Russian orphanages are a scandal, said Jennifer Rankin. State institutions house nearly 400,000 children, a population larger than many cities. But less than one third of these children are actually orphans. Many “fall into the system when their parents, often fighting a losing battle with alcohol or drugs,” lose their parental rights. Even more of them—nearly half the total—have disabilities, […]
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At a carnival that took place in Spain, participants portrayed anti-Semitic Nazis and Jewish concentration camp prisoners while dancing next to a float sensationalizing a crematorium. The Israeli Embassy in Madrid protested the anti-Semitic display at the annual carnival procession in Campo de Criptana, a town situated about 80 miles southeast of the capital. “We condemn the vile and repugnant […]
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A wild elephant went on a rampage in a village in India’s eastern West Bengal state on Wednesday, damaging around 100 structures, villagers said. Video taken in the village of Ektiasal showed the beast wandering around and knocking over flimsy huts. The elephant strayed into the village early in the morning and woke up villagers with its roaring. “The elephant […]
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A desparate farmer killed himself in public, and India’s politicians do little more than point their fingers. Gajendra Singh, 43, climbed a tree and hanged himself during a rally against the government’s new land acquisition bill. A suicide note said his crop had failed and he could not support his three children. Singh joins “a long list of farmers who […]
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Juba, South Sudan Army rapes, murders: South Sudanese soldiers have been gang raping young girls and then burning them alive, according to a new United Nations report. The army is trying to terrify the entire civilian population into fleeing rebel-held areas so that the rebels will have no support base. One survivor described how he hid in a river when […]
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President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 including a separate section that could allow the military to indefinitely detain American citizens on suspicions of supporting terrorism. His signature means indefinite detention without charge or trial will be extended.”
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Bright Lights in a World of Darkness More than 30 years ago the Supreme Court in the United States ruled that if individuals are mentally ill but not criminally insane they cannot be confined to asylums. They must be allowed to live in the general population. The results of that decision over the years have met with mixed success in different areas of the […]
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Internment Camps in the United States Miyuki is old enough to have been a child during World War II. Indeed, some of her students are that old as well but they are eager to learn and listen to her carefully. She is a teacher of floral arrangements in the Japanese style of Ikenobo but her face always seems sadder […]
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It has been reported that thousands of aborted and miscarried fetuses have been burned to heat British hospitals. An expose by local British news found that 27 state-run hospital trusts incinerated fetal remains, sometimes burning the bodies with other hospital waste or using them in “waste-to-energy” plants that generate power and heat. In some cases, women who miscarried were told […]
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While poaching and the decline in habitat areas the Savanna Elephant of Africa is declining in numbers. Back in 1930 there were an estimated 10 million elephants over the continent of Africa. Since the year 2007 their numbers have declined by 500,000 with another 111,000 in 2016. Today there is an estimated 400,000 elephants left across Africa. While poaching is […]
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