Month: July 2017

Rep. Brad Sherman introduces articles of impeachment against Trump
“Los Angeles-area Rep. Brad Sherman has introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump, making good on a promise to move the process forward…”
(Los Angeles Times)

Net neutrality supporters say online rally is just the start of the fight to keep tough FCC rules
“Some of the Web’s biggest names — Amazon, Google, Netflix and Twitter — joined thousands of smaller websites Wednesday in urging users to tell Washington to leave the Internet the way it is…” (Los Angeles Times)

Army thwarted by citizens’ confrontation
“One of the founders of Michoacán’s self-defense movement surfaced yesterday, calling on local citizens to defend themselves against what he called a siege by the Army…”
(Mexico News Daily)

Garbage is piling up as dispute continues
“A highway blockade in Oaxaca that has halted garbage pickup in the city for eight days was lifted last night but only briefly after negotiations failed to produce an accord…”
(Mexico News Daily)

Three Yazidi women freed, 20 others rescued in Mosul
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Three Yazidi women, detained by Islamic State, were freed, while other women were found by Tigris River in western Mosul…” (Iraqi News)

China offers Iraq CNY80 mn for reconstruction efforts
“Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) China is supporting Iraq’s effort to reconstruct cities recaptured from the Islamic State with 80 million Yuans, Beijing’s ambassador to Baghdad declared Wednesday…” (Iraqi News)

The European Motor Sputters to Life
“Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron hope to reinvigorate the Franco-German partnership. Yet even as military cooperation moves forward, the two countries are still far apart on eurozone reforms…” (Spiegel Online)

Was the G-20 Summit Really Worth It?“The Hamburg summit is over. Overshadowed by the violence on the streets outside, Angela Merkel and the rest of the G-20 leaders managed to find mini-compromises on major issues. But the question remains: Was it worth it?…” (Spiegel Online)

PM orders inquiry into intimidation of MPs during general election
“Theresa May has ordered an investigation into intimidation experienced by candidates during the last election after a barrage of complaints by MPs about death threats and harassment…” (The Guardian)

New way of reading scans can predict heart attack risk, research finds
“Heart attacks may soon be easier to predict thanks to a method of reading routine heart scans that can pinpoint those most at risk, research suggests…” (The Guardian)

Anti-smog campaign continues in north
“China launched its largest operation to control air pollution in northern regions on Wednesday, using more than 5,600 inspectors to push the areas to meet ambitious pollution reduction targets this year…” (China Daily)

Ozone could turn cities into no-go zones
“The invisible pollutant is rapidly becoming a main cause for concern in many areas of China, as Zheng Jinran reports…” (China Daily)

 

Photo: See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Analysis: A revelation unlike any other in the Russia investigation
“There have been other moments in the lengthy investigation of Russian government interference in the 2016 president election that have registered on the legal and political Richter scales, but none with the power and explosiveness of the email chain involving Donald Trump Jr. that became public Tuesday…” (Chicago Tribune)

Activists demand resignation of Palos Township trustee following Facebook posts”
More than 100 activists rallied outside Palos Township offices Monday night to condemn a trustee’s comments on Middle Eastern students as hateful and demand her immediate resignation…” (Chicago Tribune)

Digital Reconstruction Reveals Face and Body of Ancient Peruvian High Priestess
“More than 1,700 years after her lavishly garbed, mummified body was ceremonially buried by the Moche in a royal tomb on Peru’s northern coast, officials on Tuesday revealed to the world a forensic recreation of the High Priestess of the Huaca Cao…” (Peruvian Times)

Pope Francis to Visit Peru in January 2018
“Pope Francis is to visit Peru and Chile at the beginning of next year, according to an announcement issued at the Vatican on Monday…” (Peruvian Times)

US and Qatar sign deal on fighting terrorism
“Qatar and the United States have signed an agreement to help combat “terrorism financing” during a visit to Doha by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson…” (Al Jazeera)

The Yazidi men left behind: ‘ISIL destroyed us’
“Yazidi men whose wives and children were abducted by ISIL are struggling to cope with the uncertainty of their fates…” (Al Jazeera)

Palio di Siena: Tornasol, the horse that refused to run
“Tornasol” was one of the favourites but was too agitated to run, forcing the Tartuca “contrada” to pull out. The horse has already become an idol on social media…” (Corriere Della Sera)

Mystery resignation amid fears of new Vatileaks scandal
“Libero Milone, the first Auditor General of the Vatican accounts, has unexpectedly resigned, possibly due to friction with the Vatican’s economic affairs commission APSA. Indiscretions from sources close to the Pope suggest he was considered the “wrong man for the job”…” (Corriere Della Sera)

As Mt. Gox trial opens in Tokyo, head of bankrupt bitcoin exchange denies embezzlement
“The head of Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest exchange for bitcoin digital currency, denied embezzling hundreds of millions of yen from its customers as his trial began Tuesday in Tokyo…” (The Japan Times)

EU free trade deal likely to hurt Japan’s dairy farmers, wineries“The economic partnership agreement between the European Union and Japan comes as a corrective to the rising wave of protectionism in the United States and Britain but could deal a blow to Japanese dairy farmers and wineries, experts say…” (The Japan Times)

Generous people live happier lives
“Generosity makes people happier, even if they are only a little generous. People who act solely out of self-interest are less happy. Merely promising to be more generous is enough to trigger a change in our brains that makes us happier. This is what UZH neuroeconomists found in a recent study. (Science Daily)

Drinking coffee could lead to a longer life, scientist says
“Here’s another reason to start the day with a cup of joe: Scientists have found that people who drink coffee appear to live longer…” (Science Daily)

 

Photo: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Donald Trump, Jr.) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Protesters caused thousands in damage at Trump Tower: prosecutors
“Environmental activists who raised a banner at Trump Tower in protest of President Donald Trump’s agenda caused thousands of dollars in damage to the River North skyscraper, according to prosecutors…” (Chicago Tribune)

2 GOP senators suggest bill to repeal health care law is ‘dead’
“The initial GOP bill to repeal and replace the nation’s health law is probably “dead” and President Donald Trump’s proposal to just repeal it appears to be a “non-starter,” two moderate Republican senators indicated Sunday as their party scrambled to salvage faltering legislation…” (Chicago Tribune)

‘This is going to be a long battle:’ No end in sight to wildfires ravaging B.C. interior“More than 220 fires are burning in B.C.’s interior as of Sunday afternoon, including more than a dozen considered an immediate threat to communities…”
(National Post)

Chief commissioner says missing and murdered Indigenous women inquiry is moving at ‘lightning speed’
“The chief commissioner of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women says the inquiry is moving at “lightning speed,” given the scope of its task…” (National Post)

Anger in the Rif
“Protests that began last autumn in the Rif may go nationwide as Moroccans demand jobs, infrastructure that works and reform. But will the king listen?” (Le Monde diplomatique)

Trouble in the Gulf: the view from Tehran
“Throughout the Gulf region people are talking about the rift between Saudi Arabia (and its allies) and Qatar and the unexpected appointment on 21 June of Muhammad Bin Salman (known as ‘MBS’) as Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince…”(Le Monde diplomatique)

Stormy G20 ends with opt-outs for Trump on climate, trade“World leaders made concessions on trade and climate language to Donald Trump Saturday at the end of the most fractious and riot-hit G20 summit ever, in exchange for preserving a fragile unity of the club of major industrialised and emerging economies…” (The Local)

After riots, Merkel takes flak for decision to hold G20 in Hamburg
“Raging street battles that marred Germany’s G20 summit have sparked a political fight over how Hamburg could descend into “mob rule” and why Chancellor Angela Merkel chose a hotbed of leftist militancy as the venue…” (The Local)

Iraq declares victory in ‘liberated’ Mosul
“MOSUL, Iraq — Iraq declared victory against the Daesh extremist group in Mosul on Sunday after a gruelling months-long campaign, dealing the biggest defeat yet to the extremist group…” (The Jordan Times)

Erdogan warns Syrian Kurds of Turkey’s right to defence
“HAMBURG — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Turkey would never allow a Kurdish state in Syria near its border, and warned that if threatened, Ankara would not hesitate to use its right to self-defence…” (The Jordan Times)

 

Photo: By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link