The Raw Story

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

Thursday, 26 February 2015

Violent arrests as hundreds rally over 43 missing students in Mexico

© Reuters/Henry RomeroA protester (C) is detained by riot police after a protest march to demand justice for the 43 missing students of the Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College, at Zocalo Square in Mexico City February 26, 2015. Mexican police have violently arrested protesters rallying in the country's capital. The demonstrators are demanding a thorough investigation into the disappearance of 43 students in September.Clashes between police and protesters...

Catastrophe-hopping Spiegel: German news magazine rolls out latest climate horror vision: A burning North Pole

This week's hard copy of features the front cover story dubbed "" - The heated planet - (see image below). Thus, is returning and keeping to its long tradition of promoting end-of world scenarios.The following image sequence shows how the burning planet is just the latest and newest climate catastrophe designed to get an apocalypse-weary public to worry (and to buy its magazines). So far the reaction, however, has been a big yawn. The world is, after...

'Mind reading' neurones help predict behaviour of others

© memerym/iStockphotoA new study on rhesus monkeys sheds light on co-operative behaviour. Scientists have discovered a group of neurones that enable one monkey to predict what another monkey is about to do - the first-known instance of neurones calculating another animal's behaviour.The discovery may be fundamental for understanding social behaviour and could lead to better treatments for conditions like autism spectrum disorder.US neuroscientists...

Dawn mission to Ceres reveals bright spots on dwarf planet

© NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDAThis image was taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft of dwarf planet Ceres on Feb. 19 from a distance of nearly 29,000 miles (46,000 kilometers). It shows that the brightest spot on Ceres has a dimmer companion, which apparently lies in the same basin. Dwarf planet Ceres continues to puzzle scientists as NASA's Dawn spacecraft gets closer to being captured into orbit around the object. The latest images from Dawn, taken...

US Army's top secret Arctic city under the ice 'Camp Century'

The base was constructed in the late 1950s, during the height of the Cold War, for "research" purposes.To study the feasibility of working under the ice, a "cover" project, known as Camp Century was launched in 1960. However, unsteady ice conditions within the ice sheet caused the project to be canceled in 1966.It eventually came out that the ultimate objective of Camp Century was of placing medium-range missiles under the ice - close enough to...

So much for those sanctions: Russian MICEX stock index is top performer so far this year

© Reuters/Maxim Shemetov The Russian ruble-denominated MICEX is currently the best performing index this year, with analysts expecting the growth streak to continue, despite rating downgrades, Western sanctions and the plunge in the oil price.The MICEX has added 27 percent since the start of the year, outperforming some of the leading indices in Germany, France and Italy, MICEX confirmed in an e-mail to RT. Russian analysts expect the growth to...

TEPCO officials admit to concealing Fukushima radioactive leak

© AP Photo/ Toshiaki Shimizu Tokyo Electric Power Co., TEPCO, has been slammed by fishermen, for knowingly allowing radioactive substances to flow freely into the sea for ten months.Operators of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant admitted that a drainage ditch allowed highly-contaminated water to flow into the sea, and that the leak was first detected back in May 2014. Fishermen were shocked to hear such confession, voicing disappointment...

Local, state, and federal authorities raid Texas secessionist meeting

It seemed like a typical congressional meeting for the Republic of Texas. Senators and the president gathered in the center of a Bryan, Texas, meeting hall, surrounded by public onlookers, to debate issues of the national currency, develop international relations and celebrate the birthday of one of their oldest members.But this wasn't 1836, and this would be no ordinary legislative conference. Minutes into the meeting a man among the onlookers...

Court rules cop who was fired for blowing the whistle on NYPD arrest quotas can sue

© Flickr/ Ethan A federal appeals court ruled in favor of a New York City police officer who alleges he was unjustly punished by his superiors after he exposed an illegal quota system within his Bronx precinct.In a ruling Thursday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan overturned a lower court's decision to dismiss the suit, brought by Officer Craig Matthews and the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2012."Quotas lead to illegal arrests,...

Paris throws temper tantrum after French lawmakers hold 'unauthorized' meetings with Assad, Hezbollah

© Reuters/SANAFrench President Francois Hollande (Reuters/Vincent Kessler) and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Four French lawmakers have been slammed by their government and one of them threatened with sanctions and suspension after an unauthorized meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus as well with a Hezbollah member.The group of four cross-party lawmakers, identified as Gerard Bapt, Jean-Pierre Vial, Jacques Myard and Francois...

Detainees who were tortured at Chicago's Homan Square "black site" speak out

© Scott Olson/Getty On Tuesday, s Spencer Ackerman reported on the "equivalent of a CIA black site" operated by police in Chicago. When computer program analyst Kory Wright opened the story, he told me, "I immediately recognized the building" — because, the Chicago resident says, he was zip-tied to a bench there for hours in an intentionally overheated room without access to water or a bathroom, eventually giving false statements to try and end...

Our model of the world gives us the capacity for wonder

The awe and wonder of childhood My son recently asked me if it was possible that we lived on a speck of dust in a much larger universe. He explained that he had just watched again and it had him thinking. I, ever eager to promote the impossible, said I don't see why not. And he walked about blissfully conjuring the possibilities.What is it about fantastic speculation that makes it so compelling a past time? Many of us read science fiction, or watch...

Snake makes a rare winter appearance in Stephenville, Maryland

© Jake ClaypooleA Snake in Winter Jake Claypoole of Stevenville spotted something unusual when he took his son sledding near the park and ride across from Kent Landing Shopping Center, commonly called Kmart hill, about noon Wednesday, Feb. 18. He noticed a 3-foot snake on top of the ice on the storm water management pond.Claypoole said he thought the snake was dead at first, but then he noticed its tongue moving and it began slithering toward the...

Shame: Florida teacher posts 'student terror list'

© Anthony Freda Art Last week, a St. Pete high school teacher was stuck in hot water over shaming students by placing their names on a "student terrorist list" and posting it on the door. It is unclear what was the motive for his actions. The teacher, however, went so far as to give the blacklisted students Arabic sounding alias names.While the teacher sounds like he might have a screw loose - is he in reality doing what he was trained to do? In...

King crab from Arctic waters found on Redcar beach, UK

King Crab on Redcar beach He's spent his working life beneath the sea but even oceanographer David McCreadie was baffled by a rare visitor to Redcar.For the formidable-looking red crustacean found by David's fiancee Diane Weinoski looks for all the world like a king crab - and they hardly ever stray from considerably icier waters. Members of the lithododid family, king crabs are large, tasty and usually found in seas MUCH colder than Redcar's.And...

Defeat in Debaltsevo: Kiev's Stalingrad

Junta's losses over the last month stagger the imagination.DPR Ministry of Defense published data concerning the losses of Ukrainian occupation forces which they suffered during battles with Novorossia's defenders in the vicinity of Debaltsevo and on other sectors of the front between January 12 and February 20.Occupier losses include 10,940 killed and wounded (including 4110 killed), and 1178 prisoners of war. Equipment losses are also staggering....

Italian 'Frankensurgeon' says first head transplant will be possible in two years

© Reuters/Rupak De Chowdhuri Controversial Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero claims he could perform the world's first ever human head transplant in 2017, despite ethical and scientific reservations from many of his colleagues.Canavero, who heads the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, told Sky News.Canavero's team, which previously touted their plans for a whole-eye transplant, published a paper outlining the procedure two years ago, and say...

The truth about Walmart's paltry wage increase

© Reclaim Democracy.org Remember when Walmart got panned for running a Thanksgiving food drive for its own employees—overlooking the irony of demonstrating noblesse oblige by asking customers to subsidize the workers the company itself impoverished? The retail giant took a more strategic approach last week when rolling out its latest do-gooder scheme: raising its base wage incrementally to $10 an hour. The move was widely praised even by labor groups—for...

Additives used to thicken foods found to cause inflammation and weight gain leading to metabolic syndrome

© Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.comProcessed foods containing emulsifying agents disrupt gut bacteria Food additives that are commonly used to thicken and stabilize processed foods may disrupt the bacterial makeup of the gut, causing health problems, a new study in animals suggests.In the study, mice that were fed two chemicals that are commonly added to foods gained weight, had altered blood sugar and developed intestinal problems. The chemicals...

1.6 billion people worldwide forced to pay bribes

© Thinkstock A major study has looked at bribery levels across the world and reached a disappointing conclusion: a total of 1.6 billion people worldwide - nearly a quarter of the global population - are forced to pay bribes simply to gain access to everyday public services.The research, published in a new book by academics from the University of Strathclyde and the University of Birmingham in the UK, found that bribes are paid for healthcare and...

Cyprus and Russia renew military cooperation

© TwitterAnastasiades and Putin. Russian navy ships will keep having access to stop off at Cyprus' ports in Mediterranean as the two countries have agreed to prolong the pre-existing deal on military cooperation.The agreement, which applies to Russian vessels involved in counter-terrorism and anti-piracy efforts, was signed by President Vladimir Putin and his Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades, in Moscow.The signing came aimed heightened tensions...
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