Mainstream News

Deep Divides Threaten Egypt’s Path Forward

"It is a good 15-minute drive from Tahrir Square in the heart of Cairo to Raba'a al-Adaweya Square in the Nasr City quarter of the capital. Yet worlds divide the Egyptians who have been gathering at the two sites in recent days. In Tahrir Square on Tuesday, people were selling posters of the country's new strongman, General Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who toppled then-President Mohammed Morsi last week. On Raba'a al-Adaweya Square, however, demonstrators held images of Morsi aloft. They are the followers of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement -- and they have vowed not to vacate their tent city until Morsi is back in office."Deep Divides Threaten Egypt's Path Forward Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeep Divides Threaten Egypt’s Path Forward

Egypt orders arrest of ousted Brotherhood leaders after army kills 53 protesters

"Washington, treading a careful line, has neither welcomed Mursi's removal nor denounced it as a 'coup', which would require it to halt aid, including the $1.3 billion it gives the army each year. The Brotherhood's downfall has, however, been warmly welcomed by three of the rich Arab monarchies of the Gulf. Kuwait promised Egypt $4 billion in cash, loans and fuel on Wednesday, a day after Saudi Arabia pledged $5 billion and the United Arab Emirates offered $3 billion. Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. agency chief, has been named vice president and supports a stalled $4.8 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEgypt orders arrest of ousted Brotherhood leaders after army kills 53 protesters

UN: Iraq violence could lead to civil war

"The level of violence reached its lowest level in 2011, with 2,771 people killed, according to UN figures. But it is once again on the rise, fuelled by widespread Sunni discontent with the Shiite-led government, and fanned by the civil war in neighbouring Syria. 'A lot of the radical groups are getting oxygen from what is going on there,' Motta said of Syria. 'The more people die (in Iraq), the greater the chance of counter-reaction and the greater chance it has to spiral out of control,' he said. 'If the casualties keep going at this rate it will be well over 5,000 at the end of the year, so we’re looking back at figures of 2008,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN: Iraq violence could lead to civil war

A brand-new $34 million U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.

"The U.S. military has erected a 64,000-square-foot headquarters building on the dusty moonscape of southwestern Afghanistan that comes with all the tools to wage a modern war. A vast operations center with tiered seating. A briefing theater. Spacious offices. Fancy chairs. Powerful air conditioning. Everything, that is, except troops. The windowless, two-story structure, which is larger than a football field, was completed this year at a cost of $34 million. As American troops pack up to return home, U.S.-funded contractors are placing the finishing touches on projects that are no longer required or pulling the plug after investing millions of dollars." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA brand-new $34 million U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. And nobody to use it.

Biden urges end to hacking, human rights abuses by China

"'We both will benefit from an open, secure, reliable Internet. Outright cyber-enabling theft that US companies are experiencing now must be viewed as out of bounds and needs to stop,' Biden said. A recent US study said that corporate America was losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year through a vast, organized hacking campaign to steal US trade, government and military secrets. Biden also raised concerns about human rights, days after Chinese troops reportedly opened fire on Tibetans celebrating the birthday of their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBiden urges end to hacking, human rights abuses by China

Parched Jordan to start pumping radium-laced water from 300,000-year-old aquifer

"The water ministry says Jordan, where 92 percent of the land is desert, will need 1.6 billion cubic metres of water a year to meet its requirements by 2015, while the population of 6.8 million is growing by almost 3.5 percent a year. Officials say the project has required 250,000 tonnes of steel and the digging of 55 wells to pump water from Disi to Amman, where the per capita daily consumption [is 42 gallons]. A 2008 study by Duke University, in the United States, shows that Disi’s water has 20 times more radiation than is considered safe, with radium content that could trigger cancers. But the government has brushed aside those concerns." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParched Jordan to start pumping radium-laced water from 300,000-year-old aquifer

India’s poor ‘duped’ into clinical trials for untested drugs

"Many desperate and poor people in India are unwittingly taking part in clinical trials for drugs by Indian and multinational pharmaceutical companies that outsource the work to unregulated research organisations. Testing pharmaceuticals on humans is a mandatory and expensive step for drug companies who must prove to regulatory authorities that treatments have no dangerous side-effects in order to bring them to market. The Confederation of Indian Industry estimates that companies save up to 60 percent by undertaking the different phases of testing a new drug in India as compared to developed countries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndia’s poor ‘duped’ into clinical trials for untested drugs

Cat caught smuggling banned cell phones into Russian prison

"The Russian prison service said Monday it had caught a cat being used as a courier to smuggle banned cell phones and chargers into a prison camp in the country’s remote far north. The prison service in the Komi region said on its website that the cat was detained Friday evening as it climbed the fence of the region’s Number One corrective labour camp with two cell phones, batteries and chargers strapped to its back using tape. It posted a photograph of the black-and-white cat held up by the scruff of its neck by a guard with the bulky package still stuck to its fur." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCat caught smuggling banned cell phones into Russian prison

Prison Gang Ran Prison, Sold Drugs, Had Sex With Female Officers And Made A Profit

"Federal prosecutors say 13 female correctional officers, seven inmates and five others with gang ties have been charged with plotting to smuggle drugs, cellphones and other contraband into the Baltimore jail and other corrections facilities. An indictment unsealed Tuesday said the ring also involved sex between inmates and guards that led to four of the officers becoming pregnant by Tavon White, leader of a jailhouse gang called the Black Guerrilla Family. He is held at the Baltimore City Detention Center, awaiting trial on a charge of attempted murder. The indictment claims the gang ran the scheme from inside the detention center." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPrison Gang Ran Prison, Sold Drugs, Had Sex With Female Officers And Made A Profit

Phoenix Police Officer Is Sunk By Own Cam

"Richard Greco, in an interview with a Phoenix police internal investigator, said his employers had selected less than five minutes out of hundreds of hours of video to paint an inaccurate picture of his work as a patrol officer. The footage captures him cursing at suspects and witnesses, and making disparaging remarks about them to other officers, including referring to one as 'retarded,' calling another a 'jackass' and another a 'bitch.' When that revelation was combined with a 2008 disciplinary action Greco received for making inappropriate comments about female co-workers in the presence of other police officers, it was enough to terminate the 10-year veteran last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPhoenix Police Officer Is Sunk By Own Cam