Yearly Archives: 2013

Snooping Fears: German Firms Race to Shield Secrets

"Edward Snowden's revelations about data surveillance have left German firms feeling acutely vulnerable to industrial espionage. In the medium-sized business sector, which contains a host of world leaders in high-tech fields, the race is on to shield vital know-how. Be it Prism, Tempora or XKeyscore, reports about mass electronic surveillance and tapped Internet hubs and trans-Atlantic data lines have alarmed German companies. Many firms are now worried that the intelligence services aren't just trying to pinpoint terrorists but to get at German industrial secrets as well. They fear that their lead over US, British and French competitors could be at risk." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnooping Fears: German Firms Race to Shield Secrets

U.S. General: US military intervention in Syria would create ‘unintended consequences’

"The top US military officer warned senators on Monday that taking military action to stop the bloodshed in Syria was likely to escalate quickly and result in 'unintended consequences', representing the most explicit uniformed opposition to deeper involvement in another war in the Middle East. Dempsey's letter came after McCain announced he would block the general's reappointment to chair the joint chiefs of staff, the most senior position in the US military, until Dempsey provided the Senate with his assessment of the merits of US military action in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. General: US military intervention in Syria would create ‘unintended consequences’

New Hampshire governor signs medical marijuana bill into law

"New Hampshire on Tuesday became the 19th state to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. 'This legislation is long overdue and comes as a relief to the many seriously ill patients throughout New Hampshire who will benefit from safe access to medical marijuana,' said Matt Simon, a New Hampshire-based legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project. The Republican-led New Hampshire legislature approved a similar medical marijuana bill last year, but it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. John Lynch. The governor claimed the proposed law would be abused by those who didn’t really need the drug." Continue reading →

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Colorado Springs bans recreational marijuana shops

"Officials in Colorado’s second-largest city voted on Tuesday to ban recreational marijuana shops, becoming the largest community in the state to utilize an opt-out provision of a law that legalized the non-medical use of pot. Colorado Springs has a population of about 420,000 with a large military and evangelical Christian presence and is one of the most conservative and Republican areas in a state which in recent election cycles has turned leftward. The federal government lists cannabis as a dangerous narcotic and considers it illegal for any purpose, a point underscored by Colorado Springs residents who spoke on Tuesday in favor of the ban." Continue reading →

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Brazil becomes world’s 7th most violent country with 1 million murders in 30 years

"More than one million people were murdered in Brazil between 1980 and 2011, making it the world’s seventh most violent country, a survey showed Thursday. During the period, homicides soared 132 percent to claim 1,145,208 lives, from a rate of 11.5 murders for 100,000 inhabitants in 1980 to 27 per 100,000 in 2011, according to the Map of Violence report, In 2011, Brazil, now home to 194 million people, recorded 51,198 homicides, ranked seventh among the world’s most violent nations after El Salvador, the US Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrazil becomes world’s 7th most violent country with 1 million murders in 30 years

Al-Qaeda claims Iraq prison raids, says 500 inmates freed

"Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for simultaneous raids on two Iraqi prisons and said more than 500 inmates had been set free, in a statement posted on militant forums on Tuesday. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was formed earlier this year through a merger between al Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out the attacks on Abu Ghraib and Taji jails after months of preparation. Sunni Islamist militants have in recent months been regaining momentum in their insurgency against Iraq‘s Shi’ite-led government, which came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAl-Qaeda claims Iraq prison raids, says 500 inmates freed

Yemeni journalist who reported U.S. drone strike released from jail

"A Yemeni journalist who was kept in prison for years at the apparent request of the Obama administration has been released in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a, according to local reports. Abdulelah Haider Shaye was imprisoned in 2010, after reporting that an attack on a suspected al-Qaida training camp in southern Yemen for which the Yemeni government claimed responsibility had actually been carried out by the United States. Shaye had visited the site and discovered pieces of cruise missiles and cluster bombs not found in Yemen’s arsenal, according to a Jeremy Scahill dispatch in the Nation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYemeni journalist who reported U.S. drone strike released from jail

Bloomberg vetoes bill to halt New York’s stop-and-frisk policy

"New York City Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday vetoed two measures meant to curb the city’s controversial stop-and-frisk policing policy, setting up a likely showdown with the City Council. One measure would create an independent inspector general to monitor the New York City Police Department. The other would expand the definition of racial profiling and allow people who believe they have been profiled to sue police in state court. Opponents of stop-and-frisk, among them minority groups, civil libertarians and some of the Democratic mayoral candidates, have said police officers disproportionately target young black and Hispanic men." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBloomberg vetoes bill to halt New York’s stop-and-frisk policy