Mainstream News

Islands trade quick citizenship for investment

"Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has led to a surge of interest in programs that let investors buy citizenship or residence in countries around the world in return for a healthy contribution or investment. Most are seeking a second passport for hassle-free travel or a ready escape hatch in case things get worse at home. Nowhere is it easier or faster than in the minuscule Eastern Caribbean nations of Dominica and St. Kitts & Nevis. It's such a booming business that a Dubai-based company is building a 4-square-mile community in St. Kitts where investors can buy property and citizenship at the same time." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIslands trade quick citizenship for investment

Bulgarian government resigns amid protests

"'We have dignity and honour. It is the people who put us in power and we give it back to them today,' Borisov told parliament, adding that he would not participate in an interim government. Bulgaria has been shaken over the past week by protests that initially were about soaring electricity prices but which have turned into nationwide demonstrations against the right-wing government in general. The clashes left dozens of people wounded and scores were arrested with demonstrators fighting running battles with riot police and vandalising government buildings in the capital Sofia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBulgarian government resigns amid protests

Baubles to bars: India gold culture defies curbs

"Gold has been deeply entwined in Indian culture for thousands of years. Nowadays, India is by far the world's biggest buyer of gold and those imports are an increasing drain on an economy that is growing too slowly to reduce widespread poverty. Last year Indians imported 864 tons of gold, about one fifth of world sales. The unquenchable appetite for gold coins, bars and jewelry has swelled India's trade deficit and weakened its currency, making crucial imports such as fuel more expensive. Industry experts say there are signs that higher import taxes have encouraged smuggling, which hasn't been a problem since India lifted strict gold controls more than 20 years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBaubles to bars: India gold culture defies curbs

Left In The Dark: Copper Thieves Rob Detroit Freeways Of Light

"MDOT spokesman Rob Morosi said roughly 20 percent of the lights on poles and beneath overpasses on freeways in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties are dark. 'We are responsible for about 5,500 light poles and also about 5,000 individual lights that are installed beneath overpasses,' Morosi told The Detroit News. 'Right now we’re estimating 1,100 outages to those poles for a number of reasons.' The main reason for many of the outages, according to Morosi, is copper thieves – who are stripping metal from the transformer cabinets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLeft In The Dark: Copper Thieves Rob Detroit Freeways Of Light

Armed thieves steal planeload of Zurich-bound diamonds and gold

"Armed thieves stole diamonds and gold worth millions of francs on Monday night at Brussels airport as the valuables were being loaded onto a Helvetic Airways plane bound for Zurich, according to media reports. The gun-wielding thieves drove onto the airport tarmac in two vehicles which tore through a fence opening shortly before 8pm, the airport said. Several Belgian media outlets reported that a Brinks armoured truck was the target of the armed robbery by eight individuals. Employees of Brinks were in the process of loading the cargo of jewels and gold on the Helvetic Airways plane. The value of the booty was estimated at more than 430 million francs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArmed thieves steal planeload of Zurich-bound diamonds and gold

Julian Assange on Real Time With Bill Maher: NDAA Kill List

"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange weighed in on the brewing controversy surrounding the Obama administration's targeted killing program Friday night during an appearance on 'Real Time With Bill Maher.' Assange railed against the revelation, made by NBC News earlier this week, that the U.S. government reserves the right to extrajudicially kill U.S. citizens, as long as they are perceived to be 'imminent' terror threats -- with 'imminence' being given an especially broad definition." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJulian Assange on Real Time With Bill Maher: NDAA Kill List

Deputy Reprimanded After Threat To Bash Citizen’s Skull And Feed Him To Alligators Caught On Video

"A Broward Sheriff’s deputy caught on camera unloading a torrent of obscenities and threats — including death at the hands of alligators — at a man being investigated for causing a disturbance was issued a written reprimand and allowed back on the force. The video from a patrol car of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper captures Deputy Alan Dubinski speaking to Jessie Merchant, a man with whom Dubinski has a law-enforcement related history, as Merchant was being investigated for causing a disturbance." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeputy Reprimanded After Threat To Bash Citizen’s Skull And Feed Him To Alligators Caught On Video

2 LAPD officers allegedly forced sex acts on women

"Two Los Angeles Police Department officers are under investigation for allegedly preying on women over a period of five years, luring them into an unmarked car and forcing them to perform sex acts, according to court records. The pair repeatedly used the threat of jail to get women into their car and drove them to secluded areas where one of the officers demanded sex while the other kept watch, the warrant alleges. Valenzuela and Nichols worked together until recently as narcotics officers in the Hollywood Division. Investigators have identified four women who encountered the pair and made similar independent accusations against them." Continue reading →

Continue Reading2 LAPD officers allegedly forced sex acts on women

Paris women allowed to wear pants after two hundred year-old ban is lifted

"An archaic by-law banning Parisian women from wearing trousers has finally been repealed 214 years after it was originally introduced. The November 1799 decree stipulated that any woman wishing to wear men’s clothing in the French capital had to seek official permission from the city authorities. It was amended two times a century later, when women were given the freedom to don 'pantalons' [trousers] if they were 'holding the handlebars of a bicycle or the reins of a horse.' The decree was passed when the working class fashion of wearing long trousers (as opposed to the aristocratic knee-length 'culottes') became a symbol of the French revolution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingParis women allowed to wear pants after two hundred year-old ban is lifted

Moms in Spain Strip to Raise Money for School Bus

"A group of mothers at a school in eastern Spain has decided to appear nude in an erotic calendar with the aim of collecting the 43,000 euros ($55,000) needed to restore school transportation services for their children. The problem, the mothers say, is that the 80 students at the school have had their school transportation taken away by decision of the regional authorities, and they say that their kids have to walk 6 kilometers (3.72 miles) over unpaved roads to get to class. The mothers, most of whom are young, are posing for the calendar inside bus stop shelters or next to the steep embankments of the town." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMoms in Spain Strip to Raise Money for School Bus