Douglas Ernst

Teen from ‘Jihad Jane’ plot becomes youngest ever to serve time on U.S. terror charges

A Maryland man charged alongside the Montgomery County woman known as "Jihad Jane," was sentenced to five years in federal prison Thursday, making him the youngest person ever to serve time in a U.S. terrorism case.

April 17, 2014

Hagel to Ukraine: We can give you helmets, sleeping mats, non-lethal aid to counter Russians

As pro-Russian forces continue to wreak havoc across eastern Ukraine, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday that the U.S. will send the country non-lethal aid.

April 17, 2014

FBI’s facial-recognition database projected to have 52M images by 2015: report

The FBI is on track to accumulate 52 million photos — including non-criminal images — in its facial-recognition database by next year, states a new report from a digital watchdog organization.

April 16, 2014

Graffiti drones are here: Creator dreams of ‘sending my drones out my bedroom window’

Police have a new enemy to worry about: the graffiti drone.

April 16, 2014

Air Force sees resource shift as U.S. exits Afghanistan, heads to Africa

As the war in Afghanistan begins to wind down, the Air Force foresees its resources shifting to Africa. Col. Kelly Passmore of the 449th Air Expeditionary Group commander at Camp Lemonnier said he believes it's already happening.

April 16, 2014

Al Qaeda mocks U.S. in ‘extraordinary’ Yemen gathering; experts fear CIA caught flat-footed

Al Qaeda has released a video of the largest known gathering of the terrorist organization's members in years, and it appears as though the intelligence community didn't know about it or couldn't get a drone there in time to take out its members.

April 15, 2014

Bradley Manning named honorary grand marshal of San Francisco Pride parade

A 35-year prison sentence for espionage isn't stopping former Army Pvt. Bradley Manning from becoming an honorary grand marshal of the San Francisco Pride parade.

April 15, 2014

Special Forces operators need stealth motorcycles: Pentagon

It's time to supply our Special Forces operators with a stealth motorcycle. That's the opinion of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has tasked a San Francisco-based company with fulfilling the need.

April 15, 2014

More than 100 ‘inappropriate’ encounters between NYC school staffers, students since 2009: report

More than 100 school staffers in New York City have had sexual or "inappropriate" relationships with students since 2009, according to a recent report.

April 15, 2014

University: Help, our campus is too white

Western Washington University is concerned that there are too many white students on its campus and is seeking help to rectify the situation.

April 15, 2014

Navy’s Zumwalt captain, James Kirk, gets well wishes from ‘Star Trek’ actor William Shatner

The U.S. Navy's new $3 billion, 610-foot-long warship, the USS Zumwalt, was christened on Saturday, but not before its captain, James Kirk, received a letter of well wishes from the most famous James Kirk of all — "Star Trek" actor William Shatner.

April 15, 2014

French unions’ win requires employers to ‘disconnect’ from staff after work

France has a 35-hour work week to protect, and its unions just secured a win that will help keep it that way: employees must digitally "disconnect" from the office at the close of business.

April 11, 2014

Adrianne Haslet-Davis storms off ‘Meet the Press’; marathon victim felt ‘disrespected’

Adrianne Haslet-Davis, a dancer who lost part of one leg during the attack, said NBC promised not to name alleged bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in her presence but did not follow through on the request.

April 11, 2014

Boston Marathon bombing hero cop dies; Obama was set to honor his bravery in May

A police officer who was wounded during a shootout with Boston Marathon bombing suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2013 unexpectedly died on Thursday. In May, he was to be honored for his bravery by President Obama in Washington, D.C.

April 11, 2014

Money talks: Every senator probing Time Warner Cable merger took Comcast PAC cash

The Senate Judiciary Committee held its first congressional hearing on the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger Thursday, and every single member of the committee has taken money from Comcast PAC — even Democratic senator Al Franken of Minnesota, who is generally considered to be anti-Comcast.

April 11, 2014

Death by solar farms: 71 species of birds killed, ‘entire food chains’ disrupted

A new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds that solar facilities in California are acting like "mega traps" that kill and injure birds. As a result, "entire food chains" are being disrupted.

April 11, 2014

Black lawmakers urge Hagel, Defense Department to change ‘discriminatory’ grooming rules

Black female lawmakers have now weighed in on an Army controversy over what one soldier calls "racially biased" hairstyle regulations.

April 10, 2014

Foreign students claim ‘racist’ British bird attacks minorities

Foreign students attending Warwick University believe they are being targeted for racist attacks — by a swan.

April 10, 2014

‘The Family Annihilator’ added to FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list: ‘We will not stop searching for him’

"The Family Annihilator" allegedly killed his mother, his wife and three sons in 1976, but now the FBI believes that by adding him to its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list that it may have a chance to bring him to justice.

April 10, 2014

U.S. Navy to turn seawater into jet fuel

The Navy just found a way to reduce its dependence on possible adversaries for oil — it's converted seawater into jet fuel.

April 10, 2014