Palestinians Mark Nakba Day

Palestinians and Arab Israelis are commemorating “Nakba” day to mark the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians after the say of Israel was established in 1948. Palestinians observe “Nakba”, which means “catastrophe,” with demonstrations every year on May 15, the day after the anniversary of Israel’s creation. Israel uses the Hebrew calendar and therefore celebrated its 64th anniversary on April 26 this year. More than 700,000 Palestinians are estimated to have fled or been forced to leave their homes ...

Submited at Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 9:59 am by robert

WWF: Earth Biodiversity Is Declining Rapidly

GENEVA – The World Wide Fund For Nature warns the world is consuming more of the Earth’s resources than the planet can bear.  WWF is launching its Living Planet Report just five weeks before nations gather at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to press political leaders into action to protect the earth for future generations. The World Wide Fund for Nature calls the planet sick and states it has the ...

Submited at Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 2:00 am by ethan

Palestinian Prisoners Agree to End Hunger Strike

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have concurred to end a weeks-long hunger strike in exchange for promises of better conditions, averting fears of widespread unrest if any of the inmates had died. Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman confirmed late Monday that a deal had been reached. Egypt and Jordan played key roles in mediating between the Israelis and prison leaders representing all Palestinian factions. The Palestinians won key concessions, including more family visits and limits to a ...

Submited at Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 1:00 am by jessica

US High School Puts Minority Students on Career Path

WASHINGTON – An educational study in the United States by the Alliance for Excellent Education states about 7,000 American students drop out of high school every school day.  Under-performing high schools also produce 58 percent of all African-American dropouts.  A  special high school in Washington is trying to reduce those numbers by keeping young African Americans in school and on a career path. Jakor Porter is like many other American teenagers. He has a passion for skateboarding.  But he is ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 11:00 pm by Alina

ICC Seeks to Arrest Ntaganda, Mudacumura for DRC Crimes

UNITED NATIONS – The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court states he is seeking arrest warrants for two warlords he states are responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.   Bosco Ntaganda, known as “the Terminator,” has been wanted by the court at The Hague since 2006 for recruiting child soldiers in the district of Ituri. The kids were used to fight in Thomas Lubanga’s militia, known as the Union of Congolese Patriots ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 8:00 pm by madison

Congo Police Investigate Former PM for Corruption

KINSHASA – Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo stated they are investigating allegations that former prime minister Adolphe Muzito enriched himself from public funds.   An inspector-general of Congo’s judicial police, Christophe Ndongo Nzita, stated the investigation of Muzito has been going on for several weeks and a report is expected in the near future. Ndongo stated he could confirm that the investigation was launched almost a month ago following allegations made by a former member of parliament, Gecoco ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 7:00 pm by sofia

Africa Water Week Marked with Cairo Meeting

This is Africa Water Week. Government and development bureau representatives and others are meeting in Cairo to mark the occasion. One of the main topics is improving water and sanitation services on the continent. The International development organization WaterAid is one of the main organizers of the Cairo meeting. “This is, we can say, the highest level event on water and sanitation. And it brings together decision makers on the continent, particularly coming from the water sector from various countries ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 6:00 pm by sofia

Fallout from Big JPMorgan Chase Loss Begins

The fallout has begun from a $2 billion financial trading loss at the U.S.-based JPMorgan Chase investment company. The firm stated Monday that Ina Drew, JPMorgan’s chief investment officer and one of Wall Street’s highest paid female executives, is retiring. The company paid her $29 million in the last two years for her profitable investment trading decisions. She is leaving after three decades at the firm in the aftermath of the loss in the company’s London division that she headed. ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 5:00 pm by Alina

European, US Markets Fall on Greek Uncertainty

European and U.S. stock markets are falling sharply as traders voice new concerns about political uncertainty in Greece and whether it could become the first country to drop out of the 17-nation euro currency union. Stock indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt all dropped by more than 2 percent in afternoon trading Monday, while major exchanges in New York dropped about 1 percent as trading opened for the week. The value of the euro currency also fell below $1.29 for ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 4:00 pm by Alina

Conductor Courts Diverse Audiences

As one of the few openly gay, African-American conductors in the United States Michael Morgan is a rarity in the world of classical music.  He has been music director of the Oakland East Bay Symphony in California for 22 years and has worked with some of the great conductors of the 20th century, including Leonard Bernstein, Gunther Schuller and George Solti.   However, it is Morgan’s mission is to bring classical music to everyone, especially to diverse audiences who have ...

Submited at Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 3:00 pm by hilman