Author: Sunfire

Mail.com

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (AP) — A 6-year-old girl who spent most of her life with California foster parents was removed from her home on Monday under a court order that concluded her Native American blood requires her placement with relatives in Utah.

Lexi, who is part Choctaw, cried and clutched a stuffed bear as Rusty Page carried her out of his home north of Los Angeles to a waiting car. Los Angeles County social workers whisked her away. “How is it that a screaming child, saying ‘I want to stay, I’m scared,’ how is in her best interest to pull her from the girl she was before that doorbell rang?” he told KNX-AM radio.   Continue reading “Native American girl, 6, removed from California foster home”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City woman who spent more than three years on Rikers Island before her trial and served much of it in solitary confinement before being acquitted by a jury last year will stand trial for criminal charges stemming from a jailhouse confrontation with guards.

Candie Hailey’s chaotic Rikers stint and subsequent struggle to return to society was documented earlier this year by The Associated Press. She faces a felony charge of criminal mischief on Monday for breaking a metal chair used to scan inmates’ body cavities for contraband in May 2013, according to an indictment.   Continue reading “Freed after years in solitary, woman faces jailhouse charges”

Mail.com

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired five short-range projectiles into the sea on Monday, Seoul officials said, in a continuation of weapon launches it has carried out in apparent response to ongoing South Korea-U.S. military drills it sees as a provocation.

The projectiles launched from a site near the northeastern city of Hamhung flew about 200 kilometers (125 miles) before landing in waters off North Korea’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.   Continue reading “Seoul: North Korea fires 5 short-range projectiles”

Mail.com

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — The plainclothes police officer who died in a chaotic shootout at a Maryland police station was deliberately shot by a fellow officer who did not recognize him and viewed him as an armed threat, a police chief said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters outside the Prince George’s County courthouse, Police Chief Hank Stawinski was careful not to speculate about the state of mind of the unidentified officer who fired upon Officer Jacai Colson on Sunday afternoon outside a police station in Landover, but he said it was clear that the officer feared for his life.   Continue reading “Police: Officer mistook plainclothes officer for threat”

Mail.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The state can try again to put to death a condemned killer whose 2009 execution was called off after two hours during which he cried in pain while receiving 18 needle sticks, the Ohio Supreme Court said Wednesday.

The court’s 4-3 ruling rejected arguments that giving the state prisons agency a second chance to execute Romell Broom would amount to cruel and unusual punishment and double jeopardy. Prosecutors had argued double jeopardy doesn’t apply because lethal drugs never entered Broom’s veins while executioners unsuccessfully tried to hook up an IV. They also said a previously unsuccessful execution attempt doesn’t affect the constitutionality of his death sentence.   Continue reading “Court: Inmate who survived ’09 execution can be put to death”

Mail.com

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and Egypt are completing preparations for restoring the air link between them that was cut by Moscow after the downing of a Russian passenger jet, the nations’ top diplomats said Wednesday.

The Russian plane crashed in Sinai on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board. Moscow said it was brought down by an explosive device, and a local branch of the extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for planting it.   Continue reading “Russia says air link with Egypt will be restored soon”

Mail.com

COCOA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The quirky, 10,000-square-foot, sun-drenched oceanfront compound that was once owned by USA Today founder Al Neuharth burned down, and fire investigators said Wednesday they were examining if ongoing construction played a role in the blaze.

Cocoa Beach Fire Chief Ryan Duckworth said Wednesday that the 11-bedroom, 13-bathroom home was a total loss. He said firefighters found dumpsters and construction materials on the 1.1-acre property. No one was injured, the fire chief said.   Continue reading “Crews battle major fire at iconic Florida mansion”

Mail.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former city and federal officials pointed fingers at one another for failing to protect the 100,000 citizens of Flint, Michigan, from lead-laced water at a congressional hearing Tuesday as Republicans targeted for blame an Environmental Protection Agency executive who resigned as the crisis worsened.

Amid withering criticism, Susan Hedman sought to defend the EPA’s actions to deal with the contamination in the predominantly African-American city. “I don’t think anyone at EPA did anything wrong, but I do believe we could have done more,” said Hedman, the former director of the EPA’s Midwest regional office.   Continue reading “Ex-officials point fingers at hearing on Flint water crisis”

RT

A sixteen-year-old boy is dead following an officer-involved shooting in Addison, Texas. Police said an off-duty officer attempted to intervene during a “crime in progress,” but the situation escalated to a car chase and gunfire.

“If he did something he shouldn’t be doing, then he should be arrested – not shot,” said the teen’s cousin, Nora Rubi, who gathered with the teen’s family to demand answers at Addison police station on Monday night, according to The Dallas Morning News.   Continue reading “16yo boy shot dead by off-duty Texas police officer”

Mail.com

DETROIT (AP) — A man charged with fatally shooting six people in southwestern Michigan interspersed with his stints as an Uber driver told investigators he was being controlled by the ride-hailing app through his cellphone, police said Monday.

According to a police report, Jason Dalton told authorities after the Feb. 20 shootings in and around Kalamazoo that “it feels like it is coming from the phone itself” and told of something “like an artificial presence,” the report said.   Continue reading “Man charged in Michigan shootings: Uber app took him over”

Mail.com

BAGHDAD (AP) — Top Islamic State commander and feared ethnic Chechen jihadi fighter Omar al-Shishani has died of wounds suffered in a U.S. airstrike in Syria, a senior Iraqi intelligence official and the head of a Syrian activist group said Tuesday.

Al-Shishani, who was wounded in a U.S. airstrike earlier this month, died on Monday outside the Islamic State group’s main stronghold of Raqqa in Syria, the two told The Associated Press. There was no immediate confirmation of his death from the Islamic State group but the IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency denied he was killed, saying that the “he was not subjected to any injury.” The outlet quoted an unnamed “source” for the denial, without giving further details or evidence that al-Shishani was still alive.   Continue reading “IS leader al-Shishani dies of wounds from US strike in Syria”

Mail.com

HAVANA (AP) — The Obama administration punched a new series of holes in the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba on Tuesday, turning a ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba into an unenforceable honor system and paving the way for Cuban athletes to one day play Major League Baseball and other U.S. professional sports.

Five days ahead of the first presidential trip to Havana in nearly 90 years, the U.S. also eliminated a ban on Cuban access to the international banking system. The inability to send or receive payments that passed even momentarily through the U.S. banking system had crippled the country’s ability to trade with third countries and became a major hindrance to the U.S. attempt to normalize relations with Cuba.   Continue reading “Obama administration punches new holes in embargo on Cuba”

Mail.com

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Widespread flooding in Louisiana and Mississippi has damaged thousands of homes, and the risk of rising water prompted additional evacuations Sunday. At least four deaths have been reported in Louisiana amid the flooding that began last week, and the National Guard has rescued nearly 3,300 residents. Two fishermen have been missing for days in Mississippi.

Flood warnings were in effect across the region as many rivers remained dangerously high. Also of concern was another line of thunderstorms that hit parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, northern Louisiana and northern Mississippi on Sunday night, bringing more rain and reports of tornadoes in Arkansas.   Continue reading “Louisiana, Mississippi: Thousands of homes damaged in floods”

Mail.com

SAO PAULO (AP) — Mammoth demonstrations across Brazil are putting even more pressure on embattled President Dilma Rousseff as she heads into a tough week for her attempt to survive impeachment proceedings in Congress.

According to police estimates, a total of 3 million people took to the streets in 200 cities Sunday calling on the president to resign amid widespread anger over corruption investigations and the worst recession in years.   Continue reading “Big protests across Brazil put more pressure on president”

Mail.com

GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast (AP) — Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort town. The attack left 16 dead.

Those who make a living off tourism believed the attack on three hotels Sunday would deal it a huge blow. “Here, we work every day so foreigners (can) come here to relax … With all that has happened, I don’t think that the clients are going to come back now,” said Francois Tanon, who rents beach chairs to tourists.   Continue reading “Survivors of Ivory Coast attack describe confusion and fear”

Mail.com

PHOENIX (AP) — Police were searching Wednesday for the parents of a newborn baby girl who was left in front of a suburban Phoenix home, her umbilical cord still attached. “At this point, our detectives have kind of exhausted all of our initial possible leads that we had,” Mesa police spokesman Steve Berry said at a news conference. “We have had no success in locating either Mom or Dad for this child.”   Continue reading “Arizona family finds abandoned newborn girl outside home”

Mail.com

NEW YORK (AP) — A bisexual man charged with shooting a gay man he taunted on a street was found guilty Wednesday of murder as a hate crime despite his assertions that he couldn’t be a bigot because of his own sexual orientation.

A Manhattan jury deliberated over two days before finding Elliot Morales guilty in the May 2013 shooting of Mark Carson in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, a center of American gay life for decades.   Continue reading “Bisexual man is convicted of hate crime for killing gay man”

Mail.com

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The Latest on the scheduled execution of a Texas inmate for a 1997 shooting rampage near Houston that left five people dead (all times local): 8:15 p.m. A man convicted of killing five people including his ex-wife in a 1997 shooting rampage near Houston has been put to death.

Coy Wesbrook on Wednesday became the eighth inmate executed this year in the U.S. and the fourth in Texas, the most active capital punishment state. The execution was delayed about 90 minutes. Prison officials had anticipated an additional appeal would be filed by a death penalty opponent.   Continue reading “Texas man executed for 1997 rampage that killed 5”