WASHINGTON — The Pentagon needs to consider deploying new anti-ballistic missile systems and a defensive radar to Hawaii to protect against a growing threat from North Korea, the top U.S. military officer in the Pacific told Congress on Wednesday. “Kim Jong Un is clearly in a position to threaten Hawaii today, in my opinion,” Adm. Harry Harris, the chief of U.S. Pacific Command, told the House Armed Services Committee. “I have suggested that we consider putting interceptors in Hawaii that … defend (it) directly, and that we look at a defensive Hawaii radar.” The U.S. currently has anti-missile interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and in Fort Greely, Alaska. Harris was repeatedly questioned by lawmakers from Hawaii on the threat posed to their state. The current defense architecture “is sufficient to protect Hawaii today, but it can be overwhelmed,” he cautioned. “Somewhere, we would have to make a decision about which missiles to tak...

Reactions   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Share   Tweet   Email Ryan J. Reilly, The Huffington Post   WASHINGTON ― A mentally ill man who last year  died of severe dehydration  in  a jail run by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke  was kept in his cell for seven days straight after jail employees cut off his water supply, a prosecutor in Wisconsin said Monday. The  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports  that prosecutors told a six-person jury on Monday that cutting off water to Terrill Thomas’ cell was “highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail.” The comments came as part of  an inquest  into Thomas’ death, in which the jury decides whether there’s probable cause to charge anyone with a crime in Thomas’ death. Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley told jurors that it “became apparent” that Thomas “was unable to tell people about his basic needs,” according...

eactions   Sign in to like   Reblog on Tumblr   Share   Tweet   Email A former Fox News guest says Sean Hannity made her feel "uncomfortable" by repeatedly asking her to his hotel while on assignment more than a decade ago, and said she stopped appearing on the host's show soon after refusing to meet him. But Debbie Schlussel said Monday she doesn't believe that Hannity's behavior constituted sexual harassment, clarifying remarks she made last week on an Oklahoma radio show. Hannity responded to Friday's radio interview with KFAQ by saying Schlussel's account is "100% false and a complete fabrication." KFAQ host Pat Campbell asked Schlussel if anyone at Fox News ever made her "uncomfortable" or made "sexual advances." She responded by saying she declined Hannity's repeated requests to come to his hotel with him while he was in Detroit for a broadcast of his show more than a decade ago. She said it w...

African black-footed penguins have been rated as endangered since 2010 (AFP Photo/JEWEL SAMAD) Port Elizabeth (South Africa) (AFP) - A court in South Africa Wednesday dropped the case against two students who freed a penguin from a marine park and released it into the sea as protest against animal captivity. Adrian Donian, 22, and Emile du Plessis, 24, were arrested in September 2016, after they broke into Bayworld oceanarium in Port Elizabeth and snatched "Buddy", an endangered African black-footed penguin. The magistrate said he had dropped the case because the prosecuting authority had taken too long to decide whether to prosecute the two or not. Their lawyer, Craig de Lange, had argued that the two be placed in a "rehabilitation programme because they are students and not hardcore criminals". The animal was wrapped in a shirt and bundled in a car during a nighttime raid. He was then taken to the coast where he was released into the Indian Oce...

Firefighters try to contain a blaze following a suicide attack on oil tankers in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on March 3.  (Jossy Ola / Associated Press) Associated Press Source: Los Angeles Times The Trump administration will move forward with the sale of high-tech aircraft to Nigeria for its campaign against Boko Haram Islamic extremists despite concerns over abuses committed by the African nation's security forces, according to U.S. officials. Congress is expected to receive formal notification within weeks, setting in motion a deal with Nigeria that the Obama administration had planned to approve at the very end of Barack Obama's presidency. The arrangement will call for Nigeria to purchase up to 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano aircraft with sophisticated targeting gear for nearly $600 million, one of the officials said. The officials were not authorized to discuss the terms of the sale publicly and requested anonymity to speak about internal diplomatic conversa...

  By  ENJOLI FRANCIS 12 hour    0:16   / 2:00       FBI searches for man who sent anti-government manifesto to White House Wisconsin authorities and the  FBI  have expanded their urgent search for an "extremely dangerous" suspect who they say robbed a gun store, stealing at least 16 weapons, and who may be plotting an act of mass violence with his eye on  President Trump . "Basically, he's angry at all government officials,” Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden said at a news conference today. “You know, whether it's the president or local officials or whether it's law enforcement. He basically has a dislike for anyone that has authority or governmental power. "We consider him to be armed and highly dangerous." View gallery Manhunt is underway for gun-store robbery suspect who sent manifesto to T...