17 Sep, 2013

Hope Modi doesn’t give up hardline Hindutva: Uddhav Thackeray

The response among the people to his anointment as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate has been positive and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra should now ensure that he did not give up “hardline” Hindutva, old ally Shiv Sena said here today. “We expect Modi will not keep hardline Hindutva aside. He shouldn’t compromise on the issue of […]

17 Sep, 2013

In Muzaffarnagar, back to the future – The Hindu

Generally, Hindu-Muslim relations are a great deal more robust today than they were in the 1970s when tension was always simmering under the surface — and a riot waiting to happen. While researching a book on the subject, I found a refreshing change in the attitudes of both communities. Young Hindus and Muslims say they […]

17 Sep, 2013

NSA ‘Follow the Money’ branch spied on Visa customers, SWIFT transactions – report — RT News

The NSA has been widely monitoring international banking and credit card transactions, a new report says referencing Edward Snowden’s leak. The agency targeted Visa customers and global financial service SWIFT and created its own money flows database. Referring to information leaked by Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and NSA contractor, German Der Spiegel reports […]

15 Sep, 2013

China warns: US phase-out of QE to ‘split’ emerging markets, destablise currencies

By WEI TIAN

Beijing, 2013-09-14, (China Daily) –  The United States plan to taper its quantitative easing policy will “split” emerging economies, with some — including China — better-placed to withstand the change while others will face currency depreciation and capital flight, experts said. “QE tapering by the US will be the single biggest uncertainty for the world economy,” […]

15 Sep, 2013

Dutch apologise 66 years after atrocities – Al Jazeera Blogs

“She is more than 100 years old.” Relatives point at the frail old lady staring blankly from a flowery sofa in her house in Bulukumba in South Sulawesi. When she sees me 93-year-old Nani I find out her real age later starts hugging me. A weird feeling for a journalist from the Netherlands to be […]

14 Sep, 2013

US security agency masqueraded as Google to spy on web users – report — RT News

The NSA used ‘man in the middle’ hack attacks to impersonate Google and fool web users, leaks have revealed. The technique circumvents encryption by redirecting users to a copycat site which relays all the data entered to NSA data banks. Brazilian television network Globo News released a report based on classified data divulged by former […]

14 Sep, 2013

Hindutva Marches Ahead As Modi Named Prime Ministerial Candidate – CounterCurrents.org

Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat and a strong proponent of Hindutva was anointed by BJP as its candidate for Prime Minister in 2014 Indian Parliament elections. Conspicuously absent, was the BJP’s senior-most leader LK Advani, a hardline Hindutva adherent and another prime ministerial aspirant, who refused to support the decision, holding out till the […]

14 Sep, 2013

Pakistan preparing to take up US drone attacks at UN

=========

ISLAMABAD, Sept 12 (NNN-APP) — Pakistan on Thursday said preparations are underway to raise the issue of drone attacks at the United Nations in accordance with the recommendation of the resolution adopted in the All Pakistan Conference hosted by the government. Foreign Office Spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry at the weekly briefing Thursday said necessary directives […]

13 Sep, 2013

PressTV – US whistleblower Edward Snowden nominated for Sakharov Prize

Former NSA (National Security Agency) contractor Edward Snowden, who exposed the US’s worldwide espionage activities, has been nominated for the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Prize. Members of the European Parliament announced Wednesday that they would officially nominate the whistleblower for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The European MPs said Snowden risked his freedom […]

13 Sep, 2013

Secret Deal Allows NSA to Share Americans’ Data With Israel | Alternet

September 11, 2013 | The National Security Agency routinely shares raw intelligence data with Israel without first sifting it to remove information about US citizens, a top-secret document provided to the Guardian by whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals. Details of the intelligence-sharing agreement are laid out in a memorandum of understanding between the NSA and its […]

13 Sep, 2013

Noam Chomsky: 9/11 Is the Basis for ‘Obama’s Massive Terrorist War’ | Alternet

“[9/11] was very significant, a major terrorist act, thousands of people killed,” Chomsky says. “It’s the first time since the War of 1812 that U.S. territory had been attacked. The United States has had remarkable security, and therefore was, aside from the horrible atrocity, a very significant, historical event. And it changed attitudes and policies […]

11 Sep, 2013

Global Peace March To Damascus Planned

Once again innocent children & entire populations are going to be subjected to the role of helpless guinea pigs, whilst the latest weaponry is yet again tested. Once again residential areas, hospitals, schools, bridges, water supply systems, electric plants, will be targeted by the Cruise missiles, even as the entire civilian & social infrastructure of […]

11 Sep, 2013

Footage Of Chemical Attack In Syria Is Fraud, Says Mother Superior Of Monastery In Syria

There is proof the footage of the alleged chemical attack in Syria was fabricated, Mother Agnes Mariam el-Salib, mother superior of St. James Monastery in Qara , Syria , told RT. She says she is about to submit her findings to the UN. Mother Agnes, a catholic nun, who has been living in Syria for […]

8 Sep, 2013

Chinese commentator asks U.S.: Oh, when will they value the lives of others?

By Wen Zongduo (China Daily)

2013-09-07 – Human life seems to have lost its value, outside the United States, of course. Men in the thousands are killing one another faster and more efficiently in mid-air, on open squares, inside vehicles, behind ruined walls, from windows, during prayers and at burial grounds, and the victims are often women and children. Those […]

8 Sep, 2013

Noam Chomsky: Bombing Syria Would Be a ‘War Crime’ – Alternet

September 3, 2013 – A U.S. strike on Syria without a United Nations mandate would be a war crime, Noam Chomsky told the Huffington Post. The nation’s leading left-wing thinker made the comments after President Barack Obama announced that he would go to Congress to ask for authorization for an attack on Syria in response […]

8 Sep, 2013

10 Ways America Has Come to Resemble a Banana Republic – Alternet

Saying that the U.S. had a robust middle-class in the 1950s and ’60s is not to say it was devoid of poverty, which was one of the things Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was vehemently outspoken about. King realized that the economic gains of the post-World War II era need to be expanded to those […]

8 Sep, 2013

Inside America’s Dark History of Chemical Warfare | Alternet

September 5, 2013 – As the Obama administration presses ahead with its mission to punish the Syrian government for its alleged gassing of civilians in suburban Damascus, the particulars of the attack remain unclear. All too clear, though, is the role of the United States as a supplier, supporter and even employer of a wide […]

7 Sep, 2013

Obesity, Malnutrition Pose Twin Threats to Asia-Pacific’s Food Future: ADB Study

=========

5 September 2013 (ADB media release) – Asia and the Pacific’s drive for food security has focused too narrowly on quantity, with a surge in obesity and still high levels of malnutrition in some countries highlighting the need for a new approach, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study (Click here to download free). […]

6 Sep, 2013

Obama versus the world – pravda.ru

Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize-winner, states that what is at stake is universal values because “I didn’t set a red line. The world did” in his words. Let us then examine the opinion polls and draw a conclusion as to whether Barack Obama is in synchrony with the world, or whether he stands pitifully alone, […]

6 Sep, 2013

9 Ways America Has Fueled the Bloody Civil War in Syria – Alternet

September 4, 2013 – President Obama’s threats against Syria are framed by the carefully crafted image of a responsible superpower reluctantly drawn into a horrific conflict caused by others. But the reality is very different. For more than two years, U.S. policy has quietly fueled the escalation of the conflict in Syria and undermined every […]

5 Sep, 2013

The stupidity of porn-watching UK MPs should worry us – The Independent

More than 300,000 attempts were made to access porn websites at the Houses of Parliament in the past 12 months. That’s an average of 820 times a day. That’s a lot of busy wankers. As John McCain proved this week – caught playing poker on his iPhone during the three-hour hearing of the Senate committee […]

5 Sep, 2013

Bombardment of Syria clichés shows no sign of stopping – Robert Fisk, The Independent

Missiles maybe. But the bombardment of clichés is real enough – and low enough quality not to do anyone any harm except for the gentlemen who utter them. Really, who writes this stuff for Kerry? There was “armchair isolationism”. Why an armchair? And who was the target of the weird reference to post-First World War […]

5 Sep, 2013

China’s prosperity brings diabetes epidemic – The Independent

Diabetes in China may have reached “ alert level”, health researchers have warned, with nearly 12 per cent of adults, or 114 million people, suffering from the disease – and the majority of them unaware of their condition. The Journal of the American Medical Association has just published results of the most comprehensive survey for […]

5 Sep, 2013

Volume of flights over UK leaves air thick with greenhouse gas – The Independent

The ozone pollution caused by flights over the UK is among the lowest of any country in the world – but only because the sheer volume of flights to and from the country have already left the atmosphere so thick with the greenhouse gas that it has become relatively much more difficult to generate more […]

5 Sep, 2013

National Security Concerns Do Not Justify Curbing Press Freedoms In UK, Say UN Experts

=========

United Nations, Sep 4 2013 (UN News Centre) – Two United Nations independent experts today called on the United Kingdom to ensure journalists can perform investigative work without fear of intimidation, and stressed that national security concerns do not justify curtailing press freedom. “The protection of national security secrets must never be used as an […]

5 Sep, 2013

In St. Petersburg, UN Chief says: “People everywhere are worried about the future”

=========

United Nations, Sep 4 2013 (UN News Centre) – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today emphasized the need for global cooperation, particularly towards accelerating progress on agreed goals in education, poverty eradication and sustainable development, as leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) prepare to meet in the Russian city of St. Petersburg to discuss pressing global […]

5 Sep, 2013

Pepe Escobar: US Again Ready to Go To War For Israel

Nobel Peace Prize winner and prospective bomber Barack Obama has already implied – via hardcore hedging of the “I have decided that the United States should take military action” kind – that he’s bent on attacking Syria no matter what Congress says. Obama’s self-inflicted “red line” is a mutant virus; from “a shot across the […]

4 Sep, 2013

Married or single, Japan is a desolate country | The Japan Times

“The past century is a history of sexual distortion,” social psychologist Hiroyoshi Ishikawa told Time Magazine in 1983. “A small portion of young people in Japan are sexually very, very active,” he added, “while the vast majority are sexually repressed.” What would he say if he surveyed the scene today? Probably that not much has […]

4 Sep, 2013

Russia warns citizens against visiting countries that extradite to the US — RT

With Russian citizens being arrested abroad and being subsequently extradited to the United States become more frequent, the Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a warning advising travelers to carefully choose their destinations. “The incidents in which Russian citizens are detained in various countries of the world upon request of US law enforcers who seek to […]

4 Sep, 2013

Full border passport checks hit illegal migrant screening and drugs seizures – The Guardian

The home secretary’s drive to ensure that full passport checks are carried out at Britain’s borders has only been achieved at the expense of less rigorous screening for illegal migrants and fewer seizures of some types of drugs and weapons, says Whitehall’s spending watchdog. The National Audit Office reveals today that a “culture of fear” […]

1 Sep, 2013

UK is the ‘addiction capital of Europe’ report claims – The Independent

The UK is the “addiction capital of Europe”, with some of its highest rates of opiate addiction and dependence on alcohol, a major new report warns. Alcohol and drug abuse costs the UK £21 billion and £15 billion respectively, and the crisis of increasing addiction is fuelling the breakdown of society, according to the think-tank […]

1 Sep, 2013

Israel main beneficiary of US attack on Syria: Kevin Barrett

The moment this event happened the Israelis began pointing the finger at Assad and saying that they knew exactly what happened and today we got this report from Kerry and if you actually read his report, all of the details are classified, the sources are classified and all the report suggests that the sources pointing […]

1 Sep, 2013

Dangers Of Traveling While Female – Alternet

By Tara Isabella Burton If being a woman traveler has taught me anything, it is that the freedom to have an adventure, to have the adventures one chooses, is illusory. It is a privilege denied me, but it is a privilege all the same: the assumption that I have the right to impose myself, my […]

31 Aug, 2013

Now, fashion accessories designed to prevent rape – Times of India

AHMEDABAD: As nationwide protests are ramping up after gang rapes, some grassroots innovators from remote villages of the country are quietly coming up with anti-rape gadgets, unique accessories and innovative clothing to deter assaults. These innovators, mostly women, have designed the futuristic innovations in such a way that women can wear them as fashion accessories. […]

30 Aug, 2013

British Sikhs to oppose any Modi visit to UK – Hindustan Times

British Sikhs have expressed opposition to any proposed visit by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to the UK. The Sikh Federation UK has joined Muslim groups like the Council of Indian Muslims UK CIM-UK in their boycott following an invitation for Modi to visit Britain by some Indian groups of the country’s two main political […]

29 Aug, 2013

Forum stresses career benefits of study abroad The Japan Times

Japanese students should buck the stay-at-home trend and instead study overseas to gain skills to survive in an ever more globalized and competitive world, experts and former international students said at a recent forum on overseas study in Tokyo. Those skills include not only languages but also social skills like knowing how to work with […]

29 Aug, 2013

China package tour sales from Japan down 75% – Japan Times

People who bought or reserved China-bound package tours for the April to September period at four major Japanese travel agencies fell to one-fourth of the previous year’s level amid soured bilateral ties and concerns over air pollution on the continent, the agencies’ data showed Tuesday. As of late July, 6,302 people had bought or reserved […]

29 Aug, 2013

Pacific bluefin tuna stocks at record lows – The Japan Times

One of Japan’s favorite foods is about to become harder to get and more expensive. Consumers may soon discover just how rapidly Pacific bluefin tuna stocks are being depleted. A survey in July found that the Pacific bluefin stock of over 3 years old has fallen to near record lows. In response, Japan has proposed […]

28 Aug, 2013

‘End-Game’ Memo Shows How Banksters Ripped Apart Financial Regulation – Truthdig

A 1997 memo retrieved from the filing cabinet of investigative reporter Greg Palast shows the involvement of Lawrence Summers—Obama’s current favorite for chairman of the Federal Reserve—in a successful plan to help big bank CEOs “rip apart financial regulation across the planet. ”In the memo, future Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reminds “his boss to call […]

28 Aug, 2013

America Is No-Vacation Nation – Alternet

August 23, 2013  – America is the only developed nation that doesn’t legally guarantee any paid vacation time for its workers. In a recent study, The Centre for Economic and Policy Research, found that in the absence of government standards, almost one in four Americans have no paid vacation (23%) and no paid holidays (23%) […]

26 Aug, 2013

Indian MPs may be “inflating air travel bills” – Times of India

The stink of forged airline tickets being used to defraud the government is spreading to Parliament. Ever since TOI on Thursday exposed the widespread scandal in LTC (leave travel concession) claims, where officials of the central government and public sector units have been submitting forged or inflated airline travel bills, information has been emerging of […]

24 Aug, 2013

Aggressive behavior in children linked to soda

Children who drink soda tend to score slightly higher on scales that measure aggressive behavior than those who don’t drink the carbonated beverages, according to a new study. The study’s lead author cautioned, however, that the increase may not be noticeable for individual children and the researchers cannot prove soda caused the bad behavior. “It’s […]

24 Aug, 2013

Rate of radioactive flow to Pacific alarming | The Japan Times

Water releasing as much as 10 trillion becquerels of radioactive strontium and 20 trillion becquerels of cesium-137 from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has flowed into the Pacific Ocean since May 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Co. estimates. The combined figure of 30 trillion becquerels, announced late Wednesday, implies that highly radioactive water is entering […]

21 Aug, 2013

The price Gina Gray paid for whistleblowing – The Washington Post

Sadly, Gray’s case is emblematic of the way this administration has handled whistleblowers. Obama came into office pledging transparency and professing admiration for government workers who expose abuses. But his administration has pursued more cases under the 1917 Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined (including the prosecution of National Security Agency workers who tried […]

21 Aug, 2013

PressTV – Female Swedish activists don hijab to protest attack on Muslim woman

Swedish women of various faiths have posted photos on the Internet wearing an Islamic headdress (hijab) to express solidarity with a Muslim woman assaulted in the country for having a hijab. The effort, reported Tuesday by the local press, was part of a Hijab Outcry Campaign, initiated by Swedish women, including a number of politicians […]

21 Aug, 2013

Biggest museum theft in Egyptian history: Over 1,000 artifacts stolen — RT News

As Egypt plunges deeper into the political turmoil, looters take advantage of the situation – and the latest robbery of the Malawi Museum in the city of Minya, 300km from Cairo, has been the biggest of its kind in the Egyptians’ living memory. Looters got away with more than 1,000 objects, including a prized 3,500-year-old […]

21 Aug, 2013

Activist who fought superstition shot dead in Pune – Hindustan Times

Activist Narendra Dabholkar, who was running a successful anti-superstition movement in Maharashtra, was shot dead in Pune on Tuesday morning. Dabholkar was alone on a morning walk near Omkareshwar temple when unidentified persons on a motorbike fired at him and fled. Four bullets were fired at Dabholkar in the neck and he died on the […]

20 Aug, 2013

Muhammad Ali Centre launches fund-raising campaign, bid to inspire youth to greatness

=========

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–August 13, 2013 – Muhammad and Lonnie Ali, and the Muhammad Ali Center today launched a campaign on Prizeo, the premier celebrity charity-fundraising digital platform, to raise money and awareness for the work of the Muhammad Ali Center, a 501(c)3 organization in Louisville, Kentucky. For micro-donations starting at only $3, contributors to the […]

19 Aug, 2013

Glenn Greenwald: detaining my partner was a failed attempt at intimidation – The Guardian

This is obviously a rather profound escalation of their attacks on the news-gathering process and journalism. It’s bad enough to prosecute and imprison sources. It’s worse still to imprison journalists who report the truth. But to start detaining the family members and loved ones of journalists is simply despotic. Even the Mafia had ethical rules […]

19 Aug, 2013

Hi, I’m Your New Axis of Evil – AsiaTimes Online

By Pepe Escobar I have argued that what has just happened in Egypt is a bloodbath that is not a bloodbath, conducted by a military junta responsible for a coup that is not a coup, under the guise of an Egyptian “war on terror”. Yet this newspeak gambit – which easily could have been written […]

19 Aug, 2013

Coming soon: fees for carry-on luggage – Sydney Morning Herald

First, airlines started charging for checked luggage that used to be included in the ticket price. That alone is an entire new industry created in the past decade that now consumes around $30 billion worldwide in travellers’ cash. The consequence weren’t so much unforeseen as “What the hell! We’ll do it anyway”. Being forced to […]

19 Aug, 2013

Rajasthan’s model is better than Modi’s Gujarat: CM Ashok Gehlot

Gujarat has always been a developed state. The development that is happening there is not balanced. We are giving all round development which is not happening in Gujarat. Modi is very good at marketing himself and has a strategy chalked out but the people of the country will never accept him. Read the rest: Rajasthan’s […]

19 Aug, 2013

Hate crime: British teen assaults Sikh man – Hindustan Times

The video of an 80-year-old Sikh man being punched in the face and shoved to the ground by a 19-year-old British woman has triggered outrage amid fresh concerns over hate crimes. Closed circuit television (CCTV) in the British city of Coventry in West Midlands has captured shocking footage of the woman attacking the elderly man, […]

19 Aug, 2013

Mob vandalizes art exhibition in Ahmedabad – Hindustan Times

More than a dozen men allegedly associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajarang Dal vandalized an art gallery in Ahmedabad where exhibition of Pakistan artists’ paintings was held. The members stormed gallery “Amdavad no gufa” which was created by late painter MF Hussain and a noted architect BV Doshi, on Friday after the […]

19 Aug, 2013

Mob vandalises Ahmedabad art exhibition, tears down paintings – Indian Express

A group of 20 persons vandalised an art exhibition at Amdavad ni Gufa in Ahmedabad on Friday afternoon. The group tore down more than two dozen paintings belonging to celebrated artists hailing from both India and Pakistan. It is being alleged that a group of “right wing” activists was behind the act. However, no organisation […]

18 Aug, 2013

Top Israeli official “sick” of commemorating Hiroshima, Nagasaki A-bomb victims | Japan Times

JERUSALEM – A senior Israeli government official has posted online comments on Facebook saying he is “sick” of commemorations for the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, a local newspaper reported. “I am sick of the Japanese, ‘Human rights’ and ‘Peace’ groups” over holding their “annual self-righteous commemorations for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki […]

18 Aug, 2013

5 Companies That Make Money By Keeping Americans Terrified of Terror Attacks | Alternet

August 16, 2013 | Michael Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency, has invaded America’s television sets in recent weeks to warn about Edward Snowden’s leaks and the continuing terrorist threat to America. But what often goes unmentioned, as the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald pointed out, is that Hayden has a financial stake in […]

17 Aug, 2013

In U.S., 15% of Women Feel Unfairly Denied a Promotion – Gallup Poll

by Elizabeth Mendes

WASHINGTON, D.C. August 16, 2013 (Gallup Polls) — Fifteen percent of U.S. working women say they have at some point felt passed over for a promotion or opportunity at work because of their gender, while 85% say they have never felt that way. These perceptions are similar by age, educational attainment, and employment in a […]

16 Aug, 2013

Modi’s speech laid bare his conceit, lack of etiquette – Dileep Padgaonkar

The one who takes the cake for violating every norm, convention and etiquette that public figures are expected to respect on Independence Day is Narendra Modi. He had the gall to announce that the nation should decide whose address was more effective: his own in Bhuj or the Prime Minister’s address from the ramparts of […]

16 Aug, 2013

British Museum confirms identity of stolen Egyptian artefact – Ahram Online

In 2011, the British Museum identified four relief fragments as stolen. These came from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III, but that theft had occurred back in the 1980s. Except these six objects, no other stolen objects have come to the attention of the museum experts since the 2011 revolution. “I have little doubt, though, […]

14 Aug, 2013

Forget the beach, try an on-the-job vacation | The Japan Times

Forget the beach, try an on-the-job vacation by Masaaki Kameda KidZania, the theme park where children can role-play professions such as doctor or firefighter, has proved popular around the world: entertainment centers are now operating in 10 countries in addition to Japan, including Mexico, Indonesia and Portugal. Similarly, in Tokyo, there is a business that […]

14 Aug, 2013

UN Experts Urge Israel To Stop Harassment Of Palestinian Human Rights Activist Issa Amro

=========

GENEVA (13 August 2013) Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – – A group of United Nations independent human rights experts* expressed deep concern at the alleged ongoing judicial harassment, intimidation and abusive treatment directed against Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian human rights defender. Mr. Amro was arrested and detained 20 times […]

14 Aug, 2013

Are Rohingya the world’s most unwanted people? – Sydney Morning Herald

Kutupalong New Camp, Bangladesh-Myanmar border: Mohammed Rahim* has walked an hour to talk to us, from the green slopes of western Myanmar where he lives, down through the jungle, past the razor-wire fence and the border checkpoints, to this small wooden hut in Bangladesh. From the window where he sits, the 18-year-old can see the […]

14 Aug, 2013

US to target tax-evading Americans in the Gulf | Arab News

The United States Internal Revenue Service is inching toward implementing a tax law targeting US taxpayers holding unreported foreign financial assets. The law will have a far-reaching impact on American expatriates who have accounts with financial institutions in the GCC. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act FATCA, signed into law by President Barack Obama in […]

13 Aug, 2013

SR2.2bn reservoir to solve Jeddah’s water woes – Arab News

The National Water Company announced on Sunday that it was building a strategic water reservoir in Jeddah at a cost of SR2.2 billion with a capacity of 6 million cubic meters to meet requirements of the city’s growing population. The water storage facility is being built in Briman. The project’s first phase, which is designed […]

13 Aug, 2013

Real cost of U.K. benefits squeeze: £1,600 per family – The Independent

Welfare cuts that are meant to get the jobless back to work are driving down the living standards of hundreds of thousands of people who are in no position to find a job, an assessment of the Coalition’s welfare reforms says today. Researchers, who have used data to forecast what will happen to the 1.18 […]

13 Aug, 2013

Asian Century Rising: Will India become a “strategic vassal” of the U.S.?

By Fu Xiaoqiang

Beijing, (Global Times), August 12, 2013 – US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to India in late July has moved New Delhi closer toward an alliance between these two nations. Although the US and India share common interests in containing China, their strategic goals and policy paths are quite different. Illustration: Liu Rui/GT To a […]

13 Aug, 2013

Radiation fears forced postponement of Japan visit by U.S. students | The Japan Times

By BRIAN VICTORIA, Yellow Springs, Ohio In April of this year I was forced to make one of the most difficult decisions of my teaching career at the tertiary level: I was forced to recommend to the university authorities where I was employed that they postpone their planned Study Abroad Program in Japan scheduled for […]

12 Aug, 2013

1 Million Japanese school students sign nuke abolition call | The Japan Times

NAGASAKI – A students’ group in Nagasaki Prefecture said Sunday it has collected more than 1 million signatures from senior high school students calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons since it started gathering them in 2001. At a meeting in Nagasaki the same day of about 50 former and current members of the group, […]

12 Aug, 2013

40% of Indian airport staff fail explosives screening test – Indian Express

A little over 40 per cent of security personnel posted at airports across the country, who are supposed to detect explosives and suspicious objects in the hand baggage of passengers, fail to do their job, a test conducted by the country’s aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), has found. The X-ray […]

12 Aug, 2013

Can the American image be salvaged – Al-Ahram Weekly

Egyptian American relations on the official level have seen worse times than these tense moments. But it is on the public level that The American image in now seeing its worse. For the Obama administration to start dealing with this heavy task, it has first to stop being on the wrong side of history trying […]

12 Aug, 2013

The backlash begins: I want to shop where no one knows my name

By Diana Elliott

Is it seriously possible to do anything anonymously these days? Shop assistants ask me my name before letting me use the change room. If I buy something, I’m asked for my home address, email and birthday so they can put me on their ”mailing list” (spam). And then the most ignominious of all – my […]

12 Aug, 2013

Anger mounts over Israel’s ‘Ramadan permits’

=========

Ramallah, 06 August  2013 (IINA) – Palestinians have expressed anger at the timing of a decision by Israel to issue more than 200,000 entry permits during the holy month of Ramadan, which they say is geared towards boosting the Israeli economy. Store-owners in the West Bank say they will be badly hit as up to one million […]

11 Aug, 2013

Three Biggest Lies About Lowering Corporate Taxes

Instead of spending August on the beach, corporate lobbyists are readying arguments for when Congress returns in September about why corporate taxes should be lowered. But they’re lies. You need to know why so you can spread the truth. Read the rest: The Three Biggest Lies About Why Corporate Taxes Should Be Lowered.

11 Aug, 2013

Lavabit Owner’s Farewell Warning: Don’t Trust Your Data to U.S. Companies – Truthdig

The owner and CEO of the secure email service reportedly used by Edward Snowden decided to shut down Thursday rather than help the U.S. spy on his customers. According to The Guardian: “Lavabit, an email service that boasted of its security features and claimed 350,000 customers, is no more, apparently after rejecting a court order […]

10 Aug, 2013

On Eid, Ahmedabad mall charges entry fee from Muslims – Times of India

AHMEDABAD: A trip in the celebratory spirit of Eid turned out to be an experience in discrimination for many Muslims in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat. The Himalaya Mall, among the five biggest malls in Ahmedabad, on Friday announced a fee of Rs 20 from visitors from the minority community, to be returned to them only if […]

10 Aug, 2013

An Island Where People Live the Way We Used To | The Japan Times

by Amy Chavez Perhaps the best thing about living on a small island in Japan of just 583 people (258 men and 325 women) is that you can walk out your door and kiss the online world goodbye. Here, most people don’t walk around glued to their cellphones, the majority don’t even have smartphones, and […]

10 Aug, 2013

Separation trouble spreads in northeast India after Telangana decision – Hindustan Times

Earlier this week, a cartoon in an Assamese daily showed two persons standing on a sandbar in the Brahmaputra with one saying to the other: “Thank god, this river hasn’t yet been divided”. The cartoon was referring to violent statehood agitations across Assam that the UPA’s endorsement of Telangana triggered. It was also a reminder […]

9 Aug, 2013

Four shot in Texas in another U.S. homegrown terrorist rampage

=========

DALLAS, 2013-08-08, (Agencies) — A suspect in the fatal shootings of four people in two Dallas-area homes was in custody Thursday as police tried to determine what prompted the attacks just minutes apart and whether an explosive was used. Four people were wounded in the late Wednesday shootings. Investigators arrested Erbie Bowser at the second […]

9 Aug, 2013

China’s slowdown worries “overblown”

=========

Beijing, (Xinhua)  August 09, 2013 – Worries triggered by the recent slight slowdown in China’s economic growth are “overblown,” but Chinese policymakers need to continue pushing forward key reforms to facilitate its economic restructuring, a China expert said Thursday. China is still among the fastest growing economies in the world, and only a handful of […]

9 Aug, 2013

T-Mobile faces lawsuit over Geolocation of Cell Phones Patent

=========

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — North South Holdings Inc. (“North South”) — an intellectual property development company, today is announcing that one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Guidance IP LLC, filed a complaint against T-Mobile USA, Inc. for alleged patent infringement. The complaint is filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District […]

9 Aug, 2013

Privacy Int’l to challenge telecoms firms over surveillance cooperation | The Guardian

BT and Vodafone are among seven large telecoms firms which could be pulled into a legal challenge under human rights law for cooperating with GCHQ’s large-scale internet surveillance programs. Lawyers for the group Privacy International, whose mission is to defend the right to privacy, have written to the chief executives of the telecoms companies identified […]

9 Aug, 2013

Another Israeli Move to Wipe Palestine Off the Map – Al Jazeera English

Israel has given preliminary approval for the construction of more than 800 new homes in Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank, an Israeli official has said. Guy Inbar, the spokesman for Israel’s military-run Civil Administration in the West Bank, said on Thursday that initial plans to build 800 new settler homes were approved a […]

8 Aug, 2013

Ramadan a chance to reflect on charity, selflessness – William McKeith, SMH

By William McKeith For the first time in my life I have spent Ramadan working among the Muslim people of Lakemba. As a non-Muslim, who has lived and worked with mainly Christian and secular families, and had very little exposure to the Muslim faith, this holiest month in the Islamic Lunar calendar has concentrated my […]

8 Aug, 2013

Diabetes will soon be Australia’s number one killer – Sydney Morning Herald

Going blind. Getting your leg cut off. Kidneys packing up. Dying of a heart attack. The implications of being diagnosed with diabetes are shocking. Yet it seems many of us keep ignoring the alarm bells, with rates of diabetes soaring across the globe. This disease is big. It’s growing. It’s scary and it’s very expensive. […]

8 Aug, 2013

Survey reveals extent of social segregation in UK – The Independent

Just one in 10 Britons has a best friend from a different ethnic background, according to research which reveals that racial segregation is still a major issue in the UK. The polling for The Challenge Network, which aims to encourage integration through youth and community groups, found that Britons are in fact 8 per cent […]

8 Aug, 2013

A Fukushima fisherman’s tale: Radioactive Water Poisoning World’s Oceans – The Independent

Just 27 miles up the coast from this small harbour town, radioactivity from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant leaks into the ocean, and into the sardines, mackerel and squid that three generations of Mr Ichida’s family once caught. Engineers are fighting what appears to be a losing battle to stop the leaks from worsening. […]

7 Aug, 2013

Who wants to be a whistle-blower? – The Hindu

Both the verdict against Mr. Manning as well as the treatment meted out to him by the military since his May 2010 arrest leave troubling, unanswered questions about the Obama administration’s continuing belligerence towards not only free journalism in this country but freedom itself. Judge Lind’s decision to hand out a guilty verdict under six […]

7 Aug, 2013

10 Ways to Reduce the Threat of Terrorist Attacks on Americans | Alternet

10. Spend foreign aid money on education, healthcare and lifting people out of poverty. For a fraction of the money we keep wasting each month on the failed war in Afghanistan or supporting the already wealthy Israeli military, we could be building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, helping Yemenis find a solution to their water […]

7 Aug, 2013

Restaurants’ displays of fake food are real deal for tourists | The Japan Times

Alberto Pellegrini doesn’t speak or read Japanese, a deficit that threatened to leave the Italian tourist starving in a nation famous for its gastronomic delights. Fortunately for the hungry honeymooner, restaurants across this food-obsessed nation — where English menus range from sparse to nonexistent — often display their wares in the form of intricately made […]

7 Aug, 2013

Study: US debt is over $70 trillion, six times more than declared – RT USA

The United States has accumulated over $70 trillion in unreported debt, an amount nearly six times the declared figure, according to a new study by University of California-San Diego economics Professor James Hamilton. The unique aspect of Hamilton’s study is that he examines federal debt that has not been publicly released, specifically the government’s support […]

6 Aug, 2013

Glenn Greenwald: Is the U.S. Exaggerating Terror Threat to Silence Critics of Surveillance? | Alternet

For eight straight years, literally, Democrats, every time there was a terrorist alert or a terrorist advisory issued by the United States government in the middle of a debate over one of the Bush-Cheney civil liberties abuses, would accuse the United States government and the national security state of exaggerating terrorism threats, of manipulating advisories, […]

6 Aug, 2013

US gurdwara attack victim’s son bonds with repentant racist – Hindustan Times

Six weeks after a white supremacist gunned down Pardeep Kaleka’s father and five others at a Sikh gurdwara in the US last year, Kaleka was skeptical when a former skinhead reached out and invited him to dinner. But Kaleka accepted, and he’s grateful he did. Since then, the grieving son and repentant racist have formed […]

6 Aug, 2013

Ex-spy ‘Falcon’: Surveillance state only just beginning to flex its muscles – CNN.com

Transparency, public disclosure, and open debate will be stifled as America becomes the world’s first cyber-superpower. And politicians of both parties will go on fearing to resist lest they be blamed should a cyber-attack happen. Our surveillance state is only just beginning to flex its technological muscles. We have nothing to lose but our civil […]

6 Aug, 2013

Opinion: We’re living ‘1984’ today – CNN.com

CNN — It appears that the police now have a device that can read license plates and check if a car is unregistered, uninsured or stolen. We already know that the National Security Agency can dip into your Facebook page and Google searches. And it seems that almost every store we go into these days […]

5 Aug, 2013

Japan Tourism agency wants to make food, cosmetics duty-free | The Japan Times

The Japan Tourism Agency will propose adding food and cosmetics to the list of duty-free items for foreign travelers as part of its fiscal 2014 reform plan, agency sources said Sunday. The proposal is aimed at attracting travelers to mitigate the impact of the first stage of the sales tax hike planned for next April. […]

5 Aug, 2013

Punk Rockers break Myanmar’s silence on anti-Muslim attacks – The Hindu

Punk rockers draw double-takes as they dart through traffic, but it’s not just the pink hair, leather jackets or skull tattoos that make these 20-somethings rebels- It’s their willingness to speak out against Buddhist monks instigating violence against Muslims while others in Myanmar are silent. “If they were real monks, I’d be quiet, but they […]

5 Aug, 2013

U.S. foreign policy: You reap what you sow – pravda.ru

So the big picture these days is the lobbies, whose foot-soldiers are NATO and whose general command is the FUKUS Axis, centred on Washington using proxies to conduct their policies, funding and harbouring terrorists on their own lists of proscribed groups, using these to destabilize sovereign states. It is illegal, under international law. This is […]

5 Aug, 2013

Truthdigger of the Week: Bradley Manning – Truthdig

Is there anything to envy about someone who sacrifices all the worthwhile possibilities of life for the chance to save the rest of us? In the future, American justice decrees, Manning will never know the pleasures and terrors of dating in what remains of his 20s. He won’t enjoy long walks and leisurely picnics, the […]

5 Aug, 2013

Bill Blum: The Surveillance State Is as Strong as Ever – Truthdig

The harsh treatment of whistle-blowers will likely continue into the foreseeable future in pace with the needs and expansion of the surveillance state itself. In the aftermath of last month’s defeat of a proposed amendment to the Patriot Act that would have placed new limits on the National Security Agency’s ability to track phone records, […]