Those opposing the editing of human genes say the changes can be passed to later generations and have an unpredictable effect on those populations. There is also concern about dangerous or unethical applications of the technique. Even the Chinese admitted that the gene modification did not go as well as they would have liked. They changed the genetic material of 86 embryos, of which 71 survived. But upon testing those that did survive, the scientists found only 28 were successfully spliced.   read more

The World Happiness Report for 2015 ranks nations using a variety of factors, such as income, life expectancy, and personal freedoms. Based on the criteria, Switzerland came out with the highest score (7.587). Right behind it were Iceland (7.561), Denmark (7.527), Norway (7.522) and Canada (7.427). The U.S. came in 15th on the list—right behind Mexico—out of 158 ranked. “The people who design our institutions and govern our lives need to pay attention,” said report co-author John Helliwell.   read more

President Barack Obama claims that “Before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured—the highest standard we can set." But a report written by the Open Society Justice Initiative, after it examined nine drone strikes in Yemen, shows the opposite. In those attacks, 26 civilians, including five children, were killed and 13 more wounded.   read more

“In killing and maiming unarmed civilians, these defendants acted unreasonably and without justification,” said the U.S. attorney's office. “The sheer amount of unnecessary human loss and suffering attributable to the defendants’ criminal conduct...is staggering.” Judge Lamberth said their actions "can just not be condoned by a court." Said defendant Slatten to the judge: "The verdict is wrong. You know I am innocent."   read more

It was Attorney General Holder who urged the White House to try a different strategy. While the Pentagon and the CIA had urged that Farekh be killed, Holder “was skeptical of the intelligence dossier on Mr. Farekh, questioning whether he posed an imminent threat to the United States and whether he was as significant a player in Al Qaeda as the Pentagon and the C.I.A. described," said the Times. And so the Texas-born Farekh was arrested last year in Pakistan and will stand trial in Brooklyn.   read more

Warrants were issued for Jonathan Bank, former CIA station chief in Islamabad, and John A. Rizzo, formerly the top CIA lawyer who legally authorized drone strikes inside Pakistan. Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad high court said both Americans should be tried for murder in connection with a December 2009 attack that reportedly killed at least three people. The legal move forced Bank to leave the country. He now works in the U.S. military’s intelligence wing.   read more

Most of the deaths came in the fighting in Gaza between July 7 and August 26. During those hostilities, 2,220 Palestinians were killed, 1,492 of them civilians, 551 of whom were children. This included 142 Palestinian families who saw three or more family members killed because of attacks on their residences. These attacks on residential buildings accounted for 742 deaths. During the Gaza fighting, 71 Israelis were killed, 66 of them soldiers.   read more

Munyenyezi was found to have “kicked off the killing frenzy there by telling the party’s devotees that all Tutsi ‘cockroaches’ must die.” According to the appeals court, “she personally inspected IDs at the checkpoint, separated those who would live from those who would die (and die gruesomely), and kept records of the ghastly going-ons.”   read more

The mission proved costly for the police force, which lost 44 men during the botched raid. Thirty-five members of the elite unit were picked off in a cornfield one by one by Moro Islamic Liberation Front snipers. The surviving commandoes weren’t even able to bring back Marwan’s body as a result of getting attacked by the Moro fighters. They had to settle for cutting off Marwan’s finger to prove to the FBI that the bomb maker, who was on the bureau’s list of most wanted terrorists, was dead.   read more

The U.S. was responsible for one-third of all defense exports and “was the main beneficiary of growth,” IHS reported. Saudi Arabia surpassed India to become the largest defense market for U.S. weapons makers, as the oil sheikdom increased its defense imports 54% from 2013 to 2014. This year is expected to be another strong year for Saudi imports, rising another 52% to $9.8 billion. “One out of every seven dollars spent on defense imports in 2015 will be spent by Saudi Arabia,” reported IHS.   read more

Galarza was one of an estimated 120 Ecuadorans who were imprisoned and interrogated by the government with the assistance of CIA operatives. The spy agency claimed that Galarza was a guerilla in the Dominican Republic, an accusation he has long denied. Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, has said his agency printed the authors’ book, in both English and Spanish, to not only educate people about previous CIA schemes, but current ones.   read more

The upcoming game between the Cosmos and the Cuban soccer team is the result of President Barack Obama last year restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. The U.S. hasn’t had relations with its southern neighbor in 55 years. The last U.S. team to play before the break in relations between the two countries was in 1960, when the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings played a game on the island. In 1999, the Baltimore Orioles played Cuba’s national team in an exhibition game in Havana, and won, 3-2.   read more

The illegal trade as a whole is worth somewhere between $7 billion and $23 billion. In just one three-year period, about 100,000 elephants were killed, largely for their ivory tusks sold on the black market throughout the world. More than 1,200 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year. The UNEP report says the illegal trade was responsible for the killing of 643 chimpanzees, 48 bonobos, 98 gorillas and 1,019 orangutans from 2005 to 2011.   read more

The NSA collects all emails, phones and social media messages from Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tonga and the French territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia. The NSA has been able to gather these communications through its spying relationship with New Zealand and its version of the NSA called the Government Communications Security Bureau.   read more

With Capitol Hill abuzz over Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s appearance before Congress this week, there is no time like the present for a refresher on how much the American taxpayers spend on Israel’s defense. If it wasn’t for Washington, Netanyahu would have a serious shortfall on his hands. The U.S. funds about 25% of Israel’s annual military spending, thanks to $3 billion a year in aid. Israel is "the largest single recipient of U.S foreign assistance...$121 billion," wrote Ward.   read more

Many of the accused are former Bosnian soldiers. Among the ones identified are an Ohio metal worker, a Virginia soccer coach, and four Las Vegas casino employees. Half of the 300 Bosnian suspects may have been involved in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which Serbian militias executed about 8,000 unarmed Muslim boys and men. “The idea that the people who did all this damage in Bosnia should have a free pass and a new shot at life [in the U.S.] is just obscene to me,” said Michael MacQueen   read more