U.S. and the World
Growing Attacks on Malaysian Churches over Use of “Allah” to Refer to Christian God
At least nine churches in Malaysia have been vandalized this month since the country’s highest court overturned a ban on the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims. Malaysia’s High Court ruled in favor of the Catholic Church on December 31, allowi... read more
Chinese-Made Children’s Jewelry Made of Toxic Cadmium
Unable to use lead in products it sells to the United States, manufacturers of children’s jewelry in China are turning instead to cadmium—a heavy metal known to cause cancer. The Associated Press had a laboratory test a random sampling of Chinese-... read more
Army Imprisons Iraq Vet for Hip Hop Song
Specialist Marc Hall, aka hip hop artist Marc Watercus, was looking forward to the end of his U.S. Army service in February and never going back to Iraq, when commanders decided to “stop-loss” him—the policy that allows military officials to keep ... read more
Israeli Military Officers Cancel Trip to UK Over Possible War Crimes Arrests
A law in the United Kingdom once intended to pursue Nazi war criminals is today being used to go after Israeli military and civilian officials accused of wrongly killing Palestinians. Under British law, judges are allowed to issue secret arrest wa... read more
Afghan Civilian Deaths Average 6 a Day; Most Killed by Insurgents
Civilian fatalities in Afghanistan increased in 2009, but the United States and its allies were not responsible for the majority of the deaths. According to statistics compiled by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Afghan deaths went up nea... read more
Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing” Dies with a Whimper
American soldiers have been going it alone in Iraq since last summer, when the last partners of President George W. Bush’s “coalition of the willing” pulled out. But the name, Multinational Force Iraq, didn’t officially change until the New Year f... read more
First Month Without a Single U.S. Combat Death in Iraq
It took six years and 10 months, but the United States finally made it through a month in Iraq without an American soldier dying in combat. December 2009 was the first time since the invasion in March 2003 that no U.S. troop succumbed to injuries ... read more
World Conflict Total for 2009 Drops to a Mere 7 Wars and 24 Severe Crises
The year 2009 was an improvement as far as global wars were concerned, according to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research. The institute’s annual conflict analysis found there were a total of 365 political trouble spots in 2... read more
U.S. Military Aid to Israel Averages $3 Billion a Year for Last 25 Years
Washington’s generosity towards Israel has amounted to $3 billion a year in military aid since 1985, and extends even further back to the mid-20th century. According to a Congressional Research Service report, no other country has received more fo... read more
Russians Plan to Save Earth from Asteroid in 2036
Sounding like a character from the film Armageddon, Russia’s leading space official,
Anatoly Perminov, warned this week that action must be taken to keep an asteroid from striking the earth in 2036. Perminov said “lives are at stake” unless Russi... read more
Obama Eases Treatment of Political Refugees
Immigrants fleeing torture or persecution no longer will spend indefinite incarceration in American immigration centers, thanks to a change in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration re... read more
NASA Chooses Three Finalists for Next Space Mission
NASA has a date and a budget for its next New Frontiers mission, but no destination just yet. The space agency does have three possible choices in mind and will decide sometime after 2010 whether to send an unmanned probe to the moon, Venus or an ... read more
Laser Weapons Next Up in the U.S. Arsenal
Once little more than a Buck Rogers-like dream of the military’s when President Ronald Reagan unveiled his “Star Wars” plan, lasers may become an actual weapon employed on the battlefield to destroy the enemy within a couple of years. While lasers... read more
Wounded in Iraq, Contract Translators Battle Insurance Companies
In exchange for helping American soldiers communicate in a foreign-speaking land, Iraqi translators were supposed to receive from the U.S. government a modest salary ($12,000 a year) and insurance benefits in case of injury or death. But for many ... read more
Married U.S. Forces in South Korea Required to Have Chemical Masks for Kids
Just in time for Christmas … the Infant-Child Chemical Agent Protection System! But it’s not sold in stores, and is only available for children of military parents stationed in South Korea. That’s because the United States is still worried about a... read more
Record-Setting Wet Place is Drying Up…And the Highest Waterfall Gets a New Name
India and Venezuela are not happy about their famous locales where it’s all about the water. In India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya, locals are concerned about the dwindling rainfall in Cherrapunjee, one of the world’s rainiest places. Instead... read more