Mom, pregnant teen daughter, 12-year-old son found murdered at home with their hands tied
The victims were identified as 46-year-old Lisa Gail Fields, who was stabbed; 17-year-old Keziah Arionna Luker, who was shot; and 12-year-old Thomas Cordelle Jr., who had his throat cut and was nearly decapitated.
“It was a brutal scene,” Burch said.
“If you’ve got a beef with an adult… there’s nothing worth killing over, but to murder two children brutally… I hope and feel comfortable we’ll have this animal or animals off the streets soon.”
An 18-month-old child was found unharmed in the home.
“At this point, we don’t suspect any kind of domestic or family-type situation,” Burch told reporters.
Burch noted that the home was “left in disarray,” suggesting the perpetrators may have been searching for something.
Investigators believe more than one person was involved in the killings because the victims had been subdued.
Luker was seven or eight months pregnant, the sheriff added.
“The mother was stabbed, the 17-year-old was shot, and the 12-year-old’s throat was cut as was the mom,” Burch said. “It tells me that they had a plan coming in to bring zip ties or flex cuffs with them so they had a plan.”
The father-to-be, who works offshore, triggered the discovery after he grew concerned when he could not reach Luker after he saw her cell phone activated on Life 360, the sheriff said.
Another family member went to check on her and found all three victims in separate rooms with their hands bound behind them…..
Facial recognition to be ‘rolled out’ across UK after human rights challenge fails
The case against the Metropolitan Police’s use of live facial recognition technology (LFT) in London was brought by two people over concerns it could be used arbitrarily or in a discriminatory way.
The cameras are usually mounted on vans in busy high streets and designed to identify people on police watchlists if they pass by.
Youth worker Shaun Thompson, one of the claimants, said he was misidentified by the technology. The other person bringing the claim was Silkie Carlo, from the group Big Brother Watch.
Their lawyer told the High Court that LFT would also make it “impossible” for Londoners to travel without their biometric data being taken.
But judges ruled on Tuesday that the claimants’ human rights had not been breached and the force’s policy gave “adequate indication of the circumstances in which LFR will be used”.
They also said the argument the technology risked discriminating against people due to their race had not been convincing.
“We are not able to accept, on the thin submissions advanced before us, that concerns about discrimination infect the legality of the policy,” said Lord Justice Holgate and Mrs Justice Farbey.
The Met‘s lawyer told the court at least 801 arrests had been made last year “specifically as a result of LFR” and the privacy risk was “only minimal”.
Sir Mark Rowley, the Met commissioner, welcomed the decision and said the tech “helps us catch more criminals quickly and precisely, saves officer time, and ultimately saves money”.
He said there had only been about a dozen misidentifications “out of three million people walking past the cameras” and no one had been wrongly arrested as a result.
Policing Minister, Sarah Jones said: “I welcome today’s ruling because there can be no true liberty when people live in fear of crime in their communities.
“Live facial recognition only locates specifically wanted people – law abiding citizens have nothing to fear.
“This technology puts dangerous rapists and murderers behind bars – and I question any group who call that uncivil.
“We are rolling out facial recognition across the country with record investment to keep communities safe.”…
Iranian arms broker busted at LAX in $70 million war scheme
An Iranian-born businesswoman with U.S. residency was arrested Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airport and charged with helping move Iranian weapons into a foreign war zone, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said 44-year-old Shamim Mafi is accused of brokering arms deals on behalf of Iran’s government—transactions that allegedly included drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition.
The charge falls under federal sanctions law, which bars Americans and U.S. residents from facilitating such deals with sanctioned regimes.
Investigators say the operation wasn’t small.
Court filings, first reported by the New York Post, describe contracts topping $70 million, including one deal for Mohajer-6 armed drones sourced from Iran’s defense ministry.
The shipments—along with more than 50,000 bomb fuses—were allegedly arranged for Sudan’s military.
Sudan has been in a violent internal conflict since 2023, and U.S. military analysts have warned that Iran has used that instability to push weapons into the region.
Reporting from the Africa Defense Forum points to a broader strategy: expand influence along the Red Sea and gain leverage near key shipping routes like the Suez Canal.
Prosecutors say Mafi operated through an Oman-based company, Atlas International Business, to facilitate the deals as recently as 2025.
She entered the United States after leaving Iran in 2013 and obtained permanent resident status in 2016 under Obama.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison, along with fines and the possibility of being removed from the country.
First-in-human study confirms safety of graphene-based brain interface
The first-in-human study recruited ten participants, eight of whom underwent surgery using the graphene interface.
It gives surgeons the clear, detailed information they need to protect vital functions, such as speech and movement.
The device performed well throughout these procedures with no failures or safety issues, allowing researchers to collect complete, high-quality datasets from all eight surgical patients.
“The completion of patient enrollment in this first-in-human study marks an important step for INBRAIN and the field of neurotechnology,” said Carolina Aguilar, CEO and Co-founder, INBRAIN Neuroelectronics.
“Graphene has the potential to fundamentally change how we interface with the brain, enabling higher resolution of neural function-specific biomarkers, safer, and more intelligent BCI systems,” Aguilar added.
INBRAIN’s graphene electrodes are a major advancement in neural technology.
Currently, the standard electrodes used are often too rigid and bulky to capture clear data for surgeries. On the other hand, graphene electrodes offer a major upgrade for brain surgery.
Graphene is often hailed as a “wonder material” made of a single layer of carbon atoms. With its flexibility, it wraps around the brain’s microscopic folds like high-tech cling film. ….
US Navy tests plug-and-play laser system on USS Bush carrier, downs drones at sea
The U.S. Navy is accelerating its push into directed energy weapons as drone threats grow more complex and persistent.
In its latest move, the service has tested a high-energy laser system at sea, signaling a shift toward faster, lower-cost counter-drone defenses that do not rely on traditional munitions.
The development reflects a broader Pentagon effort to counter low-cost, high-volume aerial threats.
That effort came aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), where a palletized laser weapon tracked and destroyed aerial targets in a live-fire demonstration.
The test offers a glimpse into how future naval defenses could operate modular, scalable, and ready to deploy without extensive ship redesign or long integration timelines.
The demonstration featured the LOCUST Laser Weapon System developed by AeroVironment. Conducted in October 2025, the trial showed the system engaging multiple drones using its Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL) setup.
Operators tracked and neutralized targets in real time. The system maintained accuracy despite the carrier’s movement.
That result marks a key milestone for shipborne laser integration and operational viability.
The Navy partnered with the U.S. Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) for the test.
The joint effort highlights how different branches are aligning around directed energy solutions and shared system architectures….
Groundbreaking Bowel Cancer Trial Had Zero Relapses for Patients After 33 Months
A small but substantial tweak to the treatment regime of bowel cancer demonstrated remarkable improvements in survival almost 3 years after surgery.
Changing the kind of drug and the delivery window showed substantial improvements over the previous pairing, and build on earlier results showing that the drug led to major tumor shrinkage in patients with stage 2 or 3 bowel cancer.
These latest findings, to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026 in April, make up the results from the NEOPRISM-CRC clinical trial led by a team from University College London and UCL Hospital.
Patients were treated with a short course of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab before surgery instead chemotherapy after surgery.
Initial results indicated that 59% of patients had no signs of disease after treatment with pembrolizumab and their operation.
Now 33 months later, none of the treated patients have experienced a return of their cancer.
This includes those who had no signs of cancer after treatment and those who still had small amounts remaining, which did not grow or spread during follow-up…..
‘Narco-terrorist’ family members targeted in Rubio’s latest visa crackdown
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa bans on 75 family members and associates tied to the Sinaloa cartel, expanding the Trump administration’s crackdown beyond drug traffickers to those that profit from ill-gotten gains.
The Sinaloa cartel was one of eight drug cartels designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations in February 2025.
The classification allows the United States to pursue tougher criminal penalties and greater military intervention against drug cartels and their members.
“The Sinaloa Cartel smuggles illicit fentanyl, which the President designated as a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and other deadly drugs that harm American communities,” Rubio said in a statement. “Imposing visa restrictions on drug traffickers, their family members, and close personal and business associates will not only prevent their entry into our nation, but also serve as a deterrent to continued illicit activities.”
Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., celebrated Rubio’s decision to place visa restrictions on those linked to one of Mexico’s top drug cartels on X.
“For too long, narco-terrorists have built fortunes off the pain and deaths of innocent Americans while their families lived in luxury off blood money,” Salazar wrote. “The era of impunity is OVER. No more hiding behind money, power, or family ties. If you profit from cartel terror, the consequences are coming. America’s safety comes first.”
The Sinaloa cartel is one of the two largest drug cartels operating in Mexico, with tens of thousands of members operating in more than 40 countries.
A Drug Enforcement Administration operation last summer resulted in the arrests of 600 people tied to the cartel. Over the span of a week, federal officers seized 714,707 counterfeit pills, 926 pounds of fentanyl powder, 4,870 pounds of methamphetamine, 16,466 pounds of cocaine and 36.5 pounds of heroin…..
Woman opens fire on Maryland gas station clerk during attempted robbery
The Howard County Police Department in Maryland released surveillance footage of a suspect opening fire inside a gas station during what investigators believe to have been an attempted robbery.
In the footage, which does not include any sound, the woman can be seen holding the gun and speaking before eventually shooting.
The incident occurred on Friday. The police shared the video on Monday, offering up to $2,500 for information that leads to the suspect.
A reward of up to $1,000 had previously been offered.
“An adult male gas station employee was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries,” the department continued. “Through preliminary investigation detectives believe a single suspect fired shots during an attempted robbery before fleeing the scene. No one else was injured.”
The update issued on Monday noted, “The victim is currently listed in serious condition at Shock Trauma.”
No Iran Delegation Sent to U.S. Talks Yet as Truce Expiry Nears
Iran and the US have accused each other of breaching the two-week truce that is set to end by Wednesday, as uncertainty grows over a push to stop the war from resuming.
During initial talks in Pakistan earlier this month, the highest-level discussions between the foes since the founding of the Islamic republic in 1979, analysts pointed to the seniority of the delegations as an indicator of a willingness to strike a deal.
But those talks collapsed without an agreement, with Iran since closing the Strait of Hormuz again and US President Donald Trump announcing a blockade of Iranian ports.
“So far, no delegation from Iran has departed for Islamabad, Pakistan; whether it is the main or subsidiary delegation; primary or secondary,” Iranian state TV said, dismissing reports suggesting otherwise.
Trump has accused Iran of firing on ships in the crucial trade route it has choked, while Tehran says the US blockade and seizure of a ship violated the ceasefire deal.
Iranian officials say they feel the Trump administration has not acted in good faith in negotiations and refused to back down from what it called excessive demands.
Its parliament speaker said the country would not accept talks “under the shadow of threats” from the US leader and would “show new cards on the battlefield” if conflict resumed.
But residents in the Iranian capital who spoke to Paris-based AFP journalists say life has only got worse, squeezed by the government and the war’s impact.
“This cursed ceasefire has broken us. There is no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Saghar, 39.
“The situation is terrible. I don’t know anyone around me who is doing well.”
The truce theoretically ends overnight Tuesday, though in comments to Bloomberg, Trump said the end was a day later, on Wednesday evening Washington time and it would be “highly unlikely” he would extend the truce.
Trump told PBS News that Iran was “supposed to be there” at the talks in Pakistan.
“We agreed to be there,” he said, warning that if the ceasefire expired “then lots of bombs start going off”.
He said the US blockade of Iran’s ports would not end until there was a deal, in which Washington is pressing for Iranian concessions on its contested nuclear programme.
Experts said Iran’s signalling was part of a bid to put pressure on Washington, with its leadership wary of signing a deal after US strikes last year in the middle of diplomatic efforts….
UBI Is NOT POSSIBLE, Andrew Yang is Wrong | Tim Pool Reacts
FDR to Obama: How Dumb Government Actions Made the Great Depression and Recession Worse
From FDR to Obama to Mamdani… politicians trash capitalism.
Their words aren’t harmless says Economist Don Boudreaux.
“Negative words… kept investors on the sidelines, kept unemployment higher.”
Myths about Great Depression and Great Recession busted here:
My Favorite Trump Headline
Israel Celebrates its 78th Independence; Netanyahu says job not complete vs Iran TV7 Israel 21 Apr.
1) Israel celebrates its 78th Independence Day, following a day of mourning – commemorating its 25,648 fallen troops.
2) Germany pushes back at an attempt by Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland, to suspend the EU-Israel association agreement.
3) The two-week cessation of hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran is set to expire tonight.
Hawley: ‘It Goes All The Way Back To When Pres. Obama Stood In The Well Of The House…’
At today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) claimed that there is an “attempt by the American left to destroy the independence of the United States Supreme Court.”
April 19, 2026 – Cover Story: Data Centers
The explosive growth of artificial intelligence is driving a nationwide surge in massive data centers—power-hungry facilities that consume vast amounts of electricity and water.
But communities across the United States are increasingly rising up in bipartisan resistance.
The grassroots backlash has turned once-quiet server farms into a flashpoint for “not in my backyard” activism, as Scott Thuman reports.
