Mia Farrow, Carole White testify in Charles Taylor's war crimes trial
Actress Mia Farrow and Carole White have testified in former Liberian president Charles Taylor's war crimes trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, The Netherlands. Farrow and White's testimonies contradict supermodel Naomi Campbell's testimony from last week.White said Campbell was "mildly flirtatious" with...
Pressure mounts against Florida church plans to burn Quran
A Gainesville, Florida church named the Dove World Outreach Center has drawn international attention to itself with its planned book burning of the Quran. The church urges people to send them copies of the book for burning at a bonfire event to be held on church property this coming September 11. The date marks the ninth...
The Net Neutrality spat explained
By Marian Wang in PropublicaIn recent weeks, top officials from the Federal Communications Commission have held closed-door meetings to negotiate with the country’s biggest communications companies and online service providers on how the Internet should be regulated. In a statement today, the FCC said it had called off those...
Northern lights may appear across Canada and northern U.S. late Tuesday night
Forecasters predict that northern lights could be visible to the naked eye late tonight and early tomorrow morning across Canada, northern parts of the U.S., and possibly the United Kingdom.Solar storms caused a large ejection of plasma from the Sun's surface on Sunday, and the plasma...
Bull fighting banned in Catalonia
The parliament of Catalonia, an autonomous region of Spain, today voted to outlaw bullfighting – an iconic sport in much of the country. The vote was held after animal rights activists, led by Spanish animal rights group Prou! (Spanish for "Enough!"), who claim the practice is "barbaric", collected 180,000 signatures to a ...
Gitmo challenges could endanger half of convictions
By Chisun Lee in ProPublicaDecisions on two legal challenges to the Guantanamo military commissions system, both expected this summer, could undo half the convictions won so far before the tribunals and disrupt a number of pending cases.The appeals of two 2008 convictions attack several core aspects of the young trial system....
Man disguised as Darth Vader robs bank
A man dressed as the Star Wars antagonist Darth Vader robbed a bank in Setauket, New York. The robber was dressed in a character themed mask and blue cape. Armed with a hand gun, the robber stole an undetermined amount of cash from the Chase bank branch.The robber entered the bank saying that he was robbing it. Customers...
'Misleading' Burger King advert banned in the United Kingdom
An advert by fast food restaurant Burger King has been banned from British television over claims that it is misleading. The campaign for the new TenderCrisp chicken burger received two complaints over the fact that the burger appears significantly larger on the advert than in real life.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)...
A CLOSER LOOK: the questionable cost of America's spy games
By Stephen Engelberg, ProPublicaThere's nothing like a spy story to get the journalistic juices flowing. They have all the elements. High stakes. Betrayal. And, if you're lucky, sexual intrigue. The true import of spy stories is more difficult for readers to weigh. The facts are invariably spooned out by intelligence agencies...
2010 worst year for Afghanistan since US invasion
The Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM), an Afghan human-rights group, stated yesterday that 2010 was the worst year in terms of violence for the country since US-led troops occupied the country in 2001.The ARM says that civilian deaths have risen and that Taliban insurgents have not been defeated despite a surge in troops in ...
