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

One case involved a 1996 Toyota Camry driven by Kuoa Fong Lee, whose 2007 accident killed three people. Lee was sentenced to eight years in prison. She had served two years when her conviction of vehicular homicide was tossed out after Lee’s lawyers argued the car suddenly accelerated and Lee couldn’t stop it. “The cases are just the latest example of the double standard that prevails between street and white collar crime,” said author Rena Steinzor.   read more

Researchers at Chapman University’s Food Science Program gathered 48 meat samples from local supermarkets and online specialty meat distributors and tested the DNA contained in them. The results showed 10 of the 48 samples were mislabeled—and that nine of the 10 mislabeled samples contained additional species. Two of the 10 included horse meat, which is illegal to sell in the U.S. for consumption.   read more

The American Medical Association (AMA) said in a study released this week that plans by Anthem to acquire Cigna and Aetna to buy Humana will harm patients across the country. The AMA argues too many insurance markets are already dominated by a few companies, and allowing these mergers will only further concentrate insurance options.   read more

Researchers from Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and from European institutions found that perfluorinated alkylates (PFAS) are sometimes fed to newborns through mother’s milk. PFAS are a class of industrial chemicals and cancerous toxins used to repel water, grease and stains in sleeping bags, pizza boxes, cookware, waterproof clothing and other common household products.   read more

The home of a Palestinian family was firebombed, killing an 18-month-old child, Ali Dawabsheh, who was burned to death. His mother died Sunday of her burns. Their home was sprayed with graffiti reading “revenge” in Hebrew and featured a Star of David. Although not so far charged with the fire that killed the Dawabshehs, four youths--three with U.S. connections--believed to be connected to settler terrorism have been incarcerated by Israeli officials.   read more

The American College of Physicians, which represents doctors of internal medicine and related fields, has come out against the mass deportation of the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States proposed by Donald Trump and other members of the GOP, saying such a drastic move could adversely affect millions of individuals and endanger public health.   read more

President Barack Obama has used his executive powers to force federal contractors to provide seven days of paid sick leave to employees. The new rules, which won’t go into effect until 2017, demand that companies doing business with the U.S. government give their workers (both full-time and part-time) an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for a total of up to seven days in a year.   read more

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says net productivity grew 72.2% between 1973 and 2014. During that same period, hourly compensation of the vast majority of American workers increased only 8.7%, or 0.20% annually. When wages did go up, it mostly happened from 1995 to 2002. EPI also said only 15% of productivity growth between 1973 and 2014 translated into higher hourly wages and benefits for the typical American worker.   read more

Tribal leaders and others have voiced objections to Pope Francis’ announcement in January to make Serra a saint. Protests have been staged all across California and more are expected throughout the year. Serra’s drive to “civilize” native peoples while founding California's missions resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the eradication of their culture,   read more

The Guardian and the Associated Press say they uncovered emails from lobbyists representing egg producers that targeted the sales of Hampton Creek, which produces a mayonnaise that contains no eggs. The egg replacement company was seen as a threat to the $5.5 billion-a-year egg industry, prompting the American Egg Board (AEB) to launch a campaign to keep Hampton Creek from becoming successful.   read more

The government-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. (CRRC) has begun building a $60 million factory in Springfield that will produce more than 280 Red and Orange Line cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The new plant will begin assembling cars next year and see the first ones rolling off its assembly line by 2018. The Springfield factory is expected to employ 150 local workers, and serve as the company’s North American headquarters.   read more

The welfare reforms enacted during the Bill Clinton administration have made it easy for states to cut off funding to even the most desperate. Studies have shown that the number of people neither working nor receiving benefits has increased substantially since then. Even when benefits are available, many don’t know to apply. Some people are left to survive by donating plasma, selling aluminum cans for scrap, or in some cases, entering the sex trade.   read more

A 2012 initiative, backed by Bill Gates, Walmart heiress Alice Walton and a few other wealthy individuals, allowed for the formation of charter schools to be funded as though they were public schools. But the 6-3 court ruling (pdf), released late Friday, noted that they’re not considered “common schools,” since their ruling boards are appointed, not elected. Therefore, “money that is dedicated to common schools is unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools.”.   read more

The U.S. Department of Justice does not recommend shooting into moving cars because experts say it is widely viewed as ineffective for stopping oncoming vehicles, and doing so poses risks to innocent parties. An investigation by The Guardian found at least 30 incidents in 2015 of police firing their weapons into moving cars or trucks, killing at least one person each time.   read more

The cleanup of the Hanford nuclear facility, which has been in progress for more than 25 years already, is unlikely to be completed any time soon, according to a leaked evaluation. The bottom line is that according to its 2016 budget, the Department of Energy (DOE) has a 50% to 80% confidence level that the mess will be cleaned up—by 2070.   read more

The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System (SCL), which runs hospitals and clinics in Kansas, Colorado and Montana, has used a logo including a cross since 1976. It tweaked its logo to add a bit of blue to it. Insurance behemoth Blue Cross then warned the Sisters of Charity to stop using the logo, threatening litigation and to stop its agreements with the nuns’ facilities, causing SCL patients to pay out of pocket or go elsewhere for healthcare.   read more