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

The Department of Interior has authority to demand repayment of gas and oil revenues it overpaid to Alabama and Louisiana under an old and faulty revenue sharing scheme going back to 1986, a federal judge ruled. However, the department violated the Debt Collection Act in its letters to states demanding refund of overpayments by not offering the states an opportunity to "inspect and copy" its records, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton held.   read more

Divorce in the U.S. has become more common through the generations, and there's an assumption that acceptance would be holding or increasing. There could be several explanations for the decline, said marriage researcher Wendy Manning. Marriage rates are down and people are older when they first get married. So those who do marry are more likely to be in it to win it. "Marriage is becoming so selective that maybe people think if you achieve this status, you don't want to end it."   read more

Smith says Facebook uses the private health data it obtains to create marketing profiles for each user, and then targets them with tailored advertisements based on their private information. A person's health condition is the second most valuable piece of personal data sought after on the web behind login credentials and passwords, according to a 2015 study on web privacy and security cited in the complaint. Facebook earned nearly $11.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2014, says the suit.   read more

Flint's leaded-water crisis drives home the discrimination inherent in Michigan's scheme of putting unelected emergency managers in poor, usually black, communities. The emergency-manager law allows Gov. Rick Snyder to suspend all elected officials in financially distressed municipalities and transfer their power to an appointee of his choosing. While the measure affects only 2% of the state's white population, 50% of black Michiganders are under emergency-manager rule.   read more

The claim is that federal prisons single out Muslim inmates for isolation units where their communications face 24-7 surveillance. Meeropol said inmates stay in CMUs for an average of three to five years, whereas disciplinary administrative segregation typically lasts one to four weeks. "This experience of segregation in a minority religion unit is a very atypical experience," she said. The appeal challenges the hardships that "haphazard and retaliatory" CMU assignments impose on prisoners.   read more

The FDA says GMOs are safe. But advocates for labeling say not enough is known about their risks. Among supporters of labeling are many organic companies that are barred by law from using modified ingredients in their foods. Those advocates have been fighting state by state to enact the labeling, with the eventual goal of a national standard. "A growing number of American consumers want to know more about the food they eat. And they have the right to know," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow.   read more

The United Nations made it official: It found Danes to be the happiest people on Earth. The accolade is based on a variety of factors: People's health and access to medical care, family relations, job security and social factors, including political freedom and degree of government corruption. Even U.S. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have singled out the small Scandinavian country as an example of a happy, well-oiled society.   read more

Sea levels are rapidly increasing, probably at the fastest rate in 28 centuries. Of the projected population at risk, nearly 50% will be in Florida, and an additional 20% in other parts of the southeastern U.S. In 30 different counties, more than 100,000 people would be at risk. None of the 22 coastal states in the continental U.S., as well as Washington, D.C., will be immune from the effects. The cost of relocating the 13.1 million people displaced by sea-level rise could be about $14 trillion.   read more

More than 40 Americans die every day from painkiller overdoses, a staggering rate that Frieden said is "doctor driven. The risks of addiction and death are very well documented." Under the new guidelines, doctors would prescribe painkillers only after considering non-addictive pain relievers and behavioral changes. The CDC also wants doctors to prescribe the lowest effective dose possible. And doctors should only continue prescribing the drugs if patients show significant improvement.   read more

Several wells near the ChemFab plant have tested positive for an industrial chemical that has been linked to cancer, thyroid disease and complications during pregnancy, making North Bennington the latest in a growing list of northeastern communities unsettled by a contaminated-water scare. “Every time I think about it, I just feel like crying,” said Virginia Barber, 64, who has lived near the factory since 1977. Hers was one of the first wells in the village to test positive for the chemical.   read more

The bipartisan bill would require federal agencies to consider the release of government information under "a presumption of openness" as opposed to a presumption that the information is secret. The legislation aims to reduce the amount of exemptions the government uses to withhold information and would create a single portal through which individuals can submit a Freedom of Information Act request. The legislation was sponsored by Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy.   read more

Information technology workers continued to delete electronic data until Sept. 21, the lawsuit claims. Even after that date, they destroyed backup information because of what they said was a shortage of storage space. In addition, according to the lawsuit, outside accountants hired by Volkswagen complained that they could not get access to all the data they wanted. Donovan says he told managers in IT that they could be accused of obstructing justice, and that he did not want to take part.   read more

The decision represents a reversal of President Obama’s previous offshore drilling plans, and comes as he is trying to build an ambitious environmental legacy. It could also inject the issue into the 2016 presidential campaigns, as Republican candidates vow to expand drilling. Last January, Obama drew the wrath of environmentalists and high praise from the oil industry with his proposal that would have opened much of the southeastern Atlantic coast to offshore drilling for the first time.   read more

"This leaves CBP vulnerable to a corruption scandal that could potentially threaten the security of our nation," the panel wrote in its report. "Currently there is no one who the Secretary of Homeland Security can clearly hold accountable for seeing to it that corruption does not take root within CBP and that our national security interests at our nation's border are not compromised by corrupt CBP personnel. The CBP discipline system is broken."   read more

Smartphone virtual assistants, like Apple’s Siri, are great for finding the nearest gas station. But if someone is in distress, they often fall seriously short. Phone makers have known their devices could give potentially harmful responses that could deter victims from seeking help. “Just imagine someone who feels no one else knows what they’re going through, and to have a response that says ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about,’ that would validate all those insecurities and fears.”   read more

The new guidance comes amid concerns that some local courts in the U.S. are punishing poor people by imposing crippling fines that can result in jail time. "The consequences of the criminalization of poverty are not only harmful — they are far-reaching," said Attorney General Lynch. A scathing federal report last year concluded that a Ferguson, Missouri court levied exorbitant fines for petty offenses and routinely issued arrest warrants to residents who had failed to settle their debts.   read more