(By Kara Brandeisky for ProPublica) Ten months after Edward Snowden’s first disclosures, three main legislative proposals have emerged for surveillance reform: one from President Obama, one from the House Intelligence Committee, and one proposal favored by civil libertarians. All the plans purport to end the bulk phone records collection program, but there are big differences […]
State Department Official Freaks Out That Declassifying CIA Torture Report Might Make The World Angry
While the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to declassify its $40 million, 6,300 page report detailing the CIA’s torture regime — including the facts that it went beyond what was authorized, produced no useful intelligence and then the CIA lied about…
US: Stop Blocking Palestinian Rights! (HRW)
(By Human Rights Watch) (Jerusalem) – The US government should support rather than oppose Palestinian actions to join international treaties that promote respect for human rights. On April 1, 2014, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, signed accession instruments for 15 treaties, including the core treaties on human rights and the laws of war. On April 2, […]
World Bank Head: Climate Change and Growing Inequality threaten Global Upheaval
(By Jon Queally) President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, is warning that the combined crises of planetary climate change and rising global inequality in a highly interconnected world will lead to the rise of widespread upheaval as the world's poor rise up and clashes over access to clean water and affordable food result […]
Top 7 Surprising pieces of Good news in Afghanistan Presidential Election
(By Juan Cole) Afghanistan went to the polls on Saturday, despite threats by the Taliban to disrupt the elections and calls by the extremists for Afghans to boycott the vote. As it turns out, the elections appear to have been a success, despite many problems (including a last-minute shortage of ballots as more voters showed […]
Can We Safeguard Our Democracy After Supreme Court Decision?
The Supreme Court’s evisceration of our campaign finance rules is a powerful argument for the cleansing properties of sunlight. We should respond to McCutcheon by pushing for the full and timely disclosure of every penny donated to advance a political…
Will electoral Fraud undermine Afghanistan’s new President?
(By Djeyhoun Ostowar) War-torn Afghanistan does not possess a civil registry. It therefore lacks reliable statistics. Given widespread corruption, the absence of an identification system and the high security risk of voting, is mass-election fraud a necessary and acceptable price for peace? On April 5, the Afghan people will vote in the country’s presidential elections, […]
In Iraq Elections, Rich Parties get Richer on State Funds
(By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | Niqash) Election posters are everywhere now that campaigning has officially started. Campaigning for Iraq’s general elections officially began this week on April 1. And several trends are already noticeable. The bigger the posters the better. Local politicians are doing a lot of door knocking. And nobody seems to want […]
Dear America: Climate Change is threatening Water, Plants, Animals & doesn’t care what Party you belong To
(By Juan Cole) A Gallup poll has found that only 35% of Americans are concerned about climate change, and that proportion is barely up from the previous year. Climate change has become a partisan issue in the US, such that a majority of Democrats is worried about it but only 29% of independents and only […]
© 2025 All Rights Reserved