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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Construction on the four-state Dakota Access pipeline will resume on private land in North Dakota that’s near a camp where thousands of protesters supporting tribal rights have gathered for months, the company building it said Tuesday.

In turn, protesters said they’re discussing nonviolent opposition measures, including chaining themselves to equipment. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ statement follows Sunday’s federal appeals court ruling that allowed construction to resume within 20 miles of Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir that is the water supply for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. The $3.8 million, 1,200-mile pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois is otherwise largely complete.   Continue reading “Dakota Access pipeline work to resume near large protest”

RT

Hillary Clinton has been revealed to have a very cozy relationship with the US media, which has been found to work closely with Clinton’s campaign to present her in a favorable, transparent light – even planting stories, new email leaks suggest.

These facts are laid bare in the latest cache of classified Clinton campaign emails seen by The Intercept, which in turn received them from Guccifer 2.0 – the hacker who’s reportedly behind several high-profile intrusions.   Continue reading “New leak reveals extent of Clinton ties with US media”

RT

Mikhail Gorbachev has called the current state of relations between Russia and US the “collapse of mutual trust” and urged the sides to resume dialogue and push towards demilitarization and complete nuclear disarmament.

“I think the world has approached a dangerous threshold. I would prefer not to suggest any particular schemes, but I want to say: we need to stop. Dialogue should be resumed. Stopping the dialogue has been the biggest mistake. Now we must return to the main priorities, such as nuclear disarmament, fighting terrorism and prevention of global environmental disasters. Compared to these challenges everything else is a second priority,” Gorbachev said in an interview with RIA Novosti.   Continue reading “‘World on dangerous threshold’: Gorbachev warns of nuclear threat amid intl tensions”

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Days after explosive revelations about Donald Trump’s predatory comments about women and Hillary Clinton’s closed-door speeches to banking executives, some people who watched the U.S. presidential debate Sunday night were so disgusted they said they wouldn’t vote or were weighing a third-party candidate or write-in option.

“I feel that it is wrong that these are the two choices I have,” said Patrick Trombetta, a Bernie Sanders supporter trying to decide between Clinton, Green Party candidate Jill Stein or writing Sanders in on the ballot.   Continue reading “Voters call debate ‘cringe worthy,’ some won’t cast ballot”

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WILLISTON, Vt. (AP) — Five Vermont high school juniors were killed when the car they were riding in was hit by a wrong-way driver, who authorities said then stole a police cruiser and crashed into seven more cars before the cruiser burst into flames.

“The loss of five teens in such a senseless tragedy is unimaginable and heartbreaking,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said. State police said they believe Steven Bourgoin, 36, was behind the wheel of a pickup truck traveling the wrong way on an interstate in Williston Saturday night when he crashed into a car, which then caught fire.   Continue reading “Vermont community mourns loss of 5 students killed in crash”

RT

Driven by recent deaths of two police officers and a 10-year-old girl, New Mexico legislature is inching closer to restoring the death penalty for those convicted of killing children or police and corrections officers.

The state House of Representatives voted 36-30 on Thursday morning to restore capital punishment by lethal injection in those particular cases, KOAT reported. Deliberations started at 2:45am and lasted through the night, with the minority Democrats accusing the Republican majority of timing the vote to avoid public scrutiny, according to KRQE.  Continue reading “New Mexico to bring back death penalty for killers of children, cops”

RT

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over ballooning global debt that has reached 225 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), which could lead to financial crises.

“At 225 percent of world GDP, the global debt …is currently at an all-time high. Two-thirds, amounting to about $100 trillion, consists of liabilities of the private sector which can carry great risks when they reach excessive levels,” the IMF said.   Continue reading “IMF: Global debt rises to all-time high $152tn”

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BALTIMORE (AP) — A tip from a prison guard has yielded the single largest federal case in Maryland’s history: 80 people including corrections officers, inmates and “outside facilitators” have been charged with orchestrating a vast contraband smuggling enterprise that traded drugs, tobacco and cellphones to prisoners for money and sex.

A pair of federal indictments unsealed Wednesday allege that a sweeping racketeering scheme at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover — Maryland’s largest state prison — lasted years and involved 18 prison guards, 35 inmates and 27 civilians who helped coordinate the flow of drugs and other contraband.   Continue reading “Maryland: guards, inmates accused of prison smuggling scheme”

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The arrest of a National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing classified information represents the second known case of a government contractor being publicly accused of removing secret data from the intelligence agency since 2013.

The latest arrest came despite efforts to reform security after the Edward Snowden disclosures, especially in regard to insider threats. Harold Thomas Martin III, 51, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, was arrested by the FBI in August, after federal prosecutors say he illegally removed highly classified information and stored the material in his home and car. A defense attorney said Martin did not intend to betray his country.   Continue reading “NSA contractor arrest highlights challenge of insider threat”

RT

The US government is not of a single mind. The Pentagon is more pro-Russian, and the Department of State tends to be more favorable to the terrorists and has no goal other than toppling the Assad government, says Virginia State Senator Richard H. Black.

The US claims the Russian military campaign in Syria has achieved next to nothing. Moreover, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Russia and Syria have rejected diplomacy when it comes to solving the Syrian crisis.   Continue reading “No evidence John Kerry is interested in peace in Syria’ – Virginia senator”

RT

A new study reveals Fortune 500 companies are holding nearly $2.5 trillion in accumulated profits offshore to pay less tax. Top is Apple which since 2009 funneled $214.9 billion to tax havens and would owe $65.4 billion if the profits returned to the US.

The report was published just weeks after a European investigation concluded Ireland provided Apple with a favorable tax rate which allowed the company to pay one percent on EU profits in 2003 down to 0.005 percent in 2014. Apple is now obliged to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes.   Continue reading “Apple biggest tax avoider in US stashing $215bn offshore”

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — People boarded up beach homes, schools closed and officials ordered evacuations along the East Coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew tore through the Bahamas and took aim at Florida, where the governor urged coastal residents to “leave now” if they were able.

Matthew was a dangerous and life-threatening Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 120 mph, and it was expected to be very near Florida’s Atlantic coast by Thursday evening. At least 11 deaths in the Caribbean have been blamed on the storm.   Continue reading “Florida governor: ‘If you’re able to go early, leave now’”

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A former Albuquerque police officer standing trial on a murder charge in the on-duty shooting death of a homeless camper told jurors he had concerns about being in the dark about what prosecutors have described as a botched plan to take the man into custody.

But those concerns didn’t stop SWAT Officer Dominique Perez from following his sergeant’s request for him to join other officers in a hillside standoff. The standoff ended with Perez and now-retired Detective Keith Sandy shooting the homeless man, 38-year-old James Boyd.   Continue reading “Prosecutor questions ex-officer charged in shooting death”

RT

A US bill allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for damages has prompted an Iraqi lobby group to push the parliament for a law seeking compensation for the American invasion of the country, citing “violations by US forces.”

Following Washington’s example, the Arab Project in Iraq lobby group is now seeking to “ask for compensation from the United States over violations by the US forces following the US invasion that saw the toppling of late President Saddam Hussein in 2003,” Al-Arabiya reported Saturday.   Continue reading “Iraqi group demands payments for US invasion after ‘Sue the Saudis for 9/11’ bill passes Congress”

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — When President Theodore Roosevelt designated the country’s first national monument 110 years ago, the proclamation inadvertently left out a punctuation mark, and what was supposed to be Devil’s Tower became Devils Tower instead.

Some say that’s not all it got wrong. According to local American Indians and others, the landmark’s name was based on an incorrect translation and is offensive given the tower’s religious significance.   Continue reading “Debate simmers over name of Devils Tower monument in Wyoming”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police officers who shot and killed men in two separate weekend shootings were justified in their use of deadly force because they feared for their lives, the Los Angeles police chief says.

Carnell Snell, 18, turned toward officers with a gun before he was shot, and the other, a Hispanic man who still hasn’t been identified, pointed a replica that looked like a real gun at police, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Monday.   Continue reading “Los Angeles chief defends latest shootings by officers”

RT

A 14-year-old black teenager has been hospitalized after being shot by police in St. Louis, Missouri, local media and law enforcers said. The teenager reportedly opened fire on officers first.

The incident occurred at around 9:25 a.m on Sunday in the Walnut Park East area of the city’s northwest with police stopping the teenager to talk to him about a carjacking which occurred in the area in September, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.   Continue reading “14-yo teen critically wounded after shootout with Missouri police”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Activists on Sunday called on Los Angeles police to publicly name the officers involved in the deadly shooting of an 18-year-old black man near his home and to conduct a quick and transparent investigation.

“We don’t want to see a cover-up. We don’t want to see a whitewash,” Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable said after meeting with the family of Carnell Snell Jr. “We have a family that’s grieving. We have a community that’s grieving.”   Continue reading “Activists wants names, answers for fatal police shooting”

RT

The 140,000 inmates in Texas state prisons are reportedly denied access to some 15,000 books banned by the authorities – but it seem convicts can still easily get hold of a copy of Adolf Hitler’s racist diatribe ‘Mein Kampf’.

As the US holds its annual ‘Banned Books Week’ campaign – an event celebrating the freedom to read – attention has been drawn to the list of the books that Texas authorities have banned in state prisons. Paul Wright, executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News, told the Guardian that about 15,000 books were banned by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDJC).   Continue reading “Prison paradox: Texas jail authorities ban 15,000 books… but allow Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’”

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ATLANTA (AP) — Federal regulators and hotel employees are calling for new safety measures after a worker was found dead inside a walk-in freezer at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in downtown Atlanta. Investigators believe Carolyn Mangham spent about 13 hours at temperatures below minus 10 Fahrenheit. Her frozen body was found after her husband called the hotel to report her missing.

Devices should be placed inside the large freezers so that anyone trapped or injured inside could send an alarm directly to hotel security or emergency services, union leaders say. Hotel employees also want to carry “panic buttons” to alert others to emergencies.   Continue reading “Hotel workers seek new safety measures after freezer death”