aleppo, Syria”

Mail.com

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An unarmed black man shot dead by a white police officer after his car broke down on a city street last month was high on the hallucinogenic drug PCP in when he died, according to toxicology tests released by a medical examiner Tuesday.

Terence Crutcher, 40, had “acute phencyclidine intoxication” when he died Sept. 16. Officer Betty Jo Shelby was charged with first-degree manslaughter after his death, with a prosecutor saying she reacted unreasonably when Crutcher disobeyed her commands.   Continue reading “Autopsy: Unarmed man shot by Tulsa police was high on PCP”

Mail.com

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The FBI and other agencies on Wednesday were investigating a plane crash on a busy road near the headquarters of Pratt & Whitney that killed one person, authorities said. Authorities say a student pilot and an instructor were trying to land the Piper PA-34 Seneca at Brainard Airport in Hartford when it struck a utility pole in East Hartford and crashed onto the road at around 4 p.m. Tuesday, bursting into flames.   Continue reading “FBI investigates fatal plane crash on busy Connecticut road”

RT

Hundreds of police departments in two states were found to have broken laws mandating police reports for in-custody deaths. Registries required by California and Texas were missing a total of 660 deaths from 2005 to 2015.

They are the only two states that require law enforcement to report all in-custody deaths, but it seems enforcing the law is trickier than anyone imagined. Research from Texas State University in San Marco found that the two states did not report hundreds of deaths that involved officers during a 10-year period.   Continue reading “Police in California, Texas fail to report 660 officer-involved deaths”

Mail.com

RECIFE, Brazil (AP) — Two weeks shy of his first birthday, doctors began feeding Jose Wesley Campos through a nose tube because swallowing problems had left him dangerously underweight. Learning how to feed is the baby’s latest struggle as medical problems mount for him and many other infants born with small heads to mothers infected with the Zika virus in Brazil.

“It hurts me to see him like this. I didn’t want this for him,” said Jose’s mother, Solange Ferreira, breaking into tears as she cradled her son. A year after a spike in the number of newborns with the defect known as microcephaly, doctors and researchers have seen many of the babies develop swallowing difficulties, epileptic seizures and vision and hearing problems.   Continue reading “Zika ‘syndrome’: Health problems mount as babies turn 1”