Category: International

Pizza to Die For: Italian Prosecutors Allege Pizzerias in Naples Have Been Using Coffin Wood

If you thought that Neapolitan pizza on your last vacation to Italy was to die for, you were more right. Italian prosecutors allege that pizzeria owners in Naples have been using coffin wood to make their pizzas and save on the cost of combustible material.
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Crowning of Arab-American As Miss USA Unleashes Torrent of Attacks From the Right

Miss Michigan Rima Fakih, 24, made history this week as the first Arab-American to win the Miss USA competition, here.

The extreme right has gone ballistic –painting Fakih as a mole for Hamas and part of some Islamic threat despite her appearing in a bikini and contradicting most conservative Islamic mores — including new allegations that she won a stripper contest, here.
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New Zealand Court Gives Probation to Man With Violent History Who Broke Into Home of Mother and Chased Her Down the Street

This is something out of Clockwork Orange. Burt Te Manu Tangiata Rikihana, 27, was arrested in December after he forced his way into a home of a woman with a three-year-old child. He chased the mother down the street as she screamed. Despite a previous attempted murder conviction, the court gave him probation and community service which Rikihana correctly called “a joke.”
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Obama to Ask For $205 Million To Give To Israel for a Rocket Defense System as Part of a $3.15 Billion Aid Package

President Barack Obama is moving to increase military aid to Israel to $3.15 billion, including $205 million for a short-range missile defense system. With cities and states in the United States selling off parks and closing programs (and the federal deficit reaching disastrous levels), it is astonishing that the Administration is still gushing out such money — particularly for one of the wealthiest nations on Earth.
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Itchy Trigger Finger or Simple Suicide? Russian Officer Reportedly Shoots Himself In The Head By Scratching Nose With Loaded Gun

Russian investigators have concluded that a 23-year-old police officer killed himself when he scratched his nose . . . with a loaded gun. The officer was found under his desk with a fatal head wound.
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Captured Pirates Presumably Dead After Russians Release Them 300 Miles From Shore Without Navigation Equipment

The Russian government was reportedly unhappy with international legal obligations in their trial of pirates captured off of Somalia — particularly with the possible demand of the pirates to stay in Moscow. Their solution? They let the pirates go . . . 300 miles from shore after removing all of their navigation equipment. They are now presumed dead.

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Indian Fatwa Issued Against Women Working With Men and Hair Dye

India’s economic boom has resulted in not just tremendous growth in the country but tremendous advances for women. Now, however, Muslim clerics have issued a fatwa to bar women from working or mixing with men in the workplace. The clerics also took time to condemn hair dye as unIslamic.

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Samsung Sues Columnist Over Lampoon

We have been following the lawsuit (now dropped) against a writer in England by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) for his criticism of their profession. Now, Samsung is suing a columnist for making from of its executives, who have been involved in a series of criminal cases and controversies. Michael Breen with the Korea Times is being sued for defamation for a parody by the electronic giant. The company is pursuing both civil and criminal charges against Breen — a move that seems to struggle to confirm the arrogance and heavy-handedness alleged in the column.

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Lieberman Unveils Citizenship Stripping Bill

Senator Joseph Lieberman has unveiled his new legislation to allow Americans to be stripped of their citizenship if the State Department concludes that they are associated with a terrorist organization. As chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Lieberman has authority to push the bill which will be introduced also in a house version by Republican Charlie Dent and Democrat Jason Altmire. The legislation, in my view, is facially unconstitutional in its current form. I discussed this story on the segment below on MSNBC Countdown.
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