May
22
2013
Around 200 people hurled rocks at police and set cars ablaze in a Stockholm suburb during the second day of rioting, which was triggered by the fatal police shooting of a man wielding a knife.
Dozens of windows were smashed, 10 cars and several containers were set on fire, and seven police officers were injured on Tuesday.
Six people were arrested early in the day, but two were released after questioning, police spokesman Jorgen Karlsson said.
Cars and …
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May
22
2013
QUEULE, Chile — One beautiful morning in late spring, the ocean’s bounty had been especially plentiful, yet Luis Baez was in a foul mood.
At dawn, dozens of fishing boats under his stewardship returned from a midnight outing, heavy with silvery-grey fish called southern rays bream. With clear skies forecast for days ahead, crews might have readied for another trip, but with southern rays selling for just 75 cents per kilo, another excursion wasn’t worth the …
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May
22
2013
Laborers digging a water ditch just 200 yards from a former US Special Forces outpost in Afghanistan have discovered the body of a missing Afghan man, Sayid Mohammad, who was last seen being taken to the base after being taken into custody by men associated with the US military.
The discovery of the mutilated body is just the latest development in a bizarre but pivotal series of events that have pitted the authority of Afghan President …
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May
22
2013
Champions of equality slammed Democratic members on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday after it succumbed to the pressure of rightwing threats by removing a crucial amendment to the immigration reform package that would have provided inclusion and protection of LGBT members of immigrant and binational families.
“I’m committed to ending that discrimination,” Leahy said before withdrawing the amendment which Republican lawmakers said would essentially kill the legislation either at the committee level or in the …
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May
21
2013
Progressive protests against a wave of conservative legislation in the North Carolina State House show little sign of weakening at the one month milestone. Case in point, Monday evening, more than 600 supporters gathered out the General Assembly in Raleigh as 60 demonstrators were arrested, after pre-planned acts of civil disobedience.
The arrests were part of the “Moral Monday” series of protests that include civil rights advocates, students, clergy, and other progressive types fighting a …
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May
21
2013
“I’ve never seen anything like this and we don’t know anybody who has ever seen anything like this,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said yesterday of Apple’s baroque tax avoidance strategies. But Apple CEO Tim Cook, who will testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations today, is aggressively spinning what Levin called “gimmickry” as patriotic, commonsensical, and no big deal. Here are the most remarkable talking points from his pre-released Senate testimony:
1. Apple’s taxes are …
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May
21
2013
Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, argued that there is no comparison between Hurricane Sandy relief, which he voted against last fall, and aid for his state in the wake of the devastating tornado, because the two are “totally different.”
Inhofe contended on Tuesday that the Hurricane Sandy relief bill was different because it was filled with pork. “They were getting things, for instance, that was supposed to be in New Jersey,” he said on …
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May
21
2013
Petitions have failed. Lawsuits have failed. Even campaign pledges from future presidents have failed. So now one Guantanamo Bay detainee is hoping that Twitter can help him shut down the infamous detention facility.
Shaker Aamer, a Saudi citizen and former British resident, is one of 103 Guantanamo detainees currently on a hunger strike in protest of his seemingly endless incarceration without trial. Eleven years into his confinement, Aamer’s interactions with the outside world are limited. But …
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May
21
2013
Imagine that you live in Afghanistan. Your ancestors have lived there for hundreds of years, but you are a minority. In fact, you are a minority two times over, because the religion you practice is different from the one most people practice, and the way you look is different from the way most people look.
In the 1890’s, Emir Abdur Rahman comes along. He is a king who reserves special scorn for your people, and …
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May
21
2013
A massive and powerful tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma this afternoon, causing widespread destruction, including at least 51 deaths. It’s the deadliest tornado since 2011, and one of the worst in the last 20 years. This evening, President Obama signed a disaster declaration for Oklahoma.
Moore has a deep and tragic tornado legacy. The town could probably lay claim to being the very center of Tornado Alley, an area roughly defined from north Texas to South Dakota, …
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