Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Toronto mayor denies smoking crack, questions scandalous video’s veracity

CNN, By Greg Botelho, May 24

“I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.”

Those words aren’t what might normally be expected from the mayor of Canada’s largest city. But little is normal nowadays for Rob Ford.

Eight days ago, Gawker and the Toronto Star published stories stating their [...]

Electric Avenue: Solar Road Panels Offer Asphalt Alternative

(Speigel Online) – An American couple has found a surprising alternative to conventional asphalt motorways: solar road panels. In addition to providing electricity, saving oil and melting fresh snow, it could also prevent accidents.

Taliban launches major attack in Kabul

(Al Jazeera) – Taliban fighters have launched a deadly coordinated attack on a UN compound in the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul, setting off explosions and battling security forces, Reuters reported.

A plume of smoke hung over the city centre after the attack was launched on Friday, eight days after six Americans, soldiers [...]

EU bans three pesticides harmful to bees

(Phys.Org) – The European Commission said Friday that it will ban for two years beginning in December pesticides blamed for killing the bees that pollinate food and fruit crops.

The decision to ban the three insecticides, made by chemicals giants Bayer and Syngenta, “marks another milestone towards ensuring a healthier future” for bees, EU Health [...]

SARS-like virus patent complicating diagnosis

(AFP) – Saudi Arabia lamented Thursday that foreign drug companies had patented the new SARS-like virus that has killed 22 people worldwide in less than a year, slowing down the diagnosis process considerably.

Japanese stocks suffer biggest one-day plunge since 2000

Japanese stocks plunged by the most in 13 years on Thursday, as traders rushed to bank profits on worries that the US was poised to scale back its money printing programme and Chinese manufacturing data disappointed.

The Telegraph, By Szu Ping Chan, May 23

The Nikkei 225 index closed down 7.32pc – or 1,143.28 points [...]

U.S. acknowledges killing of four U.S. citizens in counterterrorism operations

Washington Post, By Karen DeYoung & Peter Finn, May 22

The Obama administration acknowledged Wednesday that it has killed four Americans in overseas counterterrorism operations since 2009, the first time it has publicly taken responsibility for the deaths.

Although the acknowledgment, contained in a letter from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to Congress, does [...]

Supreme Court will rule on prayer at government meetings

The small town of Greece, N.Y., could set a new precedent on the issue of religious expression.

USA Today, By Richard Wolf, May 20

Washington — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether prayers can be offered at government meetings — a practice that’s been common in Congress and throughout the states for more [...]

New light shed on US government’s extraordinary rendition programme

Online project uncovers details of way in which CIA carried out kidnaps and secret detentions following September 11 attacks

The Guardian, By Ian Cobain & James Ball, May 22

A groundbreaking research project has mapped the US government’s global kidnap and secret detention programme, shedding unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations [...]

Gov. Christie announces N.J. pulling out of regional environmental initiative

The Star-Ledger, By Christopher Baxter, May 28

Trenton, NJ — In a blow to clean energy advocates throughout the Northeast, Gov. Chris Christie said this morning that the state will pull out of the region’s “gimmicky” cap-and-trade program by the end of the year.

During a Statehouse news conference, Christie acknowledged the effects humans are [...]

Venezuela’s new government ‘open’ to resuming U.S. diplomatic relations

(Raw Story) -Venezuela on Sunday made a rare diplomatic overture to the United States, suggesting it could be time for better ties.

“We are going to remain open to normalizing relations with the United States,” Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said on Televen television Sunday.

“The first thing would be to resume diplomatic representation at the [...]

EU decision to lift Syrian oil sanctions boosts jihadist groups

(The Guardian) – The EU decision to lift Syrian oil sanctions to aid the opposition has accelerated a scramble for control over wells and pipelines in rebel-held areas and helped consolidate the grip of jihadist groups over the country’s key resources.

Jabhat al-Nusra, affiliated with al-Qaida and other extreme Islamist groups, control the majority of [...]

Western leaders study ‘gamechanging’ report on global drugs trade

Review by Organisation of American States on illicit drugs ‘could mark beginning of the end’ of prohibition

The Observer, By Jamie Doward, May 18

European governments and the Obama administration are this weekend studying a “gamechanging” report on global drugs policy that is being seen in some quarters as the beginning of the end for [...]

French president to sign gay marriage bill into law

(AFP)- French President Francois Hollande will sign a gay marriage and adoption bill into law Saturday, after the Constitutional Council threw out a legal challenge by the right-wing opposition.

AP: justice department’s seizure of phone records an unprecedented intrusion

Obama administration took records in apparent effort to track down source who disclosed alleged Yemen terrorist plot story

The Guardian, By Ewen MacAskill, May 13

Washington – The Obama administration has opened up a new front in its battle against media freedom by seizing phone records from the offices of the Associated Press news agency [...]