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Fake 911 caller: ‘I don’t feel guilty about anything’ after cops shoot and kill innocent kid

“A California man will spend three months in jail and could be deported after pleading guilty to lying to a 911 dispatcher, leading police into a fatal encounter with a 19-year-old man. Carrillo has also been named in a lawsuit filed by the family of Kendrec McDade, who was shot and killed by local police in March 2012. Officers mistakenly believed McDade, suspected of stealing Carrillo’s backpack at the time, to be armed after Carrillo told 911 dispatchers he was robbed at gunpoint. Carrillo later admitted to lying about the gun in order to generate a faster police response. The two officers who shot McDade were cleared of any wrongdoing in December 2012.” Continue reading →

Families occupy unfinished homes in Spain

“On the edge of a green field where horses graze, Juana and her neighbours found this mini estate of more than 70 elegantly painted three-bedroom houses, empty and partly plundered. She says about 70 families have moved into the estate in the past three weeks, into houses that are all but finished but lack water and electricity. Like countless projects across Spain, the site was abandoned by property developers when the bank loans dried up in the 2008 financial crisis. Local authorities have remained silent on the status of the site. Unlike many of Spain’s so-called ‘ghost towns’, life has returned to this one, in the form of local families ruined by the crisis.” Continue reading →

Polish PM laments opinion impasse keeping Poland out of Eurozone

“Because opposition conservatives reject the European single currency, the government lacks the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to push through necessary constitutional changes. Central Europe’s largest economy, Poland has maintained growth each year since it shed communism two decades ago. It is the only EU member to have done so through the 2007-2009 financial meltdown and the ongoing eurozone crisis, thanks in part to the zloty easing in value against the euro. Opinion polls show most Poles are opposed to adopting the euro.” Continue reading →

Edward Snowden: NSA ‘in bed together with’ other Western states

“Fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden said the US National Security Agency operates broad secret spying partnerships with other Western governments now complaining about its programmes, in an interview published Sunday. In remarks published in German, Snowden said an NSA department known as the Foreign Affairs Directorate coordinated work with foreign secret services. The partnerships are organised so that authorities in other countries can ‘insulate their political leaders from the backlash’ if it becomes public ‘how grievously they’re violating global privacy,’ he said.” Continue reading →

Professor in Jesus-stomping controversy reinstated, will teach online courses

“Non-tenured communications instructor Deandre Poole will teach online courses this summer and in the fall. Poole endured quite a lot last semester after then-junior Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon, was suspended from class because he complained about one of Poole’s assignments. According to a letter written by FAU associate dean Rozalia Williams, Rotela faced several possible charges including ‘acts of verbal, written or physical abuse; threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion; or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.’ The charges against Rotela were apparently hastily dismissed at some point.” Continue reading →

Gold jewellery stocks hammered in India

“Gold jewellery stocks are in a freefall in India. The curbs imposed by the Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India to curtail domestic gold consumption and imports, has led to a hammering of stock prices. Some leading jewellers shares have dived by 20% to 50% during the past fortnight. Analysts attribute the mayhem to the fact that most gold retailers in India hold huge inventories of gold. Shares of Gitanjali Gems, touted as India’s largest gold and jewellery company, have slumped more than 60% since mid-June with investors preferring to bail out even on July 4.” Continue reading →

Swiss pilot cleared to finish solar plane trek across U.S.

“For Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard, flying an experimental solar aircraft across America has been exhilarating, but perilous at times. His wispy, fuel-free aircraft, the Solar Impulse, is poised to take off Saturday on its final leg of a cross-country US tour aimed at showcasing the promise of clean energy. The plane’s American trip is just the latest in a series of groundbreaking flights across different parts of the world, including Europe and Africa. Piccard said the next plane will be 10 percent bigger, with more power, reliability, an auto-pilot function and a toilet so that pilots can make the four to six day long trips that will be part of its journey across the world in 2015.” Continue reading →

Western governments set to target tech giants over tax avoidance

“Western governments are set to target a range of tax loopholes used by technology giants including Apple, Amazon as part of an international drive to tackle corporate tax avoidance, a draft action plan seen by Reuters said. Corporate tax avoidance has become a hot political issue following public outrage over revelations in the past year that companies such as Apple and Google had used structures U.S. and European politicians said were designed to minimize the amount of taxes paid. As governments struggle with large deficits following the financial crisis, lawmakers have said enough is enough.” Continue reading →