US (MSM)

U.S. military mistakenly ships live anthrax to labs in nine states

By Phil Stewart and Sharon Begley WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. military mistakenly sent live anthrax bacteria to laboratories in nine U.S. states and a U.S. air base in South Korea, after apparently failing to properly inactivate the bacteria last year, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The Pentagon said there was no known suspected infection or risk to the public. Twenty-two personnel at the base in South Korea were

U.S. military mistakenly ships live anthrax to labs in nine states

By Phil Stewart and Sharon Begley WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. military mistakenly sent live anthrax bacteria to laboratories in nine U.S. states and a U.S. air base in South Korea, after apparently failing to properly inactivate the bacteria last year, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The Pentagon said there was no known suspected infection or risk to the public. Twenty-two personnel at the base in South Korea were

New flood warning for Houston as death toll rises

The National Weather Service issued a new flash flood warning on Wednesday for Houston where storms have left five people dead and turned neighborhoods into lakes in the fourth most-populous U.S. city. Southwest of Dallas, police evacuated people living near a dam that threatened to burst due to surging floodwaters as emergency officials searched for bodies from storms that killed at least 18 in Texas and Oklahoma. Water had topped

New flood warning for Houston as death toll rises

The National Weather Service issued a new flash flood warning on Wednesday for Houston where storms have left five people dead and turned neighborhoods into lakes in the fourth most-populous U.S. city. Southwest of Dallas, police evacuated people living near a dam that threatened to burst due to surging floodwaters as emergency officials searched for bodies from storms that killed at least 18 in Texas and Oklahoma. Water had topped

Appeals court rules with states challenging Obama's immigration action

By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s plan to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation was dealt another setback on Tuesday when a U.S. appeals court refused to lift a block put in place by 26 states that argued Obama overstepped his authority. By a 2-1 vote that could pave the way to a Supreme Court ruling, the judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

Appeals court rules with states challenging Obama's immigration action

By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s plan to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation was dealt another setback on Tuesday when a U.S. appeals court refused to lift a block put in place by 26 states that argued Obama overstepped his authority. By a 2-1 vote that could pave the way to a Supreme Court ruling, the judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

Colorado movie massacre defense: We need to talk about James

By Daniel Wallis and Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) – In a hushed courtroom on the outskirts of Denver, defense lawyers played family videos of a young boy sitting on a sofa in shorts and a T-shirt, playing on a slide in a park, and frolicking in waves on a sunlit beach. The films gave no hint of the violence that would later be committed by James Holmes, who could

Colorado movie massacre defense: We need to talk about James

By Daniel Wallis and Keith Coffman CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) – In a hushed courtroom on the outskirts of Denver, defense lawyers played family videos of a young boy sitting on a sofa in shorts and a T-shirt, playing on a slide in a park, and frolicking in waves on a sunlit beach. The films gave no hint of the violence that would later be committed by James Holmes, who could

WORLD (MSM)

Iraq Shi'ite militia take lead in campaign to reverse Islamic State gains

Iraq’s Shi’ite paramilitaries said on Tuesday they had taken charge of the campaign to drive Islamic State from the western province of Anbar, giving the operation an openly sectarian codename that could infuriate its Sunni population. The Iraqi government is scrambling to reverse its biggest military setback in nearly a year, the fall of Ramadi, capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed to recapture

Malaysian police reveal grim secrets of jungle trafficking camps

By Praveen Menon and Andrew R.C. Marshall BUKIT WANG BURMA, Malaysia (Reuters) – Malaysian police forensic teams, digging with hoes and shovels, on Tuesday began pulling out bodies from shallow graves found in abandoned jungle camps where an inter-governmental body said hundreds of victims of human traffickers may be buried. The Malaysian government said it was investigating whether local forestry officials were involved with the people-smuggling gangs believed responsible for

Japan to join U.S., Australia war games amid growing China tensions

By Matt Siegel SYDNEY (Reuters) – Japan will join a major U.S.-Australian military exercise for the first time in a sign of growing security links between the three countries as tensions fester over China’s island building in the South China Sea. While only 40 Japanese officers and soldiers will take part in drills involving 30,000 U.S. and Australian troops in early July, experts said the move showed how Washington wanted

Teenager in Austrian 'Playstation' terrorism case gets two years

A 14-year-old boy from Austria who downloaded bomb-making plans onto his Playstation games console was sentenced to a two-year jail term on Tuesday after pleading guilty to terrorism charges, a court spokeswoman said. As well as researching how to build a bomb, the boy made contact with militants supporting the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, prosecutors said ahead of the trial. The boy, a Turkish national, will serve what

Bombing exposes Saudi failure to curb sectarian strains

By Sami Aboudi DUBAI (Reuters) – A suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia as it presses on with its war against Shi’ite fighters in Yemen has exposed the Sunni kingdom’s failure to curb sectarianism at home and prompted fears that such tensions can only get worse. Islamic State, which claimed Friday’s attack on a Shi’ite mosque, is trying to stir up sectarian confrontation as a way of hastening the overthrow of

No Iran sanctions relief before end 2015 at best: German envoy

Sanctions relief for Iran under a potential nuclear agreement would not take place before the end of this year under the best-case scenario, German Ambassador to the United States Peter Wittig said on Tuesday. Wittig was speaking at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington. The French ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, also said it was possible there might be a “fuzzy” end to the Iran negotiations even

Turkey says training of moderate Syrian rebels begins with US

Turkey and the United States have started training moderate Syrian rebels on Turkish territory to prepare them to fight Islamic State (IS) militants, the Turkish foreign minister said on Tuesday. The US-led programme to equip and train Syrian rebels on Turkish territory has started “with small groups” after months of delays, Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by the official Anatolia news agency. “Both the Turkish and the American personnel

China lodges complaint with U.S. over spy plane flight

China said it had lodged a complaint with the United States over a U.S. spy plane that flew over parts of the disputed South China Sea in a diplomatic row that has fuelled tension between the world’s two largest economies. Friction in the region has grown over China’s land reclamation in the Spratly islands. China last week said it was “strongly dissatisfied” after a U.S. spy plane flew over areas

Islamic State faces battle in Iraq, bombs in Syria

BAGHDAD/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State poured more fighters into Ramadi as security forces and Shi’ite paramilitaries prepared to retake the Iraqi city that fell to the Islamists a week ago in a major setback for the government. In Palmyra, the Syrian air force struck at buildings captured by the Sunni militant group, whose arrival has raised fears that the city’s famed Roman ruins will be destroyed. The air force leveled

Philippines seeks stronger commitment from U.S. in South China Sea dispute

The Philippines is seeking a “stronger commitment” from the United States to help its ally, the defense minister said on Monday, as China asserts its sovereignty over disputed areas of the South China Sea. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims. China said on Monday it had lodged

Malaysia finds 139 graves in 'cruel' jungle trafficking camps

By Praveen Menon WANG KELIAN, Malaysia (Reuters) – Malaysia has found 139 graves, and signs of torture, in more than two dozen squalid human trafficking camps suspected to have been used by gangs smuggling migrants across the border with Thailand, the country’s police chief said on Monday. The dense jungles of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia have been a major stop-off point for smugglers bringing people to Southeast Asia by

Air France flight escorted to New York after threat: report

An Air France flight from Paris was escorted by U.S. fighter jets to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday after an anonymous threat was made against the flight, according to WABC television. Flight 22 from Charles de Gaulle Airport landed safely, an airport official said. It was to be taken to a secure area at the New York airport to be searched, according to ABC News.

Houthis suffer first serious setback in south Yemen fighting: residents

By Mohammed Mukhashaf and Mohammed Ghobari ADEN/CAIRO (Reuters) – Local Sunni Muslim militia ejected Shi’ite Houthi rebels from much of the southern Yemeni city of Dalea on Monday, residents and combatants said, inflicting the first significant setback on the Iranian-backed rebels in two months of civil war. Dalea had been a bastion of southern secessionists in Yemen before the Houthis took widespread control of the city in arch, after having

FEATURED BROADCAST