With climate change, concrete deserts and agriculture, human beings have fundamentally altered the face of the Earth. But have we really ushered in a new geological era, the so-called Anthropocene? Paul Crutzen, winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, finds it hard to believe. “It’s incredible to see what a […]
Following a series of abuse cases in Europe and North America, revelations have emerged of sexual abuse by priests in a number of African countries. The case of Father Renato Kizito, who is accused of raping young men in Kenya, shows how local power structures work in favor of the […]
That reporting a rape is an arduous ordeal is a truth that resounds globally. When braving for police investigations, enumerating the ordeal in court and damaging stereotypical media representations become a norm then the argument for a pellucid approach becomes preemptory. In 2006, a much-heated debate on the Hudood […]
For the second month in a row, employers added barely any jobs in June, showing that the economic recovery has hit a serious speed bump. With all levels of government laying off workers, the Labor Department reported that employers eked out just 18,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs in June. The […]
As many as 320 million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme poverty in the next four years, while India’s poverty rate is projected to drop to 22%, says a UN report. Read More:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Indias-poverty-will-fall-from-51-to-22-by-2015-UN-report/articleshow/9152344.cms
Mosques are a part of the Swiss landscape: there are over 100 dotted around the country. There are four minarets in Switzerland – in Geneva, Zurich, Wangen and Winterthur.
The European Court of Human Rights has rejected two appeals against a ban on the construction of new minarets in Switzerland.Judges ruled that the plaintiffs – three Muslim organisations and a private citizen – were not victims of an alleged human rights violation. The Strasbourg-based court on Friday announced that […]
cientists in Saxony have discovered 290-million-year-old fossil skeletons of a previously unknown, tree-dwelling lizard species in a perfectly preserved petrified forest that casts new light on the habits of ancient reptiles. The researchers in Chemnitz have found five well-preserved fossil skeletons of a reptile species that lived more than 50 […]
The Church of Scientology is a notoriously difficult subject for journalists. The press has long been considered an enemy of the church, which was founded half a century ago by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion, author Janet Reitman tells the fascinating […]
At some point markets will recognize that a rapidly-shrinking pool of workers and customers in parts of Europe cannot generate profits. Why would anyone buy a 30-year bond from any of these countries when by 2041 there won’t be enough taxpayers left to pay the coupons. Read More http://blog.atimes.net/?p=1845
KHAR, Pakistan: One of Pakistan’s most notorious Taleban radio voices is back on the air after the army raided his stronghold last year and drove him across the border into Afghanistan. The resurgence of Maulvi Faqir Mohammed — also one of the Pakistani Taleban’s top commanders — illustrates the resilience […]
More than 90 per cent of C. difficile patients are cured by fecal transplants, studies suggest A controversial new treatment, which involves the transplantation of human waste, can treat cases of C. difficile infection. But only a handful of physicians in Canada undertake the messy procedure. Clostridium difficile is a superbug that […]
LUBBOCK, Texas—New research conducted at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center reveals neurochemicals delivered directly to the gut via probiotic intestinal microbiota benefit brain health as well as digestive health. The research paper, published in the journal BioEssays, proposes a new field of microbial endocrinology where microbiology meets neuroscience. […]
BOSTON: US President Barack Obama’s father had intended to put his unborn son up for adoption as the senior Obama tried to appease US immigration officials who raised concerns about him having two wives as well as his “playboy ways”, a new book has revealed.Details about Obama senior have emerged in […]
Man given synthetic trachea created by growing his own stem cells on artificial ‘scaffold’ Surgeons have performed the first transplant operation using an organ wholly grown in a laboratory to give a man a new windpipe. The 36-year-old is recovering after surgeons implanted the world’s first wholly lab-grown organ into […]
That reporting a rape is an arduous ordeal is a truth that resounds globally. When braving for police investigations, enumerating the ordeal in court and damaging stereotypical media representations become a norm then the argument for a pellucid approach becomes preemptory. In 2006, a much-heated debate on the Hudood Laws […]
Prosecutors entered relatively light sentencing demands on Thursday for 10 participants believed to have roles in the deadly mob attack on a group of Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, Banten, earlier this year. The defendants, charged with crimes ranging from provoking violence to assault, received sentence demands in the five […]
Stepping into the gardens of the Shrine of Bab is like entering a hallucination. They rise in steps all the way up the mountainside above Haifa’s downtown, and at the midway point, at mid-morning, the clear light off the Mediterranean combines with the precise efforts of 150 gardeners to achieve […]
Despite the myriad problems currently facing the European Union, democratization is not the answer. Rather, the EU’s elites need to improve — and power has to be taken away from the periphery. More: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,773071,00.html
News International has decided to close the 168-year-old tabloid News of the World in response to a phone-hacking scandal at the newspaper. German commentators say the affair reveals just how murky the world of British journalism is. more…http://www.spiegel.de/international/