Guest Column

Woman from Mali who underwent circumcision fights for asylum

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Alima Traore doesn't remember when part of her genitals was removed as a young child in her native Mali. But even at 29, she still lives with the consequences.

Zanu pays thugs to kill MDC officials

Zanu (PF) is paying its thugs Z$10 billion for each member of the MDC who is killed and Z$5 billion for burning down houses of activists. In an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean on Sunday, a defector from the campaign of terror codenamed Operation Mavhotera Papi, said it had been mounted with the specific approval of the party’s president, Robert Mugabe, against opponents of his regime.

Boris Johnson defeated Islamic extremists as well as Ken Livingstone

This result isn’t just a wonderful victory for Boris and the termination of Livingstone. It’s also a defeat for the campaign – an exceptionally dirty one, at that - waged against Boris by a small band of separatists claiming to act in the name of all London’s Muslims. The effects of Boris’ win will be felt not only in the capital, but nationwide – and they’re worth probing in detail.

Iraqi, Coalition Soldiers Distribute Food, Toys to Families in Need

By Sgt. Daniel T. West, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office FOB DELTA — Iraqi SF and American Soldiers recently gave humanitarian assistance to more than 200 families in the Zuwarijat district of al-Kut, 163 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, as part of Op Thunder II.

Bring Madeleine Home

By, Ros Prynn Newsblaze.com Madeleine McCann was remembered in church services in England and Portugal yesterday. One year ago, the then 3 year old disappeared from the holiday apartment in Portugal where her younger twin siblings were also sleeping.

The Peppermint Candy

From the great Ron Hevener. The moon was high … the indigo/night air smelled like water and the air sizzled its arms around you . . . that's how it felt, as we waited...

Soft on Refugee Crime, Hard on Thought Crime

Imagine a household that permitted a stranger to walk in without an invitation, assault its occupants, raid the refrigerator, steal the silverware, and then spent years deliberating whether to show him the door.

Gulf Region South Coast Corps of Engineers reconstruction of Sadr Teaching hospital

BASRA - The Gulf Region South Coast Corps of Engineers is working on several projects with Iraqi construction firms to rebuild various sites around the city of Basra.

Taking a Look Inside a Tsunami Factory

known as the Nankai Trough, the 500-mile-long boundary between a pair of tectonic plantes off the southwestern coast of Japan is now the focus of scientific attention. For a long time, the Nankai Trough has produced tsunami after tsunami, and now scientists involved in the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment hope to find out just what makes it work.

Tracking Down the Brain’s Power Requirements

The brain has been, more often than not, a source of quandary for scientists. The sheer level of sophistication is, pardon the ironic pun, mind boggling. And naturally, a lot of energy needs to go towards powering this major organ of ours; 20% of the body’s energy use to be exact.

Mammoth Black Hole Hightailing it Outta There!

Galaxies weighing in at the size of our own Milky Way or larger are all presumed to harbor a supermassive black hole at their center. These monstrosities weigh millions or even billions of times as much as our own Sun.

I Still Don’t Believe Obama

When the now infamous Reverend Jeremiah Wright video surfaced in March, I found myself unable to believe Barack Obama. (www.canadafreepress.com). I found it hard to believe that Barack Obama had never heard Reverend Wright utter a negative word about America. I found it hard to believe that Barack Obama would title one of his autobiographies from one of Reverend Wright’s sermons and then not know what he actually preached.

Angry China

The recent glimpses of a snarling China should scare the country's government as much as the world

Press Freedom Day today: Last 12 months proved deadliest for media

15 journalists murdered, 357 arrested since May 2007. Not even a single murder accused arrested. Islamabad remained unsafest place for journalists

Christians sign up to join Iraqi Police force

MOSUL - Scores of Christian men lined up to join the IP force during a recruiting drive in Tall Kayf, 15 km north of Mosul, April 28. The goal of the 3-day event was to recruit up to 700 Christians to join the police force to help protect their respective communities in Mosul. "This recruiting drive will help bolster the economy through employment, in addition to bolstering the security effort," said Col. Michael Bills, cmdr of the 3rd ACR.

Depression turns off the music in the mother-baby dance

Your newborn is crying. If it’s a cry of pain, you’re going to respond more strongly than you would to a cry of hunger – that’s the normal pattern.

How NASA is Manipulating Climate Data

By Steven Goddard, The Register, 2 May 2008 A tale of two thermometers. For full report and graphics view full article here

US backs change in Zim after elections

Harare - US President George W Bush piled the pressure on Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe to step down on Tuesday, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned of "a serious humanitarian crisis" in the country.

Fuelling the world food crisis

Bogdan Kipling, Chronicle Herald CANADA will donate an additional $45 million to the UN World Food Program, the Canadian Press reported early Wednesday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had approved the sum, CP said, and an official announcement was to follow.

“Made in China”

Ros Prynn, Newsblaze.com The heavy boot of Chinese oppression continues to stomp on free enterprise. A few days ago, I found a story on the BBC site that highlights the insidious creep of the all-encompassing influence of the party faithful in China: