May
28
2013
The ongoing row between WikiLeaks and director Alex Gibney (pictured) has intensified, with the whistle-blowing organization publishing an annotated and critical transcript of the filmmaker’s doc We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks – a transcript that Gibney says is incomplete.
WikiLeaks published what purports to be a transcript of Oscar-winner Gibney’s Universal-backed doc, which had its world premiere at Sundance in January, on Thursday (May 23), the day before We Steal Secrets had its release …
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May
28
2013
Famous French smokers including the actor Catherine Deneuve and the novelist enfant terrible Michel Houellebecq have both publicly puffed on fake plastic slims while trying to give up smoking and retain a modicum of cool. But France’s love affair with electronic cigarettes could be about to hit a major stumbling block as the government considers banning them from all public places, including restaurants and bars.
The battery-powered devices which let users inhale a vaporized liquid nicotine …
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May
28
2013
Fears that Muslim communities across the country are facing a sustained wave of attacks and intimidation have intensified after it emerged that almost 200 Islamophobic incidents had been reported since the murder of British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south London, last week.
That number includes attacks on 10 mosques and follows a weekend of protests by far-right groups, the largest of which saw hundreds of English Defence League supporters stage a protest outside Downing …
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May
28
2013
May 27, 2013 |
In light of the historic resignation of one pope and the election of another, my Al Jazeera show Empire has travelled to Rome asking after the future of the Catholic Church as it bleeds worshipers and loses influence. As we take stock of the new Pope’s priorities, it’s clear that the role of the women in Church isn’t one of them.
Ever since the 4th century Christianisation of the …
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May
28
2013
Russia has ended weeks of ambiguity and insisted that it will honor its deal to sell “game-changing” S-300 anti-aircraft systems to the Syrian government. The advanced, long-range surface-to-air weapons could deeply complicate any attempt by the US or Israel to intervene in the bitter civil war, which is now in its third year.
The angry statement out of Moscow Tuesday appeared to be a direct response to the lapse of the European Union’s arms embargo against …
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May
28
2013
If given the attention it deserves, an important new book is certain to make significant contributions to the public discussions of US prison policy. The author, Shawn Griffith, was released last year from Florida’s prison system at the age of 41, after spending most of his life, almost 24 years, behind bars, including seven in solitary confinement. Facing the US Prison Problem 2.3 Million Strong: An Ex-Con’s View of the Mistakes and the Solution was …
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May
28
2013
Educating yourself about empire can be a challenging endeavor, especially since so much of the educational system is dedicated to avoiding the topic or justifying the actions of imperialism in the modern era. If one studies political science or economics, the subject might be discussed in a historical context, but rarely as a modern reality; media and government voices rarely speak on the subject, and even more rarely speak of it with direct and honest …
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May
28
2013
The operators of what the authorities described as one of the world’s largest online money laundering organizations, a central hub for criminals trafficking in everything from stolen identities to child pornography, were charged in an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors on Tuesday.
The organization, Liberty Reserve, was responsible for laundering over $6 billion over the last seven years, with millions of customers around the world, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said that the company “facilitated …
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May
28
2013
LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer wants the Justice Department to investigate if California utility executives deceived federal regulators about an equipment swap at the San Onofre nuclear power plant that eventually led to a radiation leak, The Associated Press has learned.
The California Democrat obtained a 2004 internal letter written by a senior Southern California Edison executive that she said “leads me to believe that Edison intentionally misled the public and regulators” to …
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May
28
2013
Three years ago, 12-year-old Fatima was “sold” into marriage to a man more than four times her age. Her father, unemployed and addicted to drugs, sold her into wedlock for about $10,500, money that he then used to buy himself a car. You might be asking yourself how this possible. The answer – because there is no minimum age of marriage law in Saudi Arabia.
But Fatima didn’t give up. With the help of Equality Now, …
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