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The council also authorized all necessary measures to protect civilians from attacks by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
The US, UK, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gabon, Lebanon, Nigeria, Colombia, South Africa and Portugal voted to approve the resolution, while China, Russia, Brazil, Germany and India abstained.
Celebratory gunfire and horns were heard in Benghazi and Tobruk immediately after the vote.
Sky News correspondent Emma Hurd, in Tobruk, said: “Clearly everybody in this town and further to the west in Benghazi have been watching their televisions waiting for the news from the UN in New York and this is exactly what they wanted to hear.
“They now have that no-fly zone resolution and also the pledge
Continue reading Libya: UN Security Council Approves No-Fly Zone
By Bill Roggio
December 9, 2010
Coalition and Afghan special operations teams have hit hard at the Taliban and allied groups’ leadership and rank and file during more than 7,000 raids throughout Afghanistan over the past six months.
Approximately 7,100 special operations counterterrorism missions have been conducted between May 30 and Dec. 2 of this year, the International Security Assistance Force told The Long War Journal. More than 600 insurgent leaders were killed or captured. In addition, more than 2,000 enemy fighters have been killed, and over 4,100 fighters have been captured.
The enemy commanders and fighters killed or captured are from various jihadist groups battling Coalition and Afghan forces, including the Taliban, the
Continue reading Special Operations Forces Deal blows to Taliban Ranks
By STEPHEN SINGER, AP Business Writer Stephen Singer, Ap Business Writer – Sat Nov 13, 11:15 am ET
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – On land poisoned by toxins from a long-gone manufacturing era, more than 6,500 solar panels face the south sky, capturing the sunlight of a late autumn day in the Berkshire Mountains.
They’re ready to deliver power to New England.
The Western Massachusetts Electric Co. site in Pittsfield, New England’s largest solar project, promises to produce enough electricity for about 300 homes starting later this month. That’s a tiny fraction of what the region needs to run computers, lights, TVs and everything else utility customers take for granted.
But the $9.4 million solar plant and an even
Continue reading Largest Solar Power Plant in Mass. About to Start
Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar – Pro-democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi walked free Saturday after more than seven years under house arrest, welcomed by thousands of cheering supporters outside the decaying lakefront villa that has been her prison.
Her guards effectively announced the end of her detention, pulling back the barbed-wire barriers that sealed off her potholed street and suddenly allowing thousands of expectant supporters to surge toward the house. Many chanted her name as they ran. Some wept.
A few minutes later, with the soldiers and police having evaporated into the Yangon twilight, she climbed atop a stepladder behind the gate as the crowd began singing the national anthem.
“I haven’t seen you
Continue reading Myanmar Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Released
By Bill Roggio November 2, 2010
Afghan and Coalition forces captured the leader of “a cell of approximately 50 foreign fighters” during a raid in central Afghanistan yesterday.
The commander, who was not identified, was detained during a raid in the Maidan Shahr district in Wardak province, which borders Kabul.
“The target [of the raid] was wanted for leading a cell of approximately 50 foreign fighters, serving as a suicide-attack facilitator and leading small-arms and improvised explosive device attacks against ANSF and ISAF,” the International Security Assistance force stated in a press release. He was wanted by the Afghan government and is currently being interrogated by the National Directorate of Security.
ISAF would not
Continue reading ‘Foreign Fighter’ Cell Leader Captured in Central Afghanistan
DETROIT (Oct. 28) — A new book by an urban agriculture visionary aims to change the way people think about farming, offering a look into a future where city skyscrapers — not rural fields — produce the world’s food. In “The Vertical Farm,” Dickson Despommier challenges the notion that plants should be grown in soil, advocating for developing and investing in big projects using hydroponic greenhouses and other indoor growing technology in cities. The goal is to provide safe, fresh food around the globe in a way Despommier says is impossible with modern farming. He acknowledges that getting to that future might be expensive, but he considers it a challenge akin to the space
Continue reading ‘Vertical Farming’ Envisions Tech Future for Food DAVID RUNK , AP
By David Edwards Friday, October 29th, 2010 — 8:57 am
A district school board member in Arkansas will resign after making comments on Facebook saying that gays should commit suicide.
“I am going to resign from the school board,” Clint McCance told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Thursday.
McCance is vice-president of the Midland School District in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas.
The Advocate first reported Tuesday that McCance had posted a screed on Facebook wishing that gays would “commit suicide” and “give each other AIDS and die.” He also used words like “queer” and “fag.”
Thursday McCance said he was quitting “to help my community, to help my school.”
“I don’t want them to receive bad press
Continue reading Arkansas School Board VP to Resign After Saying Gays Should ‘Give each other AIDS’
Liberals, 18- to 29-year-olds express the highest levels of support by Elizabeth Mendes
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While California’s marijuana ballot initiative is garnering a lot of attention this election cycle, Gallup finds that nationally, a new high of 46% of Americans are in favor of legalizing use of the drug, and a new low of 50% are opposed. The increase in support this year from 44% in 2009 is not statistically significant, but is a continuation of the upward trend seen since 2000.
1969-2010 Trend: Support for Making Use of Marijuana Legal
These results are from Gallup’s annual Crime poll, conducted Oct. 7-10. Approximately 8 in 10 Americans were opposed to legalizing marijuana
Continue reading New High of 46% of Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana
While ceasefires and non-violence between nations are hallmarks of the United Nation’s annual International Day of Peace (Sept. 21) it’s also about bringing peace into our homes, communities and schools. Rotary clubs always have embraced this call for peace at the grass-roots level by addressing the underlying causes of conflict and violence through thousands of community-based service projects around the world. “Since 1905, Rotary clubs have worked locally and internationally to make the world a better and more peaceful place one person, one family, one community at a time,” said Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, chair of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Rotary also takes a direct approach to world understanding by providing future leaders with
Continue reading Rotary Helps Foster Peace Through Education
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: September 9, 2010
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gay members of the military is unconstitutional, a federal judge in California ruled Thursday.
Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court struck down the rule in an opinion issued late in the day. The policy was signed into law in 1993 as a compromise that would allow gay and lesbian soldiers to serve in the military.
The rule limits the military’s ability to ask about the sexual orientation of service members, and allows homosexuals to serve, as long as they do not disclose their orientation and do not engage in homosexual acts.
The plaintiffs challenged the law under the
Continue reading Judge Rules That Military Policy Violates Rights of Gays
The winner of Mitchum’s Hardest Working Man in America contest was awarded $100,000 last month for his labor of love: hauling tires, trash – and even rusty cars – out of the nation’s rivers on behalf of his non-profit conservation group. Chad Pregracke has worked for twelve years to… Read more at Good News Network
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ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2010) — Tissue regeneration a la salamanders and newts seems like it should be the stuff of science fiction. But it happens routinely. Why can’t we mammals just re-grow a limb or churn out a few new heart muscle cells as needed? New research suggests there might be a very good reason: Restricting our cells’ ability to pop in and out of the cell cycle at will — a prerequisite for the cell division necessary to make new tissue — reduces the chances that they’ll run amok and form potentially deadly cancers.
Now scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a big step toward being able to confer
Continue reading Newts’ Ability to Regenerate Tissue Replicated in Mouse Cells
29 July 2010, UNITED NATIONS — The UN General Assembly on Wednesday recognized access to clean water and sanitation as a human right. After more than 15 years of debate on the issue, 122 countries voted in favor of a compromise Bolivian resolution enshrining the right, while 41 abstained. The text “declares the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life.” The resolution laments the fact that 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water and that more 2.6 billion do not have access to basic sanitation. It notes that roughly two million people die every
Continue reading UN Declares Access to Clean Water a Human Right
Rwanda has been declared free of landmines – the first country to achieve this status. The announcement was made at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World in Colombia. Hundreds of people have been killed and horrifically injured by landmines in Rwanda. Landmines were laid between 1990 and 1994 in Rwanda and over the past three years more than over 9,000 have been destroyed by Rwandan soldiers.
Continue reading Rwanda: First Landmine Free Country
The Chinese government is opening an official bar for gay men as part of local authorities’ efforts to fight HIV and AIDS. The bar is based in Dali, a town in the south western Yunnan province. Yunnan has the country’s highest rates of HIV and AIDS, according to official data. The government said it funded the 120,000 yuan (17,500 US dollar) project to reach out to the gay community in China and break social stigma against gay men.
Continue reading China Opens First Official Gay Bar
UK PM Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have proposed a multi-billion-dollar fund to help developing nations deal with climate change. Mr Brown said the $10bn (£6bn) fund should also be used to help developing nations cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Continue reading UK and France Propose Climate Fund for Poor
Pakistani security forces recently detained a mid-level Taliban commander who was wanted by the government. Abdullah Shah Mehsud, who was number 17 on the list of 20 most-wanted Taliban commanders from South Waziristan, was captured by Pakistani forces in the district of Tank. He is an “active member of Hakeemullah Mehsud Group from Shaktoi village near Razmak” in North Waziristan
Continue reading Pakistan captures wanted South Waziristan Taliban commander
Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, pondering a future in politics, is trying to wipe away his image as an enemy of Latino immigrants by positioning himself as a champion of that fast-growing ethnic bloc. Mr. Dobbs, who left the network last week, has said in recent days that he is considering a third-party run for a New Jersey Senate seat in 2012, or possibly for president. Polls show voters unhappy with both parties, and strategists believe Mr. Dobbs could tap populist anger over economy issues just as Ross Perot did in the 1990s.
Continue reading Dobbs Reaches Out to Latinos, With Politics in Mind
President Barack Obama has given a major boost to next month’s UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen by offering firm targets for cuts in US greenhouse gas emissions. The move, announced today, has been widely welcomed by climate change campaigners. But although they may seem generous, the proposed targets are in fact far from what developing nations and climate scientists have called for.
Continue reading Obama Offers Fixed Targets for US Emissions Cuts
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Keeping workers healthy, happy and at work through so-called wellness programs remains a priority for many companies despite financial pressures from the global economic downturn, a survey found on Monday.
Continue reading Healthy Worker Programs Survive Economic Crisis
ISLAMABAD: The Obama administration may be close to reversing course on its current strategy in Afghanistan, after our sources quoted as saying that high-level talks with senior Taliban militants are currently underway.
Continue reading US Involved in Secret Talks with Senior Taliban
Hopes for the Copenhagen climate summit in December have been boosted after it emerged that more than 60 presidents and prime ministers plan to attend. There had been concern that no strong agreement would emerge from the talks in Copenhagen. But observers say the presence of so many leading government figures will radically increase expectations.
Continue reading Hopes for Copenhagen Climate Summit Boosted
MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin has made headlines by championing the endangered Siberian tiger — posing with a cuddly cub and placing a tracking collar on a full-grown female in the wilds of his country’s Far East. Now Russia is helping plan an ambitious program it hopes can double the global tiger population by 2022.
Continue reading Russia Launches Program to Save Tigers Worldwide
ACHIN, Afghanistan — American and Afghan officials have begun helping a number of anti-Taliban militias that have independently taken up arms against insurgents in several parts of Afghanistan, prompting hopes of a large-scale tribal rebellion against the Taliban.
Continue reading As Afghans Resist Taliban, U.S. Spurs Rise of Militias
Al Ram, West Bank (CNN) — The Faisal al Husseini football stadium was packed, two hours before kick off, with a noisy sea of Palestinian flags and white hijabs. Football matches are always a big deal in the West Bank, but this game was more significant than most. 10,000 women had flocked to the stadium, on the outskirts of East Jerusalem and a mere few meters from the separation barrier that snakes around the West Bank, to watch a historic football match few would have believed possible just a few years ago: the Palestinian women’s national team were to play Jordan in their first ever home international.
Continue reading Women flock to see first female football game in West Bank
Bacteria which glow green in the presence of explosives could provide a cheap and safe way to find hidden landmines, Edinburgh scientists claim. The bugs can be mixed into a colourless solution, which forms green patches when sprayed onto ground where mines are buried.
Continue reading Glowing bugs could find landmines
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