| Cincinnati campus police officer charged with murder of black man Posted: 29 Jul 2015 12:30 PM PDT  A University of Cincinnati police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man has been charged with murder after a grand jury investigation, the Hamilton County prosecutor said on Wednesday. Prosecutor Joseph Deters, speaking bluntly at a news conference to announce the charges, called the July 19 death of Samuel Dubose, 43, "senseless" and totally unnecessary. City officials braced for possible unrest after the announcement of the grand jury's decision and the University of Cincinnati shut down in case of protests.
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| Dentist sends apology letter after killing Zimbabwe lion Cecil Posted: 29 Jul 2015 11:53 AM PDT  Walter James Palmer wrote a letter to his patients at River Bluff Dental in Minnesota to apologize after the death of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe.
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| Ohio cop indicted on murder charge in traffic-stop shooting Posted: 29 Jul 2015 10:59 AM PDT  A University of Cincinnati officer who shot a motorist during a traffic stop over a missing front license plate has been indicted on murder charges, a prosecutor said Wednesday, adding that the officer "purposely killed him" and "should never have been a police officer."
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| Congressman Fattah of Philadelphia charged in racketeering conspiracy Posted: 29 Jul 2015 09:17 AM PDT  (Reuters) - The Justice Department on Wednesday said it charged Representative Chaka Fattah, a Pennsylvania Democrat, and four of his associates with participating in a racketeering conspiracy and other crimes. The department said Fattah, who represents Philadelphia in the House of Representatives, and the others faced a 29-count indictment including charges of bribery, mail fraud, falsification of records, bank fraud, money laundering and other crimes related to Fattah's 2007 unsuccessful run for mayor of Philadelphia. Fattah, 58, was first elected to the House in 1994.
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| Western New York man charged for supporting Islamic State Posted: 29 Jul 2015 08:59 AM PDT U.S. authorities arrested a man in western New York and charged him with supporting Islamic State by traveling to Turkey to help the militant group, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. Arafat Nagi of Lackawanna, New York, was charged with attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization after the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered he had purchased military equipment and traveled to Turkey twice to meet members of Islamic State. Nagi had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and community members said he had jihadi beliefs, court documents said. |
| Death of woman in jail cell prompts Texas House committee meeting Posted: 29 Jul 2015 08:08 AM PDT  A Texas House of Representative committee plans to meet on Thursday to look into conditions that led to the death of Sandra Bland, a black motorist whose apparent suicide in jail has raised questions about what role race played in her treatment. Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and a county sheriff who has been a critic of inadequate jail facilities were expected to testify at the Texas House Committee of County Affairs hearing. "This isn't to beat up on somebody," state Representative and committee chairman Garnet Coleman was quoted as saying by broadcaster KHOU.
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| Republican leaders feeling heat from the right Posted: 29 Jul 2015 07:51 AM PDT  Grassroots anger at GOP leadership in Congress and in the presidential contest has crescendoed in recent days, and the outrage on the right is forcing the GOP to respond.
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| Tom Brady blasts NFL decision to uphold his suspension Posted: 29 Jul 2015 06:08 AM PDT In his most defiant public address since the Deflate-gate scandal broke after the AFC Championship Game, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady emphatically defended his innocence on Facebook. |
| New TSA chief aims to tighten U.S. airline screening: NYT Posted: 29 Jul 2015 05:18 AM PDT  Peter V. Neffenger, the agency's new administrator, told the newspaper in an interview those measures would be part of reforms to address recent security lapses. "Efficiency and getting people through airport security lines cannot be our sole reason that makes you take your eyes off the reason for the mission," Neffenger was quoted as saying in the newspaper. A report by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general found that airport screeners, who are TSA employees, did not detect banned weapons in 67 of 70 tests at dozens of airports, ABC News said in June, citing officials briefed on it.
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| Taliban leader Mullah Omar has died, Afghan officials say Posted: 29 Jul 2015 05:02 AM PDT  The reclusive leader, whose regime sheltered Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda before the September 11th attacks, had not been seen in years.
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| Man charged with capital murder in shotgun ambush of woman in Hollywood Posted: 29 Jul 2015 04:29 AM PDT Los Angeles prosecutors on Tuesday filed capital murder charges against a man accused of using a shotgun to ambush a woman with whom he had a business dispute, shooting her in the head as she walked to dinner near Hollywood's tourist hub. Ezeoma Chigozie Obioha, 31, was arraigned on one count of murder with the special circumstances of lying in wait and murder for financial gain, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. Obioha pleaded not guilty to the charges, KCBS-TV reported. |
| Migrant dies in Channel Tunnel as British security body meets over crisis Posted: 29 Jul 2015 03:53 AM PDT  By Estelle Shirbon and Dominique Vidalon LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - A migrant died trying to cross to Britain from France early on Wednesday, French police said, adding to a number of recent deaths in the Channel Tunnel as British ministers and security chiefs were to meet over the crisis in Calais. Freight and passenger traffic through the rail tunnel has been severely disrupted in recent weeks as large numbers of migrants camped out in the Calais area have tried to board lorries and trains traveling from France to Britain. The situation has turned into a blame game with Eurotunnel asking French and British governments to reimburse it for close to 10 million euros ($11 million) it spent to beef up security to cope with the migrant crisis at Calais.
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| Man accused in lion death says he thought hunt was legal Posted: 29 Jul 2015 01:57 AM PDT  BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota dentist who went on a guided bow hunting trip for big game in Zimbabwe said that he had no idea the lion he killed was protected and that he relied on the expertise of his local guides to ensure the hunt was legal.
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| Conservative pushes symbolic effort against Boehner Posted: 29 Jul 2015 01:06 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — A conservative Republican who was disciplined earlier this year after defying House leaders is pushing a largely symbolic effort to strip John Boehner of his position as House speaker.
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| Father of Colorado movie gunman pleads with jury for his life Posted: 28 Jul 2015 08:25 PM PDT The father of the Colorado movie massacre gunman pleaded on Tuesday for his son's life, showing the jury photos of family vacations when he said James Holmes was "a really excellent kid" who became mentally ill and is not to blame for his July 2012 rampage. Bob Holmes, who with his wife Arlene has attended the proceedings on the outskirts of Denver almost every day since they began in late April, made his long-anticipated appearance on the witness stand during the trial's punishment phase. Arlene Holmes is expected to testify on Wednesday. |
| From rents to haircuts, Americans start to feel price hikes Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:37 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Apartment rents are up. So are prices for restaurant meals, haircuts, gym memberships and a cup of coffee.
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| Tom Brady's destroyed cell phone is smoking gun that crushed the Patriots superstar Posted: 28 Jul 2015 07:20 PM PDT |
| Sexual-assault accuser says Cosby didn't realize she was gay Posted: 28 Jul 2015 06:28 PM PDT  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The woman battling Bill Cosby to make public a 2006 settlement of her sexual-assault complaint against him said in court documents on Tuesday that she is a lesbian, despite his sworn assertions that their encounter was consensual and he has a knack for reading women's cues. The revelation by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee who has alleged the comedian tricked her into taking drugs before assaulting her in 2004, came in a legal memorandum filed in federal court in Philadelphia. In it, Constand's lawyers argue that Cosby, 78, breached the confidentiality clause of their settlement through a series of public comments by his attorneys as they mounted a media campaign seeking to put his "spin" on the widening scandal.
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| GOP leaders plan Senate vote on Planned Parenthood aid Posted: 28 Jul 2015 05:55 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate will vote before its August recess on a Republican effort to bar federal aid to Planned Parenthood, GOP leaders said Tuesday, as anti-abortion groups clamored for action by lawmakers. Democrats said they will strongly oppose what they called the latest Republican effort to weaken women's health care programs, but stopped short of flatly predicting its defeat.
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| GOP: Still no deal on Clinton testimony to Benghazi panel Posted: 28 Jul 2015 04:16 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, said Tuesday that there is no agreement with Hillary Rodham Clinton over her possible appearance before the panel, despite the State Department's pledge to produce 5,000 new pages of documents.
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| Pentagon email network taken offline after suspicious activity: CNN Posted: 28 Jul 2015 03:27 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An unclassified email network used by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey has been taken offline after suspicious activity, CNN reported on Tuesday. CNN quoted a Pentagon spokeswoman as saying that activity on the network, also used by hundreds of military and civilian personnel, was being investigated by the U.S. military's Cyber Command. The network was taken offline over the weekend. (Reporting by Sandra Maler; Editing by Eric Walsh) |
| U.S. military sees more use of laser, microwave weapons Posted: 28 Jul 2015 03:09 PM PDT The U.S. military has made strides in developing lasers, microwaves and other directed energy weapons, and could soon use them more widely, top armed forces officials and U.S. lawmakers told an industry conference on Tuesday. The officials described weapons that are in various stages of development and testing by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army, but said more work was needed to scale up the technology for larger weapons, develop tactics for their use, and ensure sufficient funding. "Directed energy brings the dawn of an entirely new era in defense," Lieutenant General William Etter, Commander, Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, told a conference hosted by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment. |
