Israeli air strikes hit Hamas HQ in Gaza
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, Nov 17 (AFP) -Israeli air strikes destroyed the cabinet headquarters of Gaza’s Hamas rulers yesterday after militants fired rockets at the heart of Israel which called up thousands more reservists for a possible ground war. The Israeli military said it had sealed off all main roads around Gaza and declared a [...]
IAEA raises new alarm on Iran
VIENNA, Nov 17 (AFP) – Iran is on the cusp of being able to triple output of nuclear material that, if further treated, could be used in the core of a bomb, a new UN atomic agency report showed. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quarterly update said that fitting out of the Fordo plant was [...]
India textbook says meat-eaters lie and commit sex crimes
A non-vegetarian meal is enough to turn on the devil in you. At least that is the proposition of a book published by S. Chand Group for Class VI students. The book titled ‘New Healthway – Health, Hygiene, Physiology, Safety, Sex Education, Games and Exercises’ classifies non-vegetarians as “cheats and liars” and also violent. The second [...]
47 school children dead in Egypt train-bus tragedy
CAIRO, Nov 17 (AFP) -Forty-seven nursery school children were killed yesterday when a train ploughed into their bus in the central Egyptian province of Assiut, governor Yehya Keshk said. “The deaths have now reached 47. There are 13 children injured,” Keshk told state television. The bus, which was taking 60 children on a trip organised [...]
BJP protests at Irish embassy
NEW DELHI, Nov 16 (AFP) -About a hundred opposition protesters held a demonstration outside the Irish embassy on Friday over the death of an Indian woman who died after being refused an abortion in the Catholic country. The crowd, carrying posters of the dead 31-year-old dentist Savita Halappanavar and accusing Irish authorities of committing “medical [...]
New President-elect of China grew up in a cave
China’s new president Xi Jinping was officially introduced to the nation this week, but to many Chinese citizens it is the face of his glamorous pop star wife that will appear far more familiar. The Communist Party leader-elect and powerful military chief is married to Peng Liyuan, the syrup-voiced megastar of popular Chinese folk music. Nicknamed [...]
Back to the dark old days
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new treason law which opponents say could be used to smother dissent and put anyone who has contact with foreigners at risk. The law means Russians representing international organisations could be charged with treason. The maximum sentence for the offence is 20 years in prison. The law was published [...]
Kung fu nuns teach cosmic energy to CERN scientists
GENEVA (Reuters) – A dozen kung fu nuns from an Asian Buddhist order displayed their martial arts prowess to bemused scientists at CERN this week as their spiritual leader explained how their energy was like that of the cosmos. The nuns, all from the Himalayan region, struck poses of hand-chops, high-kicks and punches on Thursday [...]
Neda Soltani: ‘The media mix-up that ruined my life’
In June 2009, a woman was shot dead in a demonstration in Tehran. Neda Agha-Soltan became the face of the Iranian protest movement – except that it was not her face to begin with, but the face of university teacher Neda Soltani. Here, Neda Soltani tells her disturbing story. On 21 June 2009, I went [...]
Lavish parties, ‘outrageous conduct’ and ‘dates’ with an ex-governor
Staring at Jill Kelley’s $1.3m mansion from the street, it would be hard not to think that this was a person who had made it in life. The vast 1923 brick house is in one of the most fashionable districts of Tampa, Florida, the lawns are perfectly manicured, it has six bedrooms and four bathrooms for [...]
Presidents’ kids to talk about White House life
Whether it was to steal a first kiss or listen to Led Zeppelin, climbing onto the roof of the White House was apparently a common sneak-out practice among presidents’ children. Steve Ford garnered laughs during a panel discussion Thursday with fellow children of former presidents as he recalled dragging a stereo onto the roof with [...]
Is your laptop making you depressed?
Using your laptop or tablet in the evenings could put you at risk from depression, according to a new study. Researchers have found exposure to bright light at night elevates levels of a stress hormone in the body which triggers the condition and reduces the ability to learn. Study leader Samer Hattar, from Johns Hopkins [...]
The artificial muscles that could lead to smart clothes
They might not be able to make you into Superman but newly invented super-strong, artificial muscles could bring science fiction technology to life. Super strong robots, clothes that get warmer when it’s cold and blinds that close themselves when it’s sunny are just some of the artificial muscles’ potential uses, say the technology’s creators. Made from [...]
‘Government surveillance is on the rise’ says Google
Google today admitted that it had received – and complied with – a record number of requests from governments to reveal information about its users. The latest edition of the search giant’s Transparency Report shows governments around the world made nearly 21,000 requests to access its data in the first six months of 2012. The [...]
Gaza: Obama’s kill list policy compels US support for Israel
Israel’s escalating air attacks on Gaza follow the depressingly familiar pattern that shapes this conflict. Overwhelming Israeli force slaughters innocent Palestinians, including children, which is preceded (and followed) by far more limited rocket attacks into Israel which kill a much smaller number, rocket attacks which are triggered by various forms of Israeli provocations — all [...]
The emerging world’s education imperative
NEW DELHI – Official delegations from the world’s nine most populous developing countries just met in New Delhi to discuss a subject vital for their countries’ futures: education. The meeting of ministers and others from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, known as the E-9, is the latest in a series [...]
Remembering wars: The spirit of service and sacrifice
Remembrance Sunday is a day on which we remember, not wars in general, but the individual sacrifices made in wars. We remember, in a silence that says more than words ever can, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when at last the guns fell silent on the most [...]
