From the Trenches World Report

RT

Malicious computer malware that caused substantial damage to Iran’s nuclear program may be the work of the NSA, researchers burrowing into the latest leak from hacking group Shadow Brokers have discovered within the computer data.

A tool found in Friday’s leak matched one used by the notorious Stuxnet malware.

First detected in 2010, Stuxnet is believed to be the joint work of the US and Israel; a claim that Edward Snowden backed up in a 2013 interview but which has never been acknowledged by either government.   Continue reading “Shadow Brokers leak links NSA to alleged US-Israeli Stuxnet malware that targeted Iran”

Breitbart – by Kathrine Rodriguez

Americans owe a whopping $1 trillion in credit card debt thanks to rising interest rates, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

Federal Reserve data released April 7 shows that U.S. consumers owe $1.0004 trillion on credit cards, up 6.2 percent from a year ago and 0.3 percent from January, according to Dow Jones newswires.   Continue reading “Americans Owe $1 Trillion in Credit Card Debt Due to Rising Interest Rates”

FEE – by Brittany Hunter

Bryant Rylee lives a seemingly simple life. Before the state intervened in his life, his Facebook page—which has a modest 591 friends—was relatively quiet. However, that was before a sandcastle built by his son caused the city of Panama, Florida, to threaten him with a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail, a threat that caused his Facebook page to get its “fifteen minutes of fame.”

Sandcastles are the epitome of childhood innocence and the manifestation of youthful creativity and wonder. As adults embarking on a day at the beach, we see only grains of sand that serve as nothing more but an uneven cushion beneath our feet. For children, the sand is a blank slate upon which they can build anything they want—kingdoms included.  Continue reading “Build A Sandcastle, Get Fined $500, And Maybe Go To Jail”

BBC News

North Korea will continue to test missiles, a senior official has told the BBC in Pyongyang, despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the US.

“We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC’s John Sudworth.

He said that an “all-out war” would result if the US took military action.   Continue reading “North Korea ‘will test missiles weekly’, senior official tells BBC”

Bloomberg – by Julie Johnsson

Boeing Co. plans to lay off hundreds of engineers in Washington state and other locations — and may eliminate more jobs later this year as the planemaker contends with slowing aircraft sales.

The latest workforce reduction, which should take effect June 23, follows a separate exodus of 1,500 mechanics and 305 engineers and technical workers who agreed to leave voluntarily earlier this year. Both union and non-union workers will be affected, Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, said Monday.   Continue reading “Boeing to Dismiss Hundreds of Engineers Amid Sales Slowdown”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

According to a report by South Korea’s primary news outlet, Yonhap, the Pentagon has directed a total of three US aircraft carriers toward the Korean Peninsula, citing a South Korean government source.

Yonhap reports that in addition to the CVN-70 Carl Vinson, which is expected to arrive off the South Korean coast on April 25, the CVN-76 Ronald Reagan – currently in home port in Yokosuka, Japan – and the CVN-68 Nimitz carrier group – currently undergoing final pre-deployment assessment, Composite Training Unit Exercise off Oregon – will enter the Sea of Japan next week.  According to the senior government official. the US and South Korea are discussing joint drills, which will include the three aircraft carriers and other ships.   Continue reading “US Deploys Two More Aircraft Carriers Toward Korean Peninsula: Yonhap”

RT

The US army has deployed dozens of troops to Somalia to train forces fighting Al-Shabab Islamist militant group in the largest deployment of troops to the country since 1993, when 18 US soldiers died in a battle dramatized in the movie Black Hawk Down.

A US military official told Voice of America that the team will train-and-equip Somali and AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) forces, with the mission expected to last until the end of September.   Continue reading “US army makes largest deployment of troops to Somalia since ‘Black Hawk Down’”

Mail.com

PANMUNJOM, South Korea (AP) — Viewing his adversaries in the distance, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the tense zone dividing North and South Korea and warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, “the era of strategic patience is over.”

Pence made an unannounced visit to the Demilitarized Zone at the start of his 10-day trip to Asia in a U.S. show of force that allowed the vice president to gaze at North Korean soldiers from afar and stare directly across a border marked by razor wire. As the brown bomber jacket-clad vice president was briefed near the military demarcation line, two North Korean soldiers watched from a short distance away, one taking multiple photographs of the American visitor.   Continue reading “Pence calls US commitment to South Korea ‘iron-clad’”

Mail.com

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The journalist arrested at a Tax Day protest at President Donald Trump’s signature Las Vegas hotel has been released from jail. KLAS Vice President and General Manager Lisa Howfield said photojournalist Neb Solomon was freed Saturday night, hours after he was arrested while covering the off-Strip protest.

Las Vegas police said Solomon was uncooperative and refused to provide his personal identification information at the scene. He was then booked into Clark County jail on two misdemeanors, including trespassing and obstructing an officer.   Continue reading “Vegas journalist arrested at Trump rally released from jail”

Mail.com

CLEVELAND (AP) — Authorities in several states were on the lookout Monday for a man police say shot a Cleveland retiree collecting aluminum cans and then posted video of the apparently random killing on Facebook.

“He could be nearby. He could be far away or anywhere in between,” FBI agent Stephen Anthony said on Day 2 of the manhunt for Steve Stephens, a 37-year-old job counselor for teens and young adults. Police said Stephens killed Robert Godwin Sr., a 74-year-old former foundry worker, on Sunday.   Continue reading “Manhunt expanded for suspect in Facebook video killing”

NBC News

ELVERUM, Norway — An explosion just a few feet away rocks the unmarked station wagon as it travels along a dirt road in the Norwegian woodland.

Immediately, two soldiers jump from their front seats and run for cover behind the carcass of an old, rusty tank. Firing their weapons at targets along the snow-covered hillside, they call for support from the rest of their unit.   Continue reading “Inside the World’s First All-Female Special Forces Unit: Norway’s Jegertroppen”

Courthouse News – by Matthew Renda

SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) – A student filed a federal lawsuit against campus police at California State University, San Jose, claiming officers roughed him up and then yelled at him to “stop bleeding all over” the squad car.

Alen Chen was slammed to the ground face first by San Jose State University police officers, violently handcuffed, repeatedly punched in the face and the body and then had a bag placed over his head in the back of police cruiser after he was asked to leave a concert in April 2015, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on Wednesday.   Continue reading “Student Says Campus Police Roughed Him Up”

Todd Starnes

Students at the University of California Davis proved you don’t need a Bic lighter to desecrate Old Glory — you just need a majority vote.

The UC Davis Student Senate passed legislation revoking a long-standing rule that required the American flag “stand visibly” at every senate meeting.

“It shall not be compulsory for the flag of the United State (sic) of America to be displayed at the ASUCD Senate meetings,” the new legislation declares.    Continue reading “University Students Votes to Make American Flag “Optional””

The Newspaper

A three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals decided Tuesday to expand the ability of police to stop and search motorists by declaring it unlawful to have a “dim” tail light.

The decision was made in the context of a January 5, 2014 traffic stop in East Grand Rapids. On that day, Officer Daniel Lobbezoo was looking for someone to ticket. He claims that he saw the tail light of the car being driven by Trevor Allen Vanderhart was dim on one side, even though he was in the opposite lane of traffic and only saw Vanderhart’s vehicle through a rear-view mirror. The officer was getting ready to write the ticket when he found he could elevate the stop into an arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).   Continue reading “Michigan Appeals Court Turns Dim Tail Lights Into A Crime”