CHICAGO (AP) — An ambitious plan to close 50 schools and programs in Chicago met a new legal challenge Wednesday, with the filing of a lawsuit that claims some of the closure decisions violated a process set out in Illinois law.

The Chicago Teachers Union and parents of public school students filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court. They claim Illinois law bars the Chicago Board of Education from closing 10 elementary schools it …

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Israel’s blockade and inhumane practices continue to take their toll on Gaza’s sole fresh water source.

According to Gaza’s Environment Quality Authority nearly ninety percent of the tiny coastal enclave’s aquifer is polluted.

Among the various chemical pollutants in the Gaza Strip’s water are Nitrates and Chloride.
Their levels are three times higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.

Nowadays people can only drink filtered water which they buy from private filtration stations.

Throughout the years Tel-Aviv has …

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If the planned Geneva peace talks on Syria fail, it will mark the end of the road for attempts to find a negotiated solution to the conflict, and should open the door to the wholesale delivery of arms to the rebels, a Turkish minister has said.

Omer Celik, the foreign affairs chief in Turkey’s ruling AKP party, portrayed the Geneva meeting planned for mid-June as a last chance for the international community to salvage its credibility …

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SACRAMENTO – Women could go to a medical professional other than a doctor to end some pregnancies under a bill advancing through the state Legislature.

The bill by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, would allow nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician’s assistants to perform so-called aspiration abortions during the first trimester. The method involves inserting a tube and using suction to terminate a pregnancy.

Atkins said her bill, AB154, would help expand access to abortion services …

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A writer in Saudi Arabia prompted his readers to sexually harass women in newly integrated public places, unleashing a war of words in the digital sphere over the country’s views towards women.

Abdullah Mohamed al-Dawood, author of several self-help books published in Arabic, took to Twitter recently to call on his followers to harass and molest women who had been hired to serve as cashiers in Saudi grocery stores. Using a hashtag that roughly translates to …

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More people in Cuba will be able to use the internet, although access will still be under strict government control.

The government is creating an additional 118 outlets, which will make use of faster bandwith thanks to undersea fibre optic cables between the Caribbean island to Venezuela. Cuba cannot use others due to a US embargo.

Starting from June 4, the extra access will be provided by the state telecommunications monopoly ETECSA for a reduced price than …

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On Tuesday, a task force commissioned by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli found no legal basis for either the governor or the general assembly to automatically restore the voting rights of former convicted felons, but the governor found a way to do it anyway, Colorlines’ Brentin Mock reports.

Gov. Bob McDonnell announced that he would lift the permanent voting ban for those who have nonviolent felonies on their records on a case-by-case basis, sending a …

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We’re now in the sixth year of the economic collapse and the home foreclosure crisis persists. It continues to drag down families, destroy wealth, weaken communities and prevent economic recovery. Inadequate government response has led to a long-term economic crisis that could have been avoided. With good policy, more losses can still be avoided and the economy can begin a real recovery. According to a 2010 report by the Center for Responsible Lending, 2.5 million …

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Why do some of the largest environmental organizations still invest in fossil fuels? As outlined in my new piece, Time for Big Green to go Fossil Free, organizations such as The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society aren’t taking the simple step of divesting their large endowments and publicly traded investments from energy corporations. Below is a cheat sheet (not comprehensive) for how much money big green groups are investing and for who is—and …

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What’s the greatest threat to Alaska’s pristine wilderness?

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is up there, as is climate change. But if you ask people who live in the state, many will tell you that Pebble Mine—a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine that would be as much as two miles long, a mile and a half wide, and 1,700 feet deep—is their biggest environmental concern. It’s also one that the Obama administration Environmental …

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