| Former FBI agent charged with using heroin seized in drug busts Posted: 20 Mar 2015 11:57 AM PDT By John Clarke WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) - A former FBI agent used heroin seized in drug busts in the Washington, D.C., area for his personal use and tampered with evidence, resulting in the dismissal of several drug-trafficking cases, prosecutors said on Friday. Matthew Lowry, 33, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was charged in the U.S. District for the District of Columbia with 20 counts of obstruction of justice, 18 counts of falsification of records, 13 counts of conversion of property, and 13 counts of possession of heroin, according to court documents. Lowry's attorney, Robert Bonsib, said his client will plead guilty to all charges. Lowry tampered with heroin evidence seized during several investigations in 2013 and 2014, often keeping the seized heroin in his car for personal use before returning it to the evidence locker after adding fillers to make up for the weight difference, according to prosecutors. |
| Exclusive: U.S. Navy wish list has 12 Boeing jets, eight F-35s - sources Posted: 20 Mar 2015 11:42 AM PDT By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy included 12 Boeing Co F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets and eight Lockheed Martin Corp F-35s on a list of "unfunded priorities" prepared for Congress, defense officials and other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Navy's list was reviewed by senior Pentagon officials and the Joint Chiefs of Staff this week, and should be sent to U.S. lawmakers in coming days, said the sources, who asked not to be named because the vetting is still under way. Top Pentagon officials are skeptical about the weapons wish lists, and worry they help lawmakers "cherry pick" specific weapons programs to fund, while crowding out bigger priorities. The total value of the additional 12 Boeing jets is around $1 billion, while the eight extra Lockheed jets would be just over $1 billion, the sources said. |
| 142 dead in Yemen mosque bombings claimed by IS Posted: 20 Mar 2015 10:56 AM PDT  Multiple suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 142 people Friday at Shiite mosques in Yemen's capital -- one of the strife-torn country's deadliest ever jihadist attacks. The killings were the first claimed by IS in Yemen and represent a strong show of force by the group in a country where rival Al-Qaeda is the most prominent jihadist organisation. Charred bodies and pools of blood were seen at the scene of the blasts, which targeted supporters of the Huthi Shiite militia that has seized control of the capital Sanaa. One suicide bomber struck inside Badr mosque in southern Sanaa while another targeted worshippers as they fled outside, witnesses said.
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| Spring arrives in winter-weary U.S. Northeast but more snow forecast Posted: 20 Mar 2015 10:07 AM PDT  By Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - Spring arrives in the winter-weary U.S. Northeast on Friday but the weather forecast was for more of the same: another half-foot of snow for parts of the region, prompting widespread flight cancellations and early school dismissals. After blanketing the Washington, D.C., region, the snowstorm headed north to the New York City metropolitan area, which was expected to get up to 6 inches (15 cm) of the wet, heavy winter souvenir, said National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Pereira. The fierce winter drained snow removal and road safety budgets in towns and cities throughout the Northeast. As the storm took aim at New York, it left behind the deepest snow in the western Maryland town of Cascade, which recorded 4 inches on Friday.
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| Many U.S. boards lack vision, just tick boxes in search for women directors Posted: 20 Mar 2015 09:50 AM PDT  By Nadia Damouni NEW YORK (Reuters) - Linda Hudson, former CEO of the U.S. arm of British defense company BAE Systems Plc, is among the women that boards call on when they are looking for a female director. The demand for the 64-year-old Hudson underscores an issue women directors are noticing: companies may be talking about how they want to have more diverse boards but a lot aren't putting in the effort needed to make it happen. "You often don't get the enlightened thinking of reaching beyond the obvious candidates," said Hudson, who sits on the boards of Bank of America Corp and utility Southern Co., and is thinking of joining a third. Of the 478 new directors appointed to Fortune 500 boards in 2014, only 27 percent were women, according to research firm BoardEx.
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| U.S unveils new rules to for fracking on federal lands Posted: 20 Mar 2015 09:34 AM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Interior said on Friday it finalized new rules to govern drilling on federal land using a process known as fracking, including new measures to protect groundwater. The rules, the culmination of a four-year process, will affect over 100,000 oil and gas wells on federally managed lands, 90 percent of which use the hydraulic fracturing technique. ... |
| Stargazers share stunning images of solar eclipse Posted: 20 Mar 2015 09:17 AM PDT  People across Europe shot stunning footage of the solar eclipse that turned the morning sky dark.
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| Indian train accident kills at least 30, leaves 50 injured Posted: 20 Mar 2015 07:06 AM PDT  By Sharat Pradhan Bachhrawan, India (Reuters) - At least 30 people were killed and 50 injured when an express train overshot a railway signal and some carriages went off the rails in a northern Indian state on Friday, officials said. India's creaking railway system is the world's fourth largest, ferrying more than 20 million people each day, but it has a poor safety record, with thousands of people dying in accidents every year. Friday's accident occurred at Bachhrawan railway station, about 45 km (28 miles) from Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, one of India's most populous states."Dead bodies after dead bodies were being pulled out," said Gyaneshwari, a 43-year-old passenger, who uses only one name. Blood was splattered in and around the wreckage.The accident happened when the train driver "overshot the signal ... causing derailment of the tail engine and two coaches," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu told parliament.
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| 3 suicide bombings target mosques in Yemen Posted: 20 Mar 2015 05:28 AM PDT  Dozens are dead after three bombers hit a pair of mosques crowded with worshippers, officials say.
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| Eclipse sweeps across Atlantic, visible only from remote islands Posted: 20 Mar 2015 03:21 AM PDT  Thousands of sky gazers flocked to remote islands for a chance to see a total solar eclipse.
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| Ohio man cleared of murder after 39 years in jail to get $1 million payment Posted: 20 Mar 2015 12:09 AM PDT  (Reuters) - An Ohio man freed last year after spending 39 years in jail for a murder he did not commit will receive more than $1 million from the state for his wrongful imprisonment, court records show. An Ohio Court of Claims judge on Thursday ordered that just over $1 million be paid to Ricky Jackson, the longest-held U.S. prisoner to be cleared of a crime. "Wow, I didn't know that," Jackson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which said he learnt of the payment from a journalist. Jackson was convicted along with Wiley Bridgeman and Bridgeman's brother, Kwame Ajamu, for the 1975 murder of Harold Franks, a money order salesman in the Cleveland area, after a 12-year-old boy testified he saw the attack, court papers show.
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| Total solar eclipse: How to watch It live online Posted: 19 Mar 2015 11:22 PM PDT  Even though most people around the world won't be able to see Friday's total solar eclipse in person, anyone with an Internet connection can watch it live online thanks to two webcasts featuring the cosmic event. The March 20 total solar eclipse — the first since November 2013 — will make the daytime sky go dark for people in the Faroe Islands and parts of the North Atlantic. You can watch the 2.5-hour-long solar eclipse webcast through the Slooh website starting at 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 GMT) on March 20. "Nothing — and I mean absolutely nothing in nature — is as powerful and spectacular as the totality of a solar eclipse," Slooh astronomer Bob Berman said in a statement.
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| Teen accomplice gets 16 years in Spokane murder of World War Two vet Posted: 19 Mar 2015 08:26 PM PDT A Washington state teenager was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Thursday for his role in the murder of an 88-year-old World War Two veteran who was beaten to death during a robbery outside a Spokane fraternal lodge, his lawyer said. Demetruis Glenn, 17, received the sentence in Spokane County Superior Court, his lawyer Christian Phelps said. Glenn and Kenan Adams-Kinard, also 17, were accused of assaulting Delbert "Shorty" Belton as he sat in his vehicle in the August 2013 incident. Adams-Kinard was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Feb. 5 after changing his plea to guilty in January. |
| U.S. veterans, Koreans seek conditions for Japan PM address to Congress Posted: 19 Mar 2015 07:21 PM PDT  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An organization for former U.S. prisoners of the Japanese and a Korean-American forum say Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should only be invited to address the U.S. Congress during an expected visit to Washington if he acknowledges Japan's World War Two past. Abe is expected to visit the United States at the end of next month and early May, and Japanese media say he is eager to highlight his trip with an address to both houses of Congress, an honor never before afforded to a Japanese prime minister. Any invitation is a matter for congressional leaders and Abe cuts a controversial figure, given what critics see as his attempts to water down past statements about the behavior of Japan's Imperial Army in World War Two. The president of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society, which represents surviving U.S. prisoners of the Japanese, said an address to a joint session of Congress would be "a unique opportunity to acknowledge Japan's historical responsibilities." However, writing to the Veterans' Committees of both houses on Wednesday, Jan Thompson said past statements by Abe rejecting the verdicts of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal that served as the foundation of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan "trouble us." "We want Congress to only extend the invitation to Prime Minister Abe to speak at the podium of Roosevelt and Churchill if they are assured that he will acknowledge that Japan's defeat released the country from the venom of fascism and the inhuman goals of a criminal regime," his letter said.
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| Jeb Bush live-streams Atlanta speech using Meerkat Posted: 19 Mar 2015 06:48 PM PDT  Jeb Bush became the first potential presidential candidate to use Meerkat on Thursday, delivering a speech via the live-streaming app that's been predicted to change the 2016 election.
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| Secret Service chief insists no crash at White House Posted: 19 Mar 2015 04:42 PM PDT  Joseph Clancy pushed back on any suggestion that his agency deliberately erased surveillance video.
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| Obama official: Congress should freeze its Iran penalties Posted: 19 Mar 2015 04:10 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Obama administration officials told a House committee on Thursday that if a nuclear deal is struck with Iran, lawmakers should leave congressionally imposed sanctions in place for years.
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| Britain's Prince Charles meets Obama on U.S. goodwill tour Posted: 19 Mar 2015 03:54 PM PDT  Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla met with President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday as part of a goodwill tour of the United States. Obama and the Prince of Wales chatted amiably in front of reporters and television cameras while the Duchess of Cornwall sat smiling on a couch nearby. "I think it's fair to say that the American people are quite fond of the royal family," Obama told the prince. It was the first White House visit by Charles since May 2011.
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| U.S. Secret Service director pledges to get tough on possible hush-ups Posted: 19 Mar 2015 01:48 PM PDT  By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy pledged on Thursday to get tough on his agency for keeping quiet about officers allegedly driving drunk on White House grounds, but he also knocked down reports that the incident involved a collision or that agents purposely deleted surveillance video of it. President Barack Obama chose Clancy, who took office last month, to clean up the security service's problems. On March 4, two Secret Service officers drove past barricades at the White House and into an area locked down because of a suspicious package. On Tuesday, a House of Representatives subcommittee grilled him for not firing agents suspected of being involved and blasted him for not conducting his own investigation.
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