Trump said, “We need people to be afraid. Right now many Americans are surprised when protestors are killed, but they’ll get used to it.” Trump did add one suggestion: “Try not to kill white people. That gets too much attention. Stick to protestors of other colors.”   read more

The target of the intimidation is journalist Shohret Hoshur, who works for Radio Free Asia in Washington. Hoshur fled China in 1994 after the government went after him for his reporting. But his continued coverage of events back home has resulted in three of his brothers being imprisoned, according to Hoshur. The harassment of Hoshur’s family began in 2009 when he reported on a Uighur torture victim.   read more

“I’m sure every American worker is saying: thank God the Republicans are going to have me work 10 more hours before I can get health insurance. Aren’t you generous?” Rep. Hoyer said. The Congressional Budget Office said the bill would result in 1 million people losing their health care coverage, forcing them either into government-supported plans or having no medical insurance at all. That would force an increase in federal spending of $53 billion over the next decade.   read more

The failure of Tammy Kilgore Alois to fully investigate the crimes, many of which involved sexual offenses against children, from 2010 to 2012 prompted the Coconut Creek Police Department and the Broward State Attorney’s Office to look into Alois’ work. It was found that she failed to interview victims and witnesses, mishandled evidence and neglected to write reports or present cases to prosecutors. It took three internal affairs officers to investigate the cases due to the volume of work.   read more

The oldest known living person is Misao Okawa of Japan. She’s 116, born March 5, 1898. She lost her husband in 1931, and has been a widow for 83 years. Her secret to longevity is plenty of sleep and plenty of food, including sushi. The next oldest is Gertrude Weaver of the United States. Also 116, but a bit younger than Okawa, Weaver has the distinction of being the oldest living American. The Arkansas native has outlived her husband and three children, but has one son in his 90s.   read more

Soilihi in 2006 was appointed as special delegate to Moroni city hall and the following year he became chief of staff to Comoros’ minister of finance. Soilihi moved to foreign affairs, becoming political counselor to the minister in 2009. In 2010, Soilihi took over as director general of the Office of Radio and Television for Comoros. One of his achievements was to make Comoran television available via satellite.   read more

The major sticking point in Macedonia’s efforts to join the EU has been its name. Greece is opposed to the use of the name Macedonia by its northern neighbor, saying it implies territorial claims to Greece’s northern province of the same name. Naumovski worked on that issue from 2009 to 2011, surviving a 2010 vote of no-confidence by members of the opposition party who claimed he was ineffective in his negotiations.   read more

An alarm has been sounded that the very future of science is at risk. Young scientists are increasingly being denied research grants, a trend that has been growing for more than a decade and resulting in a brain drain from biomedical academia. The continued loss of young scientific minds from this arena “could lead to a gradual evaporation of new discoveries, the loss of future leaders and mentors, a less diverse workforce and the loss of scientists...at a pivotal point in their career."   read more

The fact that these companies are selling such a large percentage of coal back to themselves constitutes “a fundamental shift in how the coal industry does business,” wrote Claire Moser. The scheme involves companies that mine coal using other companies they own to sell the resource at below-market value. That's how the government determines its royalties collected from coal producers leasing federal lands. The lower the sale price of coal, the lower the payment to the U.S. Treasury.   read more

The U.S. imports about $30 billion worth of seafood annually. Americans eat 5 billion pounds of seafood per year, and about 90% of it is imported from countries that don’t protect marine mammals caught in fishing operators’ nets from being killed. The rule change would impact 122 countries that currently sell fish to American importers. Latin America, India and China are among the biggest of them.   read more

“People who think we did the right thing in invading Iraq seem to be revising their memories to retroactively justify the invasion,” said poll researcher Dan Cassino. “This sort of motivated reasoning is pretty common: when people want to believe something, they’ll twist the facts to fit it.” The survey also revealed that 52% of respondents who said they watched Fox News said the WMD program discovery was “probably” or “definitely” true. Only 14% of viewers of MSNBC said that WMDs were found.   read more

There was half a minute left in the game and Anthony, his team having given up a 14-point lead, was called for an offensive foul. It was at that point that Rotondi let loose with his verbal barrage. After the next play, with 6.7 seconds left in the game, security personnel approached Rotondi to escort him from his seat. When the police arrived, security told them that Rotondi was ejected for interfering with the game and refusing to leave while being escorted out. Rotondi was then arrested.   read more

The study says fracking near Poland Township triggered a previously undiscovered fault. The result was more than 70 earthquakes ranging in magnitude of 2.1 to 3.0, the latter of which was described as “rare” by the experts. Hilcorp Energy, operator of several oil and gas wells in the area, was forced to shut down its drilling after the 3.0 quake. The seismologists’ research was deemed consistent with findings of a “probable” link between fracking and seismic events.   read more

The cutoffs will come in 2016 as a result of federal welfare reform law adopted in 1996, which imposed a three-month limit on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) eligibility for those aged 18-50 who aren’t disabled or don’t have minor children. The Agriculture Department estimates nondisabled childless individuals on SNAP earn 19% of the federal poverty level, or $2,200. About 40% of those who will lose benefits will be women and a third will be older than 40.   read more

DHS’ Inspector General says in a new report that CBP has not delivered the kinds of results it promised from spending at least $62.5 million so far on drones. The unmanned aircraft were supposed to help law enforcement do a better job of capturing those crossing the border illegally, but the report says CBP’s drones assisted in only 2% of these efforts in 2013. Drones were involved with only 1% of Arizona marijuana seizures and 4% of those in Texas.   read more

“We know nothing about what’s going on. No one has told us anything,” Reinyer Figueredo, the son of prisoner Haydee Gallardo, told Reuters. Opposition groups say the Castro government was holding about 100 political prisoners before the announced deal with the United States. People working for the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba have called prisoners’ family members to ask if their relatives had been released, but have learned of no one who had, according to the Miami Herald.   read more

Papa Faal and Cherno Njie were involved in the recent failed attempt to oust Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the small African nation since 1994. Njie and Faal traveled to Gambia, as did about 10 others, where most of the group tried to storm the presidential palace on December 30. The longtime dictator was not in the country at the time of the botched coup. Njie would have been Gambia’s interim leader if the coup had been successful,   read more