Brazilian government officials said Wednesday that they would crack down on cattle ranchers in the Amazon after new data showed that deforestation there had increased by 26 percent in the nine months that ended in April, compared to with the same period a year before. The data showed to that […]
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil’s environmental agency gave final approval on Wednesday for a giant hydroelectric power plant in the Amazon rain forest that has been at the center of a protracted battle between the government and environmentalists over the fate of indigenous people. After three decades of planning, the […]
URUAÇU, Brazil — When the Chinese came looking for more soybeans here last year, they inquired about buying land — lots of it.Even as Brazil, Argentina and other nations move to impose limits on farmland purchases by foreigners, the Chinese are seeking to more directly control production themselves, taking their […]
BEIRUT: Response teams are trying to put out a massive fire that erupted on the premises the Beddawi oil refinery in north Lebanon Sunday which led to the injury of one individual. The fire, which erupted on the premises of the oil refinery near the port city of Tripoli, quickly […]
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage and cauliflower, contain a chemical called Sulforaphane. This chemical is belongs to family of anti-cancer chemicals made by many plants. This particular chemical has recently been shown to stop cancerous cells from dividing while having no such effect on normal cells. This […]
In the past few years, massive amounts of land in Africa have been bought by foreign organisations. A new report from the US-based Oakland Institute says that in 2009 alone, foreign investors bought or leased nearly 60 million hectares of land in Africa – an area about the size of […]
Near-complete results from Turkey’s election show the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won a third term. With 99% of ballots counted the AKP had 50% of the vote, which local media said translated to 326 seats in parliament. But that would be 41 seats short of […]
Just over five months after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot and critically wounded at a congressional event in Tucson, the public got its first glimpse of the Arizona congresswoman via her Facebook page Sunday. Her office posted two clear photos of a smiling Giffords posing outside her Houston rehabilitation hospital last month. […]
Fashion-conscious young Muslim women are well aware that in western societies, covering up is often considered more scandalous than baring all. Jane Paulick reports Sport-minded Muslims like to quote the Prophet Mohammad, who said, “Teach your children swimming, archery and horse-riding.” As far as the former is concerned, the difficulty […]
By SARAH EL DEEB CAIRO — An Egyptian security official says authorities have detained an alleged Israeli agent and are interrogating him on suspicion he tried to recruit protesters during the popular uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The official said Sunday the alleged spy entered Egypt and posed as […]
Hackers attempted to create a mysterious ‘insider presence’ at the organisation, which is investigating with the FBI. The International Monetary Fund’s computer system has been targeted in a cyber attack which sought to gain an ‘insider presence’ in the organisation’s network. An IMF spokesperson said on Saturday that the network […]
Atlanta (CNN) — Kulsoom Abdullah is a 35-year-old with a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering. But it’s her passion outside of work that has put her at the center of a debate — one that could affect athletic competitions worldwide, even the Olympics. Later this month, the International Weightlifting […]
Baghdad (CNN) — The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is distancing itself from statements made by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher that led to a government spokesman saying the congressman and his delegation are not welcome in the country. Embassy spokesman David Ranz issued a statement Saturday saying “congressional visitors do not necessarily […]
Can we make ourselves smarter? In recent decades, scientists have accumulated increasing evidence that our intelligence, at least as measured by the IQ test, is sharply constrained by genetics. Although estimates vary, most studies place the heritability of intelligence at somewhere between 50% and 80%. It’s an uncomfortable fact, but […]
Indonesia is making big in-roads into the international art scene. The value of pieces by Indonesian artists has been steadily increasing — a piece by S. Sudjojono sold for $385,000 at an auction in April, while a painting by Balinese artist Lee Man, “Bali Life,” was sold for $3.24 million […]
Is happiness really all that? It depends on how you define it. The business writers at 24/7 Wall St. have modified a new “Better Life” index, with its multiple measures including “life satisfaction,” and added their own economic and political measures. The result is a Top 10 happy countries list […]
By ASIF ISMAIL | GLOBAL INDIA NEWSWIRE The 17th World Sacred Music Festival kicked off June 3 in Fes, the charming Moroccan city of majestic hills and ancient walls, with a dazzling opera based on that eternal love story, Layla and Majnun. Under the artistic direction of the Morocco-reared and […]
Capital city Yerevan with Mount Arafat in the background At Eastertide we usually go to unusual places in the pursuit of archaeology. This year it was the turn of Armenia, an unusual place perched in the Caucasus. It is slightly smaller than Belgium, with a population of around three million. […]
Israel is involved in a massive propaganda drive to counter Palestinians’ UN bid (winning recognition for their state). It is reported that secret cables have been sent to all Israeli embassies to exert maximum pressure on the countries they are in to thwart the international recognition of Palestinian state. Envoys […]
Does one sin in the eyes of God or just those of the Maltese Church? That’s the million dollar question the majority of the Maltese people answered on May 28. Now that the referendum frenzy is over and the result has clearly shown that the feeling of the Maltese people […]