At his first press conference after his victory in last Sunday’s Venezuelan presidential election, Hugo Chavez reaffirmed his support for the Syrian government during the current unrest. Human rights groups claim that after 19 months of unrest in Syria tens of thousands of people have been killed. Venezuela has been one of the staunchest defenders of the Syrian government. Since… Read more →
Personnel received a pay increase for intensifying level of danger in Libya, but were not given extra personnel.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed hiring of 457 police officers as the third-most-populous U.S. city grapples with a 28 percent spike in homicides. “When homicides are up, even if overall crime is down significantly, our residents will not feel truly safe, and we must work even harder to stop the violence,” Emanuel, 52, said today in remarks released by his office before… Read more →
Whoever wins the election this fall may be in a position to radically change the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court, a legacy that far outlasts a four-year term. On Wednesday, the nine justices will hear oral arguments over whether and in what ways universities can use the race of applicants as a deciding factor in admissions. Just nine years… Read more →
Chicago Sun Times: Lara Logan, a correspondent for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” delivered a provocative speech to about 1,100 influentials from government, politics, media, and the legal and corporate arenas. Such downtown gatherings are a regular on Chicago’s networking circuit. (I am a member of the BGA’s Civic Leadership Committee, and the Chicago Sun-Times was a sponsor). Her ominous and frightening… Read more →
Washington (CNN) – Planned Parenthood’s political arm is out with the latest installment of an aggressive mail program targeting female voters in Virginia. A new mail piece attacking Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Virginia Senate candidate George Allen will begin hitting mailboxes in northern Virginia and Richmond this week, the group says. It’s Planned Parenthood’s third mailer hitting Romney in a matter… Read more →
WASHINGTON — The United States military has secretly sent a task force of more than 150 planners and other specialists to Jordan to help the armed forces there handle a flood of Syrian refugees, prepare for the possibility that Syria will lose control of its chemical weapons and be positioned should the turmoil in Syria expand into a wider conflict. The task force, which… Read more →
Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday pronounced a blessing in Arabic at his weekly audience in front of 20,000 pilgrims on St Peter’s Square — the first time the language has been used at such an event. “The pope prays for all Arabic speakers. May God bless you all!” the pope said in Arabic at the audience, after a bishop read… Read more →
A Sinai-based group called Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes claimed responsibility for the attack in which an Israeli soldier was killed. A third militant who took part in the attack was also killed, but there has been no word on his identity. The three were well armed and had explosive belts, the Israeli army said. The villagers learnt of their fate when… Read more →
A landmark case in the US will test whether internet piracy claims made by copyright firms will stand up in court. Such cases rely on identifying the IP address of machines from which content was illegally downloaded as evidence of wrongdoing. Experts have questioned whether the IP address is sufficient evidence because it identifies an internet connection rather than an… Read more →
