Fighting continued in Grozny, Chechnya, as morning succeeded a night of insurgent activity in the North Caucasus city. At approximately 1 a.m. local time last night, Chechen insurgents killed several police and occupied the Grozny Press House media facility. Current reports have five Russian police killed in addition to seven dead insurgents. [su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEJphQEwA8M”]VIDEO[/su_youtube] The … Read more
A force, reportedly around 300-400 strong, is fighting in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in Russia’s North Caucasus region. The militants seized the Grozny Press House media facility and laid siege to a school, prompting a military response from Russian authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin was transported to the Kremlin in the middle of the night … Read more
Women are not comparing themselves with the thin, attractive models in the magazines they enjoy–some, at least. Instead, women are living vicariously through the thin, attractive models–engaging in “thinspiration,” according to new research from Ohio State University. Not only that, women who enjoy these magazines are actually less likely to make an effort to look more attractive, the … Read more
A group of coffins returned to a far eastern Russian city from the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. The coffins were marked as “Cargo 200” and best efforts were made by Russian officials to keep the funeral secret. “The first 17 zinc coffins were returned to the city, which caused some shock among the local people,” … Read more
The bias groups have to view their own actions as driven predominantly by love while viewing the actions of their rivals as driven more by hate has been explained by recent research conducted by a team from Northwestern University. The researchers found that in reality conflicts were driven by the same motivations, but the view from each … Read more
Russia’s proposed South Stream pipeline–which would connect Russia to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine–was scrapped Monday in the wake of EU objections to the project. Instead, Russia is naming Turkey as its preferred piped gas partner. Russia has been for several years in the planning stage for an undersea pipeline to that would feed 63 billion cubic meters … Read more
MoPoTyse, an NGO based in Phnom Penh, is using a peer education model that is cheaper and more effective than utilizing conventional doctors and clinics. This method is proving to reach many more diabetics and those prone to it, initially in poor areas in the capital and eventually in the outlying rural provinces. Upwards of 10 … Read more
World’s largest selfie goes for Guinness Record Selfies are increasingly common are hardly ever newsworthy–but selfies creating or breaking records definitely are. A selfie taken last week on a Windows phone in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, claims to be the world’s largest selfie ever taken–a record it may have created itself. In a bid to capture the … Read more
Germany’s foreign ministry spoke on the question of Ukraine’s joining NATO Sunday, stating that the idea could not be on the agenda and that Ukraine was not on the way towards NATO, as far as he was concerned. The minister expressed concern over “adding fuel to the fire” over a continuingly dangerous conflict. “I am … Read more
Unable to vote, hundreds of Moldovans remained at closed polling stations in Moscow, shouting, “Let us vote!” Officials, citing a shortage of ballot papers midway into the vote, stated that no more ballot papers would be issued, and the vote would not be extended. Parliamentary election voting was cut short in the Russian capital after ballot … Read more
The US intervention in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State (ISIS) has been going for just under two months now. While it has in some ways slowed the progress of ISIS forces, especially in fights against Kurdish units around Kobane, they are far from routed. In fact, in the last few days, the terrorist organisation has demonstrated … Read more
Although the world’s poorest countries are thriving in terms of market values–over the past decade they have grown vigorously due to rising developmental aid and export prices–the people of those countries are trapped in a system in which poverty cannot be reversed–a phenomenon newly identified by UNCTAD and termed the “LDC paradox.” “The world’s 48 … Read more