The Raw Story

A non-profit news blog, focused on providing independent journalism.

Monday, 19 January 2015

Secularism: France's biggest illusion

With controversial headline “This brazen Islam” a French magazine in 2012 claimed Muslims were infiltrating hospitals, cafeterias, swimming pools, schools Commentators in France and elsewhere have taken the recent terrorist attacks in Paris as an occasion to reflect more broadly about Muslims in France. Many read the attacks as a sign of French Muslims' refusal to integrate. They've asked whether Muslims can be fully secular and expressed doubt...

Brazil power company orders rolling blackouts due to increased demand in record breaking heat

© Eletronuclear.gov.brAdmiral Álvaro Alberto Nuclear Power Station Rolling blackouts swept across parts of Brazil on Monday as the grid operator ordered select power cuts to avoid a larger crisis, drawing attention to a fragile electric system that is buckling under the strains of record-breaking heat and dryness.Grid operator ONS said it orchestrated 2,200 megawatts of controlled outages in eight states as the hottest day of the year in Sao Paulo,...

Plunging oil prices could hurt sales of electric and hyrbid cars

© AFP Photo / ANP / Lex Van Lieshout Gas-guzzling cars are gaining favor once again, as low oil prices are cheapening petrol, driving consumers away from more economic and expensive eco-friendly models.Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude have fallen below $50 per barrel, greatly cheapening the cost of refined products such as gasoline and petroleum.In the US, gasoline for cars is selling for about $2 per gallon according to the Automobile...

French terror attacks contribute to Israeli's isolation

David Ward There are two big opposing political memes touching on Zionism in the wake of the Paris terror attacks. One is that Europe is unsafe for Jews. This idea is the very basis of Zionism. Our site will be chronicling the upsurge in this belief because it is an important news story: more and more Zionists are expressing it. (Abe Foxman: "if France doesn't heal itself, ultimately, the Jews will leave." Commentary: Muslims pose the threat of...

CyberBerkut hacktivists leak docs suggesting Volnovakha bus attack was a false flag

The bus shelling incident in Volnovakha could have been organized by the Security Service of Ukraine, hackers from CyberBerkut group claim, publishing compromised SBU documents on the official website of the network.Hackers released letters and cryptograms of the Anti-Terrorist Center of the SBU, confirming that the attack could have been planned and carried out by SBU Office in Donetsk region. The documents also contained information about how...

How ironic: US calls ICC decision to investigate Gaza onslaught 'tragic irony'

Fatou Bensouda The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court yesterday opened a "preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine," with the possibility of a full-blown investigation of Israeli war crimes during last summer's Gaza onslaught; and the US is standing steadfastly behind Israel.The says Israelis have responded in fury to the announcement by prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman... said Israel...

Transforming trauma into recovery

With unusual honesty, Barry Lessin highlights the indefatigable work and refusal to submit to multiple frustrations and setbacks that is often required in psychotherapy with challenging clients. He describes how his long-term work with a woman whose history of severe sexual, physical and emotional abuse leads to hope and healing in a larger family context. This piece lays bare the complexity of mental health and addiction work, allowing old wounds...

Intensive fighting along entire line of contact in Novorossiya

Things look very bad today and very intensive combat operations, in particular artillery strikes, are reported everywhere in Novorussia. At the very least, in the following locations:1) Donetsk Airport: the Ukrainians attacked with a fairly large concentration of armor and under heavy artillery fire. As for tonight (local time) all of these attacks have been successfully repelled but intelligences sources are reporting a sharp rise in the number...

Donetsk: Kiev loses over 200 soldiers in just 24 hours

© REUTERS/ Alexander Ermochenko At least 200 Ukrainian soldiers and eight eastern Ukrainian independence supporters, as well as numerous civilians, have been killed in the last 24 hours of heavy fighting, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) militia headquarters reported Monday."Approximately 200 people were killed and injured. Losses among the militia are eight killed and 37 injured," Donetsk headquarters commander Eduard Basurin...

Fears for unique Siberian wildlife as heavy snowfall reaches depths of one metre

© Roman Kozhechev, WWF RussiaFears for unique wildlife as heavy snowfall reaches depths of one metre. Abnormally heavy snowfall is threatening to decimate much of Siberia's unique wildlife including the rare Amur tiger, experts have warned. Parts of the Russian Far East are covered in snow up to one metre deep, burying many animals and leaving others struggling to move or find food.Conservationists have already noted cases of young animals dying,...

Elephant charges vehicle and punches holes in it, South Africa

With thousands of people watching a live streaming safari in the Sabi Sands in the Greater Kruger, two game rangers had a frightening encounter with a raging elephant cow on Thursday.Charging at their open safari vehicle, the elephant effortlessly stabs her tusks into the Land Rover and pushes the vehicle at least 30cm.The shaken guide, who later tells the camera he's "only ever" encountered an elephant charge once before, gets up close and personal...

Wall Street banks cut 50,000 jobs and reduce bonuses and expenses as profits continue to dry up

Cuts: In a move that has shocked many pundits, a number of banks on Wall Street including Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan have cut thousands of jobs, as well as bonuses and expenses money It is home to the world's largest stock exchange.But now, Wall Street in New York has seen nearly 50,000 jobs slashed by its biggest banks.In a move that has shocked many pundits, a number of banks including Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan have...

Middle class has been decimated under Obama, yet now he plans to help?

During his State of the Union speech on Tuesday evening, Barack Obama is going to promise to make life better for middle class families. Of course he has also promised to do this during all of his other State of the Union addresses, but apparently he still believes that there are people out there that are buying what he is selling. Each January, he gets up there and tells us how the economy is "turning around" and to believe that much brighter...

Economists: Pay workers a living wage to increase productivity

Economists have long argued that increases in worker pay can lead to improvements in productivity - indeed, that it can actually be profitable to pay workers higher wages. As Alfred Marshall, the father of modern economics, argued almost 125 years ago, "any change in the distribution of wealth which gives more to the wage receivers and less to the capitalists is likely, other things being equal, to hasten the increase of material production." Since...

Mysterious radio burst seen in real time

© The Independent, UKThe mysterious ‘blitzar’ has been heard since 2007, but scientists have caught it live for the first time. As live performances go, a mysterious pulse of radio waves emanating from deep in the universe has to be up with the greats. And scientists have finally caught it.The blitzars last only about a millisecond - during which time they give out as much energy as the sun does in a million years, according to the - and have only...
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