From the Trenches World Report
Enforce our Bill of Rights
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has cut its forecast for global trade growth this year by more than a third, saying it’s the first time in 15 years international commerce will slip below GDP.
According to the WTO, global trade will expand by merely 1.7 percent this year which is well below the April forecast of 2.8 percent. Continue reading “World trade growth weakest since 2009 financial crisis – WTO”
LONDON (AP) — As investors and investigators weigh the damage of Yahoo’s massive breach to the internet icon, information security experts worry that the record-breaking haul of password data could be used to open locks up and down the web.
While it’s unknown to what extent the stolen data has been or will be circulating, giant breaches can send ripples of insecurity across the internet. “Data breaches on the scale of Yahoo are the security equivalent of ecological disasters,” said Matt Blaze, a security researcher who directs the Distributed Systems Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, in a message posted to Twitter . Continue reading “Password breach could have ripple effects well beyond Yahoo”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats on Tuesday threatened to block must-do legislation to prevent the government from shutting down Friday at midnight, battle the Zika virus and help flood-ravaged Louisiana rebuild.
The aim is to pressure Republicans to add money to the stopgap spending bill to give Flint, Michigan, immediate help with its water crisis instead of settling for promises from top Republicans that the city will receive aid after the election. Continue reading “Democrats poised to block stopgap funding bill over Flint”
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Residents of Cedar Rapids are watching anxiously as the quickly rising Cedar River threatens to inundate their city with devastating floodwaters for the second time in just over eight years.
After days of sandbagging and erecting an extensive system of flood barriers, residents and officials in Iowa’s second-largest city were simply waiting to see how high the Cedar River would rise and what impact the flood would have. Continue reading “Iowa city braces for highest floodwaters since 2008 record”
ExxonMobil Corp will pay $12 million to Montana for a 2011 oil spill that affected 85 miles of Yellowstone River as well as farmland. While state lawmakers are praising the settlement, some residents think it’s a far cry from a real punishment.
In July 2011, an Exxon pipeline by Billings, Montana burst and leaked 1,500 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River just 150 miles downstream from Yellowstone National Park. Five years later, the company has settled with the state of Montana and the US government. Continue reading “‘Drop in the bucket’: ExxonMobil to pay $12mn in oil spill settlement”
Syrian President Bashar Assad says that US airstrikes which killed 62 Syrian government troops were “intentional” and they lasted for an hour. He added that the US “does not have the will” to join Russia in fighting terrorists in Syria.
Speaking to the Associated Press in Damascus, the Syrian leader denied that the airstrikes carried out by the US near Deir ez-Zor on September 17 were an accident. Sixty-two Syrian soldiers were killed and over 100 were injured, according to the Syrian military. Assad said they were “intentionally” targeted. Continue reading “US airstrikes on Syrian troops were ‘intentional,’ lasted nearly 1 hour – Assad to AP”
NEW YORK (AP) — It doesn’t matter what President Barack Obama says these days, his listeners are bound to hear two words: Donald Trump. With his proclivity for dominating the conversation, the Republican presidential nominee is forcing Obama’s final few months to be viewed almost entirely through the prism of campaign politics. As Obama carries out his presidential duties, voters can’t help but wonder what the role would look like if it were inhabited by the brash billionaire.
At the United Nations this week, Trump trailed the president both metaphorically and physically, as world leaders took stock of what a dramatic shift a Trump presidency would mean for American leadership. Continue reading “Obama speaks, and listeners hear nothing but ‘Donald Trump’”
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that it was widening efforts to deport Haitians, a response to thousands of immigrants from the Caribbean nation who have overwhelmed California border crossings with Mexico in recent months.
The move lifts special protections that shielded Haitians from deportation after their nation’s 2010 earthquake. Since 2011, U.S. authorities have avoided deporting Haitians unless they were convicted of serious crimes or posed a national security threat. Now they will be treated like people from other countries. Continue reading “US toughens stance on Haitians seeking entry from Brazil”
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on Syria’s conflict (all times local): 7:30 p.m. Syrian opposition activists say suspected government airstrikes in the northern city of Aleppo and the rebel-held Idlib province have killed 23 civilians, including at least five children.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 11 civilians, including three children and three women, were killed Wednesday during air raids on several rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo. The Observatory says the toll is likely to rise because rescue efforts are ongoing. Continue reading “The Latest: Syrian activists say airstrikes kill 23”
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — A man is in custody after his two young children were asphyxiated using a car exhaust, his wife’s two older children were fatally shot and his wife was shot and slashed at their suburban Detroit home, police said Wednesday.
The man, whose name has not been released, called 911 early Wednesday and said he had killed his family, Dearborn Heights police Lt. Michael Krause told The Associated Press. Officers found the man on the porch and took him into custody, Krause said, adding he will face charges in the coming days. Continue reading “Police: 2 asphyxiated kids among 4 dead in Detroit area”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of pharmaceutical company Mylan is defending the cost for life-saving EpiPens, signaling the company has no plans to lower prices despite a public outcry and questions from skeptical lawmakers.
“Price and access exist in a balance, and we believe we have struck that balance,” Heather Bresch says in prepared testimony released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ahead of her Wednesday appearance before the panel. Continue reading “Mylan CEO set to defend EpiPen prices amid public outcry”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police officers gave a black man multiple clear warnings to drop a handgun before one of the officers opened fire and killed him, Charlotte’s police chief said Wednesday, hours after protesters and police clashed in unrest that saw semi-trucks looted and set on fire.
At least 16 officers were injured, including one who was hit in the face with a rock. Authorities had to use tear gas to disperse the protests, which happened after another demonstration in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the shooting there of an unarmed black man by police. Continue reading “Police chief: Officers warned black man to drop gun”
Connecticut police are being sued by the ACLU over trumped up criminal charges against a protester filming his DUI checkpoint experience. The officers inadvertently recorded themselves with the protester’s confiscated cell phone.
“Our client is a guy who is very concerned with privacy, and who protests DUI checkpoints around the capital region here in Hartford, Connecticut,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement on the lawsuit. “He feels they’re both unconstitutional and a waste of money. He has done public records investigations, for example, and recently found that for every two man hours put into a checkpoint, it yields one minor traffic citation – almost always for defective equipment. He was well-known to police, who also knew that he is a peaceful privacy and open-carry gun rights activist.” Continue reading “‘Gotta cover our ass’: Connecticut police made up charges, ACLU lawsuit charges”
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — An unarmed black man killed by a white Oklahoma officer who was responding to a stalled vehicle can be seen in police video walking away from officers and toward his SUV with his hands up before he approaches the driver’s side door, where he drops to the ground after being shocked with a stun gun then fatally shot.
Tulsa police helicopter footage was among several clips released Monday showing the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher and its aftermath. In that video, a man in the helicopter that arrives above the scene as Crutcher walks to the vehicle can be heard saying “time for a Taser.” He then says: “That looks like a bad dude, too. Probably on something.”
Continue reading “Video shows Tulsa man had hands up before police shooting”
BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria, where a cease-fire is faltering further after airstrikes hit an aid convoy overnight (all times local): 2:15 p.m. A member of the Syrian Civil Defense — a group of volunteer first responders also known as the White Helmets — has criticized the U.N. humanitarian aid agency for suspending all convoys in Syria.
Ibrahim Alhaj told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Syrian civilians will pay the price for the decision. The U.N. humanitarian aid agency’s decision came after deadly airstrikes on aid trucks the previous night that activists said killed at least 12 people, mostly truck drivers and Red Crescent workers. Continue reading “The Latest: Syrian volunteer criticizes UN move on convoys”
Police have arrested Ahmad Rahami, wanted in connection with the bombings in Elizabeth, New Jersey and the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea, after a shoot-out in Linden, New Jersey.
Two officers were reported injured, one struck by a car and another by gunfire, after they responded to reports of a suspect shooting at passing cars in Linden, a city just south of Elizabeth. Continue reading “New York bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami arrested in Linden, NJ after shootout with police”
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the stabbings of nine people at a Minnesota mall as a potential act of terrorism, a finding that would realize long-held fears of an attack in the immigrant-rich state that has struggled to stop the recruiting of its young men by groups including the Islamic State.
A young Somali man dressed as a private security guard entered the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud over the weekend wielding what appeared to be a kitchen knife. The city’s police chief said the man reportedly made at least one reference to Allah and asked a victim if he or she was Muslim before attacking. Continue reading “Minnesota mall stabbing could be realization of terror fears”
AL-MOGHEER, Jordan (AP) — Jordan has demanded a detailed explanation from Israel about the killing of a 28-year-old Jordanian by Israeli troops last week. Israeli police have said Said Amro came out of a gate of Jerusalem’s Old City with a knife in each hand, shouted “God is Great” and rushed at officers before being shot dead.
The state news agency Petra says Jordan’s information minister met Monday at the Foreign Ministry with the Israeli ambassador to Jordan and asked for explanations. Also Monday, hundreds attended Amro’s funeral in the town of al-Mogheer, chanting “Death to Israel.” Continue reading “Israel asked for explanation about killing of Jordanian man”
The Denver Channel – by Robert Garrison
CLIFTON, Colo. — A Clifton family got a rude awakening early Wednesday morning when several law enforcement officers smashed their way into the wrong home.
Authorities in Mesa County expressed regret Wednesday for serving a search warrant on a home where a family with several children lived. The suspects they were looking for had moved out from the home before the raid. Continue reading “Mesa County authorities raid wrong home in Clifton; Police apologize, replace windows and carpet”
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A 77-year-old man who shot three people, killing one, at the senior apartment complex where he lived had grown distant recently and had been angry about frequent poker games in the building’s common area, according to people who knew him.
One person died at the Heritage Court Apartments and two others were wounded. Larry Rosenberg, the shooter, killed himself as police closed in on him in a neighborhood about a mile away, Cheyenne police said. Continue reading “Anger about poker games preceded senior apartment shooting”