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Saudi Arabia has dismantled at least four Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) cells made up of 18 individuals inside the kingdom, officials from the interior ministry confirmed. Fifteen of those arrested were Saudi nationals while the remaining three were from Yemen and Sudan, the ministry said in statements made on Thursday. The ministry also said that ISIS cells in Saudi Arabia have spread to Mecca, Medina, Riyadh and Qassim regions of the country. In addition, nearly two million riyals were confiscated from the cells upon arrest. “Some of those arrested were involved with supplying materials to the ISIS...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Public sector unions in Iowa will have less authority to negotiate working conditions for teachers, nurses and correctional officers under a bill passed Thursday in the new Republican-controlled Legislature that critics say is aimed at crippling organized labor in the state. The legislation, expected to be signed into law by Iowa's conservative governor, will prohibit workers from collectively negotiating over health insurance, extra pay and several other items currently covered by law. It's expected to be one of the most significant bills of the legislative session, in part because of loud opposition from Democrats and...

A star is born is our reaction to the first press briefing by President Trump’s new ambassador at the United Nations. The ex-governor of South Carolina was ridiculed by the Left when the president first sent her nomination up to the Hill, owing to her alleged lack of foreign policy chops. She certainly rang the wake up gong for that crowd this morning, after emerging from her first meeting of the Security Council. Tough as nails but with a smile and a layer of Southern charm. The ambassador had just come from the regular monthly Security Council on Middle East...

Former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta fired back at President Donald Trump Thursday after Trump said Podesta "said terrible things" about Hillary Clinton in a series of hacked emails. During his press conference Thursday, Trump was asked about the difference between the release of Podesta's emails by Wikileaks during last year's election campaign and recent leaks that led to the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn. "In one case, you're talking about highly classified information," Trump responded. "In the other case, you're talking about John Podesta saying bad things about the boss. "I will say this," Trump added,...

Butler County Sheriff’s Undercover Regional Narcotics Taskforce arrested two undocumented workers and seized $36,000 worth of methamphetamine Tuesday MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Butler County Sheriff’s Undercover Regional Narcotics Taskforce arrested two undocumented workers and seized $36,000 worth of methamphetamine Tuesday in Middletown. It’s put a hot-button issue front and center again, with Butler County’s sheriff right in the middle of the debate. “The drugs are pouring in from Mexico, and it's poison, it's poisoning our community. I'm not going to put up with it,” Sheriff Richard Jones said. Francisco Torres-Davila and Ramon Sanchez-Reyes both were arrested in Middletown on Valentine's Day...

Another insurer – Molina Healthcare – says it may pull out of ObamaCare after it saw profits plunge. “There are simply too many unknowns with the marketplace program to commit to our participation beyond 2017,” Molina CEO J. Mario Molina aid Wednesday during a conference call with investors, Bloomberg News reported. The health insurer put the blame for massive losses on former President Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, a law President Trump has vowed to repeal. “While we experienced strong enrollment growth across our business and have made progress on our cost cutting efforts, [Wednesday’s] results highlight the continuing challenges...

In a flurry of tweets Thursday afternoon, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, accused President Donald Trump of putting a "mass deportation plan" into place. Castro's tweetstorm came shortly after an intense Trump press conference, during which the president discussed his electoral college win, Russia, former National Security Adviser Mike Flynn and the media, among other topics. Castro railed on questions that remain after a meeting with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. "After attending the ICE meeting it's hard not to conclude that President Trump has started his mass deportation plan," Castro tweeted. "Only dreamers with no offenses,...

~Favorite "Cops & Robbers" Song's~ I'm Shipping Up To Boston - Dropkick Murphys *Video* Eric Clapton - I Shot The Sheriff *Video*

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle area man detained by immigration agents despite his participation in a federal program to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children admitted to having gang ties, the U.S. Justice Department said in court documents filed Thursday. Ramirez "stated 'no, not no more,' when asked if he is or has been involved with any gang activity," the government said in documents filed in U.S. District Court. Lawyers for Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, called the allegation "wholly fabricated." The court documents also said Ramirez, who is Mexican and arrived in the U.S. at age 7,...

Former Obama campaign aide David Plouffe has been fined $90,000 for breaking the city of Chicago’s ethics rules in lobbying Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) on behalf of Uber. The Chicago Board of Ethics in a 5-0 vote determined that Plouffe broke the rules by not registering as a lobbyist after seeking Emanuel’s support for rules to allow Uber to pick up passengers at Chicago’s airports, reports the Chicago Tribune. The violation became public after Emanuel released hundreds of emails in December, bowing to pressure from two lawsuits claiming that he had violated Illinois’s open record law. “Assume both of us...

An Ocala man made at least 10 explosive devices in hopes of blowing up Targets along the East Coast in an elaborate and deadly scheme to buy cheap stocks of the company, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Mark Charles Barnett, 48, was charged with possession or a possession of a destructive device affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon. He faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison. Barnett concocted a plan to place explosives disguised as food items in Target stores along the East Coast from Florida to New York, thinking the plot would cause stock...

Fugitive director Roman Polanski will reportedly attempt to have his decades-long child rape case resolved so that he may return to the United States without fear of arrest or incarceration. According to TMZ, the 83-year-old director’s attorney, Harland Braun, has asked a Los Angeles judge to review what it reports is a “long-secret transcript” of the prosecutor’s testimony during Polanski’s trial. The attorney claims the transcript proves that the Pianist director had agreed to a plea deal to serve just 48 days in jail, and that the judge had agreed to the deal. Polanski was convicted of raping a child...

The damaged California dam is in the spotlight now, but it’s not alone among the facilities needing upgrades if more problems are to be avoided.How many U.S. dams are at risk of a crisis like the one currently unfolding in California, as officials work to stave off disaster at the compromised Oroville Dam? The short answer is, we don’t really know—but probably quite a few. Until this month, Oroville’s emergency spillway had never been used in its nearly 50-year history. After weeks of rain and a breach in the dam’s main spillway, officials turned to the auxiliary one to help...

Roughly 50,047 single- and multi-family residential homes could be damaged with an estimated reconstruction cost value of $13.3 billion if the Oroville Dam in California were to fail completely, according to new data analysis from CoreLogic that included the six primary counties in that area. Fears of flooding from the nation’s tallest dam, which reaches 770 feet, prompted evacuation orders for nearly 200,000 people. A word from our sponsor: Sponsored by: Water Security Solutions U.S. Click here for more info.How does Western Security Surplus work to your advantage? How do we keep ahead of the competition? And what motivates us...

The rumors were false, but the panic was very real. Rumors of a raid by immigration agents in East San Jose sent an entire community scrambling Tuesday. It was an example of just how concerned many are about President Donald Trump's current stance on immigration. On Wednesday, many in the immigrant community were looking for answers a day after the false alarm at Story and King roads in San Jose.

Deyanira Cuiriz was celebrating her birthday in August 2012 when two men beat her father. As they drove away, she fired a gun into their truck, striking one of the men in the spine and paralyzing him.A state appeals court has ruled that the mandatory life sentence handed down to a Bay Area woman who shot and gravely wounded a man who had just beaten her father is unconstitutional. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Deyanira Cuiriz had been sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for attempted voluntary manslaughter, mayhem and shooting at an occupied vehicle

A federal court on Thursday approved a request from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to re-hear a case questioning the constitutionality of its structure. The order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit invalidates an earlier judgment from October that found the CFPB to be “unconstitutionally structured” because it is helmed by a single individual, Director Richard Cordray, who could only be removed by the president and “for cause.” In addition to restoring Cordray’s power, Thursday's order strikes the previous ruling stating that a $109 million penalty against the mortgage company PHH Corp. —...

Five former US ambassadors to Israel claimed Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s choice for the position is unqualified, and they are urging senators to carefully consider the nomination. In a letter sent to members of the Foreign Relations Committee, the former diplomats said David Friedman has staked out “extreme, radical positions” and has derided the two-state solution as an “illusory” fix for a non-existent problem. “We believe the committee should satisfy itself that Mr. Friedman has the balance and the temperament required to represent the United States as ambassador to Israel,” they wrote. The committee is scheduled to meet Thursday...

“DOES HoJo still serve fried clams?” asked a Howard Johnson’s patron, using the nickname for the restaurant chain. He recently ate there for the first time in nearly 40 years. Back then, “HoJo” could be found on almost every highway and byway and felt as ubiquitous as McDonald’s or Starbucks are today. At its height in the 1970s, Howard Johnson’s had more than 1,000 restaurants and was the biggest food chain in America. Only the army fed more people. Now, only one is left. The last one standing is in Lake George, a summer tourist spot in New York’s Adirondacks....

Venezuela should allow Leopoldo Lopez, a political prisoner and husband of @lilliantintori (just met w/@msrcorubio) out of prison immediately.