In parts of Europe and Asia, anti-Islamic sentiments went up, while growing anti-Semitism was noted in Venezuela, Egypt and Iran. The International Religious Freedom Report quoted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who praised comments by a religious leader calling for Allah to “destroy the Jews and their supporters.” In Venezuela, state-controlled media published multiple anti-Semitic remarks, including opposition to a Catholic presidential candidate with Jewish roots.   Read More

The controversy centers on Pagan Island, part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), which is itself made up of 14 islands, three of which are inhabited (Saipan, Tinian and Rota). American forces intend to occupy all of Pagan Island for live-fire training and military exercises. Pagan was inhabited for more than 3,000 years, but the population was evacuated during a volcano eruption in 1981.   Read More

The state adopted the Cuba Amendment, which banned businesses from receiving state and local contracts if they had dealings in Cuba or Syria, or maintained connections with companies that did so. The law also required companies to certify that they did not have business operations in any of the two countries when bidding on a government job or renewing a contract with a government agency.   Read More

To some observers, there may be more to the story than meets the eye because so much of it strains credulity—such as the unlikely use of a cheap-looking disguise, a recruitment letter written in such a potentially compromising way, and the fact that Russian authorities and media—already on the scene of the arrest—moved with lightning speed to plaster photos, video and information across the media landscape.   Read More

At least 43 contractors have been told by the MOF that they owe a combined $921 million in business taxes and associated penalties, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). SIGAR pointed out that the government of Hamid Karzai signed deals with the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Aid and other bodies to excuse non-Afghan businesses from paying local taxes as long as they are helping with the war.   Read More

Researchers in the United Kingdom examined more than 48,000 species and concluded that 55% of common plant species and 35% of common animal species could lose half of their living space by 2080 if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue at their current pace. The study’s investigators, based at Britain’s University of East Anglia, believe the species most at risk are amphibians, plants and reptiles.   Read More

A senior official told the newspaper that DHS is concerned about a repeat of what happened in Saudi Arabia last summer, when an Iranian-based cyber assault affected 30,000 computers at Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil producers. That attack was similar to the American-Israeli operation that unleashed the Stuxnet worm on computers used in Iran’s nuclear enrichment plants, which was intended to slow Tehran’s goal of developing nuclear weapons.   Read More

President Ronald Reagan stood by Rios Montt, calling him “a man of great personal integrity and commitment,” even as human rights groups published accounts of atrocities and abuses under the dictator. Such accounts were bolstered by the disclosure of a 1983 secret CIA cable that implicated Montt’s government in “hit squad executions.”   Read More

Judge Paul Papak said there was “a preponderance” of trial evidence that showed the defendants “knew of [the]…contamination” at the site, “affirmatively misrepresented the extent of the risk posed by sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali” to the plaintiffs and that the company “failed to disclose the extent of that risk” to them.   Read More

Sopko has been busy since taking office last summer, tripling the number of audits and investigations. To date, his office has come up with 73 recommendations to government agencies that would save at least $450 million if enacted, he says. “I am not a cheerleader. I’m a watchdog—it is my job to point out what isn’t working, so it can be fixed."   Read More

As it stands, the average acidity of surface ocean waters is now about 30% higher than before the Industrial Revolution, experts estimate. The increase in acidity could affect many ocean species, including commercially important fish, scientists say. They also predict major changes in the marine ecosystem in the years ahead, with some species being harmed, while others thrive.   Read More

Stifled by their government’s opposition to free speech, citizens of China have used the Internet to reach out to the White House and voice their concerns about problems back home. On the We the People website created by the Obama administration, thousands of Chinese have joined a petition calling for an investigation into a nearly 20-year-old case involving an alleged murder attempt.   Read More

Now word has filtered out of the area that seventeen Sudanese poachers, in search of ivory, have swooped into the area, driven out the researchers and, as of last night, begun slaughtering the elephants at Dzanga Bai. This is a sickening development. Not only are wild elephants one of the earth’s treasures, but the sort of people who would shoot them to death are just one step away from turning their weapons on the Pygmies and others who either stand in their way.   Read More

The UN representatives singled out for concern low-wage agricultural workers and harmful practices by the mining industry, among other problems. They cited employee complaints about being paid less than minimum wage, as well as “chronic disregard” for health and safety measures, including the destructive practices of strip mining and “mountaintop removal” by the coal industry.   Read More

More than 3,000 people, mostly young women, worked in the Rana Plaza building that contained five garment factories producing items for JCPenney, Cato Fashions, Benetton, Primark, Canada’s Joe Fresh, Walmart’s Canadian operation and others. Immediately following the tragedy, Benetton officials insisted they had not purchased clothes made in the factories. However, photos and other evidence surfaced indicating Benetton products were indeed produced in the shops.   Read More

The process often involves hospitals putting patients on chartered international flights and shipping them out of the country, all without going through the government’s deportation system. Advocates for immigrants say the number of medical repatriation cases may increase once the federal healthcare reform law goes into effect. This is because the new law will reduce government payments to hospitals that receive uninsured patients.   Read More