Despite hand-wringing about the institution of marriage, marriages in this country are stronger today than they have been in a long time. The divorce rate peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s and has been declining for the three decades since…
Edward Snowden Accepts ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’
NEWSMAX: …Getting a standing ovation in the Swedish parliament for getting the Right Livelihood award for revelations about the spy agency’s massive surveillance program, [Edward] Snowden — in exile in Russia and wanted by the United States on charges of espionage — spoke via video. “I hope despite all we have accomplished in the last […]
State moves to take control of York City School District
On Monday, acting state education Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq filed a petition in York County court, requesting the appointment. As receiver, Meckley would assume all of the powers of the school board except for levying taxes, so he would be able to implement a contract with a charter operator to run district schools, a move the York City School Board has resisted.
Penn State’s alumni trustees win access to Freeh Report files, within limits
Trustee members seeking the document review include some of the report’s most-vocal critics, and they say only a thorough review of its raw materials can answer lingering questions among many Penn State alums and friends about Freeh’s controversial conclusions.
Four Ways Obama Is Trying to Mend Police-Community Relations After Ferguson
ABC NEWS: [President] Obama will ask Congress for $75 million over three years to subsidize the purchase of up to 50,000 body-worn cameras for local police, according to the White House. The lapel-mounted devices, which record police officers on the job, have won praise from both civil rights advocates and local police union officials who […]
Hong Kong student leader Joshua Wong begins hunger strike to press for political reform
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: Student activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung announced last night that he had begun a hunger strike in a bid to force a meeting with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor to discuss reform of the city’s political system. The Scholarism leader, who has been instrumental in repeatedly bringing students onto the streets during […]
Rouble suffers worst fall since 1998 crisis
FINANCIAL TIMES: The rouble suffered its worst intraday fall since Russia’s 1998 financial crisis amid renewed fears over the impact of tumbling oil prices on the country’s economy. At one point the rouble hit a record low of 53.86 per dollar – a move of 6.5 per cent, according to Reuters data – though it […]
Russia to abandon South Stream pipeline, says Putin
FINANCIAL TIMES: Speaking after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Turkish counterpart, in Ankara, [President Vladimir] Putin said Russia would abandon the project to bring Russian gas to Bulgaria under the Black Sea, bypassing Ukraine, unless the EU dropped its opposition. The European Commission has refused to give Gazprom the exemption it would need […]
Federal Study Finds 55 Percent of Infants Sleep With Soft Bedding, Raising Risk of Death
Their study, published in the journal Pediatrics, is the first to estimate how many infants sleep with potentially hazardous quilts, bean bags, blankets or pillows. Despite recommendations to avoid putting anything but a baby in a crib, two-thirds of black and Latino parents still use bedding that is both unnecessary and unsafe, the study also found.
PA launches Medicaid expansion, overhaul
PHILLY.COM / AP: Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents left out of coverage under the 2010 federal health care law now have a chance to get insurance as the state undertakes a massive overhaul to health care for the poor.
Pope Francis: Wrong to Equate Islam With Violence
NEWSMAX / REUTERS: Pope Francis said on Sunday that equating Islam with violence was wrong and called on Muslim leaders to issue a global condemnation of terrorism to help dispel the stereotype. Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, told reporters aboard his plane returning from a visit to Turkey that he understood why […]
Airlines’ fuel savings unlikely to benefit fliers
USA TODAY: Airline stocks are soaring as jet fuel prices plummet, but don’t expect those savings to be passed on to fliers in the form of lower fares. Investors are betting on fatter airline profits as a result of OPEC’s decision to keep its production levels steady in the face of a world oil surplus. […]
Clashes in Hong Kong as pro-democracy protests escalate
USA TODAY: Clashes between Hong Kong police and protesters overnight Sunday and Monday morning marked a violent escalation for the more than two month-old pro-democracy movement in the South China port city, where many residents resent the restrictions that Beijing has set on the territory’s next leadership elections in 2017. To increase pressure on Hong […]
Iraqi army ‘had 50,000 ghost troops’ on payroll
BBC: Known in the military as “ghost soldiers”, they either did not exist or no longer reported for duty, however their salaries were still paid… A statement from the PM’s office said the payments have been stopped… Correspondents say rampant corruption in the Iraqi army is seen as one of the reasons why it has […]