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via Guy Adams, The Independent Declaring that “life must always be protected”, a senior Vatican cleric has defended the Catholic Church’s decision to excommunicate the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old rape victim who had a life-saving abortion in Brazil. Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re, who heads the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, told reporters that … Continue reading
via Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday offered Chicago area residents a new and compelling reason to welcome a NATO summit many are dreading as a giant inconvenience: a place in world history. No matter what happens with the thousands of demonstrators on the streets of Chicago outside McCormick Place, serious foreign … Continue reading
via William Pesek, Bloomberg The iPhone has become a symbol of something Steve Jobs never envisioned: Chinese sweatshops. Were the late Apple Inc. co-founder still with us, he would surely dispute that. But facts are facts, and any of us (full disclosure: this includes me) who use one of Apple’s smartphones, iPads or iPods is, … Continue reading
via Yahoo! News President Barack Obama has signed a waiver to remove curbs on funding to the Palestinian Authority, declaring the aid to be “important to the security interests of the United States.” A $192 million aid package was frozen by the US Congress after the Palestinians moved to gain statehood at the United Nations … Continue reading
via Zach Carter, The Huffington Post A group of 68 House Democrats and one Republican sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Thursday urging him to reconsider an element of the controversial free trade agreement currently being negotiated by the administration. If approved in its current form, the pact would effectively ban “Buy American” … Continue reading
via Agence France-Presse, The Raw Story At least 1,550 Palestinians in Israeli jails are now taking part in a mass hunger strike, Israel’s Prison Service said on Wednesday, with two of them marking their 64th day without food. IPS spokeswoman Sivan Weizman told AFP that another 100 prisoners had begun refusing food in the last … Continue reading
[Editress’ Note: The photos can be seen here. They are not for the squeamish.] via David Zucchino, L.A. Times The paratroopers had their assignment: Check out reports that Afghan police had recovered the mangled remains of an insurgent suicide bomber. Try to get iris scans and fingerprints for identification. The 82nd Airborne Division soldiers arrived at … Continue reading
via Christi Parsons, Chicago Tribune President Obama is moving one of two major world summits from Chicago to the presidential retreat near Washington, with an aide saying the president has decided he wants a more “intimate” setting than his hometown for the May gathering. The Group of Eight meeting will be moved to Camp David, according … Continue reading
via Mike Sacks, The Huffington Post The Supreme Court on Monday morning agreed to hear a case over whether corporations can be sued in federal courts for human rights violations occurring overseas. The case, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, arises out of a suit by a dozen Nigerian plaintiffs claiming that Royal Dutch and two … Continue reading
via Michael Moran, Slate The veto by Russia and China of an Arab League plan to prevent Syria’s violence from spiraling into a full-fledged massacre of those demanding to be treated with dignity will be remembered by Syrians of all stripes for a generation. The majority of the country, which has pleaded for pressure from … Continue reading
via Barbara Starr, CNN The Defense Department is notifying Congress Thursday it will open up nearly 14,000 jobs to military women that will place them even closer to the front lines of combat. A senior Pentagon official confirmed details to CNN, but declined to be identified until a formal announcement comes later on Thursday. Under … Continue reading
via Christopher Helman, Forbes Showing that it isn’t worried about the upswell of angst over hydraulic fracking technology, the Chinese government, through state-controlled Sinopec, today struck a deal with Devon Energy to buy into five prospective new exploration areas in the U.S. The deal, which includes $900 million in cash upfront and a promise of … Continue reading
via Diane Anderson-Minshall, The Advocate Gay travelers just got another reason to head to the Caribbean. According to Fox News Latino, Cancun, Cozumel, and other resort areas in the Mexican Caribbean will soon allow same-sex couples to legally marry, thanks largely to a recently discovered quirk in the local civil code. The area is already … Continue reading
via Jennifer Lind, Foreign Affairs Pity Kim Jong Un. In one day, he lost his father and inherited the worst job in the world. Yes, pity is far more appropriately bestowed on the millions of victims of his scurrilous family (think just of the one to two million North Koreans who perished during the famine … Continue reading
via Choe Sang-Hun, The New York Times The leadership of North Korea moved swiftly on Wednesday to portray Kim Jong-un, thrust into the international spotlight after the death of his father, as the country’s unchallenged ruler. With the military’s allegiance a central question to the new leader’s success in consolidating power, North Korean television showed senior military leaders … Continue reading
via Rafael Wober, AP, ABC News North Koreans marched by the thousands Monday to their capital’s landmarks to mourn Kim Jong Il, many crying uncontrollably and flailing their arms in grief over the death of their “Dear Leader.” North Korean state media proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, a “Great Successor,” while a vigilant … Continue reading
via Bill Austin, Bloomberg Kim Jong Il, the second-generation North Korean dictator who defied global condemnation to build nuclear weapons while his people starved, has died, Yonhap News reported. He was 70. The news came in a radio broadcast at noon local time, Yonhap reported, citing North Korea’s official media. Kim probably had a stroke in … Continue reading
via Tom Vanden Brook, USA Today The war in Iraq ended officially Thursday with a flag-lowering ceremony in which Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said a free, democratic Iraq was worth the sacrifice in American lives. “The cost was high — in blood and treasure for the United States and also for the Iraqi people,” Panetta … Continue reading
via E.D. Kain, Forbes If Obama does one thing for the remainder of his presidency let it be a veto of the National Defense Authorization Act – a law recently passed by the Senate currently which would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door … Continue reading
via Margaret Talev and Nicole Gaouette, Bloomberg The Obama administration will weigh how countries treat gays and lesbians in making decisions about foreign aid, according to a presidential memorandum released by the White House. Laws prohibit same-sex sexual activity in many nations in the Middle East and Africa, and in two of the largest recipients … Continue reading
via The AP, The Washington Post The leaders of a powerful Mexican cartel, frustrated that U.S. law enforcement was interfering with their lucrative drug business, plotted a military-style attack on a U.S. or Mexican government building to “send the gringos a message,” federal prosecutors allege in documents filed this week. Leaders of the Sinaloa cartel … Continue reading
via Peter Makossah, Nyasa Times Malawi and other African countries will not be forced or induced into enacting pro gay laws in exchange for aid, United Kingdom’s minister for Africa Henry Bellingham has declared. Bellingham , who has been visiting Malawi on his African tour that has also taken him to Zambia, stressed that her … Continue reading
via Richard Wolf, USA Today After spending less than 36 hours in Europe last week for a G-20 summit of world economic leaders, President Obama may wish he could run on his record for re-election here rather than back home. The stalled U.S. economy, his biggest political burden, is doing just fine by today’s European standards. His actions in … Continue reading
via Softbox Films
via Nick Carbone, TIME Japan can build anything, right? How about making a second Tokyo? It’s Japan’s business hub, capital, and largest, most densely populated city. But it sits on the tumultuous Ring of Fire. Tokyo was forced to face a stark reality earlier this year when a double-whammy 9.0 earthquake and tsunami rocked a … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 