Apr
17
2013
Saudi Arabia is taking new measures to crack down on foreigners working illegally in the world’s top oil exporter, Adel al-Fakieh, the labour minister, has said.
The new steps will include jail terms for small business owners and the hiring of 1,000 inspectors who will be accompanied by policemen when checking businesses, the minister said on Wednesday.
Firms will face penalties if they harbour illegals, Fakieh added.
“If an owner of a small enterprise conspires with an illegal …
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Apr
17
2013
BASRA: Hundreds of local protesters blocked a main entrance of Iraq’s giant southern West Qurna-2 oilfield, operated by Russia’s LUKOIL, demanding jobs in a sign of the growing challenges facing foreign firms operating in the south.
Local communities and tribes in Iraq, where foreign oil companies are developing the OPEC nation’s vast energy reserves, periodically protest to squeeze companies for jobs and other work benefits.
Around 500 angry protesters gathered at the main entrance, demanding Lukoil supply …
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Apr
17
2013
A Los Angeles Community College District proposal to lower the car allowances given to campus presidents and other executives — but use the money to boost salaries — has come under fire at a time when many students are unable to get classes because of budget cuts.
Senior executives receive a $1,530 monthly allowance, the highest of any district in the state. Under a plan to be considered by the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, that …
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Apr
17
2013
There’s a common factor in the gun debate and the investigation into the horror in Boston. The common factor is the National Rifle Association.
The NRA has done everything in its power to neuter the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. As the ATF and FBI explosives experts investigate the bombs, it would be helpful if they could identify the source of the explosive materials. In 1996, an effort was made to require the use of …
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Apr
17
2013
ARABIC speakers escorted off a flight by police, planes searched on the tarmac and airports evacuated as US security goes on high alert after the Boston bombings.
United States security is on high alert after two explosions ripped through the Boston Marathon killing at least three people and injuring more than 170.
At Logan International Airport in Boston two men who were not seated together started speaking Arabic, My Fox Boston reported. That was enough to …
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Apr
16
2013
Capping four years of explosive growth sparked by the election of America’s first black president and anger over the economy, the number of conspiracy-minded antigovernment “Patriot” groups reached an all-time high of 1,360 in 2012, while the number of hard-core hate groups remained above 1,000. As President Obama enters his second term with an agenda of gun control and immigration reform, the rage on the right is likely to intensify.
The furious reaction to the Obama …
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Apr
16
2013
SACRAMENTO — A drive to ban most stores from handing out single-use plastic bags got an important boost Monday when the California Grocers Assn. announced its support for a bill.
The measure by state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) would prohibit the bags in grocery stores and pharmacies beginning on Jan. 1, 2015. Shoppers would be urged to bring their own reusable cloth or plastic bags or would have the option of paying the actual cost of …
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Apr
16
2013
WASHINGTON — A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concludes that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture” and that the nation’s highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it.
The sweeping, 577-page report says that while brutality has occurred in every American war, there never before had been “the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred …
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Apr
16
2013
Police in Bahrain have fired tear gas and clashed with students in a raid on a secondary school in the capital, Manama, reports say.
Officers stormed the Jabreya school for boys after students staged a protest demanding the release of a colleague arrested on Monday, activists say.
About 100 people have been arrested this month amid growing tension ahead of Sunday’s F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain.
The kingdom has been rocked by anti-government protests since early 2011.
The latest …
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Apr
16
2013
By Rebecca Leber on Apr 16, 2013 at 10:25 am
After months of initial negotiations, the Senate gang of eight released a comprehensive immigration reform bill that creates a 13-year path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In addition to creating a long path to citizenship, the legislation adds new powers for the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen enforcement, attempts to clear the backlogs of people waiting for visas, and expands E-Verify. Here are the essential …
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