The United Nations environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro wraped up Friday, with representatives of more than 190 countries pledging to take action to promote sustainable development and lift billions of people out of poverty. Speaking on the third and final day of the Rio+20 summit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for new […]
Syria Admits Shooting Down Turkish Warplane
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 8:00 pm (UTC-5)
Syria says it has shot down a Turkish air force jet that had flown into Syrian airspace. Syrian officials said the low-flying warplane was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea Friday. Turkish political and military leaders held a two-hour security meeting in Ankara to discuss the incident. After the meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s […]
Mali PM in Burkina Faso For Talks On Northern Mali
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 7:45 pm (UTC-5)
Mali’s interim prime minister, Cheikh Modibo Diarra says his government favors dialogue and negotiation to resolve the conflict with rebels in the North, but is not ruling out force if negotiations fail. Mr. Diarra, and his minister of communication, Hamadoun Toure, were in Burkina Faso Friday to meet with President Blaise Compaore who is serving […]
US Church Official Convicted Of Abuse Cover Up
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 6:40 pm (UTC-5)
A Roman Catholic monsignor has become the highest ranking church official in the United States to be convicted of covering up child sex abuse. A jury in Philadelphia Friday found Monsignor William Lynn guilty of child endangerment for his role in transferring abusive priests to other parishes. Prosecutors argued that Lynn chose to protect the […]
Russian Human Rights Activist Resigns From Presidential Council
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 6:20 pm (UTC-5)
One of Russia’s oldest human rights activists, 82-year-old Ludmila Alexeeva, has resigned from the presidential human rights council after the administration decided to change the way it chooses members for the 27-member body. She fears the council may come under the influence of the government. Officially called the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human […]
Biomass Study Finds World’s Population 18.5 Million Tons Overweight
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 6:05 pm (UTC-5)
Being fat is not usually considered an environmental problem. But that notion might be changing. A new global study estimates the world’s adult human biomass – the total weight of people living on the planet and suggests that obesity is taking a heavy toll on the world’s energy resources. For years, scientists have tracked the […]
Turkey: Syria Shot Down Air Force Jet
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 6:00 pm (UTC-5)
Turkey says Syrian forces have shot down one of its air force jets. After a two-hour security meeting, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said the warplane that disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea Friday was shot down by Syria. The statement said the two pilots remain missing. The prime minister’s office said Turkey will decide […]
Moroccan Pleads Guilty in US Capitol Bomb Plot
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 4:55 pm (UTC-5)
A Moroccan man accused of attempting a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Capitol earlier this year has pleaded guilty and faces up to 30 years in prison. Amine El Khalifi, an illegal immigrant living in the eastern U.S. state of Virginia, entered the guilty plea in a federal court in the state Friday as […]
Turkish PM: Turkish Warplane Missing Off Syria
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 4:15 pm (UTC-5)
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a Turkish air force jet has gone down over Syrian waters. However, the prime minister told reporters in Ankara on Friday he could not confirm media reports that Syria shot down the plane. He said Turkish and Syrian vessels were searching for the plane and the pilots. Erdogan […]
Study: Many Young People in India Committing Suicide
Posted June 22nd, 2012 at 3:55 pm (UTC-5)
A new study finds that suicide is the second-leading cause of death for young people in India, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. The study, published Friday in the British health journal The Lancet, indicates that 56 percent of women and 40 percent of men who committed suicide in India […]
