Texas leads the US in civil asset forfeiture, the notorious practice of police seizing property from suspects who have not been convicted of any crime, according to a new report. Such programs have skyrocketed since the start of the Great Recession.

In 2012, 26 states and the District of Columbia seized a total of $254 million through forfeiture, a new report by the Institute for Justice has found. Texas alone took in nearly 20 percent of those assets with $46 million, followed closely by Arizona with $43 million. Illinois was third with almost $20 million. Most states have little to no requirement to report civil asset forfeitures, though, and 2012 is the most recent year that consistent data from states was available.

In the report, titled 'Policing for Profit,' the Institute for Justice also graded each state on its forfeiture practices, looking at criteria like the share of forfeited funds that cops get to keep and protections for innocent owners. New Mexico, which reformed its laws on the practice in July, received an A-, the highest grade given. It was followed by Maine, North Carolina, Indiana and Missouri, which all received a B+.

"I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers." -Major General Smedly D. Butler

In 1775, in a Philadelphia bar named Tun Tavern, Commandant Samuel Nicholas held a recruiting drive to enlist the first Marines in the history of the United States.

10 November 1775 was the day when the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Marines with the following decree:

Despite occasional videos of angry Germans protesting at what has become the biggest "foreign invasion" of Europe since World War II, the German popular response to the wave of migrants, which is now expected to top 1 million in 2015 has been relatively calm. Fear (and anger), however, are building beneath the otherwise calm surface.

According to a report by Focus, following a 600% surge in sales over the past two months, Germany has run out of pepper spray, and the irritating substance can now only be purchased after weeks of waiting. Focus says that according to pepper spray manufacturers, "frightened Germans" have bought out all the available inventory. The alleged reason, according to the German publication: "die Flüchtlingskrise", or the refugee crisis.

Focus goes on to say that in private, Germans are equipping themselves "massively."

"There is fear" explains Kai Prase, managing director of DEF-TEC Defense Technology GmbH in Frankfurt, one of the major producers of repellents. "For the past six to seven weeks we have been practically sold out."

A billionaire peer's son who plunged to his death from a luxury penthouse home had been plagued by financial worries over both his steel and film companies.

Angad Paul, 45, suffered catastrophic injuries after plummeting from the eight story property in central London, two weeks after his family's leading steel company was forced into administration.

The Telegraph understands the businessman was also scaling down his investment projects in the film industry.

Detectives investigating shootings in Derry in 1972 in which 14 civil rights demonstrators died arrest man in County Antrim

Detectives in Northern Ireland investigating the Bloody Sunday shootings in 1972 have arrested a former British soldier in County Antrim.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland's legacy investigation branch said he was 66 years old. He would have been 23 at the time of the shootings.

It is the first arrest since the events of Bloody Sunday nearly 44 years ago.


Thirteen civil rights demonstrators were killed by members of the Parachute Regiment on the streets of Derry in January 1972. Another victim of the shootings died months later.

The officer leading the investigation, DCI Ian Harrison, said the arrest marked a new phase in the overall inquiry that would continue for some time.

The soldier arrested is understood to be a former member of the Parachute Regiment, who was known during the government-commissioned inquiry undertaken by Lord Saville simply as Lance Corporal J.

He is being questioned specifically about the killings of 15 year old William Nash, Michael McDaid, 20, and John Young, 17, in the 1972 massacre. The retired soldier is also suspected of the attempted killing of William's father Alexander.

The investigation was launched in 2012 after the Saville inquiry found none of the victims posed a threat to soldiers when they were shot. After the publication of Saville's report in 2010, David Cameron apologised for the army's actions, branding them "unjustified and unjustifiable".

A small airplane crashed into a residential area of Akron, Ohio. Many local residents are without power, and the building is on fire.

Two people have died, Akron police told WEWS-TV. It is assumed they were on board the plane as no one was injured inside the apartment building, and all the residents are accounted for, local officials said.

The small jet, identified as a "Hawker H25B," was on approach to Akron Fulton Airport when it clipped a residential building in the area of Mogadore and Skelton roads in eastern Akron, WJV in Cleveland quoted a FAA spokesman.

Ambulances and firefighters are on the site, local media report. The building is "engulfed in flames," according to local officials, and the emergency crews are working to contain the fire.

The fire had spread to a second apartment building, before the emergency crews put it out, WEWS reported.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are on the way, and the investigation will be headed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), according to WJW-TV.

Manufactured between 1983 and 2013, the small jet - officially known as Hawker 800 - has a crew of two and could carry up to 13 passengers.

On Monday, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department took down a man for "acting bizarrely and standing in traffic."

Officers were called to the scene in Lake Balboa shortly after 1:00 PM over reports of the man acting strangely, though no specifics were given other than the fact that he was in the roadway. LAPD Lieutenant John Jenal says a police helicopter flew overhead as officers arrived on the scene and used Tasers on the man "in an effort to de-escalate the situation," before shooting at him with beanbag rounds.

The man, who is described as Latino and in his mid-30s, apparently did not comply, so they shot him to death. The department is now looking into whether he was on drugs, under the influence of alcohol, or had mental health issues. Activists, critics, and residents of Los Angeles have asserted that his mental health is likely something that should have been considered before using lethal force on him.

It was unclear how many shots were fired or whether police were engaged in a struggle before the shooting, Jenal told the Los Angeles Times. None of the officers involved were wearing body cameras, and the incident was reportedly not captured on any surveillance cameras from local businesses.

No officers were severely injured during the incident, and it is unclear whether even minor injuries were sustained, other than perhaps some sore trigger fingers.

A new policy at a British Christian school is requiring girls to cover their legs with "opaque tights" and long skirts as a safety measure against sexual assault.

The Hartlepool Mail reported that parents of students at St. Hild's Church of England School had received a letter informing them of the new policy. The letter says that "in the interest of modesty and to ensure your child is properly safeguarded on their way to and from school, we ask that black tights be worn with skirts at all times".

Carol McEnaney told the paper that her 14-year-old daughter Hannah was handed a pair of tights when she showed up at the school wearing a skirt with socks. "The school said, though, that if she didn't wear tights, she would be put in isolation or sent home," McEnaney explained. "I want to get my point across that girls should have the right to choose."
"My daughter does not dress inappropriately," the mother added. "She's perfectly presentable, and there shouldn't be a problem as the skirt isn't short. It's about knee-height."

Sam Smethers of the Fawcett Society, a charity with the mission of ensuring equal rights for women, argued that the dress code was teaching the wrong lessons to girls. "Girls and young women are being asked to change their behaviour and modify the way they dress and here is yet another example. That's just not acceptable in 2015," Smethers observed. "Modesty and safeguarding don't come into it. What they should be focussing on is opening up a world of opportunity to their young women, not controlling what they wear."

More Americans are more worried about being a victim of gun violence than a victim of terrorism, according to a McClatchy-Marist poll released Tuesday. Of the Americans surveyed, 63 percent said they feared they or someone they know would die as a result of gun violence, compared with the 29 percent who said they register terrorist attacks as more of a fear.

The poll also shows a split between Republican and Democrats as to what they perceive as a bigger threat. Some 77 percent of Democrats surveyed viewed guns as a bigger fear over terrorism, while Republicans saw terrorism as a bigger threat by 55-45. Tea party supporters were also skewed more toward viewing terrorism as a bigger threat by a 57-37 percent margin.

Workers across the country joined in largest-ever strike to hit the fast food industry in the fight for higher wages. They hope to capture the attention of 2016 candidates by striking one year from Election Day.

Hundreds of protesters marched in downtown Brooklyn early on Tuesday, blocking traffic and carrying banners that demand that elected leaders implement a $15 an hour minimum wage and union rights.

In addition to New York City, workers began a walkout of their jobs starting at 6 a.m. in cities Chicago, Atlanta and Kansas City, among others.