[BRIEF] Sonora State, Mexico, where 10 million gallons of acids from a copper mine spilled into two rivers earlier this month, has ordered the closure of 88 schools in seven municipalities due to the dangers associated with the contaminated water. Carlos Arias, Sonora State civil protection director, announced that the schools may open again next … Read more
[BRIEF] A 30-year-old woman is currently isolated at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Hospital while being assessed for the Ebola virus. The New Mexico Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting tests on the woman. According to authorities, the woman left Sierra Leone, West Africa earlier this month. … Read more
Hours after hacktivist group Anonymous threatened to release the name of the officer involved in the Ferguson, Missouri police shooting, the group released the St. Louis Police dispatch recordings from the shooting. The group claimed to have the name of the shooter already, but had not been yet able to verify the identity. Anonymous said … Read more
According to two reports recently published by the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), current water usage will lead to water scarcity affecting 30-40 percent of the world by 2020, and a global shortage by 2040. The reports, “Capturing Synergies Between Water Conservation and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Power Sector” and “A Clash of Competing … Read more
Two recent water use studies by the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) have discovered that most power systems do not register how much water they are using to cool their systems. The finding is relevant in light of the main finding of the research: due to combined water consumption and power system cooling, water scarcity will … Read more
Sixteen-year-old Nick Rubin has created a free app intended to show the main sources of US politicians’ funding. The app was designed to allow users to scroll over the names of all members of Congress on any webpage to see a list of the top ten industries from which each receives money. Rubin’s stated goal … Read more
At a meeting Wednesday between Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, Lavrov, in addition to commending the “usefulness” of Zannier’s upcoming trip to the Rostrov region–where Zannier would meet some of the 12,000 refugees reported to have fled from the … Read more
American mass surveillance programs, such as those carried out by the NSA, have begun to change, as Wednesday the US House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a revision of the USA Freedom Act, Human Rights Watch reported Thursday. The rewrite purposes to prohibit government bulk data collection of records, including phone and internet metadata. The data … Read more
Human Rights Watch has just released a report finding that too many US laws violate basic principles of justice. The report, released today, entitled “Nation Behind Bars: A Human Rights Solution,” finds that the US has the highest reported rate of incarceration in the world because punishments are far more severe than are necessary to … Read more
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Rebels have retaken the South Sudan city of Bor after a battle that started at daybreak Tuesday morning. The SPLA stationed in Bor had been expecting the White Army rebels, who had been marching toward the city for days. Army Spokesperson Philip Aguer had made statements about his confidence that the South Sudanese army would … Read more
Lawyer Michael Busby is seeking $1 million in damages from a Houston fortune teller after a ritual to reunify Busby with his wife went awry. The Houston lawyer filed the lawsuit December 16 against several defendants allegedly associated with the Houston psychic services business, Psychic Love Spell Center. Busby, a certified attorney since 2002 and currently a … Read more