When Pope John Paul II visited Damascus in May 2001, Bashar used his welcoming speech to denounce the Jews, saying, “They tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”   read more

Before joining the State Dept in 1990, Sterling worked in New York City as a liaison officer in the mayor’s office to the U.N. and consular corps. His first Foreign Service posting was in Peru. In 1993, Sterling was sent to Belgium, but returned to the U.S. in 1995 to be a desk officer for Central Asian affairs, a region he would focus on through much of his career. Sterling was assigned in 1998 as a political officer in Kazakhstan, then in 2001 took a similar post in Tel Aviv, Israel.   read more

The panel concluded that disregard for poor and minority people contributed to the government’s slow response to complaints from residents of Flint about the foul water that was making them sick. The crisis “is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice," said the report. “I could not imagine this happening in an affluent community that was not a majority-minority community and the same reaction occurring," said Rep. Dan Kildee.   read more

The report found that unfounded frisks were highest last year for people of color: 62% of all frisks of Latinos, 57% for blacks, and 47% for whites. Further, blacks who were frisked were nearly 3% less likely to have guns or drugs than whites. ACLU-Pennsylvania executive director Reggie Shuford said that "communities of color" are targeted disproportionately by police and that "they are understandably fed up and demand an immediate stop to being treated like second-class citizens."   read more

A team of researchers has found a remarkable parallel to one of evolution’s signature events. In a cave in Thailand, they’ve discovered that a blind fish walks the way land vertebrates do. The waterfall-climbing cave fish has even evolved many of the skeletal features that our ancestors did for walking, including a full-blown pelvis. “I was completely blown away,” said biomechanics expert Brooke Flammang. “These guys seemed to be very leisurely walking up the rock face."   read more

Deputies say Jackson was turned away at the Pompano Beach auto dealership after trying to buy the $60,000 car using his EBT card and a credit card. However, deputies say the suspect returned the next night and stole the car along with keys from 60 other vehicles.   read more

Energy prices and the perceived abundance of energy sources seem to be the most relevant factors in attitudes toward nuclear power, rather than safety concerns prompted by nuclear incidents. Lower gas prices over the past year are likely driving greater opposition toward the use of nuclear power. As Americans have paid less at the pump, their level of worry about the nation's energy situation has dropped to 15-year-low levels.   read more

Phoenix residents have for years felt that state leaders want to make it harder for them to vote, and the mess at the polls Tuesday only heightened their frustration. "Let's be clear — voter suppression happened," said U.S. Rep. Gallego. He said Arizona has a long history of voter suppression, including a new law that blocks voter-outreach groups from handling early ballots. Limiting the number of polling locations disproportionately affects minorities and the working poor, he added.   read more

A government attorney told a federal judge Thursday that appointing attorneys for all children facing deportation would "destroy the framework of the immigration system." An ACLU rep responded, "Every individual in removal hearings is entitled to a full and fair hearing," adding that a child can't get a "fair hearing" without being properly represented by an attorney. The ACLU sued the government in 2014 claiming the only way children can get a fair hearing is to provide them with counsel.   read more

One mine has shut down amid a wave of coal bankruptcies and slowdowns, and another has announced that it will go dark. The closings added to a landscape of layoffs and economic woes concussing mining-dependent towns from West Virginia to Wyoming. And as Hotchkiss searches for a new economic lifeline, some people are asking: What about marijuana? “If we could get it legalized right now, we could create some jobs, and we need the tax revenue,” said town trustee Thomas Wills.   read more

“Sir, I don’t know how to tell you this,” the officer began. Meyers had a 2002 warrant out for his arrest for failing to return a VHS movie rental of “Freddy Got Fingered.” The officer let Meyers go and told him to show up later at the police station, where officers took him to a magistrate’s office, patted him down and put him in handcuffs. The story of Meyers’ ordeal has gained wide attention, spreading from a YouTube video he posted to ricocheting around the world on social media.   read more

The House investigation into how some of the nation’s most prestigious universities acquire fetal tissue has prompted charges of intimidation and coercion, escalating a battle that some researchers fear could shut down studies seeking cures for Parkinson’s disease, the Zika virus and a host of other conditions. University officials fear that the release of the names sought by lawmakers could endanger lives if anti-abortion activists decide to target those involved in fetal tissue research.   read more

Cell site simulators, also known as Stingrays, raise privacy concerns because they can sweep up information about bystanders’ phones and precisely locate people, including inside their homes. Flying a Stingray over a major metropolitan area magnifies the concern by subjecting potentially large numbers of bystanders to privacy violations.The heavily redacted documents we obtained shed a bit of additional light on use of invasive cell site simulators on aircraft.   read more

An industry effort to relax mileage goals could set off conflict with the Obama administration, whose pledge to reduce emissions, as part of last year’s Paris climate accord, includes making gains in vehicle fuel efficiency. Cheap gas prices are prompting consumers to buy trucks and SUVs instead of small cars, hybrids or electric vehicles. With lower gas prices, sales of low-mileage pickups and SUVs have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, electric and hybrid models are languishing in dealer showrooms.   read more

"If businesses are starting to look at North Carolina and says this is not the environment we want to be in, that could have some blowback, and McCrory would be in the bull's-eye," Professor Bitzer said. Thursday evening, state and national gay-rights advocates joined about 400 people at a Raleigh church to vow to fight on when the General Assembly reconvenes next month and in November at the ballot box to elect Cooper and throw out legislators who voted for the law.   read more

Because chronic alcoholism is a medical disability, the Ninth Circuit called it unconstitutional to classify a "habitual drunkard" as lacking good moral character, reversing a deportation order 2-1 Thursday.   read more

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the calls for surveillance, saying it sends "an alarming message to American Muslims who increasingly fear for their future in this nation and to all Americans who value the Constitution and religious liberties." Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders blasted the Republican candidates' proposal. "That would be unconstitutional — it would be wrong," he said.   read more