Mainstream News

India might buy gold from citizens to ease rupee crisis

"The RBI will ask the banks to buy back jewelry, bars and coins for rupees. Lenders will have to offer better rates than pawn shops and jewelers to lure sellers. Selling gold reserves may sit badly with Indians, many of whom saw the 1991 sale [of 67 tonnes gold] as a public humiliation. The secret operation was only exposed after a vehicle carrying the first consignment of bullion broke down on its way to the airport from the central bank. The rupee, the worst-performing emerging market currency in Asia this year, rebounded from a record low on Thursday after the RBI said it will provide dollars directly to state oil companies to shore up the currency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia might buy gold from citizens to ease rupee crisis

‘Robin Hood’ band of ‘left-wing activists’ nabs school supplies from shop

"A Robin Hood-style band of Spanish left-wing activists openly stole cart-loads of school supplies from a supermarket on Friday, promising to distribute them to needy children. More than 200 members of the Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores (Andalusian Union of Workers) emerged from a Carrefour supermarket in the southern city of Seville pushing about 10 shopping carts brimming with exercise books, pens, felt-tips and dictionaries. They loaded the back-to-school supplies into vans and left. School materials 'expropriated' this time would be given to needy families in the next few days, the union said in a statement, describing it as a 'symbolic act for equal opportunity'." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Robin Hood’ band of ‘left-wing activists’ nabs school supplies from shop

Obama slams ‘incapacity’ of UN Security Council on Syria

"US President Barack Obama on Friday slammed the 'incapacity' of the UN Security Council to act on Syria and warned the world must not be 'paralyzed' on responding to a chemical weapons attack. 'What we have seen so far at least is an incapacity at this point for the Security Council to move forward in the face of a clear violation of international norms,' Obama said, as he met Baltic leaders at the White House Obama said he understood that there was widespread war fatigue both in the United States, Britain and elsewhere, but that did not absolve nations of their responsibilities." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama slams ‘incapacity’ of UN Security Council on Syria

Syrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad’s regime: U.N. official

[May 2013] "Testimony from victims strongly suggests it was the rebels, not theSyrian government, that used Sarin nerve gas during a recent incident in the revolution-wracked nation, a senior U.N. diplomat said Monday. Carla del Ponte, a member of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told Swiss TV there were 'strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,' that rebels seeking to oust Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad had used the nerve agent. But she said her panel had not yet seen any evidence of Syrian government forces using chemical weapons, according to the BBC, but she added that more investigation was needed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyrian rebels used Sarin nerve gas, not Assad’s regime: U.N. official

Turkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

[April 2013] "China, Russia and four Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - formed the SCO in 2001 as a regional security bloc to fight threats posed by radical Islam and drug trafficking from neighboring Afghanistan. Ankara began talks on joining the EU in 2005 but has only completed one of the 35 policy areas, or 'chapters', every candidate must conclude to be allowed entry due to disagreements largely over the divided island of Cyprus. While China vies with Russia and the West for access to Central Asia's vast natural resources, some analysts view the SCO as a potential counter-balance to NATO." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTurkey becomes partner of China, Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Gun Bill in Missouri Would Test Limits in Nullifying U.S. Law

The Republican-controlled Missouri legislature is expected to enact a statute next month nullifying all federal gun laws in the state and making it a crime for federal agents to enforce them here. A Missourian arrested under federal firearm statutes would even be able to sue the arresting officer. The law amounts to the most far-reaching states’ rights endeavor in the country, the far edge of a growing movement known as 'nullification' in which a state defies federal power. In a letter explaining his veto, Governor Jay Nixon said the federal government’s supremacy over the states’ 'is as logically sound as it is legally well established.' When the legislature gathers again, it will seek to override his veto.

Continue ReadingGun Bill in Missouri Would Test Limits in Nullifying U.S. Law

Obama executive order to kill 110-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program

"The Civilian Marksmanship Program was administered by the United States Army from 1916 through 1996 when it was changed to the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice & Firearms Safety, a 501(c) (3) organization federally chartered by the U.S. Congress. There are no data indicating any of the weapons involved in homicide were imported surplus military rifles. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s homicide crime statistics, rifles accounted for only 323 deaths out of 12,664 homicides in 2011, the most recent data set provided by the FBI. The rifles that the Executive Order would affect are typically from U.S. allies and are pre-Vietnam era." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama executive order to kill 110-year-old Civilian Marksmanship Program

Harvard Study: No Correlation Between Gun Control and Less Violent Crime

"The authors of the study conclude that the burden of proof rests on those who claim more guns equal more death and violent crime; such proponents should 'at the very least [be able] to show a large number of nations with more guns have more death and that nations that impose stringent gun controls have achieved substantial reductions in criminal violence (or suicide).' But after intense study the authors conclude 'those correlations are not observed when a large number of nations are compared around the world.' In fact, the numbers presented in the Harvard study support the contention that among the nations studied, those with more gun control tend toward higher death rates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHarvard Study: No Correlation Between Gun Control and Less Violent Crime

Fidel Castro denies Cuba refused Edward Snowden asylum

"Castro, in the same article, praised Snowden, who disclosed the existence of secret US government surveillance programs used to scoop phone and Internet data on a vast scale. 'I admire how brave and just Snowden’s declarations were, which in my opinion provided a service to the world by revealing the disgustingly dishonest politics of the powerful empire that lies and deceives the world,' Castro wrote. 'It is absolutely clear that the United States will always try to put pressure on Cuba as it does with the UN or any public or private institution in the world, that is one of the characteristics of that country’s government and it would not be possible to expect anything else.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFidel Castro denies Cuba refused Edward Snowden asylum

Spain fights to lose status as drug gateway to Europe

"The make-up of drug rings sending cocaine to Spain has changed as well. The Colombian groups which dominated the trade in the 1980s have given way bit by bit to Mexican cartels. Drug traffickers’ interest in Europe has increased because demand from the continent for cocaine is growing. Over the past decade the number of cocaine consumers in Europe has doubled while demand for the drug has plunged by 33 percent in the United States. In response European nations have reinforced regional cooperation as well as their cooperation with police forces in Latin America to stop the flow of cocaine. Hiding cocaine in banana shipments remains one of the favourite tactics used by traffickers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpain fights to lose status as drug gateway to Europe