30 pounds of cocaine found on American Airlines plane brought to Tulsa for maintenance

Source: Tulsaworld

Tulsa County deputies retrieved about 30 pounds of cocaine after a flight from Colombia landed in Tulsa for maintenance.

An American Airlines employee was conducting maintenance Sunday afternoon on a Boeing 757 when the employee found one of seven bricks of the schedule two substance, Tulsa County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Casey Roebuck said.

The flight was from Bogota, Colombia to Miami, Roebuck said. The plane was initially scheduled for maintenance there but was deferred to Tulsa due to a scheduling issue.

"That's a lot of cocaine, so we suspect cartel involvement," Roebuck said. "That's why we're turning it over to the DEA."

Read more: http://m.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/pounds-of-cocaine-found-on-american-airlines-plane-brought-to/article_783b762f-6b52-55c6-b413-1a0c268db957.html?mode=jqm

Iron Workers pension cuts approved; retirees to get smaller checks

Source: Cleveland

In a vote pitting current workers against retirees, the retirees in the Iron Workers Local 17 union in Cleveland lost.

Starting next week, their pension payments will shrink, some by half or more.

The Iron Workers Local 17 fund is the first pension fund to get Treasury Department approval for these kinds of cuts under congressional authority. Treasury rejected a similar request for a vote from a much larger fund, the Central States Pension Fund, after concluding its plan for post-voting survival was still risky

The size of the cuts depends on each worker. While the fund has said average cuts are about 20 percent, that includes those for workers who won't retire for years, when the fund is expected to be in better shape. The fund's current 336 retirees will see cuts of 30 percent to 60 percent, according to the Pension Rights Center, an advocacy group.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2017/01/iron_workers_pension_cuts_are.html

Mark Zuckerberg has dropped his lawsuits that would compel Hawaiians to sell their land

Source: Yahoo

Mark Zuckerberg is officially dropping the lawsuits he filed against hundreds of Hawaiians that would compel them to sell their inherited "kuleana" land.

Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced the news in an open letter printed in the Kauai newspaper The Garden Island on Friday.

"We've heard from many in the community and learned more about the cultural and historical significance of this land," the Facebook CEO wrote. "Over the past week, we've spoken with community leaders and shared that our intention is to achieve an outcome that preserves the environment, respects local traditions, and is fair to those with kuleana lands."

"To find a better path forward, we are dropping our quiet title actions and will work together with the community on a new approach," he continued. "We understand that for native Hawaiians, kuleana are sacred and the quiet title process can be difficult. We want to make this right, talk with the community, and find a better approach."

Read more: Mark Zuckerberg has dropped his lawsuits that would compel Hawaiians to sell their land

De Blasio Confirms Interview With Manhattan Prosecutors

Source: NYT

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office have interviewed Mayor Bill de Blasio in connection with an investigation into his fund-raising practices, the mayor said on Wednesday, his first acknowledgment of direct contact between himself and investigators in a set of overlapping inquiries.

“The Manhattan D.A.’s office asked for an interview and we did an interview,” Mr. de Blasio said in response to a question from a reporter at an unrelated news conference on traffic safety. Asked to clarify who was present for the interview, he said, pressing his hand to his chest, “Me, and my lawyers.”

He did not provide the precise date of the interview, saying it had occurred “a few weeks back,” or any details of what was discussed, referring questions to his lawyers.

Two people with knowledge of the matter said the interview took place on Dec. 23, lasted 90 minutes and focused on the mayor’s fund-raising in connection with his unsuccessful effort to help Democrats take control of the State Senate in 2014. One of the people said that prosecutors presented the mayor with a variety of documents related to the fund-raising during the questioning.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/nyregion/de-blasio-fund-raising-investigation.amp.html?client=ms-android-sonymobile

US official confirms Trident missile failure

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN)A missile test involving Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent system ended in failure off the coast of Florida last year, a US defense official with direct knowledge of the incident told CNN on Monday.

The official told CNN that the incident, which happened last June in an the area off the Florida coast used by the US and the UK for missile tests, did not in involve a nuclear warhead.

Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported that the missile veered towards the US coast, but the US official told CNN that this trajectory was part of an automatic self-destruct sequence. The official said the missile diverted into the ocean -- an automatic procedure when missile electronics detect an anomaly.

A month after the test, the UK parliament approved the renewal of Trident at a cost of £40 billion. Unaware of the failure, members of the House of Commons voted by 472 votes to 117 in favor of renewal

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/europe/trident-missile-failure-theresa-may/index.html?

And it Begins: H.R.586 - To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization.

US announces withdrawal from TPP

Source: Asia.Nikkei

Soon after President Donald Trump was sworn in, his administration announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade pact championed by former President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The White House on Friday also wasted no time in declaring a renegotiation of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Trump is expected to take a more isolationist, protectionist stance, and the international community is concerned that the U.S. will continue to draw inward.

Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the U.S. on Friday, repeating his campaign pledges of putting American interests first and restoring national glory to a deeply polarized public.

Trump had the lowest approval rating of any incoming president at around 40%, and at least 60 Democratic legislators boycotted his inauguration. Though the Republican Party took back the White House for the first time in eight years and holds a majority in both houses of Congress, the administration's future path depends on how much public support it receives.

Read more: http://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Trump-era-begins/US-announces-withdrawal-from-TPP

Mars investigating hundreds of thousands of Skittles said to be intended for cattle

Source: Wate ABC

NEW YORK (AP) – A mysterious Skittles spill on a rural highway in Wisconsin is taking another twist, with Mars Inc. saying it doesn’t know why the discarded candy might have been headed to become cattle feed.

The case began when a Wisconsin sheriff posted on Facebook this week that “hundreds of thousands of Skittles” had been found spilled on a highway. Later, he updated the post to say the candy had fallen off a truck on its way to be cattle feed.

A variety of food byproducts are commonly used for animal feed, and Mars says it has procedures for discarding foods for that purpose. However, the company says the Skittles in question came from a factory that doesn’t sell unused products for feed.

Schmidt said one of his deputies came across the spill and sent him photos, which he posted on Facebook. He said the Skittles spilled from a box that started to disintegrate in the rain, and about half of them got out. The Skittles on the ground did not have the standard letter “S” on them, he said

Read more: http://wate.com/2017/01/21/mars-investigating-hundreds-of-thousands-of-skittles-said-to-be-intended-for-cattle/

Facebooks Zuckerberg Is Suing Hundreds of Hawaiians to Force Them to Sell Property to Him

Source: NBC

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly is suing hundreds of Hawaiians to compel them to sell the billionaire small plots of land they own that lie within a 700-acre property that Zuckerberg purchased on the island of Kauai two years ago for $100 million.

Zuckberberg-controlled companies filed eight so-called "quiet" title lawsuits in a Kauai court on Dec. 30 requesting the forced sales at public auction to the highest bidder, which would allow him to make his secluded beach-front land on the island's north shore even more private, according the Honolulu Star-Advertiser newspaper.

Currently, owners of the lands — which have been in their families for generations — have the rights to travel across Zuckerberg's property to get to their own lands. Their lands comprise slightly more than eight acres.

Many of the defendants in the suits by the social media mogul are living, but some are dead. The defendants may hold just a tiny fraction of ownership in the parcels because they are several generations removed from the original owners, according to the paper's story on the cases.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/facebook-s-zuckerberg-suing-hundreds-hawaiians-force-them-sell-property-n708951

This woman will be the first to join the Army's elite 75th Ranger Regiment

Source: Armytimes

A female officer has completed the Army's rigorous selection process for its storied 75th Ranger Regiment and is on her way to joining a unit in the next few months, according to a spokesman for Army Special Operations Command.

The soon-to-be first female Ranger passed the 75th Ranger Regiment's Ranger Assessment and Selection Program II program in December, said Lt. Col. Robert Bockholt.

This makes the 75th Ranger Regiment the first special operations unit to have a female soldier graduate its selection course, as first reported by Task and Purpose. Air Force Special Operations Command, Marine Corps Special Operations Command and Naval Special Warfare Command -- home of the SEALs -- have not yet gotten a woman through their pipelines

The first female Ranger passed the three-week long selection course designed for staff sergeants and above, as well as officers. She will wear the legendary Ranger scroll and the distinctive tan beret and when she reports to the regiment.

Read more: https://www.armytimes.com/articles/this-woman-will-be-the-first-to-join-the-armys-elite-75th-ranger-regiment