Muslims are under attack in Sri Lanka. Recent reports indicate that gangs of Buddhists have been roaming the streets, administering bloody mob beatings, and attacking places where Muslims work and worship. Raw pork has been thrown into mosques, the Halal logo has been banned, and the prominent Muslim government critic Azad Sally has been arrested. One dramatic incident ended with government commandos being deployed to maintain law and order after a gang of Buddhists …

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Despite overwhelming support from the general public, significant backing from medical doctors, and even several prominent Republicans publicly acknowledging cannabis has a legitimate medical use, the Obama administration officially insists it does not.

The administration’s traditional dodge when asked to explain this unpopular and scientifically unjustifiable position is to act as if it is a non-issue because they are not arresting medical marijuana patients. When Jessica Yellin asked on Wednesday why the administration refused to use …

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The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it will sue Texas to block a state law which requires proof of citizenship to vote, the latest volley in a nationwide battle over controversial voter ID laws, which critics say disenfranchise immigrants, people of color and the elderly.

In a press release, the DOJ also stated that it will separately intervene in the state’s redistricting laws. The release states that both laws were adopted with the “purpose, and …

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We’ll get a report back from the activities in Washington DC over the weekend to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. And, Malcolm Byrne of the National Security Archive joins us to discuss newly declassified documents from the CIA which for the first time reveal US involvement in the 1953 ouster of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. …

In the three weeks since a Truthout investigation revealed that federal regulators have approved at least two hydraulic fracturing operations in federal waters of the Santa Barbara Channel since 2009, a state commission has launched an investigation into the practice, California lawmakers have demanded a federal investigation, and environmental groups discovered that fracking also has occurred in state waters.

Internal government documents released to Truthout under the Freedom of Information Act show that fracking technology has …

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A covert national security programme allows the FBI and US immigration authorities the power to indefinitely delay immigration benefits to Muslims and those from Muslim countries, according to an investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The previously unknown programme, which began in 2008 under George W Bush to identify those with links to terrorism, has continued under President Obama to blacklist law-abiding applicants and profile Muslims as “national security concerns”, according to the ACLU.

Migrants who …

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A plan to make female high school students undergo mandatory virginity tests has been met with outrage from activists, who argue that it discriminates against women and violates their human rights.

Education chief Muhammad Rasyid, of Prabumulih district in south Sumatra put forward the idea, describing it as “an accurate way to protect children from prostitution and free sex”. He said he would use the city budget to begin tests early next year if MPs approved …

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Bradley Manning, who has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking government and military documents, announced Thursday intentions to live as a woman, requesting that she now be identified as Chelsea and with female pronouns. She provided the following statement on “the next stage of my life”:

I want to thank everybody who has supported me over the last three years. Throughout this long ordeal, your letters of support and …

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Canadian Muslim Kathy Nalas says she won’t give up her headscarf or her job as a children’s speech pathologist in Quebec, amid reports that the provincial government aims to ban religious dress and symbols from places that receive public funding — a move that would essentially import controversial European legislation on religious dress to North America.

Quebecois hospital and school workers would reportedly need to “display their religious neutrality,” according to a report that was published …

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The UK Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed in a statement he ordered his top civil servant to make sure the Guardian destroyed classified data on US and British surveillance programs. This comes amid implications that Cameron was behind the decision.

The deputy Prime Minster, Nick Clegg, who is leader of the more liberally leaning Liberal Democrat party, has told the British media that he backed Cameron’s decision, a spokesman for the Deputy prime Minster said in …

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