The two unarmed Iraqi brothers posed no threat as they herded cattle in a grove where a US army reconnaissance team was hidden one day seven years ago. But Michael Barbera, then a staff sergeant, took a knee, leveled his rifle and killed them anyway, a prosecutor said Wednesday as a preliminary hearing opened in the soldier's case.
The first boy was shot in the back, the prosecutor, Captain Ben Hillner, told an investigating officer considering whether Barbera should face a court martial in the March 2007 slayings. The second boy was shot in the chest as he raised his hands in the air, he said.
US soldier accused of killing two teens in Iraq as military investigates
Scientists discover oldest footprints outside of Africa
A new study published in PLOS ONE details the oldest human footprints found outside of Africa. Found and studied by archaeologists from the British Museum, the footprints are estimated to be anywhere from 780,000 to one million years old.
The footprints were discovered pressed into estuary mudflats along the coast of Happisburgh, England, a small village in low-lying Norfolk county. Happisburgh had previously been identified as one of the earliest sites of human activity outside of Africa, when ancient flint tools were discovered there in 2010.
IG: Feds didn’t pass polygraph evidence of child abuse to investigators
The nation’s spy satellite agency failed to notify authorities when some employees and contractors confessed during lie detector tests to crimes such as child molestation, an intelligence inspector general has concluded.
In other cases, the National Reconnaissance Office delayed reporting criminal admissions obtained during security clearance polygraphs, possibly jeopardizing evidence in investigations or even the safety of children, according to the inspector general report released Tuesday , almost two years after McClatchy’s reporting raised similar concerns.
Bruce Enberg: "Børk, Børk, Børk"
You know how the right has been constantly complaining about Obama's ballooning deficit? They have of course been wrong about that since the day Obama inherited Bush's $1.5t annual deficit and immediately slashed it by getting rid of private crony contractors. There has been a steady decline in budget shortfall ever since, and the latest numbers have set new records.
The deficit for the first half of this fiscal year starting last October 1st was $413b, and this was a decline of $187 billion compared to the same time last year. These numbers were provided by the Treasury Department, so the Right will claim the numbers are fixed. They can't prove that, because math is just voodoo as far as the Right is concerned.
Manager at Japan's Fukushima plant admits radioactive water "embarrassing"
The manager of the Fukushima nuclear power plant admits to embarrassment that repeated efforts have failed to bring under control the problem of radioactive water, eight months after Japan's prime minister told the world the matter was resolved.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the plant's operator, has been fighting a daily battle against contaminated water since Fukushima was wrecked by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government pledged half a billion dollars last year to tackle the issue, but progress has been limited.
The New York Times agrees to be gagged by Israel
Margaret Sullivan, The New York Times’ public editor, has written a thoughtful and important piece criticizing the way the newspaper complied with an Israeli-imposed gag order on the case of Majd Kayyal.
But it leaves some important questions unanswered about the Times’ apparent eagerness to let Israeli censors set its news agenda.
But it leaves some important questions unanswered about the Times’ apparent eagerness to let Israeli censors set its news agenda.
U.S. intelligence chief bars unauthorized contacts with reporters on all intel-related matters
Employees of U.S. intelligence agencies have been barred from discussing without authorization any intelligence-related matter - even if it isn’t classified - with journalists, under a new directive issued by Director of National Security James Clapper.
Intelligence agency employees who violate the policy could suffer career-ending losses of their security clearances or out-right termination, and those who disclose classified information could face criminal prosecution, according to the directive signed by Clapper on March 20.
9/11 prosecutor asks for more time over FBI spying claims
A US prosecutor has asked the judge in the 9/11 military tribunal in Guantánamo Bay for more time to look into whether an FBI investigation will affect the stalled war crimes trial.
The assistant US attorney Fernando Campoamor Sanchez says he confirmed the FBI began a preliminary criminal investigation involving classified information, but argues he needs 30 days to respond to a defense request to abate proceedings against five Guantánamo prisoners charged with orchestrating the attack on 11 September 2001.
Top court declines Exxon's appeal in NYC water pollution case
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a ruling against Exxon Mobil Corp that ordered the company to pay $105 million in damages for polluting New York City's groundwater with a toxic gasoline additive.
The decision not to hear the case leaves intact a July 2 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld the judgment.
In 2009, a jury concluded that Exxon contaminated water supply wells when the additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), leaked from its underground storage tanks in the borough of Queens.
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