Somali pirates face the death penalty under new get-tough measures Somali vigilantes have captured 12 armed pirates in two boats, as coastal communities begin to fight back against the sea raiders. Regional leaders at Alula and Bargaal in Somalia’s northern Puntland region told the BBC they have put together a militia of fishermen to catch [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Somali vigilantes capture pirates
Posted in Law, tagged Piracy, Somalia on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Child behavior ‘linked to sleep’
Posted in Health on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
The study looked at children aged seven or eight A good night’s sleep could reduce hyperactivity and bad behaviour among children, a Finnish study reports. It has been suggested that some children who lack sleep do not appear tired, but instead behave badly. Of the 280 examined in the Pediatrics study, those who slept for [...]
To Fathom a Colony’s Talk and Toil, Studying Insects One by One
Posted in Natural sciences, tagged Ants on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Anna Dornhaus, a University of Arizona researcher, painted ants different colors to study them. Great differences were found in the speed of ants’ work, and about 50 percent were found to do no work. Anna Dornhaus is peering into a cardboard nest box only an inch on a side, at a “family” of 100 or [...]
Fund Government With Dirty Money
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Law on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
FEDERAL prosecutors last week persuaded a judge to stop a group of Bernard L. Madoff’s victims from using an involuntary bankruptcy filing to claim more than $100 million of his personal assets. The prosecutors’ argument was simple: preserving Mr. Madoff’s assets for eventual forfeiture to the government is the best way to ensure as much [...]
AS the swine flu threatens to become the next pandemic, the biggest questions are whether its transmission from human to human will be sustained and, if so, how virulent it might become. But even if this virus were to peter out soon, there is a strong possibility it would only go underground, quietly continuing [...]
Workers Walk the Plank
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
I’m sure everyone is thrilled to know that the high rollers on Wall Street are bouncing back. With profits on the rebound, the big shots at the biggest institutions are on track, as The Times reported Sunday, to make as much money this year as they were hauling in before the mega-recession began. The growing [...]
Court Clears 3 Men of Plotting 2005 London Bombings
Posted in Law on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Waheed Ali, left, Sadeer Saleem and Mohammed Shakil were found not guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions at a retrial on Tuesday. Three Britons were cleared on Tuesday of helping to plot the deadly London suicide bombings in July 2005 in the first prosecution over the British capital’s worst peacetime attack which killed 52 people. [...]
U.S. Plans Attack and Defense in Cyberspace Warfare
Posted in Computers, Conflicts and wars on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
The Washington control room for Cyber Storm I, a simulated online attack run by the government in 2006. When American forces in Iraq wanted to lure members of Al Qaeda into a trap, they hacked into one of the group’s computers and altered information that drove them into American gun sights. When President George W. [...]
The curious case of the law firm and New Mexico’s AG. Some public officials are touchier than others. Take Gary King, the New Mexico Attorney General, who reacted to our recent passing reference to him by denouncing us and calling our pay-to-play facts nothing but politics. That sounded like an invitation to investigate Mr. King [...]
Obama Picks Leader for AIDS Effort
Posted in Health, tagged AIDS on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Dr. Eric Goosby, a pioneer in the fight against AIDS, is President Obama’s choice to run the American effort to combat the disease globally, the White House announced Monday. The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, known as Pepfar, was championed by President George W. Bush. It is expected to spend $48 billion over the [...]
Obama Acts to Ease Flu Fears; U.S. Says It Is Prepared
Posted in Health, Politics, tagged Swine flu on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
The Obama administration dispatched high-level officials from several agencies Monday to allay concerns about swine flu and to demonstrate that it was fully prepared to confront the outbreak even as the president said there was “not a cause for alarm.” Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, joined Dr. Richard E. Besser, the acting director [...]
Five questions for Robert Reich
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
IN OUR lead story this week we say that the worst thing for the world economy would be to assume the worst is over. In order to reinforce our gloom, Democracy in America recently talked to another measured pessimist, Robert Reich. Mr Reich served as secretary of labour under Bill Clinton and is currently a [...]
A Tiny Hominid With No Place on the Family Tree
Posted in Natural sciences on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Six years after their discovery, the extinct little people nicknamed hobbits who once occupied the Indonesian island of Flores remain mystifying anomalies in human evolution, out of place in time and geography, their ancestry unknown. Recent research has only widened their challenge to conventional thinking about the origins, transformations and migrations of the early human [...]
After 10 Years and 2,000 Deaths, China Still Presses Its Crusade Against Falun Gong
Posted in Politics, Religion on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Members of Falun Gong protesting in Hong Kong in 2004. In the decade since the Chinese government began repressing Falun Gong, a crusade that human rights groups say has led to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of practitioners and claimed at least 2,000 lives, the world’s attention has long since shifted elsewhere. The drive [...]
After 43 Years, a French Town’s Nostalgia for Harry and Joe Lingers
Posted in Living, Travel and Transportation, tagged Châteauroux, France on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Until 1966, the NATO base in Châteauroux, France, was home to a huge supply center, aircraft repair unit and 8,000 Americans. More than 40 years ago the American military left this town in central France, but Harry and Joe stayed on. The two Americans had been here because France was a member of NATO and [...]
President Obama’s prime time press conference will air on one fewer channel this week. Fox is “sticking with its regular schedule” on Wednesday night, The Associated Press reports, marking “the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama’s request” for airtime. The press conference, scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday, will be Mr. Obama’s third of [...]
White House Apologizes for Air Force Flyover
Posted in Politics on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
A reader, Jim Brown, took this photograph from 10 Exchange Place in Jersey City, looking toward 77 Hudson Street and the Statue of Liberty. In the photo, the plane appears closer than it actually was. An Air Force One lookalike, the backup plane for the one regularly used by the president, flew low over parts [...]
The ACLU’s Photo Shoot
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Editorials and opinion on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Another misguided attempt at ‘moral superiority.’ As if disclosing interrogation memos hasn’t caused enough trouble, now the Obama Administration plans to release photographs collected as part of military probes into prisoner abuse. “I think it will be in the hundreds,” a Pentagon official said Friday, referring to plans to release the photographs by May 28 [...]
Workmen in Poland Find Hidden Auschwitz Letter
Posted in History, tagged Auschwitz, Hidden letter on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
The note, written in pencil then rolled up and inserted in a bottle, contains the names of seven young people who probably thought they were doomed to die in the notorious Auschwitz death camp. A construction crew renovating a cellar near the Auschwitz site discovered the bottle hidden in a concrete wall, officials said Monday. [...]
Faster Cuts and More Loans Are Key to G.M. Survival Plan
Posted in Economy and business, tagged Chrysler, GM on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
General Motors said on Monday that it needed $11.6 billion more in government loans and that it planned to file for bankruptcy protection if a debt exchange with its bondholders was unsuccessful. G.M. also said that, by 2010, it would phase out its Pontiac brand, eliminate 42 percent of its dealers, close 13 plants and [...]
‘Bleach bath’ benefit for eczema
Posted in Health, tagged Eczema on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Eczema causes red, itchy, inflamed patches on the skin Adding bleach to the bath may be an effective treatment for chronic eczema, US researchers say. In a study of 31 children, there was significant improvement in eczema in those who had diluted bleach baths compared with normal baths. The Pediatrics study also showed improvements were [...]
‘Etiquette guide’ for Thai monks
Posted in Religion, tagged Thailand on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
It is customary for Thai men to enter the monkhood for training at least once A Buddhist preacher in Thailand has announced plans for new guidelines aimed at curbing the flamboyant behaviour of gay and transgender monks. The “good manners” curriculum – the country’s first – is being introduced in the northern province of Chiang [...]
‘I am not Dr. Doom. I am Dr. Realist.’
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Lally Weymouth of Newsweek and The Post sat down last week with economist Nouriel Roubini. Excerpts: Q. You are the economist known for predicting the economic downturn in 2008. What do you believe is happening to the economy today? A. The consensus among economists is that they see the economy that was contracting for the [...]
Lines on a Slippery Slope
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Law, tagged Torture memos on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
By releasing the Justice Department memos on coercive interrogations, the Obama administration has produced an unintended effect: Revealing the context and care of these decisions has made them more understandable, not less. I had come to view harsh interrogations as a clear mistake. The war on terror is as much an ideological conflict as a [...]
Selling The Green Economy
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Energy and Environment on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Few things are more appealing in politics than something for nothing. As Congress begins considering anti-global-warming legislation, environmentalists hold out precisely that tantalizing prospect: We can conquer global warming at virtually no cost. Here’s a typical claim, from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): “For about a dime a day [per person], we can solve climate [...]
Scientists Strengthen Spider Silk by Mixing In Metal
Posted in Natural sciences, Physical sciences on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
It’s probably good that Charlotte isn’t around to learn that her marvelous web has been improved upon — and by people, no less. Spider silk is one of nature’s engineering triumphs, stronger on a per-weight basis than steel. Scientists reported last week that they had made it three to 10 times as strong (depending on [...]
Idealism Amid the Cynicism of Russian Politics
Posted in Politics, tagged Russia on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
Winning Candidate From Ruling Party Renounces Fraudulent Victory Anton Chumachenko, 23, consults with a fellow candidate from Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, which has struggled to contain infighting. In a country where complaints of vote-rigging are common — and commonly ignored — Anton Chumachenko’s stands out: The authorities say he won an election, but he [...]
G.E.’s Breakthrough Can Put 100 DVDs on a Disc
Posted in Computers, Media, Physical sciences, tagged DVD, GE on April 27, 2009 | Comments Off
General Electric says it has achieved a breakthrough in digital storage technology that will allow standard-size discs to hold the equivalent of 100 DVDs. The storage advance, which G.E. is announcing on Monday, is just a laboratory success at this stage. The new technology must be made to work in products that can be mass-produced [...]
