LA Man Arrested For 'Swatting' Call That Led To Innocent Kansas Man's Death

Authorities arrested a 25-year-old man in California for a “swatting” prank emergency call that led to the death of an innocent 28-year-old Kansas man who was shot by police responders on Thursday evening as he stood on his front doorstep.

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Protests hit Tehran, two demonstrators reported killed in Iran town

Street protests hit Iran for a third day running on Saturday, spreading to the capital Tehran with crowds confronting police and attacking some state buildings, and a social media report said two demonstrators had been shot dead in a provincial town. Saturday's protests, in fact, coincided with state-sponsored rallies staged across the Islamic Republic to mark the final suppression of the 2009 unrest by security forces, with mass pro-government events in Tehran and Mashhad, Iran's second city. Pro-government rallies were held in some 1,200 cities and towns in all, state television reported.

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US eyes increased pumping from biggest federal water project

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Trump administration said Friday it will look at revving up water deliveries to farmers from California's Central Valley Project, the largest federal water project in the United States, in what environmental groups called a threat to protections for struggling native salmon and other endangered species.

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Deadly Police Shooting May Have Been Result of Online Gaming Prank

The practice is known as "swatting"

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Rare public protests spread across Iran amid spiraling inflation

Iranian police clashed with protesters demonstrating against government corruption on Friday, in a rare public show of discontent in the Islamic republic.  About 300 people gathered in the western city of Kermanshah on Friday calling for a "revolution", shouting "where's my paycheck?", "the people are begging, the clerics act like God" and “death to the dictator”. It followed a day after similar protests in the northeastern city of Mashhad, where more than 50 were arrested.  President Hassan Rouhani's government has been unable to control spiralling prices - the costs of basics such as milk and eggs has doubled in a week. And despite the loosening of international sanctions in 2015, the country has seen little economic growth and few ordinary residents feel they have benefitted.  There have been calls on social media for protests up and down the country, despite warnings from the government against illegal gatherings. Protestors attack security forces in Iran (location unknown) #http://iranprotestspic.twitter.com/aeS8zVyM9X— Wladimir (@vvanwilgenburg) December 29, 2017 The outbreak of unrest reflects growing discontent over rising prices and alleged corruption, as well as concern over the country’s costly involvement in regional conflicts such as Syria and Iraq. There were also chants in Mashhad on Thursday of "not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran" and "leave Syria, think about us". Mohsen Nasj Hamadani, deputy security chief in Tehran province, said about 50 people had rallied in a Tehran square and most left after being asked to by police, but a few who refused were "temporarily detained", the ILNA news agency reported. In the central city of Isfahan, a resident said protesters joined a rally held by factory workers demanding back-pay. "The slogans quickly changed from the economy to those against Rouhani and the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei)," the resident said by telephone. Chants in the holy city of Qom tonight, the spiritual center of #Iran: “We don’t want an Islamic Republic!” http://pic.twitter.com/ilawigFGej— Holly Dagres (@hdagres) December 29, 2017 In Qom, a stronghold of the Shi'ite clergy, footage posted on social media showed protesters attacking Ayatollah Khamenei by name. "Seyyed Ali should be ashamed and leave the country alone," they chanted. Police arrested 52 people in Thursday's protests, Fars quoted a judicial official as saying in Mashhad, one of the holiest places in Shi'ite Islam. In social media footage, riot police were seen using water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds. Some social media videos showed demonstrators chanting "Death to Rouhani" and "Death to the dictator". Protests were also held in at least two other northeastern cities. Openly political protests are rare in Iran, where security services are omnipresent. The last unrest of national significance occurred in 2009 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election as president ignited eight months of street protests. Pro-reform rivals said the vote was rigged. The protests came as Tehran looked to have bowed to internal pressure to relax its strict Islamic dress codes. Morality police in the capital said they will no longer automatically arrest women for failing to women seen without the proper hijab head-covering in public, mandated since the 1979 revolution. For nearly 40 years, women in Iran have been forced to cover their hair and wear long, loose garments.  Younger and more liberal-minded women have long pushed the boundaries of the official dress code, wearing loose headscarves that do not fully cover their hair and painting their nails, drawing the ire of conservatives. The announcement signalled an easing of punishments for violating the country's conservative dress code, as called for by the reform-minded Iranians who helped re-elect President Rouhani, a relative moderate, earlier this year.

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Six dead as seaplane crashes into Sydney river ahead of New Year celebrations

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A seaplane crashed into a Sydney river on Sunday, killing six people on a "wine and dine" sightseeing flight ahead of the city's New Year's Eve celebrations at the harbor.

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Turkey detains 20 suspected Islamic State members, including 15 foreigners: police

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police have detained 20 people, including 15 foreign nationals, on suspicion of links to Islamic State during raids in Istanbul, tightening security ahead of the anniversary of a nightclub attack in which dozens were killed.

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Merkel sees Germany split over pace of social change

BERLIN (AP) — Germans have rarely been so divided about the changes taking place in their society, the country's long-time leader Angela Merkel said Sunday, adding in her New Year's address that she is committed to helping tackle the challenges of the future by swiftly forming a new government.

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2 Dead, 1 Injured In Shooting At California Law Firm

A shooter opened fire at a southern California law firm Friday, killing one man and injuring another before fatally turning the gun on himself, police said.

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DR Congo Catholics challenge Kabila with demo call

Catholics in crisis-torn Democratic Republic of Congo vowed Saturday to defy a protest ban and hold a "peaceful march" Sunday to urge implementation of a deal for President Joseph Kabila to leave office and for delayed elections. Kabila has been in power since 2001 when he succeeded his assassinated father Laurent Kabila and refused to step down at the end of his second and final term in December 2016. About 150 Catholic churches have urged believers to heed their call to protest, bibles in hand, Sunday in the capital Kinshasa and demand implementation of a deal signed exactly a year ago designed to restore stability with Kabila stepping down.

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Trump Reportedly Terminated All Members Of HIV/AIDS Council Without Explanation

The White House has reportedly fired the members of Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) without explanation.

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Some countries reverse free expression, seeing it as threat

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Two Turkish journalists face possible life sentences on charges they sent "subliminal messages" on television encouraging a government coup. In Hungary, oligarchs loyal to the prime minister have gained control of much of the media after the leading independent newspaper was shut down. And in Poland, a reporter is being threatened with a military trial for writing a book critical of the defense minister.

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The High-Tech Ways Authorities Are Keeping You Safe This New Year

Following a year of deadly terrorist attacks, security is going to be tighter than ever before.

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2 Children Among 4 Dead in Basement in Troy After Act of 'Savagery,' Police Say

Two young children and their mother were among the four family members found killed in an act of “savagery” this week inside their basement apartment in the upstate New York city of Troy

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Clashes over US recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli capital claim 13th victim

A Gazan died on Saturday after being wounded by Israeli fire during a protest on the border over US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a Palestinian health official said. Jamal Muslih, 20, of Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, had been seriously wounded by live fire on Friday, health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. He was buried on Saturday afternoon. Muslih’s death brings to 13 the number of Palestinians killed since US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 that he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Mourners at the funeral of Jamal Muslih, who died after being wounded by Israeli fire Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP Eleven protesters died after clashes with Israeli troops, and two others were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza earlier in the month. More than 50 Palestinians were wounded in the Friday clashes on the Gaza-Israel border as part of a "day of rage" over the US declaration, called for by both Gaza rulers Hamas and fellow militant group Islamic Jihad. In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said at least 16 people were wounded when Israeli troops fired live rounds during demonstrations, while others were hit with rubber-coated bullets. Earlier on Friday, militants in Gaza fired three rockets at southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defence system, with the third hitting a village near the border, causing damage but no casualties. Israeli aircraft and tanks targeted two Hamas positions near the border on Friday afternoon in response, again causing damage but no casualties. UN vote to condemn Trump recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel Late Saturday, the Israeli army carried out a second attack, with fighter jets "targeted an observation post belonging to the Hamas terror organisation in the southern Gaza Strip," a statement read. According to the army, the Friday projectile attack on Israel proved that "Iran, through radical and rogue terror organisations, is operating to deteriorate the situation," risking lives in Gaza and threatening to cause "an escalation". The Israeli defence ministry has in recent weeks been increasingly highlighting the ties between Hamas and Iran, most notably in a series of Facebook posts by COGAT, the unit responsible for activities in the Palestinian territories. Speaking on Channel 2 television Saturday night, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman claimed that the projectiles fired from Gaza at Israel on Friday were made and supplied by Iran. Rockets from Gaza are often fired by fringe Islamist groups but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks from the territory.    

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LA Man Arrested For 'Swatting' Call That Led To Innocent Kansas Man's Death

Authorities arrested a 25-year-old man in California for a “swatting” prank emergency call that led to the death of an innocent 28-year-old Kansas man who was shot by police responders on Thursday evening as he stood on his front doorstep.

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US eyes increased pumping from biggest federal water project

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Trump administration said Friday it will look at revving up water deliveries to farmers from California's Central Valley Project, the largest federal water project in the United States, in what environmental groups called a threat to protections for struggling native salmon and other endangered species.

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Trump reportedly fired his entire HIV/AIDS council by FedEx letter

President Donald Trump reportedly fired the sixteen remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) Wednesday via a letter FedExed from the White House.

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Congo orders internet and SMS cut ahead of anti-government demonstrations

Democratic Republic of Congo's government on Saturday ordered telecommunications providers to cut internet and SMS services across the country ahead of planned anti-government demonstrations. Grassroots Catholic activists have called for marches in major cities on Sunday to demand that President Joseph Kabila commit to not changing the constitution to stand for a third term and release political prisoners. Kabila was required by the constitution to step down in December last year when his mandate expired but an election to replace him has been repeatedly delayed and is now scheduled for December 2018.

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Situation Report: Russia Slams U.S. Missile Defense Sale to Japan

Saudi blockade of Yemen taking a toll, Turkey buys Russian military kit

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South Korea seizes second ship suspected of providing oil to North Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday.

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Russia accuses US of breaking treaty over defence system sale to Japan

Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov on Saturday accused the United States of violating a key arms treaty by selling a missile defence system to Japan. "The US is deploying them (missile defence systems) at their military bases in Romania and Poland, that is near our western borders, which goes against the 1987 INF Treaty banning the deployment of such systems on the ground," Ryabkov said in a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry website. "The fact that such complexes could now appear on Russia's eastern borders creates a situation that we cannot ignore in our military planning," said Ryabkov.

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Disney World Guest Mercilessly Heckles Animatronic Donald Trump

A guest at Disney World got very, er, animated while attending the Hall of Presidents attraction on Wednesday.

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Putin toughens terrorist recruitment sentences

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law Friday a bill toughening sentences for terrorist recruitment as the country deals with the issue of returning jihadists from Syria. Official publication of the law came two days after a bomb attack on a supermarket in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second city, injured 14 people. The new law, which parliament voted through on December 14 and the upper chamber approved on December 26, immediately raises the maximum sentence for terrorist recruitment and finance to life from 10 years.

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Hours after Afghan blast, confused families searched desperately for news

By James Mackenzie and Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi KABUL (Reuters) - Hours after the explosion that tore through a Shi'ite cultural center in the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, desperate families were still searching for news, as burned bodies were brought in and wards at the nearby Istiqlal hospital filled up. "Everyone was at the hospital but at first nobody knew where they were, they were lost," said Hasan Jan, whose nephews, Abdul Saboor Maqsoudi, 24, and brother Ali Paiman, 18, were among the dead. "Finally they recognized him because of a ring on his finger and his shirt and belt and his watch." The attack, claimed by Islamic State, was the latest in at least two dozen bombings on Shi'ite targets in the Sunni-majority country over the past two years in a brutal campaign by the movement that has killed and wounded hundreds.

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2 Children Among 4 Dead in Basement in Troy After Act of 'Savagery,' Police Say

Two young children and their mother were among the four family members found killed in an act of “savagery” this week inside their basement apartment in the upstate New York city of Troy

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Trump Reportedly Terminated All Members Of HIV/AIDS Council Without Explanation

The White House has reportedly fired the members of Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) without explanation.

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The High-Tech Ways Authorities Are Keeping You Safe This New Year

Following a year of deadly terrorist attacks, security is going to be tighter than ever before.

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Turkey detains 75 Islamic State suspects: police, media

Turkish police detained 75 suspected Islamic State members in two operations on Friday, state media and police said, after arresting about 120 such suspects across Turkey a day earlier, tightening security ahead of the New Year. Some 500 police officers took part in simultaneous raids across Ankara, and many of those detained were foreign nationals, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Materials seized in the raids indicated some of the suspects had made preparations for an attack over New Year, it added.

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Gainesville 'Hot Cop' Resigns Amid Investigation Over Alleged Anti-Semitic Comments

Investigators were also looking into allegations Michael Hamill had consensual sex while on the job.

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Trump Says Postal Service Should Charge Amazon More: Here's Why He's Wrong

USPS has its problems, but Amazon isn't one of them.

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Nikki Haley seemingly tricked by Russian pranksters into commenting on fictional country 'Binomo'

A pair of Russian comedians appear to have successfully tricked the US’ Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, into commenting on a fictional Asian country. The two comedians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, known as Vovan and Lexus, posted a 22 minute audio clip of their conversation with the ambassador where they get her to comment on the situation in Binomo – a fictional country in the South China Sea. Posing as the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, they spoke to Ms Haley in the days after Poland was one of 35 countries to abstain on a UN vote to reject Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as “null and void”.

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Ukraine kidnappers free bitcoin analyst after $1 mln ransom paid

By Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Kidnappers in Ukraine have released an employee at a United Kingdom-registered cryptocurrency exchange after getting more than $1 million in bitcoins as ransom, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister told Reuters on Friday. Pavel Lerner, a leading analyst and blockchain expert, was abducted by unknown masked people on Dec. 26, according to a statement by his company, EXMO Finance, on its website. "This is the first such case in Ukraine linked to bitcoins," Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, said in a phone text message.

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New economic protests in Tehran challenge Iran's government

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran's weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic's clerical establishment.

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2 Children Among 4 Dead in Basement in Troy After Act of 'Savagery,' Police Say

Two young children and their mother were among the four family members found killed in an act of “savagery” this week inside their basement apartment in the upstate New York city of Troy

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Congo orders internet and SMS cut ahead of anti-government demonstrations

Democratic Republic of Congo's government on Saturday ordered telecommunications providers to cut internet and SMS services across the country ahead of planned anti-government demonstrations. Grassroots Catholic activists have called for marches in major cities on Sunday to demand that President Joseph Kabila commit to not changing the constitution to stand for a third term and release political prisoners. Kabila was required by the constitution to step down in December last year when his mandate expired but an election to replace him has been repeatedly delayed and is now scheduled for December 2018.

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The Latest: Self-closing doors mandatory in fire building

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on New York City's deadliest residential fire in decades (all times local):

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Save the bees: Inside a bee sanctuary's fight to save colonies – and the world's food supply – from collapse

On a seven-acre plot of land in upstate New York, an expansive lawn juts up behind a brown cottage, gently sloping down into the woods. “It’s like a desert,” Guillaume Gauthereau, the founder and executive director of the New York Bee Sanctuary, said this past August, gesturing to the lush grass as those same bees swirled around. The difference at the sanctuary, however, is that Gauthereau has carefully cultivated a habitat full of vegetation around that grass that gives bees the opportunity to thrive.

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Iran said protesters should pay a high price if they break the law

LONDON (Reuters) - Protesters in Iran who have staged three days of demonstrations over economic hardship and alleged corruption should pay a high price if they break the law, the government said on Sunday.

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