ISLAMIC STATE RECRUITS DOWN
washington» The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria has dropped from roughly 2,000 a month to 200 within the past year, according to the Pentagon, which says the waning numbers are further proof of the Islamic State’s declining stature.
The declining number of fighters is a direct result of strikes that have targeted the terror group’s infrastructure, Air Force Maj. Gen. Peter Gersten, the deputy commander for operations and intelligence for the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State, said Tuesday.
The Pentagon’s assertion lines up with other information that has emerged recently.
Last week, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, N.Y., published an article in its journal, the CTC Sentinel, that highlighted the Islamic State’s financial plight.
Documents in the journal, and noted in a report published by The Washington Post, show that the Islamic State is having difficulty compensating its fighters and workers while providing basic amenities such as electricity and fuel. Recent defectors from the group have indicated that many fighters are on half pay and some haven’t received salaries in months.
S.F. police chief denounces racist texts B
san francisco» A beleaguered San Francisco Police Department took another hit to its tarnished image Tuesday with the release of racist and homophobic text messages allegedly among officers.
The city’s public defender released transcripts of the offensive texts, which emerged during a rape investigation of a former officer. The messages belittle blacks, Latinos and Indians and insult President Barack Obama and NBA superstar LeBron James, among many other disparaging conversations.
Police Chief Greg Suhr said four officers exchanged inappropriate texts and that three of them have quit or retired since last summer. He is seeking dismissal of the fourth officer.
“It makes me sick to my stomach,” Suhr said.
House votes to make bison our national mammal B
washington» Make room, bald eagle. The House has voted to designate the bison the national mammal of the United States.
The move seeks to elevate the bison’s stature to that of the bald eagle, long the nation’s official bird. There has not been an official mammal of the United States.
The measure passed by the House must go to the Senate for final passage, expected this week, before it can go to the president’s desk.
El Faro’s data recorder found. The National Transportation
Safety Board said Tuesday that its investigators had found the missing data recorder belonging to El Faro, the hulking cargo ship that sank last fall with 33 crew members on board.
Investigators had found the sunken ship and debris on the ocean floor but had not found the recorder, which they believe holds clues to the final hours of El Faro.
“Finding an object about the size of a basketball almost 3 miles under the surface of the sea is a remarkable achievement,” Christopher Hart, chairman of the NTSB, said Tuesday.
Baby bald eagles get names
B washington» Two baby bald eagles at the U.S. National Arboretum have been named Freedom and Liberty following a “Name the Nestlings” social media campaign.
The American Eagle Foundation said more than 36,000 people voted on five name pairings selected on the Friends of the National Arboretum Facebook page: Stars and Stripes, Freedom and Liberty, Anacostia and Potomac, Honor and Glory, and Cherry and Blossom. Voting was from April 19 through April 24. The foundation and arboretum launched the live streaming DC Eagle Cam after the parents — nicknamed Mr. President and The First Lady — laid two eggs in February.