U.S. and the World
Army and Navy Now Award Citizenship in Boot Camp
Immigrants looking to speed up the process of becoming American citizens can now turn to the military. Although military service has long been a path to citizenship, because of a need for specialists and those with language skills, the U.S. Army... read more
5 Facts about the U.S. Population from Latest Census Figures
1. In 2009, more than 1.7 million babies or 41.0% of all births were to unmarried women. For African-American, Native American and Hispanic women, a majority of births were out-of-wedlock.
2. The birth rate for mothers between the ages of 40 an... read more
China Leads U.S. in Cyber Spying
In the war against cyber-spying, the United States is losing out to China, according to experts in the field and previously undisclosed government documents. Chinese hackers have stolen terabytes (trillions of bytes) of sensitive data ranging fr... read more
Vietnam Government Accused of Financing Forced Labor…in U.S.
Migrant workers from Vietnam have sued in U.S. federal court over being mistreated in America by Vietnamese companies.
The lawsuit targets International Investment Trade and Service group (Interserco) and General Automotive Industry Corp. of... read more
U.S. Refuses Visa to German Journalist Probing Argentine Rights Violations
Gabriele Weber, a freelance journalist from Germany who has investigated Nazi war criminals and human rights violations in South America, has been permanently denied entry into the United States.
The U.S. government has refused to give a spe... read more
Most Workers at Japanese Nuclear Plants are Contract Laborers
More than 80,000 workers operate Japan’s 18 nuclear power plants, but nearly 90% of them are not employees. Those manning the complex, potentially dangerous facilities are contractors who receive varying levels of pay and benefits, depending on ... read more
Egypt: Goodbye Freedom of Speech…Political Blogger Jailed by Military Court
Maikel Nabil Sanad, a blogger who publicly criticized the military regime governing Egypt, has been sentenced to three years in prison, raising concerns about the future of democracy in the Middle Eastern country.
Nabil became the first blog... read more
Pro-Democracy Demonstrations Spread to Africa’s Last Kingdom: Who is King Mswati III?
“A king is a mouth that does not lie.”
-Swazi saying
The next pro-democracy uprising in Africa may take place in Swaziland, the small landlocked nation surrounded by South Africa. There, King Mswati III has ruled for decades, amassing wealt... read more
Pentagon to Hire Mercenaries to Guard Special Ops Commandos
Apparently even the best American soldiers need to be guarded in the dangerous realm of Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense’s Special Operations Command is seeking local security contractors to guard commando encampments, with arrangement... read more
Cleared for Release from U.S. Prison in Afghanistan, but not Allowed to Leave
The United States is continuing to imprison detainees in Afghanistan who have been ordered freed by review boards.
More than 40 individuals from various countries other than Afghanistan remain at the Bagram detention facility. Of these, at l... read more
Return to Africa…Immigrants Give Up on American Dream
Frustrated by lack of opportunity and the stagnant U.S. economy, many immigrants from Africa who were attracted by the American Dream are turning around and going home.
No statistics are available revealing how many of the nearly one million... read more
Mission Accomplished: Libyan Rebels Begin Exporting Oil
Rebels battling the reign of Muammar al-Gaddafi are set to enlarge their war chest with the export of their first oil shipment since taking control of Libya’s eastern oil fields.
About one million barrels of crude will be loaded onto a tanke... read more
Americans Still Dying in Iraq…14 So Far This Year
Regardless of what the Obama administration says or what the general public thinks, the war in Iraq is not over. The proof is in the caskets still coming home.
Since President Barack Obama declared last August that combat operations had ende... read more
U.S. Court Supports Iran…about Artifacts in Chicago Museums
American victims of a foreign terrorist attack cannot take possession of ancient artifacts belonging to Iran, ruled a U.S. federal appeals court this week in a long-running legal battle.
The case stems from a September 4, 1997, triple suicid... read more
Arab Dictatorships Use McAfee and Other U.S. Technology to Censor Internet and Spy
Authoritarian regimes in the Middle East have had plenty of help from American firms when it comes to censorship and spying on pro-democracy protestors.
One of the biggest players is Intel-owned McAfee Inc., provider of content-filtering sof... read more
Libyan Rebels Sign Oil Export Contract
If there’s one product that Libya has and the West wants, it’s oil. In a move to bolster their campaign to overthrow the regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi, rebels in Libya have reached an agreement to export oil they control in the North African coun... read more