36570869
submission
overmoderated writes:
A young Christian girl with Down syndrome has been charged with blasphemy in Pakistan after she reportedly burnt the pages of a Koran. If convicted, she may face the death penalty.
Rifta Masih was detained on Thursday outside the country’s capital of Islamabad. The arrest was prompted by angry complaints by the girl’s neighbors. Masih was beaten by local Muslims after they witnessed her allegedly torching pages of the sacred book, Pakistani English-language newspaper the Express Tribune reported.
36399185
submission
overmoderated writes:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been granted asylum, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino announced on Thursday, a day after Britain threatened to storm the country’s London embassy to arrest the Australian.
Vienna Convention? Anyone?
36362075
submission
overmoderated writes:
n the case of the Chernobyl accident, changes in species composition and phenotypic aberration in animal sand an increase in the incidence of thyroid and lymph cancers in humans have been reported. Similarly, an increase in the incidence of cancers has been reported for atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.
36325715
submission
overmoderated writes:
Brazil's state-owned energy giant Petrobras says it has confirmed the presence of significant quantities of light oil in deep waters off the country's southeastern coast.
The company said in a statement released late Monday that the high-grade oil was in the Carcara well, located 230 kilometers (140 miles) off the coast of the Sao Paulo state, in the BM-S-8 block.
The find had been announced March 20 and drilling has been underway since then to determine the total thickness of the oil reservoirs as well as the presence of deeper zones of interest.
36245529
submission
overmoderated writes:
In Holland, Mich., a 13-year-old entrepreneur thought he would be able to sell hot dogs and financially help his disabled parents with the purchase of a food cart. Unfortunately, city zoning officials have shut down his business, based on an ordinance that prohibits competition to brick-and-mortar restaurants from mobile food vendors. The Mackinac Center's own Anne Schieber investigates.
36167197
submission
overmoderated writes:
The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a quarterly loss of $5.2 billion and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.
