Nation briefs 8/18/2015

IRS breach bigger than first thought

WASHINGTON -- A computer breach at the IRS in which thieves stole tax information from thousands of taxpayers is much bigger than the agency originally disclosed. An additional 220,000 potential victims had information stolen from an IRS website as part of a sophisticated scheme to use stolen identities to claim fraudulent tax refunds, the IRS said Monday. The revelation more than doubles the total number of potential victims, to 334,000. The breach also started earlier than investigators initially thought. The tax agency first disclosed the breach in May.

Shell allowed to drill in Arctic Ocean

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The federal government on Monday gave Royal Dutch Shell the permit it needs to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska's northwest coast for the first time in more than two decades. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced it approved the permit to drill below the ocean floor after the oil giant brought in a required piece of equipment to stop a possible well blowout. The agency previously allowed Shell to begin drilling only the top sections of two wells in the Chukchi Sea because the key equipment, called a capping stack, was stuck on a vessel that needed repair in Portland, Oregon. Because the vessel arrived last week, Shell is free to drill into oil-bearing rock, estimated at 8,000 feet below the ocean floor, for the first time since its last exploratory well was drilled in 1991.

Pentagon increasing its drone flights

JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- Faced with escalating aggression from Russia and China, the Pentagon plans to increase its use of drones by about 50 percent over the next several years, using Army and civilian contractors to put more of the unmanned aircraft in the air. The decision to add Army and civilian-operated missions to the mix was triggered because the Air Force -- which had been running about 65 combat air patrol missions a day -- asked to decrease that number to 60 because of stress on the force. But 60 patrols don't come close to meeting the demands of top military commanders facing growing security threats around the world. Senior U.S. officials said while drones have been used largely to target terrorists and collect intelligence over combat zones, those needs may shift.

'Green' measure fails to create jobs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers are calling for oversight of a clean-jobs ballot measure after The Associated Press reported it has fallen short of what was promised. Voters approved Proposition 39 in 2012 to raise taxes on corporations; lawmakers pledged to devote the money to energy-efficiency projects in schools and create jobs. Democratic Assemblyman Henry Perea of Fresno called on the Legislature to hold a hearing to look into the spending. The AP found three years after the initiative, barely one-tenth of the promised jobs have been created, and the state has no list of how much work has been done or energy saved. An oversight board created to monitor Proposition 39 has never met.

-- From wire reports