If the non-binding pledges announced by European governments in Brussels on Friday morning are an indication of the global response to climate change, say green campaigners, the world and its inhabitants are in big, big trouble. Members of the European Commission and European Council championed the commitments for emission reductions, energy conservation, and the increase…
Read moreVictory for Maine Nurse as Judge Rules Against State Quarantine
In what has been dubbed a “victory” for nurse Kaci Hickox, who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in West Africa, a federal judge on Friday declared that the Maine government had not “met its burden” to enforce the state-imposed quarantine. Click Here: Golf special Hickox, who vowed to take legal action against the 21-day…
Read moreHundreds Protest NATO Bombing that Allegedly Killed Afghan Civilians
Hundreds of villagers in the Afghan province of Paktia staged protests on Monday following a NATO bombing on Sunday, which witnesses say struck civilians—killing seven of them, including a child, and wounding one. The protesters brought seven dead bodies from the Udkey area of Gardez city to the capital of the province, according to Abdul…
Read moreHong Kong Chief Executive: Democracy Would Empower the Poor
Click:Hyperbaric Chamber 1.5 ATA As talks between Hong Kong protesters and the Chinese government began on Tuesday, the region’s current chief executive C.Y. Leung spoke out against free elections on the grounds that it would empower the poor. In his first interview with foreign media since the pro-democracy movement began, Leung said that if the…
Read more'A Game of Chicken': Thumbing Nose at Spain, Catalonia Presses Ahead with Independence Vote
Catalonia will hold a symbolic vote on independence on Sunday, in defiance of both court orders and the central government in Madrid. At the ballot boxes, Catalans aged 16 and older will be asked two questions: whether Catalonia should be a state, and if so, whether it should be an independent state. The straw poll…
Read moreIn Response To Attacks, Sweeping Data Collection To Be Proposed for EU Airports
A new European Commission counterterrorism plan to be published on Wednesday would require 42 separate pieces of information on every passenger flying in and out of Europe, including their bank card details and home address, to be stored on a central database for up to five years for access by the police and security services,…
Read moreUK garment workers ‘robbed’ of 27 million pounds in wages since July
Garment factory workers in the UK have been “robbed” of over 27 million pounds in wages since July, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The UK trade body and MP Lisa Cameron, who is chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for Textiles and Fashion, have penned a letter to home secretary Priti Patel…
Read moreIncreased Fracking? No Thanks, Say More Americans
A new Pew Research Center poll has found growing opposition among Americans to increased fracking. According to the results of the survey conducted last week, more people (47 percent) are opposed to increased fracking than in favor (41percent) of its increased use. In contrast, Pew’s March 2013 poll 48 percent in support compared to 38…
Read moreBill Designed to Curb NSA Domestic Surveillance Goes Down in Senate
A cloture vote in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night failed to get the necessary 60 votes needed to move forward the USA Freedom Act, sending the bill, which privacy and civil liberties advocates called the strongest attempt yet to rein in National Security Agency surveillance in the wake of revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden,…
Read more'This Is Only the Beginning': Oregon GMO Labeling Measure Heads to Recount
Advocates of labeling genetically modified foods are cheering that an Oregon measure that would require such labeling is headed to an automatic recount. Measure 92, as Common Dreams reported earlier this month, would mandate that beginning January 2016, certain food items that were produced with or contain GMOs, also referred to as genetically engineered (GE)…
Read more