FedEx employee opens fire at package-sorting center, wounds 6, commits suicide
KENNESAW, Ga. — A FedEx employee wearing ammunition draped across his chest “like Rambo” opened fire Tuesday at a package-sorting center outside Atlanta, wounding six people before apparently committing suicide, police and witnesses said.
In addition to a shotgun, the gunman also had an undisclosed number of Molotov cocktails, but he did not use them in the attack, police said.
The shooter, who was not publicly identified, was found dead inside. He worked as a package handler at the sprawling facility, Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce said.
Investigators have an idea of what his motive may have been, but they were not prepared to disclose it yet, Pierce said.
Three of the wounded were hospitalized in critical condition, including two who were in surgery with life-threatening injuries.
Cellphone searches: Supreme Court wary of police checks of arrestees’ phone contents
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seemed wary Tuesday of allowing police unbridled freedom to search through cellphones of people they arrest, taking on a new issue of privacy in the face of rapidly changing technology.
The justices appeared ready to reject the Obama administration’s argument that police should be able to make such searches without first getting warrants.
A key question in two cases argued Tuesday is whether Americans’ cellphones, with vast quantities of sensitive records, photographs and communications, are a private realm much like their homes.
At least 54 killed in Syria as attacks hit pro-government areas in Damascus, Homs
DAMASCUS, Syria — A massive double car bombing and a mortar strike targeted pro-government neighborhoods Tuesday in two of Syria’s largest cities, killing at least 54 people a day after President Bashar Assad declared his candidacy for re-election.
The attacks in Damascus and Homs heightened fears of an escalation ahead of the contentious June 3 vote and showed that despite a series of battlefield setbacks, the rebels remain capable of hitting the government and its core of support.
Chamber’s ads back GOP in Senate races, while casting them as conservative
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pumping money into ads for establishment Republican favorites in North Carolina, Georgia and Alaska, while pointedly calling them conservatives and highlighting their opposition to Washington bureaucrats.
The commercials, which begin airing on Wednesday, represent the powerful business organization’s determination to tip the balance in crowded, Republican primaries and help the GOP nominate viable general election candidates in Senate races.
The ads’ description of establishment candidates such as Georgia’s Jack Kingston and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis as “consistent conservative” and “bold conservative” is designed to neutralize criticism and attract the support of far-right GOP voters who have a major say in primaries.
The Chamber is also launching ads for Republican Senate candidates in Michigan and Montana, and is looking to lift a House candidate in North Carolina.
The GOP needs to gain six seats to seize the majority in the Senate, and emboldened Republicans, pointing to President Barack Obama’s unpopularity, are bullish about their chances. Establishment Republicans blame some tea party candidates for costing them the majority in the 2010 and 2012 elections.
Order a mai tai while you can — spike in lime prices means citrus drink squeeze
LOS ANGELES — Every time a bartender at trendy Los Angeles fusion eatery Luna Park squeezes a shot of lime into a drink these days, owner Peter Kohtz says he winces a little.
Luna Park, known for its large selection of craft cocktails, is one of thousands of restaurants from coast to coast that have fallen victim to the Great Green Citrus Crisis of 2014 — a severe shortage of limes that has meant that the fruit has skyrocketed in price in recent weeks.
A case of 200 or so fetches between $80 and $130 now, up from about $15 last year — the result of a perfect storm of circumstances from citrus disease that struck Florida in 2001 and wiped out most lime groves to flooding to the efforts of drug cartels to disrupt supplies in Mexico, the biggest U.S. supplier.
The cost might not seem like that big of a deal until one realizes that it’s lime juice that’s squeezed into every margarita, mojito or mai tai. It’s also lime that’s chopped up and mixed with fresh fish to create ceviche. It’s lime, mixed with avocado, that makes up guacamole — a mainstay at every Mexican restaurant.
By wire sources