Islamic State calls on backers to kill 100 U.S. military personnel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Islamic State has posted online what it says are the names, U.S. addresses and photos of 100 American military service members, and called upon its "brothers residing in America" to kill them.

The Pentagon said after the information was posted on the Internet that it was investigating the matter. "I can't confirm the validity of the information, but we are looking into it," a U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Saturday.

"We always encourage our personnel to exercise appropriate OPSEC (operations security) and force protection procedures," the official added.

In the posting, a group referring to itself as the "Islamic State Hacking Division" wrote in English that it had hacked several military servers, databases and emails and made public the information on 100 members of the U.S. military so that "lone wolf" attackers can kill them.

The New York Times reported that it did not look like the information had been hacked from U.S. government servers and quoted an unnamed Defense Department official as saying most of the information could be found in public records, residential address search sites and social media.

The Times quoted officials as saying the list appeared to have been drawn from personnel mentioned in news articles about air strikes on Islamic State. The group's forces control parts of Syria and Iraq and have been targeted in U.S.-led air strikes.

The posting, addressed to disbelievers, Christians and "crusaders" in America, included what the group said were the names, military service branch, photos and street addresses of the individuals. The posting includes the military rank of some but not all of those named.

(Reporting by Will Dunham and Eric Beech; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Judge Ends Chris Brown's Court Saga About Ex-girlfriend Rihana

Chris Brown has finally put his 2009 attack on Rihanna behind him, at least legally. A judge in Los Angeles ended Brown's felony probation, more than six years after the R&B singer attacked his then-girlfriend hours before the Grammy Awards. (March 20)

Suge Knight bail set at $25 million in fatal hit-and-run case

By Michael Fleeman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A judge set bail on Friday at $25 million for Suge Knight in a murder case, agreeing on the amount requested by prosecutors who had described the rap mogul in court papers as being "incapable of stopping his violent criminal behavior."

Knight, 49, is accused of running down two men

with a pickup truck at a Los Angeles area burger stand on Jan. 29, killing one of them, following an argument on the set of a commercial for the film “Straight Outta Compton.”

The Death Row records co-founder had been held without bail on charges of murder, attempted murder and two counts of hit-and-run with an added allegation of committing a violent felony while free on bail in another case.

At a bail-review hearing, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen also set a preliminary hearing for April 13.

Knight, who has been taken to the hospital after several of his recent court appearances, collapsed following the hearing and was taken out of the courtroom on a gurney, his attorney told the Los Angeles Times.

In seeking the multimillion-dollar bail, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed an extensive motion of 295 pages of legal papers and supporting material portraying Knight as a career criminal and repeated violator of probation and parole dating back to 1987.

The motion alleges that Knight is “physically incapable of stopping his violent criminal behavior” and that since being released from prison in 2002 he “has continued his repugnant life of crime.”

Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes noted Knight was free on bail in a robbery case involving the theft of a paparazzo’s camera at the time he allegedly ran down Terry Carter, 55, and Cle “Bone” Sloan, 51, with a Ford F-150. Carter died; Sloan survived his injuries.

The prosecution motion also alleged that Knight is part of an “ongoing extortion scheme” in which new rappers arriving in Los Angeles and Las Vegas are required to pay him a "tax."

Knight has pleaded innocent and his lawyers have denied that he intentionally tried to kill Carter and Sloan. One attorney, Matthew Fletcher, also says Knight is blind in his left eye and may not have seen clearly during the incident.

Knight has previous convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and could face 25 years to life in prison under California's so-called three-strikes law if he is convicted at trial.

(Reporting by Michael Fleeman; Editing by Dan Whitcomb, Eric Beech and Christian Plumb)

Pope hails bravery of Nigeria priests against Boko Haram

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Tuesday hailed the bravery of Nigerian priests who have stood strong in the face of Boko Haram violence and worked to build bridges with the Muslim community.

"How can we fail to remember the priests, religious men and women, missionaries and catechists (lay teachers) who, despite untold sacrifices, never abandoned their flock, but remained at their service," the Argentinian pope said in an open letter.

"I wish here to express my heartfelt thanks to you, because in the midst of so many trials and sufferings the Church in Nigeria does not cease to witness to hospitality, mercy and forgiveness," he said.

Boko Haram has seized swathes of territory in Nigeria's northeast in an Islamist insurgency that began in 2009 and has killed more than 13,000 people, displaced 1.5 million, and destroyed churches and mosques.

Francis slammed the militants as "people who claim to be religious, but who instead abuse religion, to make of it an ideology for their own distorted interests of exploitation and murder."

But he urged the African country's Church to continue "to favour reconciliation, to promote experiences of sharing, to extend bridges of dialogue, to serve the weakest and the excluded."

Boko Haram's violence has intensified over the six-year conflict, with attacks into Chad, Cameroon and Niger.

A four-country joint offensive against the militants, part of efforts to stabilise northeast Nigeria in time for general elections set for March 28, has claimed a string of successes in rebel-held territory in recent weeks.

Monk shocks many by sitting in pot of boiling oil while praying(Photos)

Monk shocks many by sitting in pot of boiling oil while praying(Photos)

A monk has shocked many by sitting in a pot of boiling oil while praying..The YouTube video of the monk in Thailand praying calmly in a pot of boiling oil has gone viral online, leaving shocked viewers wondering how the monk did it without writhing in pains.

 According to Bangkok Post, the monk looks at ease despite sitting in a vessel of oil with fire raging underneath. He is also seen sharing his magical powers with others by touching objects that they pass to him. His followers believe that his touch can make their amulets or pieces of fabric powerful. These objects are apparently sold to the locals and other places of worship.


But not everyone believes the act was real. A science instructor, Jessada Denduangboripant of Chulalongkorn University, said there was no proof that the oil was really boiling at the time.

“The only way to prove it is to measure the temperature of the oil he’s sitting in,” she wrote. “The oil doesn’t look like its boiling and the pan just looks strange. The pan might have two layers to insulate the heat,” he said.

 

Armed Robbery Attack in Lekki 4 Killed

Armed Robbers said to have attacked a bank along Admiralty way Lekki, killing three policemen and a teenage fish hawker in a deadly shoot-out.

Channels TV gathered that the robbers, in their bid to escape through the link bridge to Ikoyi after robbing a bank in Lekki, encountered the policemen.

According to an eyewitness report, the police men and robbers exchanged gunshots for about 30 minutes.

Motorists abandoned their vehicles on the road and fled while the shooting lasted.

Image of One of the Police Officer shot during the robbery

The robbers were said to have eventually jumped into a speed boat and escaped through the water.

Shania Twain’s Words For the Woman Who Broke Up Her Marriage

On Watch What Happens Live Wednesday, Shania Twain was asked about her former close friend and assistant, Marie-Anne Thiebaud, whose rumored affair with Shania’s husband, producer Mutt Lange, resulted in them divorcing in 2008. When Andy Cohen asked Twain what she would say to Thiebaud were they to run into each other, Twain replied, “I wish I’d never met you.”