- PAST POST NEWS | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 - (Dec 31 2010) - India Post : POLL : Jindal most popular Gov.WASH D.C. -- Indian-origin Louisiana leader Bobby Jindal is the most popular serving governor in the United States, an opinion poll has said. Jindal has an approval rating of 58 per cent approval rating, along with 34 per cent disapproving of his job, shows a survey by Public Policy Polling. One of the top ranking Republican leader of the country, Jindal is seeking re-election next year.
(Dec 30 2010) - Activist Post : Tax protester dies in US prisonTEXAS -- Tax protester Richard Simkanin, who had been sentenced to seven years in prison, has died of poor health conditions in a Texas prison. Simkanin, 67, had served seven years in a federal prison after refusing to withhold taxes from his employees at his Bedford, Texas plastics business and not filing income tax returns for himself.
(Dec 29 2010) - China Post : U.S. meddling in Russia's trialMOSCOW -- Russia accused the United States and European nations on Tuesday of trying to influence the trial of jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, calling such efforts unacceptable and warning the West to mind its own business. The U.S. and European nations said the verdict raised doubts about the Kremlin's commitment to the rule of law ...
(Dec 28 2010) - Washington Post : Obama's Deadbeat BanksWASH D.C. -- The Obama administration has begun monitoring the high-level board meetings of nearly 20 banks that received emergency taxpayer assistance but repeatedly failed to pay the required dividends, according to Treasury Department officials and documents. And it may soon install new directors on some of their boards.
(Dec 27 2010) - Kyiv Post : Khodorkovsky supporters detainedRUSSIA -- Twenty people, who came to the Moscow Khamovnichesky District Court on Monday to support former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former Menatep Group head Platon Lebedev were detained. The police told the protesters to fold their placards but they disobeyed and were detained one by one.
(Dec 26 2010) - Pittsburgh Post : Born without racial bias ?GERMANY -- Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg thinks he may have found the only children in the world who don't show any racial bias. Children born with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that makes them extremely sociable, did not show any preference for children of their own race in a classic stereotyping test published earlier this year.
(Dec 25 2010) - Christian Post : Angel Protected Me from DeathFLORIDA -- This year, Arlan W. Horman, 93, will spend a quiet Christmas with his daughter and son-in law. Horman knows that he is really blessed to have this time with them. Not because of his age, but because he has encountered many close calls in his life during World War II. As a soldier in the Army, Horman recalls coming close to death not once or twice, but several times. However, as a Christian, Horman has always felt that he was being protected by a guardian angel.
(Dec 24 2010) - Frontier Post : None can force ISI in US courtsISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has categorically stated that no one can force ISI officials to appear before the US courts and Pakistan will not receive dictation from any one for launching operation in North Waziristan. Speaking in the National Assembly ... the Prime Minister said ISI is a sensitive and important state institution and no one can summon it without Government approval.
(Dec 23 2010) - Borneo Post : Kidnaped Malaysians are freedMANILA -- Two Malaysian seaweed farmers seized in February by gunmen linked to militants have been freed unharmed across the sea in the southern Philippines, Filipino officials said yesterday. Police found Chen Yui Chung, 48 and Lai Wong Chun, 46, in Bongao, the capital of the Tawi-Tawi island group near Sabah late Tuesday, national police chief Raul Bacalzo told reporters in Manila.
(Dec 22 2010) - Liberty Post : Town taxes Christians ...KANSAS -- 'Driveway fee' assessed against churches based on number of seats in worship centers. Christians who attend worship services in a suburb of Kansas City will have to ante up for new thousand-dollar city "fees" that are being assessed against their churches based on the number of seats in their sanctuaries. That's if the scheme announced recently by officials in Mission, Kan., survives a court challenge ...
(Dec 21 2010) - New York Post : Gov Paterson pays fineALBANY -- The state's top ethics watchdog yesterday slapped outgoing Gov. Paterson with a historic rebuke, ordering him to pay a $62,125 fine for taking free World Series tickets from the Yankees -- and then lying under oath to cover his tracks. The Public Integrity Commission's penalty follows a months-long investigation into the lame-duck Democrat after The New York Post exposed his freebie trip to the first game of the 2009 World Series.
(Dec 20 2010) - Kentucky Post : Suspected terrorists arrestedLONDON -- Police arrested 12 men in early morning raids on three cities Monday aimed at thwarting a major new terrorism plot against British targets. Assistant commissioner John Yates, Britain's senior counterterrorism police officer, said the suspects were detained in London, in the central English city of Stoke-on-Trent and in Cardiff, Wales.
(Dec 19 2010) - Post Star : State considers pay freezeALBANY -- Public workers from the federal government to New York's smallest school districts and towns facing hard times are considering a proposition that was once nearly unthinkable politically: Freezing public salaries. A month after President Barack Obama proposed a two-year standstill on the pay of 2 million federal employees, New York's Conference of Mayors last week suggested the state to freeze all public sector wages.
(Dec 18 2010) - African Post : Exile or Sanctions ...IVORY COAST -- African nations have promised Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo a "soft landing" in exile ... The West African state has been in turmoil since the Nov 28 vote in which Gbagbo claimed victory with backing from the nation's top legal body, rejecting as fraudulent results showing he lost by a near 8 % margin to rival Alassane Ouattara.
(Dec 17 2010) - Global Post : Pakistan welcomes ChinaISLAMABAD -- For an idea of what unconditional love might look like on the geopolitical stage, look no further than Pakistan’s relationship with China. As Islamabad prepares to welcome Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and some 250 Chinese businessmen for a three-day visit, local officials are waxing lyrical about their "all-weather friend."
(Dec 16 2010) - Palm Beach Post : Border Patrol agent killedTUCSON -- A shootout between border patrol agents and bandits near Arizona's troubled boundary with Mexico has left one American agent "Brian A. Terry" dead and a suspect wounded, a union leader says. The clash Tuesday night came after agents spotted suspected bandits known for targeting illegal immigrants along a violent smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert, National Border Patrol Council President T.J. Bonner said.
(Dec 15 2010) - Financial Post : Spain on debt watchMADRID -- Ratings agency Moody's warned Spain it could be downgraded and frustration at Germany and France over their handling of the eurozone debt crisis boiled over on Wednesday, ahead of a European Union summit. Moody's said it was concerned about Spain's high funding needs and its indebted banking sector ...
(Dec 14 2010) - Post Chronicle : Cuba Launches a WikipediaCUBA -- Cuba has begun its own online encyclopedia, similar to Wikipedia, with the goal of presenting its version of the world and history. It describes its longtime ideological enemy, the United States, as "the empire of our time" and "the most powerful nation of all time." EcuRed (www.ecured.cu) will be launched officially on Tuesday ...
(Dec 13 2010) - Norway Post : Fear terrorist attacks in NorwaySTOCKHOLM -- There is fear that the suicide bombing in Stockholm, Sweden this weekend may inspire persons with extreme ideological views to carry out similar attacks also in Norway. Terrorism researcher Brynjar Lia at the Norwegian Defence Research Institute says the extreme groups in Sweden and Norway are closely connected.
(Dec 12 2010) - Bangkok Post : Hunting Drug BaronsTHAILAND -- Imaginative "wanted" notices have appeared in Bangkok's bars showing the face of the minority ethnic Wa tribe's guerrilla leader, Wei Hsueh-kang, emblazoned on styrofoam beer bottle holders, served to customers so they can contemplate a US$2 million (60.1 million baht) reward while bar girls flirt with them. Mr Wei's private United Wa State Army operating in the mountains of Burma includes 30,000 rebels armed with artillery ...
(Dec 11 2010) - Activist Post : Obama's new tax on ... Rainwater !?U.S.A. -- Would President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency really force Americans to pay a tax on "rainwater runoff" from homes and small businesses? You bet they would. In fact, the EPA, under radical environmentalist Lisa Jackson, is proposing regulations to do just that. Take a look at the EPA's own Federal Register filing ...
(Dec 10 2010) - National Post : WikiLeaks online againCANADA -- Champions of free speech are lauding the proliferation of Canadian WikiLeaks mirror sites emerging after a crackdown on the original wikileaks.org web address, but the growing practice of creating copies of the controversial site - and the sensitive information it contains - could spell trouble for Canadians committed to the continued exposure of state secrets.
(Dec 09 2010) - Patriot Post : Stop, Don't START !U.S.A. -- In 1976, I stood beside my father in Kansas City after he lost the Republican presidential nomination to Gerald Ford. I asked him why he wanted to be president of the U.S. His answer was a preview of the policies he would pursue when he finally won the presidency, recalling that for far too long he had watched American presidents inevitably cave in to the Soviets in every agreement reached with them.
(Dec 08 2010) - Denver Post : Boycotting Nobel Peace PrizeLONDON -- 19 governments have said their ambassadors won't attend a ceremony this week awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, the Norwegian prize committee said Tues., more than tripling the number of rejections & reflecting the strong pressure exerted by Beijing to boycott the event. At the same time, China announced it would create its own prize for peace ...
(Dec 07 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Jews unsafe in HollandHOLLAND -- Former Dutch EU commissioner says "recognizable" Jews are no longer safe in Netherlands due to Muslim anti-Semitism. Former European Union Commissioner Frits Bolkenstein said that Jews have no future in the Netherlands and recommended that they emigrate to the US or Israel ...
(Dec 06 2010) - Yemen Post : Blaming Iran re: Spy PlaneYEMEN -- Authorities had with intent said that a crashed unmanned spy plane was Iranian while it new ahead of time that it belonged to the United States, WikiLeaks release of a US memo stated. It also revealed that the US embassy in Sana'a informed President Saleh that the aircraft had been doing investigations near US naval vessels for offshore.
(Dec 05 2010) - Patriot Post : What Those Miners FoundCHILE -- You didn't read much about this after a world-wide television audience estimated to be over a billion people watched it happen but in a minute you'll know why. A little over a month ago, when 33 miners were miraculously saved in Chile, all of us noticed each wore dark sunglasses to protect their sensitive eyes as they were brought out in a rescue capsule.
(Dec 04 2010) - Jakarta Post : PayPal cuts{off} WikiLeaksU.S.A. -- Online payment service provider PayPal says in a company blog it has cut off the account used by WikiLeaks to collect donations. The company said in a blog posting the move was prompted by a violation of its policy, "which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity."
(Dec 03 2010) - New York Post : Rabbi busted in cop 'hit'BROOKLYN -- A rabbi was charged yesterday in the contract killing of a former suburban police officer and his nephew, authorities said. Victor Koltun, 41 -- whose rap sheet includes mortgage-fraud allegations -- is accused of hiring two ex-cons to kill Frank Piscopo, 49, and Gerald Piscopo, 28, in Newburgh, Orange County. Both Piscopos were found dead Nov. 4.
(Dec 02 2010) - Krakow Post : Polish Business DisconnectedPOLAND -- It’s safe to say that most people reading this article will find it impossible to imagine their lives without the Internet. Every day we surf its vast waves. This enables us to run our errands faster, stay in touch with friends and keep track of current affairs. We now communicate with people using various social network services, internet communicators, forums and discussion groups.
(Dec 01 2010) - Yorkshire Post : Trains cancelled across YorkshireENGLAND -- Workers at No. Rail, which this morning posted delays and cancellations across its Yorkshire network, are to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over Christmas pay - announced this morning. The Rail Maritime and Transport union said its conductor members at the firm will vote in the next few weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action, with the result due on Dec 20.
(Nov 30 2010) - Activist Post : CIA sued for brain implantsU.S.A. -- A group of military veterans are suing to get the CIA to come clean about allegedly implanting remote control devices in their brains. It's well known that the CIA began testing substances like LSD on soldiers beginning in the 1950s but less is known about allegations that the agency implanted electrodes in subjects.
(Nov 29 2010) - Financial Post : Gold will fall to $1000CANADA -- The recent move up in bullion prices has not been matched by gold stocks, suggesting the commodity has overextended itself, according to Pierre Lapointe, global macro strategist at Brockhouse Cooper. He recommends investors take profits on their gold positions and expects prices will start trending toward the US$950 to US$1,000 per ounce range, a decline of more than 30%.
(Nov 28 2010) - China Post : North Korea readies missiles ...YEONPYEONG -- North Korea has placed surface-to-surface missiles on launch pads in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, as the United States and South Korea began joint military exercises that have upset neighbor China. The agency also said North Korea had moved surface-to-air missiles to frontline areas, days after it shelled a tiny South Korean island killing four people.
(Nov 27 2010) - Washington Post : Debt Escalates in EuropeLONDON -- The debt crisis in Europe escalated sharply Friday as investors dumped Spanish and Portuguese bonds in panicked selling, substantially heightening the prospect that one or both countries may need to join troubled Ireland and Greece in soliciting international bailouts. The draining confidence in Western Europe's weakest economies threatened to upend bond markets, destabilize the euro and drag out the global economic recovery if it is not quickly contained.
(Nov 26 2010) - Wales Daily Post : MI6 blamed re: Taliban talksU.K. -- British intelligence officers have been blamed for bringing an impostor to take part in peace talks with Afghan president Hamid Karzai, under the mistaken impression that he was a high-level Taliban commander. Mr Karzai's chief of staff Mohammad Umer Daudzai told the Washington Post that an Afghan at the meeting realised that the man was not who he claimed to be ...
(Nov 25 2010) - Christian Post : Thanksgiving Love Boxes GivenAMERICA -- Thousands of families that would otherwise have an empty table on Thursday are receiving boxes filled with traditional fixings and love this Thanksgiving. Americans have been forgoing eating out and donating the money they would have spent to the Boxes of Love outreach, an annual campaign led by Here's Life Inner City, the compassionate urban ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.
(Nov 24 2010) - Palm Beach Post : Irish unveils cuts & tax hikesDUBLIN -- Ireland unveiled the harshest budget measures in its history Wednesday, a four-year plan to slash deficits €15 billion ($20 billion) so it can get a massive bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The plan seeks to cut €10 billion ($13.3 billion) from spending and raise €5 billion ($6.7 billion) in extra taxes from 2011 to 2014. It axes thousands of state jobs, welfare benefits, and pension payments ...
(Nov 23 2010) - Liberty Post : N. Korea attacking S. KoreaSEOUL -- North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing one person, setting homes ablaze and triggering an exchange of fire as the South's military went on top alert. In what appeared to be one of the most serious border incidents since the 1950-53 war, South Korean troops fired back with cannon, the government convened in an underground war room and "multiple" air force jets scrambled.
(Nov 22 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Dalai Lama visits DenmarkDENMARK -- Tibetan leader Dali Lama has been invited to visit Denmark by humanitarian organisation Tibet Charity as well as seven other Danish companies and non-profit organisations with an interest in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Unlike the Dalai Lama's last visit to Denmark, this will only be a one-day visit on April 18, during which he will be holding two lectures in the Tivoli Congress Centre in Copenhagen.
(Nov 21 2010) - Global Post : Trans-Pacific PartnershipTAIPEI -- New Zealand's down with it. Singapore's down with it. Now the United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam and Malaysia are getting down with it, too. Still waiting for word on whether Japan's down with it or not. There's a new trade bloc on the block, and it's called TPP - short for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
(Nov 20 2010) - Borneo Post : What's wrong with our WiFi ?KUCHING -- The people of Nanga Berkiok at Merurun, Julau cannot be blamed if they thought that the government's "Kampung WiFi" project recently implemented at Rumah Guntol was a mere publicity stunt. A satellite dish which was installed in the longhouse last Sept 17 broke down less than a week later. Till today there is no news from the project master ...
(Nov 19 2010) - India Post : Lula selected for Peace PrizeNEW DELHI -- Outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was today selected for the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2010. The prestigious prize was given to Lula for his outstanding contribution to the cause of eliminating hunger and promoting inclusive growth in his country ...
(Nov 18 2010) - Christian Post : Obama's new laws for ChurchesWASH D.C. -- President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday that made some clarifications on the partnership between the government and faith-based organizations. It also stated that organizations benefiting from federal financial assistance cannot engage in explicitly religious activities during times when providing social services funded by tax dollars.
(Nov 17 2010) - Patriot Post : Where's My Obamacare WaiverWASH D.C. -- More than one million Americans have escaped the clutches of the Democrats' destructive federal health care law. Lucky them. Their employers and labor representatives wisely applied for Obamacare waivers earlier this fall and got out while the getting was good. Now, it's time for Congress to create a permanent escape hatch for the rest of us. Repeal is the ultimate waiver.
(Nov 16 2010) - New York Post : Charlie's buried under evidenceWASH D.C. -- Forget about a smoking gun, this was more like a smoldering arsenal. Investigators probing Rep. Charles Rangel yesterday unleashed an avalanche of never-before-seen evidence against the lawmaker, ranging from classified corporate memos to a 50-year-old certificate of occupancy to his Harlem home. The treasure-trove of documents - an astounding 4,200 pages of evidence that encompasses the 549 exhibits that'll be used in the case was posted on the web ...
(Nov 15 2010) - Post Chronicle : Haiti cholera tops 900 deathsHAITI -- The death toll from Haiti's cholera epidemic has reached more than 900 and the disease is present in six of the 10 provinces of the earthquake-battered Caribbean country, the Health Ministry said on Sunday. An update on the ministry website said as of November 12, there had been 917 deaths and more than 14,600 hospitalized cases ...
(Nov 14 2010) - Ayrshire Post : Swinney warns of public pay freezeSCOTLAND -- Public sector workers are likely to be hit with a pay freeze as part of a budget plan to protect thousands of jobs, the Finance Secretary has said. John Swinney is expected to set out the measure on Wednesday in his "most challenging budget" since the SNP came to office in 2007.
(Nov 13 2010) - Norway Post : Norwgian air base in Scotland?SCOTLAND -- The RAF Lossiemouth air base in Scotland, which is threatened with closure, could become one of the bases for the new Norwegian F-35 (JCA) jet fighter bombers, the Scottish Sun writes. According to the newspaper, Norway and Great Britain have already begun negotiations about the future use of the base.
(Nov 12 2010) - Bangkok Post : Reds to return, border quietTHAILAND -- Security and intelligence agencies have been instructed by Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) director and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon to keep a close watch on activities of the red-shirts on Nov 13, 14 and 19, CRES deputy spokesman Songpol Wattanachai said on Friday. The CRES understands the red-shirts of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) plan to rally in Bangkok on these three days.
(Nov 09 2010) - Activist Post : Your meds are watching you ?NEW YORK -- Novartis AG plans to seek regulatory approval within 18 months for a pioneering tablet containing an embedded microchip, bringing the concept of "smart-pill" technology a step closer. The initial program will use one of the Swiss firm's established drugs taken by transplant patients to avoid organ rejection.
(Nov 08 2010) - Patriot Post : The Hollow CoreWASH D.C. -- It's all over but the post-mortems as the politicos and pundits do their endless thing after every election, analyzing and re-analyzing the entrails to explain the results and predict the future. Who won, who lost? What does it all mean? Each party will try to put the best face it can on confused things. The real winner, as always, will be hubris. (as they say) The more things change ... the more they must be rehashed.
(Nov 07 2010) - Kyiv Post : 1000's rally against G-20SEOUL -- Thousands of people chanted anti-globalization slogans in South Korea's capital Sunday to protest this week's Group of 20 summit. Part of the crowd attempted to march down nearby streets but were stopped by riot police, who fired pepper spray. The protesters sang, danced and waved signs reading "We oppose the G-20" at a large plaza near Seoul City Hall. South Korea is hosting a gathering of leaders from the G-20 advanced and developing economies on Thursday and Friday.
(Nov 06 2010) - Jerusalem Post : WANTED - 'Dead or Alive'SAN'A -- Yemen orders US-born cleric found 'dead or alive'. Cleric's sermons advocating jihad, or holy war, against the US have influenced militants involved in several attacks on US soil. A Yemeni judge ordered police Saturday to find a radical US-born cleric "dead or alive" after the al-Qaida-linked preacher failed to appear at his trial for his role in the killing of foreigners.
(Nov 05 2010) - Denver Post : GOP : Ousting obama in 2012WASH D.C. -- Republicans intensified their confrontation with the White House on Thursday as the party's Senate leader defended his controversial assertion that a top GOP priority is to make obama a one-term president. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the Republicans' steadfast resistance to obama contributed to Tuesday's electoral romp and that defeating the president in 2012 remains a leading priority.
(Nov 04 2010) - U.S. Financial Post : Healthcare Reform on Hold ?WASH D.C. -- Conservative and liberal blogs are wild with speculation about the new divided congress. Liberal bloggers are worried that the Republicans will find some way to repeal the current plan for healthcare reform. The question is, will any such repeal ever be able to pass a divided Senate ?
(Nov 03 2010) - Huffington Post : Gridlock in AmericaWASH D.C. -- It was a historic session -- one of the most productive since the New Deal -- but in the end, it was brief. Four years after taking over Congress with the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrats lost control of the chamber in a devastating, wipeout election. And as the political practitioners and election pundits take stock of what happened, perhaps the one conclusion all sides agree with is this ...
(Nov 02 2010) - National Post : California's Pot v Canada's PotVANCOUVER -- As Californians go to the polls on Tuesday night, they won't just be deciding the future of marijuana in their state - the vote may also rattle the booming B.C. bud industry. Californians will vote on Tuesday during the midterm elections on Proposition 19, which would allow adults 21 and older to have up to 28.5 grams of marijuana and to grow pot at a private residence in a space as large as 25 square feet for personal use.
(Nov 01 2010) - Patriot Post : What Obama's Economists MissedWASH D.C. -- Heading into what appears to be a disastrous midterm election, the Obama Democrats profess to be puzzled. The president's record, they insist, is moderate, accommodating -- if anything, overcautious. So why do most American voters seem to be angrily rejecting it?
(Oct 31 2010) - Minnesota Post : Lake Superior's toxic problemASHLAND -- A few times in his 18 years as an Ashland wastewater treatment plant employee, when a water main broke, John Radloff would find himself wading in oily water. The slick, which came up every time the plant employees dug down, looked and smelled like heavy used oil. It got on their clothes, boots and skin. It was a nuisance. But they worked at a wastewater plant. They were used to foul stuff.
(Oct 30 2010) - Wash Post : Suspicious packages sent to ChicagoWASH D.C. -- Two packages mailed from Yemen and addressed to synagogues in Chicago contained explosive material and represented a "credible terrorist threat," President Obama said Friday, as authorities focused their investigation on an increasingly lethal affiliate of al-Qaeda. A U.S. official said the search for the devices was triggered by a "tip from a very close ally of the United States."
(Oct 30 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : The Great DecisionGERMANY -- In 1944, Dwight Eisenhower launched history's biggest military operation against Nazi Germany. He had planned exhaustively for every contigency, right down to the details, to throw the Germans off-balance and create a foothold in Europe. But all his planning was headed for failure because a new, impersonal, unexpected enemy had arrived. Now he had to shift his plans and gamble everything on a slim window of opportunity.
(Oct 29 2010) - Mongolia Post : Independence Square Re-OpenedULAABAATAR -- On October 27, Independence Square, formerly known as Victory Square located in front of the Tengis Movie Theater, has been re-opened after going through complete renovation for over a month. Central districts of Ulaanbaatar are undergoing major landscaping project ahead of its capital city anniversary. Today, Ulaanbaatar will mark 371th year of its establishment after moving twenty-eight times in its history.
(Oct 28 2010) - Wales Daily Post : MI6 secrets should be protectedU.K. --The Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has issued a warning that its secrets must not be compromised if it is to continue protecting the country. In the first public speech by a serving MI6 Chief, Sir John Sawers said that every day he received reports of terrorists "bent on maiming and murdering" people in Britain. He said that if MI6 was to succeed in countering the threat it was essential that its agents and other intelligence agencies could be sure that their secrets were protected.
(Oct 27 2010) - China Post : Indonesia tsunami kills 113PADANG -- Navy ships packed with medicine and food and rescuers in helicopters headed Tuesday to remote Indonesian islands that were pounded by a 10-foot (3-meter) tsunami, sweeping away villages and killing at least 113 people. Rough seas and bad weather have hampered relief operations, leaving villagers to fend for themselves for nearly two days.
(Oct 26 2010) - Post & Courier : Indonesian volcano eruptsMOUNT MERAPI -- Indonesia's most volatile volcano started erupting Tuesday, after scientists warned that pressure building beneath its dome could trigger the most powerful eruption in years. Up to 20 people were injured by hot ash spewed from Mount Merapi, said an AP reporter who witnessed them being taken away for treatment.
(Oct 25 2010) - Palm Beach Post : DNA Freed Innocent ManTAMPA -- James Bain is 55 and struggling to pass his driving test. He's taken it twice this year and failed both times. He had a license in the 1970s. He also had a job and a future. But someone raped a 9-year-old boy in Lake Wales. The child said it was Bain. He was arrested and convicted and, at age 19, was sent to prison for life. In December, after DNA tests proved he was innocent, a judge in Polk County set him free.
(Oct 24 2010) - Norway Post : Diggings to begin ...NORWAY -- Diggings to begin on Viking king estate : the Central Office of Historic Monuments has approved plans for excavating the grounds of the estate of Harald the Ruthless, Norwegian Viking King from 1045 to 1066. The foundations of the estate were discovered in the Summer of 2006 at Avaldsnes, on the shores of the Karmoysund Strait, following 13 years of archaeological searching.
(Oct 23 2010) - Liberty Post : Obama's muslims are comingWASH D.C. -- OBAMA AUTHORIZES 80,000 "REFUGEES" TO ENTER COUNTRY : Get ready for new Muslim invasion, "Justified by Humanitarian concerns". President Barack Hussein Obama, in a determination letter to Congress, has announced that he will allow an additional 80,000 immigrants - mostly from Islamic countries - to resettle in the United States during fiscal year 2011.
(Oct 22 2010) - Activist Post : Genetically Modified FoodsWASH D.C. -- Deception, manipulation, propaganda and profit: These words have become the basis of the American corporate and political landscape without any seeming concern or guilt over their promulgation. One company in particular, which seems to be the iconographic example of this is Monsanto; or so go the claims today by the "conspiracy crowd" in reaction to the Genetically Modified (GM) food technology and its apparent governmental backing.
(Oct 21 2010) - New York Post : Reefer madnessSAN FRANCISCO -- Federal officials haven't ruled out taking legal action if California voters approve a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana use in the state, President Obama's drug czar said yesterday. Director of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske said Justice Department officials are "looking at all their options" for responding to the measure, which would conflict with federal laws classifying pot as illegal.
(Oct 20 2010) - Financial Post : Drs took gifts from PHARMAWASH D.C. -- More than 17,000 U.S. doctors and other healthcare providers have taken money from seven major drug companies to talk to other doctors about their products, a joint investigation by news organizations and non-profit groups found. More than 380 of the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other professionals took in more than US$100,000 in 2009 and 2010 {from seven drugmakers}, according to the investigation released Tuesday.
(Oct 19 2010) - Patriot Post : The Multicultural CultU.S.A. -- Somebody eventually had to say it -- and German chancellor Angela Merkel deserves credit for being the one who had the courage to say it out loud. Multiculturalism has "utterly failed." Multiculturalism is not just a recognition that different groups have different cultures. We all knew that, long before multiculturalism became a cult that has spawned mindless rhapsodies about "diversity," without a speck of evidence to substantiate its supposed benefits.
(Oct 18 2010) - Global Post : The age of cyber warfare ?LONDON -- In June 2009, someone somewhere quietly released a computer virus called Stuxnet. It was rather large for a virus, but no one noticed as it slipped into cyberspace and began infecting its way around the world. One year later, the virus - or worm, as programmers call this strain of invasive software - did something in Iran. It's not clear what it did, but this time, a lot of people noticed. Because Stuxnet, they say, changes everything.
(Oct 17 2010) - Post Chronicle : Cancer : Maybe Man-Made ?EGYPT -- Diet, pollution, Industrial Revolution: scientists suggest cancer man-made, concludes a new study in Nature Reviews Cancer. We may have to thank every Egyptian mummy maker in ancient society, as it was the careful preservation of their dead citizens that made the study possible, along with the use of fossils and ancient literature. A combination of diet and pollution therefore are co-conspirators in the formation cancer and other new diseases.
(Oct 16 2010) - Christian Post : Principal & Prayer BreakfastSANTA BARBARA -- A California elementary school principal given disciplinary action for appearing in a promotional for a teachers prayer breakfast is suing, claiming he did "absolutely nothing wrong," lawyers said. Craig Richter, principal of FootHill School and a Christian, appeared in a short video promoting the Santa Barbara Community Prayer Breakfast, which was organized to honor educators.
(Oct 16 2010) - Yemen Post : Austrailia warns citizens to leaveYEMEN -- Australia has urged its citizens to avoid travel to Yemen and those already in the country to leave due to the high level of security threat. The country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday night it is likely that a terrorist attack happens at any moment anywhere in Yemen, and foreign embassies and hotels could be targeted in suicide attacks. All Australians in Yemen should leave because of the security instability, the statement said.
(Oct 15 2010) - Bangkok Post : Authorities brace for tense weekendTHAILAND -- The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) on Friday ordered the Internal Security Operations Command and Special Branch police to jointly prepare a plan to cope with the planned activities of the red-shirts during the weekend, CRES spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said. Speaking after a CRES meeting, Col Sansern said about 5,000 people were expected to take part in the rally in Ayutthaya on Saturday and Sunday at the provincial sports stadium.
(Oct 14 2010) - Activist Post : False Flags at U.S. TreasuryU.S.A. -- The theft was planned. It started with a 'false flag' event in 2008. Much like the 'false flag' event of 2001 in which two planes somehow imploded three buildings, the false flag event of 2008 was a game changer. As you remember, the big banks had bankrupted themselves with derivative driven debt issuance that could not be repaid. The financial system was in peril
(Oct 13 2010) - Birmingham Post : Lloyds axes more banking jobsU.K. -- Banking giant Lloyds is to axe thousands more jobs and move some work overseas in a "devastating blow" to its workers, unions have said. The part-nationalised bank is to cut 4,500 jobs, taking the total number of losses to 20,000 since the start of last year, officials said. Accord said around 1,700 of the cuts will be overseas, with the rest affecting permanent, temporary and contracting jobs in the UK.
(Oct 12 2010) - Pittsburgh Post : Chinese invest in PittsburghSHANGHAI -- Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Pittsburgh delegation, on their last full day in China, met in the morning and late afternoon with potential investors. The group was joined by Brad Penrod, CEO of the Pittsburgh International Airport, who was scheduled to make a pitch to China Air Cargo, the cargo arm of China Airlines. "Our message is very clear: Pittsburgh is a great place to do business," said Mr. Penrod.
(Oct 11 2010) - Jakarta Post : Gates Gives His WordVIETNAM -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, meets with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in a meeting room at the Prime Minister's office in Hanoi, Vietnam, Monday. Gates is in Vietnam to reassure jittery Southeast Asian nations that the United States won't cede its longtime role as the pre-eminent military power in the Pacific as Chinese naval ambitions expand.
(Oct 10 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Israel passes new loyalty oathISRAEL -- The cabinet on Sunday passed a proposed amendment to the Citizenship Law requiring those who seek to acquire citizenship to swear their loyalty to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state." Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu brought before the cabinet on Sunday the wording of a new loyalty oath to Israel as a "Jewish and democratic state" that naturalized citizens not making aliya under the Law of Return will be asked to make.
(Oct 09 2010) - Kyiv Post : Ukrainians feel political censorshipUKRAINE -- 1/2 of Ukrainians polled by the Razumkov Center in early Oct. (56.6%) believe political censorship exists in Ukraine. About 1/4 of the respondents (26.7%) believe political censorship is non-existent in Ukraine, and 16.9% were undecided. Responding to a question about the level of freedom of speech in the country, only 5.1% said they're convinced it's fully non-existent ...
(Oct 08 2010) - National Post : 10 arrests in alleged slavery ringCANADA -- An alleged human trafficking ring whose members allegedly brought 16 Hungarians to Canada, stowed them in basements and fed them scraps while collecting their government cheques, according to the RCMP. Mounties in Hamilton released a statement this morning about a 10-month investigation dubbed "Project OPAPA" (emphasis added): The victims were allegedly constantly monitored and had no money or means to free themselves from their predicaments.
(Oct 07 2010) - New York Post : State Comptroller to plead guiltyALBANY -- Disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi is expected to plead guilty to at least one felony corruption charge this morning in connection with the huge pay-to-play state pension story that has rocked the office he once held. Sources said Hevesi was due to appear in state Supreme Court in Manhattan at 9:30 a.m. and was been taken into police custody earlier today. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has been investigating Hevesi and several of his former top aides including his longtime political advisor, Hank Morris, in connection with kickbacks ...
(Oct 06 2010) - Korat Post : Still Under Emergency RuleTHAILAND -- Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of national security and the CRES chairman, yesterday brushed aside a recommendation by Interior Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul that the state of emergency in Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Nakhon Ratchasima be revoked. Mr Suthep said the CRES will meet on Oct 4 to consider whether the emergency decree should be lifted and in which provinces.
(Oct 05 2010) - Huffington Post : Mormon prophesy behind BeckWASH D.C. -- In one of his first appearances on Fox News, Glenn Beck sent a coded message to the nation's 6 million Mormons -- or at least those Mormons who believe in what the Latter-day Saints call "the White Horse Prophecy." "We are at the place where the Constitution hangs in the balance," Beck told Bill O'Reilly on Nov 14, 2008, just after Obama's election. "I feel the Constitution is hanging in the balance right now, hanging by a thread unless the good Americans wake up."
(Oct 04 2010) - Denver Post : Colorado voters down on ObamaCOLORADO -- Barack Obama won Colorado in 2008 with 53 percent of the vote, but now the same percentage of the state's likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of him as president, according to the results of a Denver Post / 9News poll. The dissatisfaction with Obama among a majority of voters comes as 65 percent of likely voters say jobs and the economy are the top issues for them.
(Oct 03 2010) - Wales Post : Cameron won't take defence risksU.K. -- David Cameron insisted he would not take "risks" with Britain's defences as he sought to dampen fears over the coalition's drastic austerity measures. The Prime Minister said decisions in areas such as military capability were still being taken for the long term rather than to achieve immediate savings. The comments came as the Conservatives kicked off their first conference since regaining power ...
(Oct 02 2010) - South Asia Post : Stop the paycheque tax grabCANADA -- On January 1, 2011, you and I are going to take a pay cut thanks to rising Employment Insurance (EI) taxes on our paycheques. As payroll taxes go up, our take-home pay will go down and 170,000 of us could lose our jobs. Here's why. Several years ago, the federal government appointed an independent board to set EI premiums. The board is mandated to ensure that the EI account stays balanced ...
(Oct 01 2010) - China Post : U.S. lawmakers to punish ChinaBEIJING -- U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to punish China for what they branded its unfairly undervalued currency, blaming the weak yuan for killing U.S. jobs weeks before key elections. China, responding on Thursday, warned that a House of Represenatives bill to penalize it for not letting the yuan rise faster could seriously affect bilateral ties.
(Sep 30 2010) - Jakarta Post : City Limits Population GrowthJAKARTA -- Population will be limited to 12 million for the next 20 years to avoid a myriad of social problems due to overpopulation, the deputy governor for population control and settlement Margani Mustar said on Wednesday. Margani said the city administration would control population growth through regular ID card checks, and transmigration and family planning programs.
(Sep 30 2010) - Ayrshire Post : Hotel hit by 'norovirus outbreak'SCOTTLAND -- An investigation is under way after 19 people fell ill in a suspected outbreak of the norovirus bug at a four-star hotel. Health officials said that 15 guests and four members of staff were showing symptoms including diarrhoea and vomiting - thought to be caused by the virus. Doctors said that none of them were giving cause for concern.
(Sep 29 2010) - Jakarta Post : Strike in Spain against austeritySPAIN -- Airlines canceled flights, picketers blocked trucks from delivering produce and police clashed with protesters as Spanish workers staged a general strike Wednesday to protest austerity measures imposed by a government struggling to slash its budget deficit and overcome recession. The stoppage was the opening salvo of a day of protest expected to see tens of thousands of people taking to streets in several European capitals to protest belt-tightening measures that unions see as punishing workers for a crisis they consider to have been triggered by bankers and traders.
(Sep 28 2010) - India Post : CIA says don't trust ISIWASH D.C. -- Pakistan's powerful army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, long considered a close ally by America, is now thought by President Barack Obama's aides to be stonewalling Washington's call for decisive action against terrorists' safe havens in the country's turbulent tribal belt. Top Obama administration officials say that Kayani has refused to adhere to any of the four demands of the US conveyed to him ...
(Sep 27 2010) - Liberty Post : Obama seeks more eavesdroppingWASH D.C. -- Obama and his national security team are seeking to expand the government's role in eavesdropping on the Internet including emails, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as BlackBerries. According to reports, the Obama White House plans to submit a bill after the new congress takes over both houses next January that would require all online services that provide communications between users to be enabled to comply with federal wiretap orders. The proposed monitoring measures will affect encrypted e-mail, such as the popular BlackBerry, networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, as well communication sites such as Skype.
(Sep 26 2010) - New York Post : Mr. President, I feel hope-lessWASH D.C. -- Three years ago, Bryant Park Hotel doorman Greg Smith, 46, once a diehard supporter of the Clintons, put his life on hold to cam paign for Barack Obama. Shortly after The Post fea tured Smith's conversion on the front page in April 2007, Obama called the doorman and asked him to introduce him on the cam paign trail. Now, 18 months after Obama's inaugura tion, Smith says he's losing hope for the change he once believed in.
(Sep 25 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : Beautiful cars in the 50sU.S.A. -- Most Americana are at least a little excited over the appearance of new-model automobiles each year. This is where I must leave you. I cannot get aboard because, considering the share of all cars my company produces, the odds are almost even that your new car is one I designed myself and put out of my life at least twenty-seven months ago. Because of my job, I have to live two or three years apart from a great American interest.
(Sep 24 2010) - Salisbury Post : Police seeking sex offenderCALIFORNIA -- The Salisbury Police Department is looking for a registered sex offender with outstanding warrants for charges of a first-degree statutory sexual offense and indecent liberties with a child. Robert Junior Gray, 56, with the last known address of 407 Park Ave., Apartment 2, is 5 feet 9 inches tall, 228 pounds and bald. Gray's charges stem from an investigation involving two young children who recently stayed at his residence for several nights.
(Sep 23 2010) - Financial Post : U.S. jobless claims riseWASH D.C. -- New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, government data showed on Thursday, highlighting continued labour market weakness. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 465,000, the Labor Department said, breaking two straight weeks of declines. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast claims unchanged at 450,000.
(Sep 22 2010) - Patriot Post : Leaving Out GodWASH D.C. -- It was certainly reassuring to see the president and first lady coming out of St. John's Episcopal Church last Sunday. With all the confusion about the president's religion, we can be sure that the very liberal historic parish will provide a warm welcome to the first family. And they're unlikely to hear anything as unsettling as "God d_ America" coming from St. John's elegantly carved pulpit.
(Sep 21 2010) - Global Post : Vatican bank under investigationROME -- The Vatican bank's top two officials are under investigation for suspected money laundering and police have frozen 23 million euros ($30.21 million) of its funds, Italian judicial sources said on Tuesday. They said President Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and director-general Paolo Cipriani were being investigated by Rome magistrates Nello Rossi and Stefano Fava in a case involving alleged violations of European Union money-laundering rules.
(Sep 20 2010) - Christian Post : Indonesia Church Holds ServiceJAKARTA -- Members of the Indonesian church where two leaders were recently attacked held Sunday service inside their boarded-up building despite police efforts to stop them. About 100 members of Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in the capital Jakarta gathered to worship while hundreds of police and security guards stood outside, reported The Jakarta Globe. Church members argued that they have the right to freedom of worship like other citizens of the world's most populous Muslim country.
(Sep 19 2010) - Palm Beach Post : Gateway for arms smugglingFLORIDA -- Miami seems more and more like the Casablanca of movie legend. This month, a Palestinian man and a Cuban migrant were charged in an FBI counter-terrorism probe with plotting to buy hundreds of stolen assault rifles, high-tech bombs and remote-control detonators to ship to the West Bank. Shortly before that, Miami Beach arms wunderkind Efraim Diveroli -- already convicted of selling banned Chinese-made munitions to the Pentagon -- was arrested on new firearms charges ...
(Sep 18 2010) - Bangkok Post : Flu alert as cases surgeTHAILAND -- Health authorities are on influenza alert as the number of patients with flu-like symptoms is on the rise nationwide. Out-patients seeking medical diagnoses at hospitals due to flu-like illnesses have jumped from an average of 5% to an unusually high rate of more than 10% in 25 provinces. Central provinces have so far been hit hard by outbreaks of flu, the Bureau of Epidemiology said yesterday.
(Sep 17 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Russia to supply missiles to SyriaRUSSIA -- Russia still intends to go through with an arms deal with Syria including the sale of advance anti-ship rockets, despite recent attempts by Israeli and US officials to thwart the planned deal, Russian Defense Minster Anatoly Serdyukov said on Friday according to state news agency RIA Novosti. The deal includes the sale of advanced P-800 Yakhont supersonic cruise missiles to the Syrian military.
(Sep 16 2010) - Penfield Post : Money-Man of would-be TS bomberNEW YORK -- A businessman was arrested Wednesday on charges that he unwittingly funded a Connecticut man's attempt to bomb Times Square on May 1 by providing unlicensed banking services, an arrest that continues an effort by federal authorities to reduce the illegal flow of money that can finance terrorism. Mohammad Younis, 44, was accused in an indictment in U.S. District Court in Manhattan of engaging in hawala activities ...
(Sep 15 2010) - Washington Post : Tea Party's WIN AgainWASH D.C. -- Christine O'Donnell, a "tea party"-backed long-shot candidate, stunned the Republican establishment Tuesday night by defeating nine-term Rep. Michael N. Castle in Delaware's GOP Senate primary, one of the most shocking upsets in an already tumultuous primary season. Her victory, which was almost unthinkable a few weeks ago, provided tea party and grass-roots activists one of their biggest victories of the year.
(Sep 14 2010) - Activist Post : Calling corn syrup - corn sugar ?U.S.A. -- Bad press over health concerns has affected sales for the corn syrup industry and as a result the Associated Press reported today that corn syrup producers want to "sweeten up its image with a new name: corn sugar." The article explained: The bid to rename the sweetener by the Corn Refiners Association comes as Americans' concerns about health and obesity have sent consumption of high fructose corn syrup, used in soft drinks but also in bread, cereal and other foods, to a 20-year low.
(Sep 13 2010) - Post Chronicle : Arnold asks Chinese for helpCALIFORNIA -- Arnold {not California} will seek China's help in financing its high-speed rail system and welcome bids from Chinese firms to help build it, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday. Earlier this year, California was awarded $2.25 billion of the $8 billion set aside for high-speed rail projects under the U.S. government's stimulus plan. The state plans to build a high-speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
(Sep 12 2010) - Kyiv Post : Ukraine intercepts smuggled diamondsUKRAINE -- Intelligence services in Ukraine have intercepted a record parcel of diamonds smuggled from Turkey, according to the Russian-language Jewelry News website. A Ukrainian citizen who arrived at the Simferopol Airport was detained in possession of 3,500 polished diamonds, whose worth has yet to be determined. Ukrainian officials confiscated the contraband diamonds, and plan to prosecute the suspect once the diamonds' value has been assessed.
(Sep 11 2010) - New York Post : 9/11 victims rememberNEW YORK -- Bells rang throughout a solemn New York City on Saturday to begin a day of mourning for nearly 3,000 Sept. 11 victims, with observers bracing for protests over a mosque planned near the attack site in what is usually a ceremony free of politics. Chants of thousands of sign-waving protesters both for and against the planned Islamic center were expected after - and perhaps during - an observance normally known for a sad litany of families reading their lost loved ones' names.
(Sep 10 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Man dies in police custodyCOPENHAGEN -- A 60-year-old man who became violent during and after an arrest in the suburb of Ballerup died after being subdued and handcuffed by police, reported TV2 News. "According to Copenhagen West Police", {as if their always honest} ... the man was causing a disturbance at a mall and lost consciousness during a scuffle with officers. An ambulance was called to the scene, but paramedics were unable to revive the man.
(Sep 10 2010) - Pittsburgh Post : Crafton Cop pleads guiltyPITTSBURGH -- David Hall went to live with his adoptive parents at 4 years old after being born with fetal alcohol syndrome. "He was a loving little boy," said his mother, Jacqueline Hall. After being enrolled in special education while growing up, Mr. Hall attended classes at the Community College of Allegheny County.
(Sep 10 2010) - Denver Post : Cops had questionable recordsCOLORADO -- Three former Arvada police officers who were charged criminally in an excessive-force case Wednesday have acted in legally questionable ways in the past, prompting the city to pay out $430,000 in lawsuit settlements the past two years. Charles Humphrey, 31, allegedly punched a handcuffed Kelly Etheridge, 27, in the face during an arrest in January, after Etheridge spit on him. Other officers helped cover it up, according to the charges against them.
(Sep 10 2010) - China Post : Police shots may have killed hostagesMANILA -- Philippine investigators admitted for the first time Thursday that police may have shot some of the tourists in a bungled operation that left eight Hong Kong residents dead on a bus in Manila. Philippine President Benigno Aquino said he expects to get the investigators' final report into the hostage incident on Sept. 15, and pledged to fire officials found to have failed in their duties or file criminal charges against them.
(Sep 10 2010) - Birmingham Post : Cuts may cost cops jobsU.K. -- Up to 40,000 frontline police jobs could be axed if Government funding cuts go ahead, the Police Federation has warned. Simon Reed, vice-chairman of the body which represents officers in England and Wales, said cuts of 25% would "devastate" the police service. It is "inevitable" that crime would go up, he added.
(Sep 10 2010) - Connecticut Post : Arson investigator charged in arson appears in court
WATERBURY -- A dropped glove, an unrelated death and an eyewitness account enabled Waterbury police to charge the Bridgeport police arson chief and the godfather to her daughter with torching the cop's personal car for personal gain -- $16,654.78 in insurance proceeds. Kimberly Biehn, 41, of Southington, the Bridgeport cop, and Samuel Encarnacion, 35, of Waterbury, the accused torch man and godfather, appeared briefly in state Superior Court Thursday to learn their cases had been transferred.
(Sep 09 2010) - Hunts Post : Cops use unmarked motorcyclesHUNTINGDONSHIRE -- Police in Huntingdonshire are using unmarked motorcycles to target roads in the district known to be popular with riders of high-performance machines. Several roads in west Huntingdonshire, including the B660, B645 and B1090 between Sawtry and St Ives are used extensively by motorcyclists, often to the annoyance and consternation of residents.
(Sep 08 2010) - National Post : Koran burning outrageousGAINESVILLE -- An evangelical pastor insisted his plans to torch the Koran would go ahead after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the "disgraceful" burning ceremony in Florida and the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue called it "an outrageous and grave gesture." The leader of the little known church found himself in the eye of a rapidly swirling storm Wednesday with several Muslim and world leaders ...
(Sep 07 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Tax authority trails a trillionDENMARK -- Authorities are shocked over magnitude of bank transfers in and out of country. Danish companies and wealthy individuals have carried out more than a trillion kroner's worth of transactions between Denmark and the 55 countries tax authority Skat considers to be tax shelters, according to new data from the agency. Skat announced today it was going full speed ahead in pursuit of the violators in what would far and away be the biggest tax scandal in Danish history.
(Sep 06 2010) - Huffington Post : Work until you're deadWASH.D.C. -- Many Americans are likely to have to work until they are dead, not as a result of Social Security shortfalls but because of their inadequate 401(k) savings or the fact that they have no retirement plan at all. This disaster has not dawned on the mutual fund companies that manage retirement assets, much less been debated on Capitol Hill. Given that the first wave of Boomers is scheduled to turn 65 in 2011, attention must be paid. Here's the raw deal in a nutshell ...
(Sep 06 2010) - Rotorua Post : Quake a reminder we're at riskNEW ZEALAND -- The 7.0 quake in Christchurch at the weekend is something we have not seen in New Zealand since the devastating earthquake of Napier and it certainly hits home, in the most direct way, the fact we are, as a country, vulnerable to this type of event. In such a small country, it's something that will have made itself felt for most of the population. Some locals were there ... It has touched many of us in some way,
(Sep 05 2010) - Jakarta Post : India tests cruise missileORISSA -- India successfully tested on Sunday a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile as part of ongoing trials to fine-tune its ability to hit targets, an official said. Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan regularly test missiles, and normally only give each other advance notice for long-range launches. It was not immediately clear whether India informed Pakistan ahead of Sunday's test. The missile was fired from the country's testing range in the eastern state of Orissa, a defense official said.
(Sep 04 2010) - New York Post : 'Ripoff' mosque man suedNEW YORK -- One of the money men behind the developer of the Ground Zero mosque was sued for allegedly ripping off an insurance company for nearly $1.8 million, according to court documents. Hisham Elzanaty, who owns medical companies that operate out of a building in The Bronx, allegedly billed State Farm for unnecessary tests related to automobile accidents that would maximize the insurance payout, the papers say. According to the documents, which were filed in 2007, the suspected scheme may have begun as early as 1998.
(Sep 03 2010) - Nagaland Post : One abducted cop killed ...BIHAR -- At 5 pm Thursday, Naxals in Bihar called local TV channels to declare that one of the four policemen they had kidnapped near Patna had been killed. Soon, sources in the Intelligence Bureau in Delhi confirmed the news. The Naxals didn't reveal how they'd murdered Sub Inspector Abhay Prasad Yadav who was in his 30s. The Naxals warned there could be more to come.
(Sep 02 2010) - Liberty Post : What your PC knows about youU.S.A. -- If someone could secretly stand behind you and monitor everything you've done on your PC, what would they discover about you that you would prefer to keep private? Thanks to new technologies that secretly track everywhere you go on the Internet, that's an appropriate comparison of the threat you face unless you take advance precautions.
(Sep 01 2010) - Global Post : Mexico: An armed cityOAXACA CITY -- In San Juan Copala, paramilitaries from nearby towns violently rebuff would-be visitors. A blockade of large rocks prevents anyone from crossing into town. Copala residents Mariana Flores Sanchez and Ila Sancha Gutierrez speak in strained voices about conditions under the blockade, which has lasted since April. They describe kidnappings, the constant threat of violence and rape and the vacuum of life in their town.
(Aug 31 2010) - Seattle Post Globe : More Money for MonsantoAFRICA -- Last week, the Gates Foundation came under criticism for significantly increasing its investments in Monsanto. Many took it as a clear sign the world's biggest philanthropy is championing the use of genetically modified crops, since this is the company leading the world in the production of GM seeds and crops. It was taken as a sign because the Gates Foundation has been relatively silent on this issue ...
(Aug 30 2010) - Activist Post : DHS to Control Food SafetyWASH D.C. -- The words "homeland security" are found 41 times in the text of the bill S. 510, also known as the Food Safety Modernization Act. Unprecedented powers over food are set to be handed over to Homeland Security if the bill is not stopped. The bill opens opens the door to even more federal control over the everyday lives of American citizens.
(Aug 29 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Abbas is evil ...ISRAEL -- Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef prays for death of PA president. Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas "an evil hater of Israel" in his weekly sermon on Saturday. After mentioning the traditional New Year's wish of "may those who hate us be finished," Yosef reportedly said that God should send a plague to Abbas and the Palestinians, and they should be finished.
(Aug 28 2010) - Patriot Post : Under SiegeTUCSON -- "We're under siege," said rancher Ed Ashurst as he pointed to where he'd tracked the killer of his friend and neighbor to the U.S.-Mexico border. "Five years ago, we didn't even bother to lock our doors. Now my wife and I carry firearms everywhere we go." John Ladd is a fifth-generation cattle rancher in southern Cochise County, Ariz. The southern boundary of his family property is a 10-mile stretch of steel fence erected by the U.S. On the other side of the fence: Mexico. He told us, "Mexican drug cartels are running this part of America."
(Aug 27 2010) - Christian Post : Black Christians Debate AbortionU.S.A. -- The niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is pushing back against fellow African-American Christians who have accused her of hijacking the civil rights movement for her own political agenda - namely to protect the unborn. "It is absolutely ludicrous that abortion supporters would accuse a blood relative of Dr. King of hijacking the King legacy," Dr. Alveda King said in a statement Thursday. "My dad and my uncle gave their lives to ensure that the day would come when blacks would be judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. If they were here, I know they would stand with me in this fight for the lives of those most vulnerable among us."
(Aug 26 2010) - Bangkok Post : Scientists create liver cellsENGLAND -- British scientists have grown liver cells out of stem cells from human skin, boosting hopes that healthy cells can be transplanted into organs to repair damage from diseases like cirrhosis and cancer, according to new findings. Cambridge University researchers took skin biopsies from seven patients suffering from various hereditary liver diseases, and from three healthy patients, "reprogramming" the skin samples into stem cells which can effectively become any tissue in the body.
(Aug 25 2010) - Financial Post : U.S. new home sales plungeWASH D.C. -- New single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in July to set their slowest pace on record while prices were the lowest in more than 6-1/2 years, government data showed on Wednesday. The Commerce Department said sales dropped 12.4% to a 276,000 unit annual rate, the lowest since the series started in 1963, from a downwardly revised 315,000 units in June.
(Aug 24 2010) - Latin American Post : Mexico debate's drug fightMEXICO CITY -- President Felipe Calderon plans to invite legislators to participate later this week in his continuing discussions with all of Mexico's political establishment about how to win the war against the drug cartels, his office said. With the pace of killings rising, officials have backed off their effort to persuade Mexicans that the mounting death toll was proof that the government was succeeding in disrupting the cartels.
(Aug 23 2010) - Penfield Post : Serving alcohol to a minor ?NEW YORK --An upstate New York county legislator has been accused of breaking a law he helped create that prohibits minors from drinking on private property. Police say Keith Valentine has been arrested on charges of unlawfully dealing with a child and violating county law. Police say the Republican leader of the Greene County Legislature and his wife Cynthia served alcohol to minors at a July 4th party.
(Aug 22 2010) - Patriot Post : A Federal Law Against LyingCOLORADO -- In 2005, Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., sponsored the Stolen Valor Act that made it a federal crime to lie about receiving military medals or honors from the military. Breaking the law could lead to a fine and a sentence of six months. Lying about being awarded the Medal of Honor, a Purple Heart or other top honors could carry a prison sentence of up to one year. In 2006, the bill passed easily through the House and unanimously in the Senate
(Aug 21 2010) - Frontier Post : Causes of suicide bombingsPAKISTAN -- Pakistan has the highest rate of suicide bombings in the world. The spate of such attacks has exceeded than the Iraq and Afghanistan and those figures are rising very rapidly. The most likely causes of suicide bombings may account for an unfair system prevalent in the society. It creates disgruntlement among people, especially youngsters. Some people are socially isolated. It is easy to play upon their psyche ...
(Aug 20 2010) - Pakistan Christian Post : Christians under attackLAHORE -- There is flood devastation in Pakistan and millions have been displace but Muslims have not forgotten to attack Christian life and property in land of pure; On one hand government of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is blackmailing International Community with slogan of "Give us free money or Pakistan is in hand of Taliban"; The billions of US funds have not won heart and minds of people of Pakistan when daily protests against can be witnessed ...
(Aug 20 2010) - Post Zambia : BP rejects hiding evidence ...U.K. -- Energy giant BP has been accused of hiding key data needed to investigate the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Transocean, the company that owned the oil rig, alleged that BP is refusing to hand over information it needs about the explosion. The claim is made in a letter from one of Transocean's lawyers sent to members of President Barack Obama's cabinet. BP rejected the allegation, saying the letter contained "misguided and misleading assertions".
(Aug 19 2010) - Denver Post : Another alledged cop beatingDENVER -- Another case of alleged excessive force by Denver police officers has surfaced in the wake of a similar complaint that has received national attention. Mark Ashford, 32, was beaten by two officers and transported from the scene by ambulance after having stopped to talk to a motorist pulled over by one of the officers, said William T. Hart, Ashford's attorney.
(Aug 18 2010) - New York Post : Pelosi : Investigate the protestersWASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there should be an investigation into groups protesting the building of a mosque and Islamic center near the World Trade Center site, calling it a "zoning issue" for New Yorkers. "There is no question there is a concerted effort to make this a political issue by some," she told San Francisco's KCBS radio. "And I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded."
(Aug 17 2010) - Jakarta Post : California gays gotta wait...CALIFORNIA -- Gay couples who had been gearing up to get married in California this week had to put their wedding plans on hold once again after a federal appeals court said it first wanted to consider the constitutionality of the state's same-sex marriage ban. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals imposed an emergency stay Monday on a trial court judge's ruling overturning the ban, known as Proposition 8.
(Aug 16 2010) - Activist Post : US becoming a 3rd world countryAMERICA -- The United States by every measure is hanging on by a thread to its First World status. Saddled by debt, engaged in wars on multiple fronts with a rising police state at home, declining economic productivity, and wild currency fluctuations all threaten America's future. The general designations of the ranking system for world status date back to the 1950s, and have included countries at various stages of economic development. Since the Cold War, the definition has come to be synonymous with repressive countries ...
(Aug 15 2010) - China Post : Cholera confirmed in PakistanISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday 20 million people had been affected by the worst floods in the country's history as the U.N. confirmed the first cholera case. Independence day celebrations were cancelled as floods continued to bring misery to millions and aid agencies warned of a "second wave" of deaths from disease.
(Aug 14 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : How The Future Looked Without The Bomb
U.S.A. -- Bring up the subject of Victory Over Japan Day (August 14), and you're sure to start a discussion about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What is often overlooked in discussing how World War II ended was how the war appeared to American soldiers preparing for an invasion of mainland Japan. Unaware of any atomic super-weapon, they were dreading the future. Americans - both soldiers and civilians - were expecting a long, bloody campaign. A Post editorial from August observed ...
(Aug 13 2010) - Palm Beach Post : First case of dengue feverFLORIDA -- The tropical virus dengue fever {Florida Independent 7/22/10} has spread to Broward County mosquitoes, health officials said Thursday, after tests confirmed the first known case of the disease being contracted here. An adult who had not left Broward for weeks came down with the mosquito-borne disease this month, meaning Broward is now the second place in the continental United States -- following Key West {Truth-Out.org 7/21/10} -- where dengue fever exists.
(Aug 12 2010) - Courier Post : Dead fish wash ashore ...NEW JERSEY -- Officials are trying to determine why tens of thousands of dead fish have washed ashore along the Delaware Bay in Cape May County. State environmental and wildlife officials say it's not yet clear what killed the fish, which appear to be small menhaden, also known as peanut bunker. The wash-up, discovered Wednesday morning, encompassed eight miles of shoreline just north of Cape May.
(Aug 11 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Royals ahoy for Navy's 500thCOPENHAGEN -- Hundreds of people and 21 ships assembled at Copenhagen Harbour yesterday to celebrate the Royal Navy's 500th anniversary. Queen Margrethe II hosted the festivities, joined by her husband Prince Henrik and the Crown Prince and Princess on the deck of the warship Absalon, back from its pirate-battling mission in the Gulf of Aden. A short ceremony for Crown Prince Frederik was also held during the celebration, officially promoting him to the rank of navy captain.
(Aug 10 2010) - Washington Post : FBI's National Security LettersNEW YORK -- For six years, Nicholas Merrill has lived in a surreal world of half-truths ... "One of the most dangerous and troubling things about the FBI's national security letter powers is how much it has been shrouded in secrecy," said Melissa Goodman, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who helped Merrill sue the government in April 2004 and was one of only a handful of people outside the FBI -- all lawyers -- who knew Merrill had received a letter.
(Aug 10 2010) - Huffington Post : Iran digging mass graves ?TEHRAN -- Iran has dug mass graves in which to bury U.S. troops in case of any American attack on the country, a former commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard said. The digging of the graves appears to be a show of bravado after the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, said last week that the U.S. military has a contingency plan to attack Iran, although he thinks a military strike is probably a bad idea.
(Aug 09 2010) - Global Post : N.Korea fires near sea borderSEOUL -- North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells on Monday, some reportedly landing in South Korean waters, adding to already raised tension on the peninsula. The firings follow the isolated state's recent threat to retaliate with "physical" force to join military drills by its wealthy southern neighbor and the U.S. The prickly North has often turned to saber-rattling in the past to make a point ...
(Aug 08 2010) - Filipino Post : Bishops oppose abortion billPHILIPPINES -- Reproductive health and women's rights advocates have urged the government of the Philippines to pass a law allowing "safe and legal abortion," citing a new report which states that underground procedures kills about 1,000 women in the Catholic country each year. The report "Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban" released by the New-York-based Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) estimates that more than half a million Filipino women induce abortions every year.
(Aug 07 2010) - National Post : Christian doc's killed by TalibanKABUL -- Eight foreign medical workers, including "several" Americans, were killed by gunmen in Afghanistan's remote northeast, police and officials said on Saturday, with the attack claimed by the Taliban. A Christian aid group said it appeared those killed were members of one of its mobile eye clinics which had been travelling in northeastern Nuristan province and was headed back for Kabul after providing eye care for local Afghans.
(Aug 06 2010) - Christian Post : The Mosque at Ground ZeroNEW YORK -- Earlier this week, the proposed New York City mosque at ground zero cleared its final hurdle. Nothing seems to stand in the way of its construction. I am appalled that peace-loving Muslims would want to do this on what is, for most Americans, hallowed ground. I am even more appalled that the mayor of New York is in favor of the idea. It would be like the Japanese building a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor!
(Aug 06 2010) - Jerusalem Post : 12 nabbed for organ traffickingUKRAINE -- Twelve people, some of them Israeli, were arrested in the Ukraine on suspicion that they were selling human organs, Army Radio reported on Friday. According to Army Radio, the head of the Human Trafficking Department in the Ukrainian police said the twelve contacted organ donors in the Ukraine and other countries in the Former Soviet Union over the past three years.
(Aug 05 2010) - Liberty Post : Elena Kagan tied to Obama's birth certificate
WASH D.C. -- Just when you thought there couldn't be any more players in the ongoing soap opera over the hunt for President Obama's original birth certificate and his constitutional eligibility for office, there comes yet another name: Elena Kagan.
Yes, the same Elena Kagan nominated by the commander in chief to be the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court has actually been playing a role for some time in the dispute over whether Obama is legally qualified to be in the White House.
(Aug 04 2010) - Patriot Post : Welcome to the Second Great Depression
: WASH D.C. -- Last Tuesday morning, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner "welcomed" us to the recovery. Seriously. "[A] review of recent data on the American economy shows that we are on a path back to growth," he assured us. "The recession that began in late 2007 was extraordinarily severe, but the action we took at its height to stimulate the economy helped arrest the freefall, preventing an even deeper collapse and putting the economy on the road to recovery."
This is what we call whistling through the graveyard.
(Aug 03 2010) - Post Chronicle : BlackBerry open to gov snoopingU.S.A. -- BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is willing to block porn sites and let government spies snoop on users, newspapers reported on Tuesday, following a shock ban on its key services in the Gulf. The BlackBerry's coveted secrecy has come under scrutiny since Sunday, when the United Arab Emirates announced plans to ban BlackBerry Messenger, email and Web browser services from October 11.
(Aug 02 2010) - Bangkok Post : Medvedev declares fire emergencyRUSSIA -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday declared a state of emergency over the wildfires in seven Russian regions, in a decree that also restricted public access to the affected areas. The decree allows local authorities to restrict public access to certain areas where their presence could risk creating the conditions for more fires to start. It also means that the authorities can call on the armed forces to put out and prevent fires
(Aug 01 2010) - Kyiv Post : M16 spy headquarters sent bombU.K. -- British police are questioning two men after a homemade parcel bomb was sent to the headquarters of the MI6 spy agency, and another was found at a London postal depot. The men, aged 52 and 21, were arrested in Wales on explosives charges and being held Sunday at a London police station. They have not been charged. The Metropolitan Police said a suspect package was found Wednesday "at a premises on Albert Embankment" - the location of Britain's foreign intelligence agency.
(Jul 31 2010) - Activist Post : Downloading HumansU.S.A. -- Big Brother has turned monitoring the Internet into big business, which grows daily as the controllers wave the false flag of cybersecurity. Since the magnitude of the "Top Secret" Intelligence Industrial Complex has now been published by the elitist mouthpiece, The Washington Post, it seems there is no stopping the Internet control machine from eliminating all privacy and anonymity on the Web ... Transhumanism - BTW - is the philosophy to culturally self-direct evolution and facilitate the human-computer bond into a scientific dictatorship modeled after the central direction of the beehive colony in nature.
(Jul 31 2010) - Jakarta Post : Govt moves to block porn sitesJAKARTA -- The Ministry of Communication and Information has given Internet cafe operators one month to install anti-pornography software as part of the government's efforts to fight pornography in the Internet. Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Saturday the government had also asked Internet Service Providers to install an application which could block customers' access to adult sites. For schools that provide Internet access to students and staff, Tifatul said the anti-pornography software was mandatory.
(Jul 30 2010) - Patriot Post : Federal Assault on LibertyWASH D.C. -- Yesterday's federal court decision to enjoin enforcement of the Arizona immigration law is the latest example of a virtually unchecked renegade government waging war against the states and the liberties of its citizens. We've seen that Obama will exercise any power he can get away with, from strong-arming secured creditors and favoring unions as he gobbled up automakers to making a mockery of due process with his Oval Office shakedown of BP. But he might have reached a new low with his assaults on the sovereignty of the people of Arizona.
(Jul 29 2010) - Washington Post : Obama & FBI want more accessWASH D.C. -- The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism ... OR ... intelligence investigation. The administration wants to add just four words -- "electronic communication transactional records" -- to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge's approval.
(Jul 29 2010) - Financial Post : Exxon profit tops Wall StreetHOUSTON -- Exxon Mobil Corp. reported a better-than-expected 2nd quarter profit on Thursday, as oil prices and margins to process crude into fuel rebounded from a year earlier and production rose. Conditions in the refining sector have improved in recent months, with business and consumer demand for diesel and gasoline rebounding. Crude oil prices have also climbed about 30% from a year ago, another factor that's contributed to higher profits in the 2nd quarter for oil companies.
(Jul 28 2010) - Denver Post : Mexico touts drug arrests ...CIUDAD JUAREZ -- It's practically a daily ritual: Accused drug traffickers and assassins, shackled and bruised from beatings, are paraded before the news media to show that Mexico is winning its drug war. Once the television lights dim, however, about three-quarters of them are let go. Even as President Felipe Calderon's government touts its arrest record, cases built by prosecutors and police under huge pressure to make swift captures unravel from lack of evidence.
(Jul 27 2010) - Activist Post : 7 ways we're being poisonedWORLD -- The objectivism of the scientific method seems to have been hijacked by corporations who often pay for scientists to support their products, as well as politicians who move through the revolving door between the private and public sector. Even worse is that sometimes the consumer protection agencies themselves are complicit. The trust placed by consumers in scientific studies and Federal oversight committees has been violated ...
(Jul 26 2010) - Washington Post : Freedom of photographyWASH.D.C. -- Courts have long ruled that the First Amendment protects the right of citizens to take photographs in public places. Even after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement agencies have reiterated that right in official policies. But in practice, those rules don't always filter down to police officers and security guards who continue to restrict photographers, often citing authority they don't have. Almost nine years after the terrorist attacks, which ratcheted up security at government properties and transportation hubs, anyone photographing federal buildings, bridges, trains or airports runs the risk of being seen as a potential terrorist.
(Jul 26 2010) - Minnesota Post : Clawing back from Ponzi schemesMINNESOTA -- Earlier this week, friends and relatives of self-styled Twin Cities investment guru Trevor Cook learned that money they made from his nearly $200 million Ponzi scheme is subject to something called "clawback." The legal process of recovering profits from illegal activity is well established, but until the massive financial frauds of the last two years, most people probably never heard the term.
(Jul 25 2010) - Financial Post : PAY OFF YOUR DEBT ...CANADA -- One of the biggest challenges Canadians face is trying to balance paying down debt while saving for the future. Deciding when it makes sense to do either is about considering the effects of compound interest - when it is working for you and when it is working against you. With debt, time and compounding are working against you.
(Jul 24 2010) - Birmingham Post : Lockerbie bomber's release 'wrong'SCOTLAND -- The release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was "wrong and misguided", Foreign Secretary William Hague has said in a letter to US senators. But he accepted it was "legally and constitutionally proper" that the decision was one for the Scottish Government. Mr Hague also said several discussions were held between then foreign secretary Jack Straw and oil giant BP ahead of a controversial prisoner transfer agreement being agreed with Libya in 2007.
(Jul 23 2010) - India Post : Holbrooke bid to placate IndiaNEW DELHI -- US Special Envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke made an unscheduled visit here to allay India's fears that US support for a Pak brokered Afghan solution involving legitimizing some elements of Taliban would lead to a Taliban takeover once Western forces leave Afghanistan. Holbrooke, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give his assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, said India has a "vitally important role" to play ...
(Jul 22 2010) - Huffington Post : Selling Out Uncle Sam ...U.S.A. -- It's one of those ideas that might seem sensible at first-glance: retired military officers hired to serve as "senior mentors" to the armed forces. Only on closer inspection are the potential conflicts of interest revealed: the retired officers were paid by contractors, advising on military services even as they were consulting for companies seeking to sell military products, as reported by USA Today.
(Jul 22 2010) - Global Post : Diamonds are a dictator's best friendZIMBABWE -- International rights campaigners have given a cautious welcome to the decision by the World Diamond Council to allow diamonds from the controversial diggings in Chiadzwa, in Zimbabwe's eastern districts, to be exported under the supervisory Kimberley Process. But they have warned that close inspection will be needed to ensure President Robert Mugabe's government does not renege on undertakings it has given in weeks of intense negotiations.
(Jul 21 2010) - Norway Post : Pirates release Norwegian vesselNORWAY -- The Norwegian-owned oil-product tanker "UBT Ocean"with a crew of 21 which was captured more than 4 months ago by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, has now been released. The ship is owned by Brøvigtank in Farsund, but is operated by the Ship Management Associates in Singapore. Their spokesman Edward Ion confirms that the ship has been released and that the Burmese crew of 21 is safe.
(Jul 20 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Moody's predicts new bank bustsCOPENHAGEN -- International credit rating and financial research company Moody's has announced it is lowering its estimated values for several small and medium-sized Danish banks' risk capital due to the expectation that more of the institutions will go belly up in the near future. According to Business.dk, the value of Scandinotes - collateralised debt obligations based on subordinated loans to Nordic regional banks and savings institutions - is again being lowered by Moody's ...
(Jul 19 2010) - Washington Post : TOP SECRET AMERICAWASH D.C. -- The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work. These are some of the findings of a two-year investigation by The Washington Post that discovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in thorough oversight.
(Jul 19 2010) - National Post : Seepage near BP oil wellHOUSTON -- Engineers monitoring BP damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico detected seepage on the ocean floor that could mean problems with the cap that has stopped oil from gushing into the water, the U.S. government's top oil spill official said on Sunday. Earlier on Sunday, BP officials had expressed hope that the test of the cap which began Thursday could continue until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. Oil gushed from the deepsea Maconda well for nearly three months until the new cap was put in place last week.
(Jul 18 2010) - Jerusalem Post : CIA suspects Amiri double agentIRAN -- Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who disappeared while in Saudi Arabia in June 2009 and reappeared in the US last month where he asked to return to Teheran is now suspected by US intelligence officials of being a double agent, British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph reported Sunday. Iran - and at one point, Amiri - claimed the CIA had kidnapped him; the United States denied the allegation on Tuesday.
(Jul 17 2010) - China Post : U.S. financial reform bill passesWASH D.C. -- In the end, it's only a beginning. The far-reaching new banking and consumer protection bill awaiting U.S. President Barack Obama's signature now shifts from the politicians to the technocrats. The legislation gives regulators latitude and time to come up with new rules, requires scores of studies and, in some instances, depends on international agreements falling into place.
(Jul 16 2010) - Bangkok Post : BP halts Gulf oil flow for nowGULF COAST -- BP halted the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico leak for the first time in three months, raising hopes Friday the worst oil disaster in US history may finally be over. While President Barack Obama and BP warned against celebrating before tests are completed, news that engineers had shut all three valves on a giant cap was a ray of light for coastal communities whose livelihoods have been ravaged.
(Jul 15 2010) - Post Chronicle : 'God Particle' Not FoundU.S.A. -- Media reports that an American particle physics lab has discovered the long-sought "God particle" have no factual basis, a lab official said. A British newspaper reported Monday that the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., had discovered the elusive Higgs boson, the elemental particle that could explain why all matter has mass, the Batavia Sun reported Wednesday. The United States' premier particle physics lab, Fermi has been searching for the Higgs for years ...
(Jul 14 2010) - New York Post : Rage unmosquedNEW YORK -- A city hearing yesterday on the historical significance of the downtown Manhattan site of a proposed mosque quickly turned into a raucous -- and at times ugly -- debate about whether an Islamic center should be located so close to Ground Zero. About 150 people crowded into the Hunter College Auditorium in Manhattan for the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing, held to see if the 152-year-old building at 45-47 Park Place in lower Manhattan had the cultural or architectural consequence worthy of being landmarked. Those who opposed the construction of the 13-story mosque and community center, called the Cordoba House, accused their opponents of being unpatriotic and insensitive to the thousands who died on 9/11.
(Jul 13 2010) - Global Post : Seven circles of JuarezCIUDAD JUAREZ -- If Dante had ever been to Juarez he would have placed it squarely in the seventh circle of hell, the one housing "violence" and "ringed by a river of boiling blood." The city, which lies on the Rio Grande just across from El Paso, Texas, is the murder capital of the world, claiming more than 5,500 killings since January 2008. It is responsible for one-fifth of the more than 25,000 drug-related murders that have occurred in Mexico since 2006 when President Felipe Calderon officially declared war on the country’s heavily armed drug cartels.
(Jul 12 2010) - Liberty Post : Obama stole election from HillaryWASH D.C. -- As Americans, we expect certain liberties and rights that were granted us by our forefathers, who wrote documents like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. "We the people" expect that these fundamental rights will always be protected. However, in the current Democratic Presidential Primary, this has not been the case. We believe The Democratic National Committee (DNC) made a grave error by depriving American voters of their choice of Hillary Clinton as Democratic nominee ...
(Jul 11 2010) - Seattle Post : Barefoot Bandit's 2-year run is overBAHAMAS -- For two years he stayed a step ahead of the law - stealing cars, powerboats and even airplanes, police say, while building a reputation as a 21st-century folk hero. On Sunday, Colton Harris-Moore's celebrity became his downfall. Witnesses on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera recognized the 19-year-old dubbed the "Barefoot Bandit" and called police, who captured him after a high-speed boat chase, Bahamas Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade said at a celebratory news conference in Nassau, the capital.
(Jul 10 2010) - Activist Post : 10 ways we're being tracked ...U.S.A. -- The war on terror is a worldwide endeavor that has spurred massive investment into the global surveillance industry - which now seems to becoming a war on "liberty and privacy." Given all of the new monitoring technology being implemented, the uproar over warrantless wiretaps now seems moot. High-tech, first-world countries are being tracked, traced, and databased, literally around every corner. Governments, aided by private companies, are gathering a mountain of information on average citizens who so far seem willing to trade liberty for supposed security.
(Jul 10 2010) - Yorkshire Post : Coalition a permanent changeBRITIAN -- Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says that the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition Government is not a "one-off accident" but marked a permanent change in British politics. In an interview with The Guardian, the Lib Dem leader suggested that further coalitions were likely and that majority Labour or Tory administrations were a thing of the past. "We are living in a society where the old duopoly of the parties has broken down for good," ...
(Jul 09 2010) - Patriot Post : Whitewashing Black RacismWASH D.C. -- Why haven't national media outlets reported on the vile and violent rants of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) thugs whose 2008 voter intimidation tactics got a pass from the Obama administration? Simple: Radical black racism doesn't fit the Hope and Change narrative. There's no way to shoehorn Bush-bashing into the story. And, let's face it, exposing the inflammatory rhetoric of the left does nothing to help liberal editors and reporters fulfill their true calling -- embarrassing the right.
(Jul 08 2010) - Denver Post : Colorado Conservatives Target ObamaCOLORADO -- Nearly two years after Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver, conservative leaders are rallying just a few miles south to try to lay the groundwork for defeating his presidential policies. Organizers of the Western Conservative Summit say their aim is to provide the "intellectual ammunition" to undo Obama's efforts since taking office in January 2009. The dozen conservative speakers at the summit include columnist Michelle Malkin and former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado. Former state Senate President John Andrews, one of the event organizers, said the speakers will tackle the question of how to "restore liberty and limited government, and renew America's moral core."
(Jul 07 2010) - Kyiv Post : Swapping Russia's Spies for U.S.MOSCOW -- Relatives of Igor Sutyagin, a researcher convicted in Russia of espionage, say he has told them he will be released and sent to Britain in a swap for Russians recently arrested for spying in the United States. Sutyagin's brother Dmitry told reporters Wednesday that his brother said he was told of the arrangement by Russian officials who met him Tuesday at a prison in Arkhangelsk. Sutyagin, a Russian, said he was made to sign a confession, although he maintains his innocence and does not want to leave Russia, his brother said.
(Jul 06 2010) - Filipino Post : Why Chinese spies like usCANANDA -- Here is an old adage from the world of espionage. It goes something like this. Consider a beach the target country and the sand on it the coveted intelligence. The Americans would use satellites to probe from high altitudes what they can make of it. The Israelis would creep up onto the beach at night in inflatable boats and grab a bagful for analysis. The Chinese would declare a national holiday, send everyone to the beach so they can all pocket a bit of sand and bring it home.
(Jul 05 2010) - Yemen Post : Security Devastates Drugs in MahrahYEMEN -- Security authorities in Mahrah province in the far east of Yemen have destroyed 777 kilograms of drugs (hashish) on Sunday, July 04, 57 kilograms of which were seized in Sayhoat City , and 720 kilograms in the city of Hosoain in Mahrah governorate. For his part, Mahrah Governor, Ali Mohammed Khoadm has praised the destruction process by efforts of the security forces, and indicated on their role in controlling the quantities, which drug dealers have tried to smuggle and dissemination their toxins among the society, reported an official source.
(Jul 04 2010) - Activist Post : Declare Your IndependenceU.S.A. -- If I had to pick one word for Americans who want real change, it would be independence. Not only because the United States was founded on the idea of independence but because those of us who work to try and change the country for the better and have studied American history have learned this has always been the critical ingredient for real change. First, we need independent media. Web based outlets like this one are a critical ingredient to the success of advocacy efforts. Like so many businesses in the United States, the media is controlled by concentrated group of corporations.
(Jul 03 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : Appreciating LibertyAMERICA -- Great symbols aren't born. They're not produced by artists. They're created by the public, which invests them with meaning over time. The national monuments of America carry a wealth of meaning. Visitors get a powerful sense of connection when they visit, or just see, the Lincoln Memorial, the Alamo, or the Iwo Jima memorial. But no monument carries more symbolic meaning than the Statue of Liberty. Yet she, too, had to accumulate meaning over many years.
(Jul 02 2010) - NY Post : Mass-vetoing gov is tower of powerALBANY -- Gov. Paterson unleashed a veritable veto-palooza yesterday -- slashing thousands of spending items from the Legislature's $136 billion budget -- even as Senate Democrats skipped town without passing a vital tax bill needed to finish off the spending plan. The Democratic governor plowed all the way through a towering stack of paper to make about 4,700 vetoes during a series of marathon sessions in his Albany office. Helping him were a half-dozen aides seated in an assembly line to speed the painstaking process. The daylong veto-fest was designed to follow through on Paterson's vow to quash an estimated 6,900 spending provisions added to the budget by a defiant Legislature this week ...
(Jul 01 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Iran: Sanctions won't stop usU.N. -- The latest round of Security Council sanctions against Iran will not prevent the country from proceeding with its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday. In a letter addressed to the fifteen member-states of the UN Security Council and communicated by AFP, Mottaki wrote that Teheran "considers that the adoption of such resolutions [against Iran] will not affect its utterly peaceful nuclear program."
(Jun 30 2010) - Washinton Post : Anti-terrorism drills stagedWASH D.C. -- Metro Transit Police boarded trains and inspected stations for about four hours Tuesday morning as they staged an anti-terrorism drill from Silver Spring to Glenmont and from Bethesda to Shady Grove on the Red Line. The exercise included Greenbelt Station on the Green Line, where the Greenbelt Police Department participated. About 150 officers from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies took part in the drill, part of the Blue TIDE (Terrorism Identification and Deterrence Effort) initiative launched in February to demonstrate Metro's vigilance against terrorism.
(Jun 30 2010) - Christian Post : Policy expert troubled by KaganWASH D.C. -- Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has troubling views on the role of judges, abortion and homosexuality, warned a prominent Southern Baptist policy expert. With the Senate confirmation hearings taking place this week, Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is laying out Kagan's history to provide insight into her ideology. Land described her views on certain critical issues as "alarming," including her great admiration of activist judges.
(Jun 29 2010) - Frontier Post : Obama's broken Afghan teamAFGHANISTAN -- Today from businesses to civic organizations, everyone is trying to build a team that can work together and help the organization succeed. However, team building is not an easy exercise. Many businesses and organizations failed around the world not because they did not have a team or did not have correct products but because they had teams made up of wrong people and incompatible personalities. They failed because they could not work together.
(Jun 28 2010) - Norway Post : Space conference opens in BergenBERGEN -- The 2010 European Space Agency Living Planet Symposium is held in Norway's west coast city of Bergen from Monday till Thursday this week, with more than 1200 delegates participating. The Living Planet Symposium is seen by many as Europe's most important conference for Earth observation satellites and monitoring of our planet's climate and environment.
(Jun 27 2010) - National Post : A night in the detention centerCANADA -- National Post photographers Brett Gundlock and Colin O'Connor were among the hundreds of people arrested at the G20 Summit. They were taken into custody at about 6 p.m. on Saturday while attempting to photograph clashes between police and demonstrators. Both men were charged with obstruct peace officer and unlawful assembly. Neither photographer was accused of any violent act. Instead, they were "amongst violent people," and allegedly failed to comply with a police order to disperse, a Crown attorney alleged in court on Sunday. The two men spent about 24 hours in custody before the Crown consented to their release on bail.
(Jun 27 2010) - Activist Post : CAT 5 ALERT ! Forced Evacuations?GULF COAST -- It has been reported that our well-oiled government is planning mass evacuations of Gulf coast cities. Sources close to the government like investigative journalist Wayne Madsen reported: "Plans are being put in place for the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Mandeville, Hammond, Houma, Belle Chase, Chalmette, Slidell, Biloxi, Gulfport, Pensacola, Hattiesburg, Mobile, Bay Minette, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, Crestview, and Pascagoula."
(Jun 27 2010) - Global Post : So. China Sea: The coming war?TAIWAN -- It's a 3.5 million-square kilometer stretch of ocean, speckled with some 200 coral atolls, some submerged or so tiny they hardly deserve to be called islands. Welcome to the South China Sea, an obscure patch of global real estate that you're likely to hear more about in coming years. Six Asian countries have long had competing - at times comical - claims to various islands here ...
(Jun 26 2010) - N.Y. Post : Gov's doomsday deadline for budgetALBANY -- In his most dramatic bid to force action on the long-overdue state budget, Gov. Paterson yesterday gave legislative leaders one final chance to reach a deal or face a doomsday vote on Monday. The governor's ultimatum came after lawmakers once again rejected key Paterson plans for closing an estimated $9.2 billion budget gap. If the Legislature refuses to approve Paterson's budget plan Monday, it would trigger a state-government shutdown.
(Jun 26 2010) - Connecticut Post : FEMA tours Bridgeport areaCONNECTICUT -- Federal officials toured the hardest-hit neighborhoods of Bridgeport Saturday morning, assessing the damage from Thursday's tornado and trying to determine the city's and residents' eligibility for disaster relief funds. Scott Appleby, Bridgeport's emergency operations director, met with staff from the Federal Emergency Manpower Agency and led a tour for the FEMA representatives. Most of the Bridgeport streets that had been blocked by downed power lines, trees and debris have been cleared and are reopened, said Rueben Felipe, spokesman for Mayor Bill Finch.
(Jun 25 2010) - Post Chronicle : U.S. & Mexico Suing ArizonaWASH D.C. -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder questioned the constitutionality of Arizona's new immigration law - before admitting he hadn't read it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just confirmed that the feds plan to sue to stop the law. And Mexico, whose president said Arizona's law "opens a Pandora's box of the worst abuses in the history of humanity," recently filed a brief in U.S. federal court to side with the law's opponents. Is Arizona's law, scheduled to go into effect next month, an unconstitutional assault on all things moral and decent? How else to describe the over-the-top reaction to - and the often completely false description of - the law by people who apparently neither read nor understood it?
(Jun 24 2010) - Palm Beach Post : Bin Laden hunter back homeDENVER -- Gary Faulkner is back home in Colorado after his personal quest to track down al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden ended with his arrest in a northern Pakistan woods. The Greeley, Colo., man was detained June 13 when authorities found him armed with a pistol, a sword and night-vision equipment. He was released Wednesday morning in Pakistan and reached Denver around midnight. The tired yet buoyant construction worker spoke briefly with reporters, saying he was feeling good. "All I want to do is get some rest."
(Jun 23 2010) - China Post : Oil execs slam Obama's drilling banLONDON -- Oil industry executives on Tuesday sharply criticized U.S. President Barack Obama's six-month ban on deepwater drilling, saying the world did not have enough other sources of oil to eliminate using deepsea rigs. The massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico and the moratorium imposed by Obama dominated discussions at the World National Oil Companies Congress in the British capital, and a BP executive standing in for embattled CEO Tony Hayward was heckled by protesters.
(Jun 22 2010) - Patriot Post : Bonhoeffer: A True BelieverU.S.A. -- June 18, 2010 marked the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's historic call to arms for the French to resist the Nazis and also Winston Churchill's "finest hour" address. Another anniversary might have gone unnoticed were it not for a brilliant new biography of a man who gave his life in a failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. "Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" by Eric Metaxas, is a major biography of this giant of faith published 65 years after his death.
(Jun 21 2010) - Jakarta Post : Summer solstice ... at StonehengeENGLAND -- People raise their hands and meditate during the summer solstice shortly after 4:52 a.m. at the Stonehenge monument, England, early Monday. Druids, pagans and partygoers crammed into the mystic stone circle to cheer, bang drums and shake tambourines in an effort to greet the sun on the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere, the summer solstice. Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain about 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of London,
(Jun 20 2010) - Bangkok Post : Egypt oil spill threatens marine lifeEGYPT -- An oil spill off the Egyptian Red Sea coast of Hurghada threatening to damage marine life in the area has prompted environmental agencies to demand tighter regulation of offshore oil platforms. Large quantities of oil have appeared in recent days around the resorts of Hurghada which draw millions of tourists who come to dive or snorkle, according to the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Agency. "It started four or five days ago and the companies responsible didn't notify anyone. It is catastrophic," HEPCA Managing Director Amr Ali told AFP.
(Jun 20 2010) - Washington Post : The wrath of irate AmericansU.S.A. -- This is the scary season for the nation's census takers. Since they began making follow-up house calls in early May, census takers have encountered vitriol, menace and flashes of violence. They have been shot at with pellet guns and hit by baseball bats. They have been confronted with pickaxes, crossbows and hammers. They've had lawn mowers pushed menacingly toward them and patio tables thrown their way. They have been nibbled by ducks, bitten by pit bulls and chased by packs of snarling dogs. Some days, being cursed at seems part of the job description.
(Jun 19 2010) - Activist Post : Propaganda Works re: WarU.S.A. -- Remember Hitler's maxim that the bigger and the more outrageous the lie, the more likely the masses are to believe it ? Following the results of a recent poll we once again get an object lesson demonstrating that Hitler knew what he was talking about. "Majorities in many Western and some Muslim countries are willing to consider military action against Iran to prevent the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, a global poll showed on Thursday," reports the Sydney Morning Herald today.
(Jun 18 2010) - National Post : Utah firing squad executes killerSALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah firing squad shot to death a convicted killer early Friday in the third U.S. execution by that means since 1976. Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49, was pronounced dead at 12:20 a.m. Mountain Time (0620 GMT) after being shot in the chest by a five-man firing squad at the Utah State Prison in Draper, a suburb of Salt Lake City. Gardner was condemned to die for the 1985 courthouse shooting of attorney Michael Burdell during an escape attempt.
(Jun 17 2010) - Liberty Post : 91 Banks Miss TARP PaymentsU.S.A. -- More than 90 U.S. banks and thrifts missed making a May 17 payment to the U.S. government under its main bank bailout program, signaling a rising number of lenders are struggling to meet their obligations. The SNL Financial statistics show 91 banks missed their dividend payment under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The number of banks missing their TARP payments rose for the third straight quarter. In February, 74 banks deferred their payments; 55 deferred last November.
(Jun 16 2010) - Denver Post : Colorado man mission to kill bin LadenCOLORADO -- Gary Brooks Faulkner, the Greeley man detained at the Pakistani-Afghan border Sunday night, has but one mission in his life: to kill Osama bin Laden, Faulkner's brother said Tuesday. "He's not insane; he's not psychotic; he's as normal as you and I," Dr. Scott Faulkner said Tuesday afternoon. "But his passion is to track down Osama bin Laden and to kill him." Gary Faulkner, 50, was detained in the mountains of Pakistan late Sunday ...
(Jun 15 2010) - Christian Post : Church blames Gov't for Rally BlastsKENYA -- Leaders of the National Council of Churches of Kenya and 14 other churches and groups have accused Kenya's government of having a hand in the two explosions that killed six people and injured over a hundred during a rally Sunday against the country's proposed constitution. On Sunday, two explosions ripped through Uhuru Park in downtown Nairobi as a rally against the country's proposed constitution was wrapping up.
(Jun 14 2010) - Frontier Post : US Military Intel focus' on AfghanWASH D.C. -- The US military's intelligence network in Afghanistan, designed for identifying and tracking terrorists and insurgents, is increasingly focused on uncovering corruption that is rampant across Afghanistan's government, security forces and contractors, a report in the New York Times said quoting senior American officials. Military intelligence officers in Afghanistan are scouring seized documents and interrogating captured fighters ...
(Jun 13 2010) - Kyiv Post : Kyrgyz ethnic riots spread, 84 killedKYRGYSTAN -- The worst ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan in 20 years spread at the weekend with armed gangs stepping up attacks that have killed at least 84 people and the ousted president warning the country faced collapse. Witnesses saw bodies lying on the streets of the Central Asian republic's second largest city Osh as houses and shops in an Uzbek neighbourhood burned for a third day. Snipers fired at ethnic Uzbeks fleeing for the nearby border with Uzbekistan in fighting that has spread to the city of Jalalabad and surrounding villages.
(Jun 12 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : American ImpostureAMERICA -- The waves of immigrants who flooded across young America were drawn by stories of cheap, plentiful land, good-paying jobs, and those streets with the golden paving stones. There was also the added attraction that they could re-invent themselves. The New World would let them start over with a new identity. They would live and work among people who would know nothing about their ancestors, their reputation, or their past mistakes. Unfortunately, many Americans found it convenient to re-invent themselves again and again, taking on a series of new identities for fun and profit.
(Jun 11 2010) - New York Post : State's budget doomsday scenarioALBANY -- Think state government is broken now? Wait until they shut it down. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned yesterday of a cascading collapse of essential programs and services -- a breakdown that would impact millions of New Yorkers -- should key lawmakers follow through on shutdown threats. The comptroller said unemployment benefits would be among the first to run dry if emergency spending bills fail to pass the narrowly divided state Senate Monday, when two rogue Bronx Democrats -- Pedro Espada and Ruben Diaz Sr. -- have threatened to join 30 Republicans in bloc-voting against the legislation.
(Jun 10 2010) - Global Post : What's killing animals at the zooKIEV -- Is something, or someone, killing the animals at the Kiev Zoo ? In the past few weeks, three animals have met their demise. First, on April 26, Boy, a 39-year-old Indian elephant and one of the zoo's star attractions, passed away suddenly. Exactly one month later, Maya, a white camel, expired. Then last week a bison died. Two yaks fell ill, but were saved by veterinarians. The recent death toll is actually considerably higher, animal rights activists say: Seven animals have in fact died in the last six months.
(Jun 09 2010) - Norway Post : Norway to return asylum seekersNORWAY -- Norway has carried out an enforced return to their homeland of a number of asylum seekers from Iraq who have been denied asylum in this country, according to public broadcaster NRK. Amnesty International reported earlier that it had received information that Norway, together with Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain would together return failed asylum seekers on a chartered airplane.
(Jun 08 2010) - Yemen Post : 5 Killed, 10 Injured in DhaleDHALE -- Five people were killed including a soldier and ten others injured, including women and children, when Yemen's southern province of Dhale was hit on Monday by fierce clashes between the security forces and armed outlaws. 30 homes were destroyed with local sources saying the city came under a missile attack by security forces in which various heavy weapons were used. The attack took place when outlaws of the southern separatist movement fought the security forces early today after targeting a flag of the former People's Democratic Republic in the south that was raised on an electrical post.
(Jun 07 2010) - Filipino Post : Aquino's tough road aheadPHILIPPINES -- Migrant workers, communist rebels and Muslim separatists are all placing their hope that the next president of the Philippines will sit down and talk to them to ease wide-ranging issues that have impacted the Southeast Asian nation for decades. All three groups which have strong people-to-people links in Canada’s 400,000-strong fast growing Filipino community. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Filipinos also arrive in Canada every year making Philippines the third largest source of immigrants to this country.
(Jun 06 2010) - Jerusalem Post : PM wary of UN inquiryISRAEL -- Israel will defer for further consideration UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for an international investigation of the boarding of the Mavi Marmara last week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a government session on Sunday. "We must cautiously weigh the manner in which such an investigation will be conducted to protects the interests of the IDF and Israel," added Netanyahu. The prime minister's comments came as a response to the UN's statement on Saturday requesting that an international investigation be established with Israeli and Turkish deputies to examine the events that occurred on the Mavi Marmara.
(Jun 05 2010) - Palm Beach Post : Crist signs school prayer billFLORIDA -- Gov. Charlie Crist on Friday signed into law a once controversial school prayer bill that was watered down throughout the legislative session. The measure (HB 31) grew out of a Panhandle dispute where the Santa Rosa School District had teachers sign a consent decree not to participate in any religious activity at school. The new law prohibits districts from forcing any school personnel to not participate in religious activity. The measure also bars school officials from preaching or promoting prayers during school functions and organizing school-sponsored religious services. First amendment advocates noted that the bill could have unintended consequences.
(Jun 04 2010) - Frontier Post : Israeli attack viewed as crimeISLAMABAD -- He hoped that the honorable Members would continue to extend their whole hearted cooperation in conducting the House in a smooth manner. The meeting strongly condemned the recent brutal Israeli aggression against the peace Flotilla carrying food and medicines for the Palestinians stranded at Gaza due to the siege laid by Israel and termed the attack as a crime against humanity. It called upon the world community to restrain Israel from such actions in future and demanded immediate end to the Gaza blockade.
(Jun 03 2010) - Patriot Post : A New Red Storm Rising ?U.S.A. -- This week Chinese officials brushed off U.S. Defense Secretary Gates on a proposed meeting to discuss looming military issues and bolster communication. Their reason? It was "inconvenient." I would find China's casual and indifferent response to our efforts disturbing under any circumstances. We must take care that neither China nor any other nation would so easily dismiss high-level discussions with American leadership. But for China to act in this manner -- at a time when we are facing multiple international crises in Asia alone -- is deeply alarming.
(Jun 02 2010) - Post Chronicle : Thai "Red Shirts" Not FinishedTHAILAND -- Thai anti-government protesters have vowed to return to the streets after an army crackdown ended their nine-week protest, but with most of their leaders detained or in hiding, it could take months to revive their campaign. Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy is still recovering from modern Thailand's worst political violence, which killed 88 people and wounded more than 1,800 as troops dispersed protesters from central Bangkok.
(Jun 01 2010) - China Post : Israel hits aid shipsJERUSALEM -- Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to the blockaded Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 10 passengers in a predawn raid that set off worldwide condemnation and a diplomatic crisis. Israel said its commandos were attacked by knives, clubs and live fire from two pistols wrested from soldiers after they rappelled from a helicopter to board one of the vessels.
(May 31 2010) - Jakarta Post : Pakistan lifts Facebook banPAKISTAN -- Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said. The move came almost two weeks after Pakistan imposed the ban amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.
(May 30 2010) - Seattle Post : BP scrambles to plug wellROBERT -- With BP declaring failure in its latest attempt to stop the uncontrolled gusher feeding the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the company is turning to yet another mix of risky undersea robot maneuvers and longshot odds to plug the blown-out well. Six weeks after the catastrophe began, oil giant BP PLC is still casting about for at least a temporary fix to the spewing well underneath the Gulf of Mexico that's fouling beaches, wildlife and marshland.
(May 29 2010) - India Post : Maoist hand in train derailmentJHARGRAM -- The toll in the Mumbai-bound express train derailment by Maoists has risen to 98 as more bodies were pulled out from the wreckage of the mangled coaches with rescuers working throughout the night. South East Railway officials put the number of injured at 250. Five of the seriously injured have been taken to Kolkata for treatment. 98 bodies have so far been taken out from the mangled coaches.
(May 28 2010) - Weekend Post : Fifa ticket systems crashAFRICA -- The Fifa ticketing system crashed again this morning due to a volume overload, FNB said in a statement. "This is despite guarantees and promises given to FNB from Fifa's ticketing agent Match, as well as from Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke ... that there would be no further ticketing issues," said the bank's 2010 marketing head Vicki Trehaeven. It was unclear by 10.45am when the system would be operational again.
(May 27 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Amnesty Int. blasts DenmarkDENMARK -- Denmark has been criticised by international humanitarian organisation for preventative arrests of hundreds of protestors. Amnesty International has criticised on the Danish government and its measures used to keep demonstrators in check during the UN climate change conference in December. Around 1,800 demonstrators were detained by police during December, 968 of which were held under the new preventative arrest provisions. Amnesty International criticised the fact that so many were held when nearly all were later released without charge.
(May 26 2010) - Liberty Post : Solar Blast to hit Earth on 27thU.S.A. -- SOLAR BLAST : A magnetic filament on the sun erupted, May 24th, and the blast hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) in the general direction of Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action around the blast site in 10xHDTV resolution: Shortly after the eruption, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spotted a billion-ton CME racing away from the sun: movie. NOAA forecasters say there is a 35% chance of geomagnetic activity on May 27th when the cloud delivers a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
(May 25 2010) - Denver Post : City's website hacked twiceCOLORADO -- The city and county of Denver website was pulled down Monday night after it was hacked, the second such attack in a week. Eric Brown, a spokesman for the mayor's office, said he didn't know what time the site was breached and when it might be restored. Starting about 8 a.m. Thursday, Denvergov.org was down for six hours after it was hacked. Brown said he did not know whether the cases were related. Denver police are investigating both attacks.
(May 24 2010) - Bangkok Post : City Returns to NormalTHAILAND -- Bangkok whirred back into life on Monday after last week's deadly violence, as businesses and schools reopened and citizens returned to streets cleared of debris left by arson and looting. Thoroughfares which for six weeks had been occupied by anti-government protesters led by the red-shrit United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), who established a fortified encampment in the top shopping district, were finally open to traffic. Office workers returned to their jobs, children went to school and retailers rolled back shutters after the worst civil unrest in recent memory ...
(May 23 2010) - Christian Post : Watchdog Leader Issues WarningU.S.A. -- The head of a conservative watchdog group that monitors mainline denominations warned evangelical groups this past week to stay away from "divisive, liberal political activism" in light of the declining support witnessed within the National Council of Churches in the USA. "Former NCC chief Bob Edgar's intense liberal political activism gained secular foundation support but seems to have further undermined church support," Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, noted in a statement Friday.
(May 22 2010) - Jakarta Post : Plane Crash : 160 Feared DeadINDIA -- As many as 160 people were feared dead after an Air India plane arriving from Dubai crashed and burst into flames at dawn Saturday as it overshot a precarious hilltop runway in southern India while trying to land in the rain. Dense black smoke billowed from the Boeing 737-800 aircraft surrounded by flames just outside the Mangalore city's Bajpe airport in a hilly area with thick grass and trees. Firefighters sprayed water on the plane as rescue workers struggled to find survivors. One firefighter ran up a hill with an injured child in his arms.
(May 21 2010) - News Post : Google unveils "Google TV"U.S.A. -- After successfully conquering the global search market and the ad based earning on Web, Google is now foraying in TV. Come fall 2010, you might just see Google TV right on your Television, with the peculiar Red, blue, green and yellow logo. So after conquering your office and study rooms, Google is now foraying into your living rooms. To bring this service right on your small screen, Google has tied up with Intel, Sony, Dish network and Logitech. One of the first products in this direction to be launched by Sony include an HD Internet TV and a set top box with a blue ray disk drive and is expected to go on sale later this year.
(May 20 2010) - Global Post : Bloodshed returns to MedellinMEDELLIN -- Even the prescience of 13-year-old Luis Serna Varela couldn't save him. He worried he would find himself caught in a shootout, or even with his finger pressed to the trigger of a gun, just another teenager unable to escape the gang warfare in his poor neighborhood atop Medellin. He asked his mother one morning: "Why don’t we leave from here?" Now it's too late for his mother to do more than wonder about what she could have done differently.
(May 19 2010) - Kyiv Post : Kaczynski's plane was in good orderPOLAND -- Kaczynski's plane was in good order BEFORE TAKEOFF. The Tupolev Tu-154 airplane that crashed near Smolensk on April 10, killing all 96 people on board, including Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and Polish high-ranking officials, was in good condition. "The airplane was in perfect order before takeoff," Alexei Morozov, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee's technical commission, said at a news conference at the Interfax main office in Moscow on Wednesday. "The plane was carrying nearly 19 tonnes of fuel, which was sufficient to reach the destination along the chosen route bearing in mind back-up airfields," Morozov said.
(May 18 2010) - New York Post : Taliban blast kills US troopsKABUL -- A Taliban suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy in Kabul today, killing six of its service members, five of them American, officials said. Twelve Afghan civilians also died — many of them in a public bus in rush hour traffic. Forty-seven other people were wounded in the blast, the first major attack in the capital since February when suicide bombers struck two small hotels in the city center. That attack killed 16 people and led Afghan police to pledge that they would tighten security and surveillance. Police have publicized a number of arrests of would-be bombers since then ...
(May 17 2010) - National Post : Violence escalates in BangkokBANGKOK -- Thailand's government demanded on Monday an end to protests that have killed 37 people in four days of escalating street violence in Bangkok before holding talks with opponents seeking immediate elections. The government had given an estimated 5,000 people hunkered down in a sprawling protest encampment in central Bangkok until 3 p.m. to leave or face criminal charges. That deadline has passed without incident so far.
(May 16 2010) - Jerusalem Post : The U.S. Screwed UpWASH.D.C. -- The Obama administration has "screwed up the messaging" about its support for Israel over the past 14 months, and it will take "more than one month to make up for 14 months," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday to a group of rabbis called together for a meeting in the White House. "During the elections there were doubts about President Obama's support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced," Emanuel said, according to one of those who participated in the meeting.
(May 15 2010) - Filipino Post : A land of powerful clansPHILIPINES -- If the polls are to be believed, Senator Benigno Aquino III, will become the next president of the Philippines, entrenching a long standing tradition of political dynasties that rule the South East Asian nation. Senator Benigno Aquino, is the son of the late President Corazon Aquino who came to power after her exiled-husband was shot dead at Manila's airport in 1983 as he tried to return from US exile to fight Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship.
(May 14 2010) - Denver Post : Loosing the War on DrugsMEXICO CITY -- After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread. Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked. "In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."
(May 13 2010) - Patriot Post : Obama doesn't care about White'sWASH D.C. -- In 2005, a Hurricane Katrina relief telethon was carried live on CBS, ABC, Fox, and NBC and more than 25 other channels. A separate telethon was broadcast on MTV, VH1 and CMT. During a Katrina fundraiser, rapper Kayne West accused President George W. Bush of indifference to the plight of those suffering. West said, "George W. Bush doesn't care about black people."
(May 12 2010) - China Post : Senate hearings on oil spillWASH D.C. -- The blame game is in full throttle as Congress begins hearings on the massive oil spill threatening sensitive marshes and marine life along the Gulf Coast. Executives of the three companies involved in the drilling activities that unleashed the environmental crisis are trying to shift responsibility to each other in testimony to be given at separate hearings Tuesday before two Senate committees, even as the cause of the rig explosion and spill has yet to be determined.
(May 11 2010) - Post Chronicle : Gordon Brown is GoneU.K. -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown resigned Tuesday, allowing negotiations to put in place a functional government to move forward. "I said I would do all that I could to ensure a strong, stable and principled government was formed," Brown said before tendering his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, The Times of London reported.
(May 10 2010) - Seattle Post : Obama appointS Kagen to SCOTUSWASH D.C. -- Solicitor General Elena Kagan will be nominated Monday to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama, a person familiar with the president's thinking says, positioning the high court to have three women justices for the first time. Obama will announce his choice at 10 a.m. in the East Room of the White House alongside Vice President Joe Biden and Kagan, who will also speak. The room will be filled with Kagan's Justice Department colleagues and other guests invited to soak in one of a presidency's biggest moments.
(May 09 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : A Modern Mothers' DayU.S.A. -- Ninety-five years have passed since Mother's Day became a national holiday. In the years since then, Americans have become accustomed to the annual flood of tributes that range from the beautiful, to the homely, to something that only a mother could love. The Saturday Evening Post has been publishing throughout these years and, as you might expect, "mother" has been the subject of many articles and editorials. The tributes have been constant, even as the circumstances of motherhood have changed.
(May 08 2010) - Yorkshire Post : Flights 'face more ash disruption'U.K. -- Flights to and from some UK airports could be about to face more disruption from Iceland's volcanic ash cloud, forecasters have said. Renewed activity in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano sent ash up to heights of 20,000 to 30,000 feet earlier this week, according to the Met Office. Northerly winds over the UK could bring ash back over Ireland and western Scotland tomorrow or later in the week.
(May 07 2010) - Huffington Post : More Goldman Market Rigging ?NEW YORK -- Last week, Goldman Sachs was on the congressional hot seat, grilled for fraud in its sale of complicated financial products called "synthetic CDOs." This week the heat was off, as all eyes turned to the attack of the shorts on Greek sovereign debt and the dire threat of a sovereign Greek default. By Thursday, Goldman's fraud had slipped from the headlines and Congress had been cowed into throwing in the towel on its campaign to break up the too-big-to-fail banks. On Friday, Goldman was in settlement talks with the SEC. Goldman and Wall Street reign. Congress appears helpless to discipline the big banks, just as the European Central Bank appears helpless to prevent the collapse of the European Union. . . . Or are they?
(May 07 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Time to plan for warISRAEL -- The repeated abdication of responsibility by the Obama administration from preventing nuclear non-proliferation leaves it on Israel's shoulders. So much for US President Barack Obama’s famed powers of persuasion. At the UN’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference that opened this week, the Obama administration managed to lose control over the agenda before the conference even started. Obama administration officials said they intended to use the conference as a platform to mount international pressure on Iran to stop its illicit nuclear proliferation activities.
(May 06 2010) - Denver Post : Oil spill threatens climate measureWASH D.C. -- The massive oil spill spreading across the Gulf of Mexico may doom the chances for passing climate legislation this year, potentially unraveling months of negotiations and spiking a delicate compromise at the core the bill. The spill is testing the resolve of Democrats — Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado among them — who have embraced expanded offshore drilling in return for sweeping measures to expand the production of solar, wind and other forms of green energy.
(May 05 2010) - Krakow Post : The Fog Surrounding KatynPOLAND -- In the aftermath of the presidential plane crash at Smolensk, there have been comparisons to many disasters on the world stage. According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have only been a handful of crashes in the history of air travel involving the deaths of presidents or national leaders, but none can be comparable in scale to the 10 April catastrophe at Smolensk, in which 88 dignitaries perished. A range of hypotheses and speculation continues to circulate in the Polish media as to what really happened on that fateful Saturday morning.
(May 04 2010) - Liberty Post : Times Square Bomber DetainedNEW YORK -- An Islamic terrorist named Faisal Shahzad is the Time Square bomber according to media reports. He is Muslim of Pakistani heritage with dual citizenship in the United States, a registered Democrat in the state of Connecticut who may be an Obama donor. He was recently naturalized as a U.S. citizen under the Obama administration’s lenient open door policy.
(May 03 2010) - Global Post : North Korea seeks lifeline in ChinaDALIAN -- Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in China on Monday in search of economic support and diplomatic protection from his only major ally, after bungled policies at home and military grandstanding that has exasperated the region. China, which has propped up the North's leaders for decades, is becoming increasingly fed up with its provocative neighbor, analysts say, but it is willing to bankroll Kim to prevent chaos on its border. Kim, aware of Beijing's predicament, is expected to demand sweeteners to rein in his military and return to international nuclear disarmament talks hosted by Beijing.
(May 02 2010) - Bangkok Post : S.Korea minister vows retaliationSOUTH KOREA -- Seoul's defence minister on Sunday vowed retaliation over the sinking of a South Korean warship which killed 46 sailors near the disputed sea border with North Korea last month. "Those responsible for killing our soldiers must pay the price," Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young told a KBS television programme aired nationwide Sunday. "Retaliation -- in whatever form it is -- must be done."
(May 01 2010) - Washington Post : U.S. to reveal # of Nukes WASH D.C. -- The Obama administration is likely to reveal a closely guarded secret -- the size of the U.S. nuclear stockpile -- during a critical meeting starting Monday at which Washington will try to strengthen the global treaty that curbs the spread of nuclear weapons, several officials said. Various factions in the administration have debated for months whether to declassify the numbers, and they were left out of President Obama's recent Nuclear Posture Review because of objections from intelligence officials. Now, the administration is seeking a dramatic announcement that will further enhance its nuclear credentials as it tries to shore up the fraying nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
(May 01 2010) - Global Post : Thousands join May Day protestsATHENS -- Hundreds of thousands of people joined May Day rallies across Europe on Saturday, many protesting against government austerity policies in the wake of the global financial crisis. In Greece, where the debt-stricken government has pledged budget cuts to secure a European Union and IMF rescue, protesters burned garbage cans and set a TV van on fire. Shops were closed & ships docked while the streets of the capital were unusually empty but for various protest marches heading toward parliament, meters away from the Finance Ministry where EU and IMF officials have been meeting for days to agree a new set of austerity measures.
(Apr 30 2010) - Filipino Post : An alliance of the rich ...VIETNAM -- What does a powerful Asian family linked to the Chinese Mafia, a former Canadian prime minister and a Vancouver-based resort developer have in common? The answer lies on a pristine beach in the South China Sea which was once a haven for American troops from the war against the communists and which later served as the staging ground for the "boat people" who fled their homeland of Vietnam. Called the Ho Tram project, the US $4.2 billion plan brings together ex-prime minister Jean Chretien, the Vancouver-based Asian Coast Development Ltd (ACDL) group and Pansy Ho, the daughter of Asia's gambling czar, Stanley Ho, who has been the subject of intelligence reports from Canada, Australia and the United States linking him to Chinese organized crime.
(Apr 29 2010) - Ojai Post : Don't let a crisis go to wasteCALIFORNIA -- As was the case with millions of Americans, I had my own idealistic vision of what an Obama presidency might look like. One aspect of my view through the looking glass was a 21st century WPA. In FDR's New Deal, taxpayer money was put to work through a variety of alphabet agencies. One of these was the Works Progress Administration, which invested heavily in the development of American infrastructure, including hydroelectric power.
(Apr 28 2010) - Pittsburgh Post : Title lost to Fresno and BakersfiledPITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh region loses title of worst air in U.S. There will not be a three-peat. After holding the title of worst air in the nation for two years, the Pittsburgh metropolitan area has fallen to third place for daily soot pollution, behind Bakersfield and Fresno, Calif., according to the American Lung Association's "State of the Air 2010" report. The Pittsburgh area also dropped from second to fifth place for year-round soot pollution, behinD Phoenix, Ariz., and Bakersfield, Los Angeles and Visalia, all in California.
(Apr 27 2010) - National Post : Blackwater trained troopsCANADA -- The National Defence Department has spent more than $6-million having its troops trained by the controversial Blackwater security company, whose own employees have been accused of needlessly killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, documents show. The department sent a succession of personnel to Blackwater's Moyock, N.C., training compound from 2005 to as recently as April2009, some of them learning tactics for working in dangerous settings, records obtained through access-to-information legislation indicate.
(Apr 26 2010) - India Post : Karzai assures security to IndiansNEW DELHI -- Seeking to assuage India's strong concerns, Afghan President Hamid Karzai here assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that his government is committed to providing full security to Indians in the war-ravaged country. Meeting Karzai for the first time after the February 26 terror attack in Kabul in which nine Indians were killed, Singh affirmed that India remains committed to assisting the government and people of Afghanistan in their efforts towards the reconstruction and development of that country.
(Apr 25 2010) - New York Post : Sachs' sneaky betNEW YORK -- While banks and homeowners struggled as the housing bubble burst in the second half of 2007, Goldman Sachs was making "serious money" from betting against the mortgage market, startling new e-mails show. The e-mails, released yesterday by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, show how Goldman executives boasted about their short positions on mortgages -- often bets again their own investments -- and how much money they made from it.
(Apr 24 2010) - Post Chronicle : Gov Signs Toughest Immigration LawARIZONA -- Governor Jan Brewer on Friday signed into effect the toughest immigration law in the United States, which President Barack Obama singled out as a "misguided" effort that showed the need for national reform. Police in the border state with Mexico will now be required to determine if people are in the country illegally if there is "reasonable suspicion" that is the case -- which critics charge will open the door to racial profiling.
(Apr 23 2010) - The Patriot Post : Capitalism vs. CapitalistsU.S.A. -- If by "capitalist" you mean someone who cares more about his own profit than yours; if you mean someone who cares more about providing for his family than providing for yours; if you mean someone who trusts that he is a better caretaker of his own interests and desires than a bureaucrat he's never met, often in a city he's never been to: then we are all capitalists. Because, by that standard, capitalism isn't some far-off theory about the allocation of capital; it is a commonsense description of what motivates pretty much all human beings everywhere.
(Apr 21 2010) - Post & Courier : Leg's to discuss offshore drillingCOLUMBIA -- A bill directing South Carolina's environmental agency to expedite offshore drilling applications after federal restrictions are removed is scheduled for debate. A Senate subcommittee is set to discuss the measure on Wednesday. It would direct the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to speedily review any application for a permit for offshore exploration, drilling or production for oil and gas. The meeting follows President Barack Obama's push for more offshore drilling.
(Apr 20 2010) - China Post : Stocks fall on Goldman worriesNEW YORK -- Stock futures fell Monday on concerns about the fallout over Goldman Sachs being charged with civil fraud tied to its dealings in bonds backed by subprime mortgages. Asian markets tumbled in their first trading session since the Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil fraud charges Friday against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. World markets are also being dragged down by new measures in China to curb speculative real estate investing.
(Apr 19 2010) - Denver Post : Top al-Qaida leaders killed in IraqBAGHDAD -- The U.S. and Iraq claimed a major victory against al-Qaida on Monday, saying their forces killed the terror group's two top figures in this country in an air and ground assault on their safehouse near Saddam Hussein's hometown. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced the killings of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri at a news conference and showed photographs of their bloody corpses. U.S. military officials later confirmed the deaths, which Vice President Joe Biden called a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq.
(Apr 18 2010) - Post & Email : What is a "Birther"?U.S.A. -- When we view the Constitution of the United States of America as that Contract between the People and the Government instead of just a "living document" which should be changed at the whims of current events, which is a view held by many in this great Country, our view of that document changes to a jealousy for the Rights and Liberties which the Founders of this Country enshrined in that Contract between the People and the Government.
(Apr 17 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : Politics of the High CourtWASH D.C. -- Last week, Justice John Paul Stevens announced his resignation from the Supreme Court after 34 years. Almost immediately, the media fired up the great calliope of political journalism. Reporters breathlessly debated who President Obama would nominate. How would it shake up the Court? How would the Republicans respond? Which political faction would benefit? The feverish excitement isn�t just the product of a sudden, national fascination with Constitutional law.
(Apr 16 2010) - Frontier Post : CIA's Deputy Director to step downWASH D.C. -- The Deputy Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Stephen R Kappes, who allegedly played a role in allowing brutal interrogations of terror suspect, plans to step down in May, the spy agency's chief has said. Stephen Kappes, the veteran clandestine officer who came out of retirement in 2006 to lift morale in the CIA�s troubled ranks, is stepping down as Deputy Director ...
(Apr 15 2010) - Kyiv Post : China revaluation would hurt U.S. jobsGENEVA -- Extensive outsourcing by U.S. industry means that a revaluation of the Chinese yuan sought by many U.S. politicians would destroy U.S. jobs, a study by independent economists and other experts said on Thursday. The study, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), was published on the day that the U.S. Treasury had been due to issue a report widely expected to brand China a as a currency manipulator. But Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner decided on April 3 to delay the report ...
(Apr 14 2010) - Global Post : China quake kills 400, 1,000's injuredBEIJING -- A strong earthquake toppled hundreds of homes and some schools in the remote mountainous Tibetan Plateau of southwest China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring thousands. Troops have been dispatched to Qinghai Province's Yushu county and some aid shipments from private organizations have set off from the provincial capital, Xining. "I see injured people everywhere. The biggest problem now is that we lack tents ...
(Apr 13 2010) - Krakow Post : Poland Remembers First LadyPOLAND -- The casket containing the body of Poland's first lady, Maria Kaczynska, arrived back to Poland Tuesday and will be carried to the Presidential Palace. The first lady and her husband, the late President Lech Kaczynski, died Saturday along with 94 other officials, military leaders and other dignitaries near Smolensk, Russia, when their government plane crashed short of the runway. The body of the late president was returned to Warsaw on Sunday ...
(Apr 12 2010) - National Post : Hitchens, Dawkins try for pope's arrest
CANADA -- A movement to arrest Pope Benedict XVI for international crimes against humanity when he arrives in Britain later this year went noisily public on Sunday, as celebrity atheist Richard Dawkins denied a report that he personally vowed to make the arrest.
Just as former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested at a London hospital on a Spanish warrant under the novel legal concept of "universal jurisdiction," lawyers are assembling the case that Pope Benedict could be held on charges of crimes against humanity, specifically child sexual slavery.
(Apr 11 2010) - Bangkok Post : Reds defiant after clashes kill 21THAILAND -- Red-shirt demonstrators on Sunday vowed to continue their protests on Sunday, after clashes between soldiers and protesters resulted in 21 dead and more than 800 injured. Red-shirt leader Natthawut Saikua said the red-shirt protesters will continue to occupy the Ratchaprasong intersection and Phan Fa Bridge until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolves the House of Representatives and holds a new election.
(Apr 10 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Polish president dies in plane crashPOLAND -- Polish President Lech Kaczynski and about 100 of the country's highest military and civilian leaders died Saturday morning when the presidential plane crashed as it came in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia, officials said. Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the Soviet-era Tupolev, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police at the beginning of World War II.
(Apr 09 2010) - Liberty Post : Seven States 'exempting guns' from rules
IDAHO -- Idaho governor signs law based on 9th, 10th amendments. Joining a nationwide effort to challenge Washington's authority, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter made his state the 7th to exempt guns made and kept in the state from any federal regulations.
House Bill 589 was listed on Otter's website among legislation that had been signed into law. The governor added Idaho to the list of states that have adopted what has become known as "Firearm Freedom Acts." The movement began in MONTANA ...
(Apr 08 2010) - Kentucky Post : US and Russia sign arms reduction deal
PRAGUE -- President Barack Obama says a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia is an important milestone for nuclear security and U.S.-Russia relations. He also says it's just one step on a longer journey, setting the stage for further cuts in the countries' nuclear arsenals.
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty that shrinks both nations' arsenals of strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 over seven years. That is about a third less than the 2,200 currently permitted.
(Apr 07 2010) - African Post : Egypt Frees Pro-Baradei ProtestersEGYPT -- Egypt's authorities freed on Wednesday dozens of opposition activists linked to top opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei a day after their arrest for seeking to stage a demonstration to demand political reforms, officials said. State prosecutor Abdel Majid Mahmud ordered the release of 33 people, including 17 students, earlier on Wednesday, a judicial official said. A security source said several others were freed late on Tuesday.
(Apr 06 2010) - Huffington Post : The Devil In The VaticanITALY -- Doesn't anyone at the Vatican know the first thing about crisis management ? Take responsibility, be honest, promise change, execute a well-publicized plan, and show results. Fast. Instead, the Vatican keeps shoveling out more denial, playing the victim, blaming the media. The homily I heard this Easter Sunday in downtown NYC made me cringe at its false claims ...
(Apr 06 2010) - Seattle Post : Taxing online sales: Debate continuesCALIFORNIA -- Lawmakers have sidestepped a decision on a bill meant to compel high-volume online retailers like Seattle-based Amazon and Blue Nile to collect sales tax from Golden State customers buying their products. The measure, often dubbed the "Amazon bill," failed to be included in the final budget package for the Assembly's extraordinary session, which adjourned on March 11. The matter may return later in the year as California struggles to find new sources of revenue to close, or narrow, a $20 billion budget gap.
(Apr 05 2010) - Financial Post : Canadian dollar at 20-month highTORONTO -- The Canadian dollar climbed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, reaching a 20-month high as commodities and other riskier assets rallied following welcome data that showed U.S. employers created jobs last month. At 7:56 a.m. (1156 GMT), the Canadian dollar was at $1.0057 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.43 U.S. cents, up from Thursday's finish at $1.0084 to the U.S. dollar, or 99.17 U.S. cents. Earlier, the Canadian dollar hit $1.0051, its highest point since parity was reached in July 2008.
(Apr 04 2010) - Christian Post : Megachurches Pack Out Sports ArenasCALIFORNIA -- Churches across the country have rented out sports arenas in anticipation of big crowds for their Easter Sunday services. Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in southern California is preparing to pack out Angel Stadium with some 50,000 people on Sunday. Even in Vermont � which polls have shown to be the least religious state � the Essex Alliance Church rented a university gymnasium to accommodate an expected 4,000 people.
(Apr 03 2010) - Post Tribune : Jesus' final hours portrayedVALPARAISO -- For the fourth consecutive Good Friday, Jesus made his way through downtown Valparaiso. Following the actor portraying Christ were other actors in the parts of his mother Mary as well as Mary Magdalene, Roman soldiers and villagers. The event is a Via Crucis, a Way of the Cross procession common through Central and South American countries. The Gloria Dei Lutheran Hispanic Mission has held the one in Valparaiso for four years, using members of its mission and of local Lutheran churches to portray the Passion of Christ.
(Apr 02 2010) - Post Chronicle : Facebook Leak: Private Emails ExposedU.S.A. -- Popular networking website Facebook was the victim of another breach yesterday, in which the hidden email addresses of private users were revealed publicly on a number of profiles, reports pcworld.com. The 'Facebook flub' as its being called lasted for approximately 30 mintues before it was sealed off and correct by Facebook technicians. " ... according to a pcworld.com report, Facebook "sent names, photos, friend lists, and any public information about you and your friends to preapproved third-party Web sites."
(Apr 01 2010) - China Post : Pope sees sex scandal as testVATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI sees the priestly sex scandal as a "test for him and the church," his spokesman said Wednesday, as bishops around Europe used Holy Week's solemn call for penitence to pledge transparency in dealing with the abuse of children. But amid such signs of humility, a senior cleric also mounted a sharp counterattack to the allegations now swirling around the papacy. In an article, the official accused the New York Times of faulting the pope unfairly for his treatment of past abuse allegations.
(Mar 31 2010) - Copenhagen Post : No exit strategy this yearDENMARK -- Opposition accepts no exit strategy time frame for Danish troops in Afghanistan, but will fight for it next year. It will be at least a year before an exit date is announced for the removal of Danish troops from Afghanistan as parliamentary parties move closer to an agreement. Opposition parties, the Social Democrats and Social Liberals have accepted the government�s latest proposal to the 2010 Helmand plan, outlining the strategy for the 750 Danish troops, most of whom are stationed in the southern Helmand province.
(Mar 30 2010) - Christian Post : Group Takes Offense at 'Christian Warrior' Media Coverage
MICHIGAN -- Mainstream media outlets are bias in their reporting about the nine self-identified �Christian warriors� accused of plotting to kill law enforcement officers, contends a group whose mission is to respond to anti-Christian defamation. Even though members of the militia group call themselves Hutaree, which they say means �Christian warrior,� their alleged violent plan �is absolutely contrary to Christianity,� said Dr. Gary Cass, president of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.
�They may have illicitly co-opted the Christian faith to justify their murderous intentions, but it is defamatory for the media to keep referring to them as Christians,� said Cass. �They are simply terrorists.�
(Mar 30 2010) - Denver Post : Alleged militia members held by authoritiesDETROIT -- Nine alleged members of a Christian militia group that was girding for battle with the Antichrist were charged Monday with plotting to kill a police officer and slaughter scores more by bombing the funeral � all in hopes of touching off an uprising against the U.S. government. Seven men and one woman believed to be part of the Michigan-based Hutaree were arrested over the weekend in raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. A ninth member was apprehended late Monday after a search in rural Michigan.
(Mar 29 2010) - Post & Courier : Suicide bombings kill 37 on subwayMOSCOW -- Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow's subway system as it was jam-packed with rush-hour passengers Monday, killing at least 37 people and wounding 102, officials said. The head of Russia's main security agency said preliminary investigation places the blame on rebels from the restive Caucasus region that includes Chechnya, where separatists have fought Russian forces since the mid-1990s.
(Mar 28 2010) - Financial Post : Chinees Company Buys VolvoGOTHENBURG -- Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, China's largest private-run car maker, agreed on Sunday to buy Ford Motor's Volvo car unit for $1.8-billion, the country's biggest overseas auto purchase. The takeover underscores China's arrival as a major force in the global auto industry and ends nearly two years of talks with Geely over Volvo -- the last sale from Ford's former premier group, which also held Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover. Geely said in a statement it had secured all the necessary financing to complete the deal and "significant working capital" to fund Volvo's business.
(Mar 27 2010) - Filipino Post : Psychic surgery is an �unmitigated hoax�PHILIPPINES -- The Ministry of Health has warned tour operators not to lure visitors to its country with services provided by the Southeast Asian nation�s burgeoning faith healing industry. Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral told media in Manila that these forms of healing are not recognized in the professional medical community. �Psychic surgery, for instance, wherein a tumor is being removed (by bare hands), is not allowed. That has been - in the words of the US Food and Drugs Administration and the Federal Trade Commission � an unmitigated hoax,� Cabral added.
(Mar 26 2010) - Bangkok Post : Reds gear up for Saturday's rallyBANGKOK -- Supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) began a campaign around the capital on Friday to persuade city folk to join their anti-government protest in Bangkok on Saturday. UDD leader Natthawut Saikua said red-shirts were travelling on motorcycles and pick-up trucks equipped with speaker systems along five routes to campaign for their cause. Speakers called on the people of Bangkok to join their mass rally on Saturday and support their demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva immediately dissolve he House and schedule a general election.
(Mar 25 2010) - Kyiv Post : European Union to revise airline blacklistBRUSSELS -- The EU says it will update next week its controversial blacklist of foreign airlines banned from flying to Europe. The index of more than 200 airlines lists carriers deemed by the EU not to meet international safety standards. But critics note that many of the companies listed have long since gone out of business, including dozens of fly-by-night cargo, charter and air taxi outfits in Africa. The list, first drawn up in 2006, was revised last year to allow specific aircraft from some banned carriers to fly to Europe because they were considered safe.
(Mar 24 2010) - Yorkshire Post : Airport worker 'abused scanner'U.K. -- An airport worker allegedly caught ogling images of a female colleague in a full-body scanner faces the sack after being given a police warning for harassment. The Heathrow worker, named by The Sun newspaper as 25-year-old John Laker, allegedly made lewd remarks to colleague Jo Margetson, 29, after she entered an X-ray machine by mistake. She reported the matter to her bosses and to police.
(Mar 23 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Jerusalem is not a settlementWASH D.C. -- Jerusalem is our capital, Netanyahu tells AIPAC parley, stressing that Israel wants peace. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated Israeli claims to Jerusalem and rejected assertions that it was not fully committed to peace, in a speech Monday night sandwiched between meetings with top US leaders aimed at smoothing over recent disagreements. Netanyahu arrived here Monday and held a meeting at his hotel with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before delivering his address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Monday night.
(Mar 22 2010) - New York Post : Obama-Care Passes House by 7 VotesWASH.D.C. -- President Obama last night hailed Congress for answering "the call of history" -- minutes after the House gave final passage to his landmark health-care plan by a super-close 219-212 vote. "This is what change looks like," Obama declared in televised remarks from the White House only weeks after some had called reform all but dead. "We didn't give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges," the president added speaking just before midnight, with Vice President Biden standing by his side.
(Mar 21 2010) - Liberty Post : Obama-Care Enforced by IRS Bounty HuntersWASH.D.C. -- �Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron�s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.� -- C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963)
(Mar 20 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : Imagination is More Important Than Knowledge
U.S.A. -- When a Post correspondent interviewed Albert Einstein about his thought process in 1929, Einstein did not speak of careful reasoning and calculations. Instead � �I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am� [but] I would have been surprised if I had been wrong ... �I am enough of the artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.�
(Mar 19 2010) - Global Post : The China currency flapBOSTON -- The problem is so severe, so potentially explosive, and so threatens the world's largest economy that U.S. lawmakers � Democrats and Republicans alike � this week worked together furiously to solve it. No, it's not health care reform. It's the so-called manipulation of the Chinese currency. First, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation that would compel the Obama administration to crack down on Beijing for its "manipulation" of the yuan (in English: keeping its currency low so Chinese exports remain relatively cheap).
(Mar 18 2010) - National Post : The great Catholic cover-upITALY -- On March 10, the chief exorcist of the Vatican, the Rev. Gabriele Amorth (who has held this demanding post for 25 years), was quoted as saying that �the Devil is at work inside the Vatican,� and that �when one speaks of �the smoke of Satan� in the holy rooms, it is all true � including these latest stories of violence and pedophilia.� This can perhaps be taken as confirmation that something horrible has indeed been going on in the holy precincts, though most inquiries show it to have a perfectly good material explanation.
(Mar 17 2010) - Post Chronicle : President Petraeus, 2012 ?WASH D.C. -- U.S. President Barack Obama has scaled back the scope of the Afghan war, now about to enter its ninth year, to a limited military objective: deny al-Qaida a safe haven. And since we are now told there are fewer than 100 al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan -- the rest are in Pakistan's tribal areas -- a three-way deal between the Karzai government, powerful warlords and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar would seem to be the better part of valor. After Iraq, we cannot afford another trillion-dollar war.
(Mar 16 2010) - Patriot Post : Without Firing a Shot ?WASH D.C. -- During the height of the Cold War, some feared the communists would take over the United States without firing a shot. Could it be that nearly a half-century later, we're on the verge of that becoming a reality ? President Barack Obama and Democratic congressmen won their respective elections -- no shots were fired -- and they are feverishly attempting to dismantle this nation's institutions, brick by brick.
(Mar 15 2010) - Washington Post : California Bees Still Buggin' OutCALIFORNIA -- In normal times, David Hackenberg would begin trucking his 20 million honeybees from the almond orchards of California to the orange groves of Florida this week. Instead, after a month working the almond blossoms on the West Coast, his exhausted pollinators will get some rest and relaxation in the Georgia woods before the East Coast apple blossoms summon them to work once more next month. These are not normal times for bees, or for commercial beekeepers, so Hackenberg's pollinators will skip the citrus gig to reduce their exposure to pesticides and get some rest.
(Mar 14 2010) - China Post : China may build California's High Speed RailsBEIJING -- China plans to bid for contracts to build U.S. high-speed train lines and is stepping up exports of rail technology to Europe and Latin America, a government official said Saturday. China has built 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) of high-speed rail for its own train system and U.S. President Barack Obama issued a pledge in November with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to cooperate in developing the technology. Chinese rail authorities have signed cooperation memos with California and Russia and state companies plan to bid on a line in Brazil linking Rio de Janeiro with Sao Paulo.
(Mar 13 2010) - Christian Post : 'God' in Pledge, Ruled ConstitutionalCALIFORNIA -- A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and on national currency. The pledge does not constitute an establishment of religion, Judge Carlos Bea wrote for the majority in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. "[T]he Pledge is an endorsement of our form of government, not of religion or any particular sect." The three-judge panel ruled 2-1. "The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded ...
(Mar 12 2010) - Borneo Post : China�s consumer prices soar in FebBEIJING -- Chinese consumer prices rose for the fourth straight month in February while new lending slowed sharply, data showed yesterday, adding pressure on Beijing to fulfil its vow to control inflation. Analysts said the jump in prices would not trigger a knee-jerk response from policymakers in the world�s third-largest economy but the figures raised the prospect of more drastic tightening measures later in the year.
(Mar 11 2010) - Denver Post : Anti-tax protesters gather at capitolCOLORADO -- Hundreds of anti-tax activists gathered outside the state Capitol on Wednesday to protest government spending and taxation. But many of the protesters seemed more interested in complaining about the growth of the federal government and President Obama than they did state issues. Signs held aloft by people in the crowd of 300 or so ranged from "Stop Obamacare, give us jobs!" to "No Hope in Socialism!"
(Mar 10 2010) - Seattle Post : Gates no longer world's richestSEATTLE -- In Forbes' annual list of the world's richest people, the top billionaires often shuffle around. In 2006 and 2007, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was No. 1. In 2008, he dropped to third place behind investor Warren Buffett and Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu. Last year, Gates was back to pole position. This year, according to Forbes, Helu is back on top. Gates, it seems, is now the world's second-richest man. Helu's estimated worth of $53.5 billion just edged out Gates' net worth of $53 billion.
(Mar 08 2010) - Post Web : President Biya Sued In World CourtCAMAROON -- President Paul Biya has been dragged to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for committing humanitarian crimes against Cameroonians. The suit against Biya was filed on Friday, March 5 by a group calling itself a "patriotic and democratic organization" in tandem with Cameroonians in the Diaspora. They are accusing President Biya, among other things, of committing massacre. Initiated by Moise Essoh Etia, Tente Sop, Franklin Nyamsi and Patrice Ndjoumi, the suit urges the Prosecutor to try Biya for humanitarian crimes.
(Mar 07 2010) - Post & E-Mail : 10th Amendment Summit moves forwardGEORGIA -- Gubernatorial candidate Ray McBerry and the Tenth Amendment Center were the cohosts of the first-ever Tenth Amendment Summit held in Atlanta, GA on February 25 and 26, 2010. According to The New American, about 400 people attended the conference, of which about two dozen are candidates for public office. Roy Moore, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and currently running for Alabama governor, was one of the speakers.
(Mar 06 2010) - Tripoli Post : Summit Must Address Palestinian Prisoners' Issue
LYBIA -- The democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called on the Arab League to raise the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails during its forthcoming assembly scheduled to be held in Tripoli, Libya later this month. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the national campaign in defense of prisoners' rights, the democratically elected Palestinian prime minister urged Arab leaders to address the issue of Palestinian prisoners at all Arab, regional, and international conferences.
(Mar 05 2010) - Huffington Post : Vatican Hit By Gay Sex ScandalITALY -- The Vatican has been thrown into chaos by reports that one of the Pope's ceremonial ushers, as well as a member of the elite Vatican choir, were running a homosexual prostitution ring. The allegations came to light after Italian newspapers published transcripts of phone calls recorded by police, who had been conducting an unrelated corruption investigation. The tapes appear to record Angelo Balducci, a Gentleman of His Holiness, negotiating with Thomas Chinedu Ehiem ...
(Mar 04 2010) - Norway Post : Norway requests Iranian diplomat to leaveNORWAY -- Norway has requested an Iranian diplomat to leave the country, after Iran had first asked a Norwegian diplomat to leave Iran. This was a protest against Norway granting asylum to an Iranian diplomat. (Photo: Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr St�re) On 24 February, the Norwegian Ambassador in Teheran was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. During the meeting he was given an official note and a letter addressed to Foreign Minister St�re, in which Iran protested against Norway having granted asylum to Mohammed Reza Heydari.
(Mar 03 2010) - Bangkok Post : Nissan recalls nearly 540,000 vehiclesJAPAN -- Nissan Motor said Wednesday it would recall nearly 540,000 vehicles worldwide, most of them in the United States, due to brake pedal defects and faulty fuel gauges. Nissan, Japan's third-largest carmaker and partnered with France's Renault, said it plans "to inspect and, if necessary, repair brake pedal pins and fuel-gauge components on certain trucks and minivans. No accidents or injuries have been reported with these issues," it added.
(Mar 02 2010) - Yorkshire Post : Coldest winter since '79 confirmedUNITED KINGDOM -- The UK winter has been the coldest for more than 30 years, according to Met Office figures. The mean UK temperature was 1.5C (34.7F), the lowest since 1978/79 when it was 1.2C (34.16F), the organisation said. The mean is worked out by taking the average of the daytime maximum temperature and night time minimum over a 24-hour period.
(Mar 01 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Benizri asks for presidential pardonISRAEL -- Shlomo Benizri, the Shas politician who served as minister of health and minister of labor and welfare before being sentenced to four years in jail last year, asked President Shimon Peres on Sunday to pardon him. Benizri, who was convicted of accepting a bribe, fraud, breach of faith and obstruction of justice, has been in jail so far for less than six months. In the letter to Peres, which was included in a request for a pardon drawn up by Benizri�s lawyers, Yehoram Malka and Avi Himi, the attorneys wrote ...
(Feb 28 2010) - Copenhagen Post : Paper apologises for Mohammed cartoons
DENMARK -- Danish newspaper enters deal with organisations and offers apology for offending them with images of the Prophet Mohammed. Politiken newspaper, one of 11 Danish newspapers that reprinted the Mohammed cartoons, has issued an apology to eight Muslim organisations for offending them in exchange for dropping future legal action against the newspaper. The settlement reached between the paper and the organisations does not, however, apologise for the printing of the cartoons, nor prevent the paper from reprinting them in the future.
(Feb 27 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : The Wild Heart of Sam HoustonU.S.A. -- Sam Houston�s birthday on March 2 prompted us to search our archives for contemporary accounts of the charismatic statesman. The Post ran several stories between 1825 and 1861 that reflect the erratic progress of Houston�s career and personal life. As a boy, Houston fled his fatherless family to live among the Cherokee in Tennessee. By 1812, he returned to the white community to join Andrew Jackson�s struggles against the British and their American Indian allies
(Feb 27 2010) - Jakarta Post : 8.8-magnitude earthquake hits ChileSANTIAGO -- A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake capable of tremendous damage struck central Chile early Saturday, shaking the capital for a minute and a half and setting off a tsunami. Buildings collapsed and phone lines and electricity were down, making the extent of the damage difficult to determine. At least 6 people were killed, President Michele Bachelet said. "We have had a huge earthquake," Bachelet said, speaking from an emergency response center in an appeal for Chileans to remain calm.
(Feb 26 2010) - Patriot Post : ObamaCare in the Emergency RoomWASH D.C. -- There are no two ways about it -- the health care summit that took place Thursday in Washington was a sham and a farce. But it's a fitting chapter for the bill being debated. Barack Obama invited various congressmen to join him for a "discussion" about his latest health care takeover plot, which looks an awful lot like last year's Senate proposal, only more expensive.
(Feb 25 2010) - Krakow Post : Poland Admits Aiding CIAPOLAND -- After two human rights groups revealed evidence that showed U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) rendition planes landing in Poland in 2003, the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency has admitted for the first time that Poland played a role in the controversial program. On 22 February, the New York-based Open Society Justice Initiative and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights released flight records showing that airplanes involved in the U.S. government's CIA extraordinary rendition program had landed on Polish soil at least six times between February and September 2003.
(Feb 24 2010) - Frontier Post : Toll of US dead in Afghanistan hits 1,000WASH D.C. -- The number of US soldiers who have died in Afghanistan reached 1,000 on Monday, according to website icasualties.org, a grim milestone in the war launched more than eight years ago. The independent website, which tracks military deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, said 54 US soldiers have died in Afghanistan so far this year, compared with a toll of 316 last year -- the worst since the US-led invasion of 2001. The top-ranking US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, warned of more casualties as US-led forces press an offensive in Marjah, a key Taliban stronghold, where foreign troops have faced strong militant resistance.
(Feb 23 2010) - Financial Post : Toyota faces grilling in CongressWASH D.C. -- Toyota Motor Corp's president braced for tough questions from a U.S. congressional panel on Wednesday after the Japanese automaker conceded it had let safety standards slip and could still not explain most incidents of unintended acceleration. The pressure was set to increase after Japan's transport regulator said it would look into 38 reports of unintended acceleration with Toyota cars over three years, the first official probe into the issue in its home market
(Feb 22 2010) - Global Post : Beijing wants to play war in ThailandTHAILAND -- In early February, 6,000 U.S. marines and sailors staged the planet�s largest war games in Thailand, which hosted two weeks of beach storming, mock hostage rescues and live-fire drills. This 29-years-running exercise, called �Cobra Gold,� is America�s largest display of military might in Asia. It is also the envy of Chinese generals, who now have their own plans to play war in U.S.-allied Thailand. The Chinese have proposed a 2010 rebuff to Cobra Gold: an all-expenses paid buffet of air, naval and land drills throughout Thailand�s jungles and coasts
(Feb 21 2010) - Christian Post : Florida School Sued over Prayer BanFLORIDA -- A Christian legal group announced on Saturday that it will sue a Florida county school district in an attempt to restore the rights of faculty to pray. The lawsuit comes in response to a federal judge's ruling on Friday that rejected a Christian educators association's motion to overturn a consent order between the Santa Rosa School District and the American Civil Liberties Union. The decree bars school officials from "promoting, advancing, endorsing, participating in, or causing Prayers" and from "orally express[ing] personal religious beliefs to students during or in conjunction with instructional time or a School Event."
(Feb 20 2010) - Filipino Post : Inside China�s booming hacker industryCANADA -- Chinese websites sell hackers all sorts of Trojan horse programmes and other malicious software designed to penetrate computer security systems. Online gaming in China alone presents hackers with a market whose value, according to a recent estimate by the state broadcaster CCTV, is 10 billion yuan annually. Using Trojan software secretly implanted in targeted computers, hackers steal users� personal information and game accounts and logins and then transfer valuable, hard-won virtual items and sell them via online sites. Meanwhile, non-hackers dip deep into their pockets to stay competitive in the online games.
(Feb 19 2010) - China Post : China protests Obama meeting with Dalai LamaBEIJING -- China on Friday protested President Barack Obama's meeting with Dalai Lama, saying Washington had interfered in Chinese domestic affairs and demanding that the U.S. take steps to improve ties. Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai summoned U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman to lodge a "solemn representation" over Thursday's meeting at the White House, the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site. "The behavior of the U.S. side seriously interferes in China's internal politics ..."
(Feb 18 2010) - New York Post : Goldman's Greek grabNEW YORK -- Global leaders are bearing down on Goldman Sachs, demanding to know whether the firm helped cover up Greece's cash crisis in order to peddle $15 billion in government IOU's to unsuspecting investors. Outrage swelled yesterday following new reports that Wall Street's most profitable bank concocted financial transactions in 2001 that allowed Greece to sweep its debt troubles under the rug, making its bonds seem like safe bets. At the same time, Goldman was selling $15 billion of Greece's government bonds and IOUs to clients without disclosing Athens' deficit, according to reports.
(Feb 18 2010) - African Post : Soldiers Storm Niger Presidential PalaceWEST AFRICA -- Armed soldiers stormed the presidential palace Thursday afternoon and witnesses said the president was missing after heavy gunfire in the capital of the uranium-rich West African nation. The violence comes just months after a referendum was passed allowing President Mamadou Tandja to extend his rule for years past the constitutional limit. Moussa Mounkaila, a palace chauffeur, told The Associated Press that the gunmen showed up as a meeting of government ministers was taking place at the presidential palace.
(Feb 18 2010) - National Post : U.N. climate chief quitsU.N. -- Yvo de Boer, head of the UN's climate change convention, will resign as of July 1, his office announced on Thursday. Mr. de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, will join the consultancy group KPMG as global advisor on climate and sustainability and work with a number of universities, the UNFCCC secretariat said. The announcement came nearly two months after the Copenhagen summit on climate change, seen even by its supporters as a disappointment and by its critics as a chaotic failure.
(Feb 17 2010) - Denver Post : Pot provider faces 40 yearsCOLORADO -- Federal prosecutors Tuesday filed drug-distribution charges against a Highlands Ranch man who operated a massive basement marijuana garden that he said served medical-marijuana patients. Chris Bartkowicz was charged with a single count in U.S. District Court and could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine, according to a court document. DEA agents raided Bartkowicz's suburban home last week and seized 224 marijuana plants after he bragged about his basement garden in a television news report.
(Feb 16 2010) - Post Chronicle : Hayworth To Challenge McCain For SenateARIZONA -- Radio host and former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth announced Monday he would challenge Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the Republican U.S. Senate primary. Hayworth announced his decision at his Phoenix campaign headquarters, accompanied by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a volunteer group that works to prevent illegal U.S. border crossings, the Phoenix News Times reported. Simcox once said he would challenge McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, but he abandoned his campaign Monday to support Hayworth
(Feb 15 2010) - Kyiv Post : Stand-off in Ukraine: What now?UKRAINE -- Victor Yanukovych has been officially declared President-elect but his rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, says she does not regard him as legitimately-elected -- a stance that spells a period of huge uncertainty for the country. Tymoshenko has refused to step down voluntarily as Prime Minister and it seems likely she will be still in the job at the end of February when Yanukovych is expected to be inaugurated. Yanukovych himself will have to feel his way forward very cautiously since his victory over her was only by a narrow margin of 3.5 percentage points. He had overall less than 50 percent of the country's vote.
(Feb 14 2010) - Courier Post : Debt making U.S. economy highly vulnerableWASH D.C. -- It's bad enough that Greece's debt problems have rattled global financial markets. In the world's largest economic and military power, there's a far more serious debt dilemma. For the U.S., the crushing weight of its debt threatens to overwhelm everything the federal government does, even in the short-term, best-case financial scenario -- a full recovery and a return to prerecession employment levels. The government already has made so many promises to so many expanding "mandatory" programs. Just keeping these commitments, without major changes in taxing and spending, will lead to deficits that cannot be sustained.
(Feb 13 2010) - Palm Beach Post : Activists join lawsuit against CityPlaceWEST PALM BEACH -- Two women who claim they were kicked out of CityPlace for wearing animal rights T-shirts are joining a federal lawsuit accusing the city of enforcing policies that violate the First Amendment, attorney Jim Green said Friday. Michelle Rivera, of Jupiter, said she contacted Green after she learned of the lawsuit he filed this week on behalf of an artist who claims police ordered him to leave the shopping mecca because he didn't have permission to sit in the center's trademark plaza and paint.
(Feb 12 2010) - Jerusalem Post : No independent probe of Gaza warJERUSALEM -- Israel believes that the report it gave UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month on the investigations it is conducting into Operation Cast Lead is sufficient, and there is no need to set up an independent inquiry committee, The Jerusalem Post has learned. �Israel feels the report it gave was a serious, comprehensive, credible and complete answer to the UN secretary-general,� one senior official in the Prime Minister�s Office said.
(Feb 11 2010) - Jakarta Post : Spain remains stuck in recessionSPAIN -- The countries troubled economy remained stuck in recession in the fourth quarter, unlike other major European countries, as official figures released Thursday showed output shrank for a sixth consecutive quarter. The news of the 0.1 percent drop in gross domestic product in the last three months of 2009 came a dayafter Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain was close to following other European nations out of recession. Meanwhile, Spain's large budget deficit remains a concern to the European Union amid fears that the crisis over Greece's large debt load could spread to other countries with large buget shortfalls.
(Feb 10 2010) - Patriot Post : Hurtling Down the Road to SerfdomU.S.A. -- Government is taking us a long way down the Road to Serfdom. That doesn't just mean that more of us must work for the government. It means that we are changing from independent, self-responsible people into a submissive flock. The welfare state kills the creative spirit. F.A. Hayek, an Austrian economist living in Britain, wrote "The Road to Serfdom" in 1944 as a warning that central economic planning would extinguish freedom. The book was a hit. Reader's Digest produced a condensed version that sold 5 million copies. Hayek meant that governments can't plan economies without planning people's lives.
(Feb 09 2010) - Yemen Post : Al-Qaeda Urges Muslims to Wage JihadYEMEN -- Second in command of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Saeeda Al-Shahri called Monday on the Muslims in the peninsula to wage Jihad as he congratulated the Christmas Day alleged bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on the blessed conquest. On the botched attack on the Detroit plane, international reports said on Monday that Al-Shahri has said the attempt was directly organized by Osama Bin Laden. In an audio tape that was issued by the Malahim Corporation early today, Al-Shahri said he had survived an airstrike in the southern province of Shabwa in late December, vowing to continue his path until he gets martyrdom or he is killed.
(Feb 08 2010) - Connecticut Post : At least 5 dead in power plant explosionMIDDLETOWN -- At least five workers were killed and a dozen injured Sunday morning when a power plant under construction exploded into flames, sending shock waves 30 miles away. The blast occurred during a test of the plant's connection to a natural gas pipeline, but state and local officials were not sure of the cause. The incident occurred just three days after federal regulators called for tougher safety measures during the maintenance and installation of gas pipes. Dozens of workers were sent fleeing from the Kleen Energy Systems LLC electric-generating station on the Connecticut River.
(Feb 07 2010) - Bangkok Post : Swiss businessman cleared to leave LibyaLIBIA -- A Libyan court dropped a case against a Swiss businessman for alleged illegal business activities on Sunday, clearing the way for him to go home after 19 months stuck in the country, his lawyer said. The verdict came a week after Rashid Hamdani - who has been stranded in Libya with fellow Swiss businessman Max Goeldi - was cleared of charges of overstaying his visa. "The case against Rashid has been dismissed,'' Salah Zahaf told AFP, adding that Hamdani was free to leave Libya.
(Feb 06 2010) - Frontier Post : G7 finance ministers gather in CanadaIQALUIT -- G7 finance ministers and central bankers arrived in Canada's far north on Friday for two days of talks aimed at keeping a tentative global economic recovery on course. They will gather for a dinner meeting at 6:45 pm (2345 GMT) at a hotel restaurant in this wind-swept, snow-covered town of 6,000. The International Monetary Fund, the Financial Stability Board and the European Commission will also participate. Delegates plan to meet again the following day at the Nunavut legislative assembly and wrap up the conference in the afternoon.
(Feb 05 2010) - Liberty Post : MOVE YOUR MONEY MOVEMENTU.S.A. -- Since the burst of the financial bubble in 2008, and surely before, millions of Americans have watched as their life savings dwindled to fumes. Unemployment has held steady at 10 percent or above and one in five Americans went hungry last year. As the human recession has worsened, Congress has been slow to act to quell it, while they've rushed to the aid of too-big-to-fail banks. A new campaign called Move Your Money aims to tackle the frustrations with the Wall Street banks, and the politicians they've bought off, head on.
(Feb 04 2010) - African Post : U.S. Report Details Money LaunderingNEW YORK -- A suitcase containing $1 million in shrink-wrapped bills, hand-carried into New York by the former president of Gabon for his daughter to buy a Manhattan apartment. Purchases of a stretch Hummer H2 armored limousine and C-130 Hercules military transport planes for a civil war in Angola. And a shell company named Sweet Pink used to funnel millions of dollars into the United States from Equatorial Guinea. These and other deals and money transfers took place in recent years because of inadequate controls on money laundering at large American banks and unregulated American lawyers, real estate agents and lobbyists, according to a Senate report released late Wednesday.
(Feb 03 2010) - New York Post : 'Satanic' fire-slay bustNEW YORK -- The devil made him do it. An illegal immigrant who allegedly set the Brooklyn fire that killed five neighbors told cops the demons in his head led him to torch the crowded building, sources said yesterday. "He confessed to the arson," a police source said. "He didn't indicate any rational motive." Daniel Ignacio, 27, a Guatemalan national, was charged yesterday with murder and arson. He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment last night. Ignacio told cops that evil spirits led him to set off the blaze early Saturday in his Bensonhurst building, filled with deeply religious tenants.
(Feb 02 2010) - National Post : Canadian Premier comes to U.S. for health Care
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States. Deputy premier Kathy Dunderdale confirmed the treatment at a news conference Tuesday, but would not reveal the location of the operation or how it would be paid for. "He has gone to a renowned expert in the procedure that he needs to have done," said Ms. Dunderdale, who will become acting premier while Mr. Williams is away for three to 12 weeks.
(Feb 01 2010) - China Post : U.S., China lock hornsBEIJING � China and the United States were locked yesterday in an escalating row over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, with Washington rebuffing Chinese protests and insisting the deal promotes stability in the Taiwan Strait. The Pentagon Friday sparked the latest challenge to China-U.S. relations under President Barack Obama when it approved the US$6.4 billion sale of Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, mine-hunting ships and other weaponry. China responded furiously with a raft of reprisals, saying it would suspend military and security contacts with Washington and impose sanctions on U.S. firms involved in the deal.
(Jan 31 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : The Eagle That Never FlewU.S.A. -- It�s one of those tokens of the past that you might recognize but can�t identify. It�ll show up, unexplained, in old advertisements and movies. Between September, 1933 and July, 1935, it appeared on every cover of the Saturday Evening Post. It�s unofficial name � the only name it ever had � was the Blue Eagle, and it was the emblem of the National Recovery Administration (not of the National Rifle Association). It was displayed by businesses that supported the NRA codes for price and wage-controls.
(Jan 30 2010) - Denver Post : Obama, GOP go toe-to-toe and trade barbsBALTIMORE -- In a remarkably sharp face-to-face confrontation, President Barack Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on taxes, health care and the economic stimulus, while they accused him in turn of brushing off their ideas and driving up the national debt. The president and Republican House members took turns questioning and sometimes lecturing each other for more than an hour at a Republican gathering in Baltimore. The Republicans agreed to let television cameras inside, resulting in a point-by- point exchange that was almost unprecedented in U.S. politics, except perhaps during presidential debates.
(Jan 29 2010) - Post Chronicle : France : No More Troops To AfghanistanFRANCE -- Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says France will not send more fighting troops to Afghanistan but could send some who can train police and army, CNN reported. Speaking to CNN after a one-day meeting in London on Afghanistan, Kouchner repeated his country's opposition to adding more troops in support of the U.S. troop surge of 30,000. "No more fighters. We are in charge. We don't want to send more troops to fight," he said.
(Jan 28 2010) - Christian Post : Air Conditioning Hell: How Liberalism Happens
U.S.A. -- Theological liberals do not intend to destroy Christianity, but to save it. As a matter of fact, theological liberalism is motivated by what might be described as an apologetic motivation. The pattern of theological liberalism is all too clear. Theological liberals are absolutely certain that Christianity must be saved�from itself. The classic liberals of the early twentieth century, often known as modernists, pointed to a vast intellectual change in the society and asserted that Christianity would have to change or die.
(Jan 27 2010) - Norway Post : Norway expells more illegal immigrantsNORWAY -- The Norwegian police aliens section early Tuesday morning expelled 13 Iraqis who were staying in Norway illegally. They were put on a chartered plane for Iraq with heavy police escort. The plane then landed in Stockholm, Sweden, where another 33 Iraqis were picked up, before the flight set course for Baghdad. Just two months ago, 33 Iraqi immigrants without Norwegian residence permits were returned to their homeland.
(Jan 26 2010) - Jerusalem Post : Iran to unveil new missiles in FebISRAEL -- Just one day after a Der Spiegel report which claimed that new intelligence acquired by Germany's BND offered conclusive proof that Iran's nuclear program had a military angle, a Revolutionary Guards commander on Tuesday declared that the country planned to inaugurate "several new missiles and arms projects" in February, Reuters reported. "Iran's Defense Ministry will inaugurate several missiles and arms projects during the Fajr (Dawn) 10-day period, marking the victory of the 1979 Islamic revolution," Massoud Jazayeri said during a news conference, which was quoted by Reuters. Jazayeri was also quoted as saying that new satellite projects would be unveiled at the same time.
(Jan 25 2010) - India Post : Pak's digging tunnels along borderNEW DELHI -- The Government is closely monitoring the reports of Pakistan digging tunnels along its border in Sargodha district and will analyze its "implications" to India. "We are closely monitoring whatever has been happening in Pakistan and both our Defense Ministry as well as our ministry will certainly work together to analyze what it means by way of implications to India," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said here. He was reacting to media reports about Pakistan digging tunnels in Sargodha district of Pakistan's Punjab province close to the Indian border.
(Jan 24 2010) - Frontier Post : Contradictions of GatesQUETTA -- US secretary of defence Robert Gates has come and gone, after making the noises so pet with American officials nowadays about Pakistan. But hadn�t we heard of this American prattle even when they were fighting a proxy war against the Soviet invaders in Afghanistan? Didn�t they declare us even then the frontline state of their war, which we actually had become foolishly, thanks to a military dictator, General Ziaul Haq, who threw this unfortunate nation into that foray to be clobbered and bled just to earn international legitimacy for his own illegitimate usurpation of power?
(Jan 23 2010) - Jakarta Post : Assembly speaker against impeachmentJAKARTA -- People�s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Taufik Kiemas said Saturday he did not buy the idea of impeachment against the President as it would only create conflicts. "Personally, I don�t agree with the idea of impeachment. There should be no impeachment,� Taufik said on Saturday during his visit to East Kalimantan. He made the statement in response to the reporters whom asked him about the possible follow up of a parliamentary inquiry into the Century bailout scandal.
(Jan 22 2010) - Patriot Post : Beware of McCain Regression SyndromeWASH D.C. -- Pay attention: In the afterglow of the Massachusetts Miracle, there are flickers of peril for the right. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but like Paul Revere�s midnight message, consider this warning �a cry of defiance, and not of fear.� Conservatives have worked hard to rebuild after Big Government Republican John McCain�s defeat. But McCain isn�t going gently into that good night. Red Flag No. One: A reader from Arizona informed me the day after the Bay State Bombshell that he had received a robo-call from Massachusetts GOP Sen.-elect Scott Brown. �He basically wanted me to vote for John McCain in November,� the reader said in his description of the automated campaign call supporting the four-term Sen. McCain�s re-election bid.
(Jan 21 2010) - Financial Post : Clinton condemns cyber attacksWASH D.C. -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday called for global condemnation for those who carry out cyber attacks as China sought to contain tension with the United States over online censorship and hacking. Ms. Clinton warned that Internet technologies were a mixed blessing because they are used by al Qaeda to spread hatred and by authoritarian states to crush dissent. "The same networks that help organize movements for freedom also enable al Qaeda to spew hatred and incite violence against the innocent," she said in a major speech in Washington.
(Jan 20 2010) - Copenhagen Post : GPS surveillance for mentally ill kidsDENMARK -- Trial for using GPS to monitor mentally handicapped kids in care homes expected to be approved. �rhus Council will likely be granted its wish to introduce GPS observation of mentally handicapped children on a trial basis. Social Democrat councillor Hans Halvorsen said he was pleased with Social Affairs Minister Karen Ellemann�s announcement that she is set to change legislation to allow for the test period this year. �It�s difficult to understand that elderly dementia patients can be monitored by GPS, when children with mental handicaps who are a danger to themselves cannot,� Halvorsen said.
(Jan 19 2010) - Post Zambia : IMF warn's of 'double-dip' global economyIMF -- The International Monetary Fund head has warned that the global economy could experience another downturn - a so-called double dip recession. Dominique Strauss-Kahn said countries should not exit from stimulus packages that have bolstered growth through huge amounts of government spending. "We have to very cautious because this recovery remains very fragile," Strauss-Kahn said. Separately, Germany and France raised their growth forecasts for the year. Strauss-Kahn added that China and Asian economies are leading the recovery.
(Jan 18 2010) - Borneo Post : Google's dilemma for foreign companiesBEIJING -- Ever since the 1930s, when a Missouri-born man opened an ad agency in Shanghai and wrote a book called �400 Million Customers,� the Chinese market has beckoned to American companies. And never more so than now, when the number of customers has grown to 1.3 billion and China is poised to surpass Japan to become the world�s second-largest economy. But Google�s struggles here � wrestling both with political compromises and with threats to its intellectual property � raise the question: How much hassle are China�s consumers worth?
(Jan 17 2010) - Liberty Post : The Debt Bomb Facing the WorldWORLD -- If policymakers focused their attention in 2009 on dragging the global economy out of recession, this year looks likely to center on reining in the massive piles of government debt built up by big bailout packages. Failing to wrestle down the fiscal debt monster could stall the nascent worldwide economic recovery. Already this year, international rating agencies have warned about unsustainable budget deficits in Greece and Ireland, and most members of the euro zone have sailed past the 3% budget deficit cap required for membership in the common European currency. Government debt ratios in the U.S. and Britain could take decades to return to normal levels.
(Jan 16 2010) - Global Post : Ukraine elections could spawn chaosKIEV -- Incredibly, Ukraine�s political chaos and dysfunction could become even worse. Voters go to the polls on Sunday to select their first president since the 2004 Orange Revolution � a period that has seen the optimism and general good vibrations of five years ago turn into widespread cynicism and anger, as political infighting, corruption, government deadlock and economic recession brought the country to a standstill. Ukrainians and interested observers alike hope for a clear-cut winner who will then be able to marshal the levers of state to extract this key post-Soviet, eastern European nation of 46 million � equivalent in size to Spain � from its political and economic morass.
(Jan 15 2010) - China Post : Al-Qaida linked to aviation networkTIMBUKTU -- In early 2008, an official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a report to his superiors detailing what he called �the most significant development in the criminal exploitation of aircraft since 9/11.� The document warned that a growing fleet of rogue jet aircraft was regularly crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean. On one end of the air route, it said, are cocaine-producing areas in the Andes controlled by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. On the other are some of West Africa's most unstable countries. The report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, was ignored, and the problem has since escalated into what security officials in several countries describe as a global security threat.
(Jan 14 2010) - Bangkok Post : Authorities brace for anti-govt ralliesTHAILAND -- Police are well prepared to maintain order during the planned anti-government rallies and use of the Internal Security Act is not deemed necessary at this stage, Deputy Prime Minister overseeing security Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday. The red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) announced on Wednesday that the group will stage several rallies this month, demanding the government take legal action against Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont's encroachment of a forest reserve and to speed up the decision on A petition for royal amnesty for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
(Jan 13 2010) - National Post : 1000's feared dead in Haiti quakePORT-AU-PRINCE -- A major earthquake rocked Haiti, killing possibly thousands of people as it toppled the presidential palace and hillside shanties alike and leaving the poor Caribbean nation appealing for international help. A five-story UN building was also brought down Tuesday by the 7.0 magnitude quake, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years according to the U.S.G.S. Reuters television footage from the capital, Port-au-Prince, showed scenes of chaos on the streets with people sobbing and appearing dazed amid the rubble.
(Jan 12 2010) - Norway Post : Israel critical of Hebron observersISRAEL -- The Israeli Foreign Ministry has threatened not to renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), under which Norway and five other countries observe and report on breaches of international humanitarian law in the city. The TIPH was created following the 1994 massacre in which a Jewish doctor shot dead 29 Palestinians who were praying in a mosque.
(Jan 11 2010) - Yemen Post : U.S. Intervention in Yemen UnworkableYEMEN -- The United States of America does not intend sending ground troops into Yemen to face increasing threat posed by Al-Qaeda but a doubled aid to the country is confirmed with the aid being raised to $ 170 million, a top U.S. military official has said. General David H. Petraeus, head of the United States Central Command, told CNN that he was informed by Yemen during his last visit to the country weeks ago that no U.S. military intervention was favored.
(Jan 10 2010) - Christian Post : 4 More Malaysian Churches AttackedMALAYSIA -- Three more churches in Malaysia were targets of arson Sunday and another was vandalized in the latest wave of attacks on the country�s Christian minority. According to local reports, two of the latest attacks failed and the third � a Molotov cocktail that was thrown at the All Saints Church in Malaysia�s central Perak state � left only a mark on the wall. The outer wall of the Malacca Baptist Church in southern Malacca state, meanwhile, was splashed with black paint. One day earlier, two firebombs were thrown at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in the Petaling Jaya suburb, leaving marks but no damage. On Friday, three churches in Malaysia were attacked with firebombs. To date, at least eight churches have been targeted by arsonists and vandals
(Jan 09 2010) - New York Post : Obama to tax Wall Street ?WASH D.C. -- The Obama administration is floating the idea of imposing a tax on Wall Street, possibly tied to bonuses, as part of its next budget, The Post has learned. According to two people familiar with the matter, the White House has circulated a draft budget, and in it is a line under the revenue category that reads, "Wall Street and taxes." The vague reference to Wall Street offers no details about what kind of tax or an amount the administration hopes to collect, according to two sources, one a high-ranking executive at a bulge-bracket firm and the other a person close to the Treasury Department.
(Jan 08 2010) - Denver Post : 2 arrested in NYC terrorism investigationNEW YORK -- Two men who attended high school with a terrorism suspect accused of getting training in Pakistan were arrested Friday, months after federal authorities began investigating them as possible accomplices in a plot to bomb New York City. Charges against Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay hadn't been announced, although they were scheduled to appear in Brooklyn federal court Friday. FBI agent Richard Kolko said their arrests were part of "an ongoing investigation" by a terrorism task force. Ahmedzay and Medunjanin were first publicly linked to the investigation in September, when investigators raided their homes shortly before the arrest of their old classmate Najibullah Zazi, a Colorado airport shuttle driver
(Jan 07 2010) - Birmingham Post : Bank of England holds interest ratesU.K. -- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left borrowing costs unchanged at 0.5% for the 10th month in a row and made no move on its �200 billion efforts to boost the money supply. The decision comes despite figures this week showing a two-year high for manufacturing activity, recovering mortgage lending and a raft of positive Christmas trading updates from across the high street. Although the UK is expected to have finally emerged from recession in the final quarter of 2009, experts predict the MPC will leave interest rates on hold well into this year to avoid threatening a fragile recovery.
(Jan 06 2010) - Patriot Post : Obama and the Vampire CongressWASH D.C. -- Meet the Beltway bloodsuckers. They convene in the dead of night, when most ordinary mortals have left work and let their guard down or are lying asleep in bed. Pale-faced and insatiable, the nocturnal thieves do their nefarious business in backrooms and secret chambers. Their primary victims? Taxpayers, the free market and deliberative democracy. Democratic leaders have been promising the most ethical, transparent, open and engaged administration for years. Instead, they have delivered a bleak and creepy legislative environment that could double as a �Twilight� movie set.
(Jan 05 2010) - Post Chronicle : Job Cuts In 2009 Surpass 2008AMERICA -- U.S. employers announced 50,349 layoffs in November, the fewest since the recession began 23 months earlier, a private research group said. Challenger, Gray & Christmas said layoffs diminished on a monthly basis since June, but that did not prevent 2009 from surpassing the total from 2008. The firm said it would announce the annual total Wednesday, but that 2009 would likely include the largest number of layoffs since 2002, when 1,466,823 job cuts were announced.
(Jan 04 2010) - Leader Post : Rebels killed behind U.S. embassy threatSANAA -- Yemeni forces fought al-Qaida militants on Monday, killing at least two they said were behind security threats which forced the U.S. embassy and other foreign missions to close. "These (militant) elements are believed to be behind the threats directed to the U.S. embassy," a Yemeni security official told Reuters. "Clashes are still continuing." The United States embassy in the capital, Sanaa, said it was staying shut for a second day in response to al-Qaida threats. Britain's embassy has been closed since Sunday and Japan suspended its consular services on Monday due to security concerns.
(Jan 03 2010) - Jakarta Post : US Embassy in Yemen closes ?YEMEN -- The U.S. closed its embassy in Yemen on Sunday, citing ongoing threats by the al-Qaida branch that has been linked to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a U.S. airliner headed to Detroit. The confrontation with the terrorist group's branchin Yemen has gained new urgency since the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told U.S. investigators he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen. President Barack Obama said Saturday that al-Qaida's branch in Yemen was behind the attempt.
(Jan 02 2010) - Kyiv Post : Somali pirates hijack U.K. shipSOFIA -- Somali pirates hijacked a British-flagged vehicle carrier off the Somali coast late on Friday, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said. The Asian Glory was seized about 600 miles east of the Somali coast before it joined a convoy heading for the Gulf of Aden, ministry spokesman Dragovest Goranov said. Somali pirates have made tens of millions of dollars from seizing ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, linking Europe to Asia, and are also hunting far into the Indian Ocean to evade foreign navies sent to protect commercial shipping.
(Jan 01 2010) - Saturday Evening Post : Who'll Shape the New Decade ?U.S.A. -- Predicting has become more difficult than ever. Consider the decade that arrived in 2000, and how few hints there were for the coming changes: the terrorist attacks, the Bush presidency, the collapse of major corporations, and the vanishing middle class. The signs might have been there in 2000, but we were overshadowed by the news of the day. That year, Time magazine named George W. Bush as its person of the year. But how many of its �Newsmakers of 2000? are still making news: Vojislav Kostunica, Mohammed Al-Durra, Robert Mugabe, Kim John IL, Vincente Fox Quesada, Cathy Freeman, George Speight, or John Roth?
- PAST POST NEWS SERVICES | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 - For more Information - editor@portervillepost.com
All Right Reserved
