Mail.com

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities have detained four Australians, including journalists, on suspicion they were involved in the abductions of two children in Beirut, police officials and Australian media said Thursday.

The officials added that a British citizen has been detained as well on suspicion that he planned to smuggle the children out of Lebanon on his boat. Police officials said the detainees are being questioned over the kidnapping of Noah and Lahela al-Amin. They are the son and daughter of a Lebanese man and an Australian woman who have been living in Beirut since their father Ali al-Amin brought them from Australia late last year, the officials said.   Continue reading “4 Australians detained in Lebanon on kidnapping suspicion”

Mail.com

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Standing before a federal judge, former coal company executive Don Blankenship expressed sorrow for the families of 29 men killed in his coal mine six years ago but contended that he committed no crime.

“I just want to make the point that these men were proud coal miners. They’ve been doing it a long time. And they’d want the truth of what happened there to be known,” Blankenship said Wednesday, drifting closer toward mentioning his theory that an act of nature, not negligence, caused the deadly explosion in his mine.   Continue reading “Wounds reopened as ex-coal chief gets 1 year in prison”

Mail.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former second-in-command of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was convicted Wednesday in a corruption probe that brought down his boss and several underlings who tried to thwart a federal investigation into abuses in the nation’s largest jail.

Ex-Undersheriff Paul Tanaka could face up to 15 years in federal prison after being found guilty of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Tanaka, 57, helped orchestrate efforts to hide a jail inmate after deputies discovered he was an FBI informant, prosecutors said. Tanaka, who is also mayor of Gardena, played a key role in sending sergeants to intimidate an FBI agent in the case and threaten to have her arrested.   Continue reading “LA sheriff’s former No. 2 convicted in corruption probe”

Mail.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A lottery vendor for years manipulated drawings to enrich himself and associates by installing software code that allowed him to predict winning numbers on specific days of the year, Iowa investigators alleged Wednesday.

Authorities called the newly obtained forensic evidence a breakthrough in the investigation of alleged jackpot-fixing scheme by Eddie Tipton, former security director of the Multi-State Lottery Association. A jury convicted him last year of rigging a $16.5 million jackpot, and he’s awaiting trial on charges linking him to prizes in Colorado, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Kansas.   Continue reading “Code let lottery vendor predict winning numbers, police say”

North Jersey

It was little more than a storefront — manned by undercover agents posing as corrupt school administrators — but over several years the University of Northern New Jersey flushed out more than 1,000 foreigners seeking fraudulent student and foreign worker visas to unlawfully stay and work in this country, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said Tuesday.

Fishman unveiled the sting operation — the first of its kind involving a sham school set up by agents — at a news conference in Newark after authorities in New Jersey and Washington State arrested 21 brokers, recruiters and employers for their alleged involvement in what Fishman termed “a wide-ranging scheme to defraud … the United States in connection with student visas.”   Continue reading “21 charged with student-visa fraud after feds open fake college”

RT

A seven-month-old baby is among 15 American Muslims named in two lawsuits being brought against the US government by the Council of American-Islamic Relations for placing the plaintiffs on the so-called terror watch list without due process.

“The terrorism watch lists are premised on the false notion that the government can somehow accurately predict whether an innocent American citizen will commit a crime in the future based on religious affiliation or First Amendment activities,” said Lena Masri, legal director for the Council of American-Islamic Relations, Michigan, in a statement released on Tuesday.   Continue reading “‘Bigoted and misguided’: American Muslims file twin lawsuits over terror watch list”

Mail.com

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Tackling extremism is a political minefield in Pakistan, where politicians openly consort with leaders of banned militant groups and sympathy exists within the security forces and civil administration for perpetrators of crimes committed in the name of religion. As a result, many remain skeptical of the state’s ability to put an end to the militant violence that kills hundreds of Pakistani civilians each year.

A suicide bombing in a park in Lahore that killed 72 people, many of them Christians celebrating Easter Sunday, brought renewed international attention to Pakistan’s extremism problem. In the aftermath, security forces arrested hundreds of suspected militants.   Continue reading “In Pakistan, tackling extremism is a political minefield”

Mail.com

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Two weeks after admitting to sexually charged remarks to a female aide, embattled Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley faces a call for his impeachment from a bipartisan group of lawmakers who said the public has lost confidence in the Republican governor.

Although the impeachment effort is considered a longshot in the legislative session that ends next month, it is a sign of the governor’s growing political troubles in the wake of the scandal. “We are looking at this governor who has essentially betrayed the trust of the people of Alabama through actions and lies that have caused us to have some doubt about his leadership,” Rep. Ed Henry said during a news conference at the Alabama Statehouse.   Continue reading “Impeachment call latest complication for Alabama governor”

RT

A Syrian Su-22 jet has been shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Aleppo Province. The pilot ejected and was reportedly captured.

“The plane wasn’t striking any targets, but was carrying out airborne surveillance. It was hit by a surface to air missile to the south of Aleppo, and now we’re looking for the pilot who ejected from the aircraft,” Syrian Army press service head General Samir told RT on the phone.   Continue reading “Syrian jet shot down in Aleppo, pilot reportedly captured by Al-Qaeda affiliate”

RT

Police have detained 130 people in Paris, as violent demonstrations against labor reforms continue across France. In Rennes, police chased protesters from railways and used tear gas, as demonstrators threw projectiles at security forces and blocked traffic.   Continue reading “130 arrests made during anti-labor reform protests in Paris”

Mail.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court is set to hear arguments that defense attorneys wasted time challenging evidence against a Cleveland man who killed 11 women and hid the remains in and around his home, and should have focused instead on sparing him from a death sentence.

New lawyers for Anthony Sowell say a better strategy would have been to concede Sowell’s overwhelming guilt and push for life without parole based on his background, including a chaotic childhood. The state Supreme Court scheduled arguments from both sides on Tuesday, with a decision not expected for several months.   Continue reading “Court to hear appeal from condemned Ohio serial killer of 11”

Mail.com

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s decision to push its statewide minimum wage to a nation-leading $15 comes with uncertainties that could see the pay jumps postponed if the economy sours or the state budget slumps, while the overall goal of helping the working poor might be lessened if some employers cut jobs or, worse, leave the state.

With Congress deadlocked on sweetening the federal minimum wage, California on Monday stepped in. Under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, the state will bump its $10 hourly minimum by 50 cents next year, and to $11 in 2018. Hourly $1 raises will then come every January until 2022. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees have an extra year to comply; wages will rise with inflation each year thereafter.   Continue reading “Uncertainties shadow California plan for nation-leading wage”

RT

A gun-toting anti-Muslim hate group protesting at a mosque in Texas were weren’t expecting to be confronted by armed members of the New Black Panther party and the Huey P Newton Gun Club.
Continue reading “New Black Panthers in armed showdown with anti-Muslim militia in Texas”

RT

It was supposed to fly over Afghanistan and look for drug-producing sites, but the airplane the DEA and the Pentagon spent nearly $90 million never left its hangar. Seven years since it was bought, the plane is still unable to fly and may never do so.

An audit by the Department of Justice’s Inspector-General (OIG) discovered the money pit in a Dover, Delaware hangar, “in an un-flyable state,” its modifications never completed. The inspectors described the program as an“ineffective and wasteful use of government resources.”   Continue reading “‘Wasteful’: DEA and Pentagon’s $86mn drug plane that never flew”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration may soon tell foreign governments and banks they can start using the dollar in some instances to facilitate business with Iran, officials told The Associated Press, describing an arcane tweak to U.S. financial rules that could prove significant for Tehran’s sanctions-battered economy.

While no decision is final, U.S. officials familiar with internal discussions said the Treasury Department is considering issuing a general license that would permit offshore financial institutions to access dollars for foreign currency trades in support of legitimate business with Iran, a practice that is currently illegal.   Continue reading “Officials: US mulls new rules on dollars to help Iran”

Mail.com

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Activists from Minneapolis’ black community spent four months demanding the release of videos and other evidence after a black man was fatally shot in a confrontation with two white police officers. When it finally was made public and a prosecutor announced the officers wouldn’t be charged, they were enraged.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Wednesday cleared the officers, saying forensic evidence backed their account that 24-year-old Jamar Clark was not handcuffed and was struggling for an officer’s gun when he was shot. Clark ignored warnings to take his hand off Officer Mark Ringgenberg’s gun, leading Officer Mark Schwarze to shoot Clark as the officers feared for their lives, Freeman said.   Continue reading “In Minneapolis, distrust flares after officers cleared”

RT

The Justice Department has fined Terminix $10 million after the pest control company illegally used a nerve agent that sickened a Delaware family vacationing on the US Virgin Islands.

“Terminix companies knowingly failed to properly manage their pest control operations in the US Virgin Islands, allowing pesticides containing methyl bromide to be applied illegally and exposing a family of four to profoundly debilitating injuries,”US Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden said in a statement Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.   Continue reading “Company fined $10 million for using nerve agent and poisoning US family”

RT

No country has provided evidence that the missiles Iran is testing are designed to carry a nuclear warhead, a senior Russian diplomat says, adding that Iran’s ballistic missile tests “don’t violate a United Nations Security Council resolution” in any way.

“We do not think these launches violate Resolution 2231, because the resolution does not ban the tests,” the head of the ministry’s Department for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Weapons Control, Mikhail Ulyanov, told the Interfax.    Continue reading “Russia says Iran missile tests ‘don’t violate’ UN resolution”

Mail.com

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s slow transition to democracy took a momentous step Wednesday as a trusted aide to ruling-party leader Aung San Suu Kyi took over as the country’s president, officially ending more than 50 years of the military’s control over government.

In a day full of ceremony and symbolism, Htin Kyaw was sworn in along with his two vice presidents and 18 Cabinet ministers. Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and face of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, takes on a prominent role as the country’s new foreign minister and the head of three other ministries — education, energy and the presidential office.   Continue reading “Myanmar democracy takes momentous step with new president”