The Raw Story

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

Tuesday, 4 August 2015

ISIS in Afghanistan: Proxy War against Iran and China

The nature of the war in Afghanistan has shifted dramatically in recent months. While the US and NATO continue to be actively involved in the country – their strategic objectives having changed very little since the Bush administration launched the war nearly a decade and a half ago – the complexion of the battlefield, and the parties actively engaged in the war, has changed significantly. The emergence of  ISIS in Afghanistan , along with...

Scientists Warn ‘Supercharged’ GMOs Could be Used as Bio-weapons

The “gene drive” technology allows GMOs to spread rapidly in the wild. The fear is that these organisms could fall into the wrong hands or accidentally spark a catastrophe. The technology is being touted as a way to revolutionize medicine and agriculture, and supporters say it could, in theory, halt the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and yellow fever, and eliminate crop pests and invasive species like rats and can toads. But many...

Meet Solyndra 2.0: This US-Taxpayer-Subsidized Spanish "Renewables" Firm Is Collapsing

News that bonds and stocks of Abengoa SA - the Spanish renewable-energy company - plunged after a plan to shore up capital failed to reassure investors that it can stop burning cash is likely to have passed many by. But coming just one day after President Obama unleashed his Clean Power Plan, the fact that the company - that is now facing significant liquidity concerns - received over $230 million in US taxpayer subsidies in...

Russia Ready To Send Paratroopers To Syria

As Syria’s civil war enters its fourth year, it’s become something of an open secret that ISIS, for all their bluster and Hollywood-level video editing capabilities, are at best an unhappy side effect of efforts to train and arm the Syrian resistance and at worst, are a "strategic asset" funded and supported by coalition governments.  In other words, there is indeed a geopolitical chess match going on here that will have far-reaching consequences...

Cops Hold Little Girl at Gunpoint While Raiding Wrong House Over “Internet Threat”

CHICAGO (CN) – Evansville, Ind. police cannot claim immunity after sending a SWAT team to search an elderly mother’s home when evidence suggested she had nothing to do with threats made against them, the Seventh Circuit ruled. On June 21, 2012, the Evansville, Ind. police conducted a search of Louise Milan’s home, one day after they found out that someone had been posting threats against police online using the home’s IP address. However, 68-year-old...

Privatized, for-profit immigration detention centers force detainees to work for $1-3/day

 "We have a name for locking people up and forcing them to do real work without wages. It's called slavery." So says Carl Takei, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison Project, speaking of the privately run detention centers for undocumented immigrants who're facing deportation. These centers are not meant to be punitive, and many of the people in them will have their immigration claims upheld. But they're run like private prisons, complete...

The Future Will Be Full of Lab Grown Meat

In 2013, the world’s first lab-grown burger was unveiled to the world. It carried a $330,000 price tag, and apparently, it wasn’t all that tasty. But the scientists behind the idea have been hard at work, and artificial meat that’s both cost-effective and palatable may arrive sooner than we think. It’s not just cow-free beef burgers on the future menu — several groups around the world are attempting to clone chicken breasts and fish fillets, as...

The information war in Mexico: journalists murdered, citizens monitored

Demonstrators protest the murders of photojournalist Ruben Espinosa, activist Nadia Vera, and three others. August 2, 2015. Photo credit. by Kade Crockford and Paola Villarreal On July 31, 2015, assassins broke into an apartment in Mexico City and executed five people: photojournalist Ruben Espinosa, 31, community organizer and human rights activist Nadia Vera, 32, student Yesenia Quiróz, 18, and two unnamed women. Their bodies showed signs of...
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