Afghanistan on Friday rebuffed a US demand to sign a highly anticipated security pact as soon as possible, insisting the document must wait until after next year’s presidential election. Washington warned Kabul on Thursday to sign the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) as soon as possible,...
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Afghanistan rebuffs U.S. demand to sign security pact
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Hundreds of thousands evacuated as Cyclone Helen hits India
Hundreds of thousands were evacuated as a severe cyclone slammed into southeastern India Friday, packing strong winds and torrential rains and killing at least two people, according to officials. “Cyclone Helen has made landfall,” an official with the National Disaster Management...
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Want to get stoned without losing your memory? Take ibuprofen, scientists say
A recent study suggests over-the-counter medication could set aside one of the biggest obstacles to using marijuana to treat a variety of ailments and conditions. The study, published Thursday in the journal Cell, showed that using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as the...
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Louisiana Attorney General’s Office officially declares ‘roosters’ to be ‘chickens’
The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office has declared that, for the purposes of the 2008 statute banning cockfighting, a fighting rooster is technically a chicken. The anti-cockfighting statute defines a “chicken” as “any bird which is of the species Gallus gallus, whether...
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Report: Corporations use professional spies-for-hire to monitor and undermine nonprofits
A newly released report from the watchdog group Essential Information alleges that powerful corporations spy on and sabotage the very nonprofit groups dedicated to keeping them in check. According to the report, titled “Spooky Business,” a global network of former Central Intelligence...
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Conservative groups plan prayer vigil against pornography
A coalition of conservative groups plans to hold a “National Day of Prayer” against smut. Morality in Media announced Friday that Alliance Defending Freedom, American Family Association, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, Movieguide and “many more” groups...
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‘Young Turks’ mocks ‘Fox prick in disguise’ John Stossel for ‘homeless’ act
Cenk Uygur took a moment on Thursday’s edition of his show “The Young Turks” to deride Fox Business Network reporter John Stossel’s recurring segment where he dresses as a homeless person and marvels at how much money people give him. “He’s done this segment...
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14-year-old allegedly raped popular math teacher with an object before killing her
Fourteen-year-old Philip Chism, who was arrested for the murder of 24-year-old math teacher Colleen Ritzer last month, was indicted in a Massachusetts court today on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated rape and armed robbery. According to a statement by Essex District Attorney Jonathan...
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Wives who aren’t subservient to husbands are preaching ‘false gospel,’ Southern Baptist official warns
Married couples who consider themselves equal partners are violating biblical law, according to the Southern Baptist Convention’s top expert on family concerns. Russell Moore, president of the denomination’s ethics and liberty commission, said Christians determine the nature of reality through...
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Seventeen-year-old shot in the head while in police custody
A teenager in Durham, North Carolina police custody died earlier this week from a gunshot wound to the head. According to the teen’s family, Sylvia Fernandez called the police early Tuesday morning to report that her son, Jesus Huerta, had run away to use drugs. An officer arrived at the...
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Internet founder Tim Berners-Lee warns growing surveillance ‘threatens democracy’
The growing surveillance and censorship of the Internet “threatens the future of democracy”, the inventor of the world wide web said on Friday. Tim Berners-Lee was speaking at the launch of his World Wide Web Foundation’s second annual index measuring the Internet’s...
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Toronto crack mayor gets laughs with self-deprecating speech
Disgraced Toronto Mayor Rob Ford drew laughs with self-deprecation late Thursday in his first public speech since he was stripped of most powers over headline-grabbing misconduct. Ford, who was sanctioned at the beginning of the week following his admissions of smoking crack and binge drinking, was...
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Washington State GOP chair claims ‘war on women’ responsible for pay-reduction
Washington State Republican chairwoman Susan Hutchison claims that the $20,000 reduction of her salary from that of her male predecessor “play[s] into the ‘war on women’ narrative [used] against Republicans.” According to a memo she sent to the state GOP executive board,...
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North Carolina Christian school orders families to sign anti-LGBT ‘Biblical Morality’ pledge
A Christian private school in Wilmington, NC has announced that it has adopted a so-called “Biblical Morality Policy” that allows the school to expel or refuse to admit LGBT children or children from families with LGBT members. According to Salon.com, the letter was written by Myrtle...
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Kennedy assassination: Memory and myth refuse to die after 50 years
These days, it is only the world’s grandparents who can tell you where they were when they heard John F Kennedy was dead. For decades that was a staple of the global collective memory, a question that could be asked in Berlin or London as readily as New York or Los Angeles. Today that memory...
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Obsessing over cultural gender norms: What’s the problem if girls act masculine?
A few weeks back, I went to my first baby shower. My friends have only recently started getting married and having babies – although not necessarily in that order – and I was psyched to pick out a set of adorable baby clothes for the twins to whom my friend had only weeks earlier given birth. I...
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College students who were spanked as kids more likely to become criminals, study finds
College students who were spanked as children are more likely to engage in criminal behavior, according to a new study. Even young adults whose parents were generally loving and helpful showed higher rates of illegal activity if they’d been spanked, researchers said. “The results show that spanking...
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Sen. Rand Paul to headline opening of GOP’s ‘African-American Engagement Center’ in Detroit
In recent months, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has sought to build stronger relationships with African-American communities by forming what it calls “African-American engagement offices.” “Developing relationships with black voters means having an active presence in...
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Despite threat of nicotine poisoning, federal law allows 12-year-olds to work in tobacco fields
A group that fights child labor has called on the U.S. Department of Labor to prohibit children from working in tobacco fields. “We don’t let 12-year-olds buy and smoke cigarettes,” said Sally Greenberg, co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition, in a statement released Friday. “Why would we let them...
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Charity sale of David and Victoria Beckhams’ clothes turns into shopping frenzy
Queues formed around the block outside a London charity shop on Friday after Victoria and David Beckham donated 20 boxes of clothes and shoes to raise money for victims of the Philippines typhoon. Designer shoes and suits belonging to the Spice Girls singer turned fashion designer and her football...
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