To use our advanced search functionality (to search for terms in specific content), please use syntax such as the following examples:
Typhoon Washi swept through the Philippines two weeks ago. Flash flooding devastated a southern region and two cities, killing over 1,100 people. According to one official, “Mortuaries have been unable to cope and authorities have started digging mass graves to bury victims” (Reuters, December 20, 2011). Tens of thousands of displaced persons are crowded into...
EU Vice President Neelie Kroes invited Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg to Brussels “to advise on how to provide ongoing support to Internet users, bloggers and cyber-activists living under authoritarian regimes.” He has been living in the U.S. for the last several months in a type of self-imposed exile, while working with a major political think tank.
The Dover Air Force Base mortuary near Dover, Delaware, handles the bodies of military personnel killed in overseas operations. A recent investigation revealed that the Air Force dumped partially cremated remains of 274 personnel into a nearby landfill. This apparently happened even after families had asked the Air Force to handle their dead loved ones with...
Last week, North Korea’s 19-year supreme leader, Kim Jong Il, died of an apparent heart attack. This militarized nation, unable to sufficiently feed its people, will now be ruled by Kim Jong Il’s appointed successor, his third son Kim Jong Un (age 27). North Korea is known for its extended mourning rituals, so it is not yet known when Kim Jong Un will...
For 450 years, the Vatican has fought to regain control over holy sites in Jerusalem—ever since they were taken from Franciscan monks by the Ottomans about 1551 AD.
“America smashed the record for billion-dollar weather disasters this year with a deadly dozen, and counting. With an almost biblical onslaught of twisters, floods, snow, drought, heat and wildfire, the U.S. in 2011 has seen more weather catastrophes that caused at least $1 billion in damage than it did in all of the 1980s, even after the dollar figures from...
Last Tuesday, Herman Van Rompuy sent a confidential report to all EU leaders asking them to “respond vigorously by immediate action” to financial issues in Europe. It directed them to take decisive actions to save Europe.
Last Friday, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss an intergovernmental treaty that will enforce stricter financial laws among EU members. Four nations initially rejected the treaty but with “a strong diplomatic push… the Czech Republic, Hungary and Sweden entered the fold later.” Britain was the only one of the 27 EU nations to reject the treaty.
As of last Monday, the whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak in three Illinois counties included more than 500 diagnosed cases. Public health officials say the actual number of cases is much higher, but that the 500 represent solely “medically diagnosed” cases. In McHenry County alone there were 172 cases on Monday—up from just nine cases during the entirety of...
In another groundbreaking announcement this week, the White House highlighted its “wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad, including combating attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality.” Aid typically used to support and establish democratic governments, fight oppressive dictatorial regimes...