By Daniella Silva and Kevin Watters, NBC News, Nov. 22, 2013
[....] His attorneys have not disputed that he committed the shootings but have entered plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty [....]
By Andrew Kohut, Pew Research Center, Nov. 20, 2013
[....] liberalism had its limits when it came to integration and civil rights. Over the course of 1963, particularly following JFK’s call for civil rights legislation in mid-June, a growing number came to the view that the president was pushing racial integration too fast. A third of the public held that view in June (36%) but that number inched up to 41% in July, and soared to 50% in a Gallup survey following the March on Washington.
Scientists have mapped the genome of a four-year-old boy who died in south-central Siberia 24,000 years ago. It is the oldest modern human genome sequenced to date, researchers report in the journal Nature.
The results provide a window into the origins of Native Americans, whose ancestors crossed from Siberia into the New World during the last Ice Age. They suggest about a third of Native American ancestry came from an ancient population related to Europeans [....]
By John D. Abramson, (a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and the author of “Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine,” serves as an expert in litigation involving the pharmaceutical industry,) and Rita F. Redberg (a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center and the editor of JAMA Internal Medicine.)
[....] “We are completely marginalized … until the shit hits the fan,” says one former Cabinet deputy secretary, summing up the view of many officials I interviewed. “If your question is: Did the president rely a lot on his Cabinet as a group of advisers? No, he didn’t,” says former Obama Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood [....]
Manama: A Sudanese national was killed and 17 people were injured as riots broke out again in the Manfouha neighbourhood in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Several shops and around 30 cars were damaged as Ethiopians hurled stones and attacked Saudis and foreigners on Wednesday afternoon, local reports said.
The new riots followed those that occurred on Saturday and trigged by an identity check by the local police looking for foreigners who were staying illegally in the country.
All problems with Heathcare.gov flowed from one bad decision, he said.
By Garance Franke-Ruta, TheAtlantic.com, Nov. 13, 2013
[....] on Wednesday, Washington Post columnist Gene Robinson asked the question on everyone's mind after the release of the first Obamacare enrollment numbers: "What the hell happened?"
By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, theguardian.com, 13 Nov. 2013
A vast majority of red-state Americans believe climate change is real and at least two-thirds of those want the government to cut greenhouse gas emissions, new research revealed on Wednesday.
By Annie Lowrey, New York Times Magazine, Nov. 12/17, 2013
[....] a Swiss public referendum, this time on providing a monthly income to every citizen, no strings attached. Every month, every Swiss person would receive a check from the government, no matter how rich or poor, how hardworking or lazy, how old or young. Poverty would disappear. Economists, needless to say, are sharply divided on what would reappear in its place — and whether such a basic-income scheme might have some appeal for other, less socialist countries too.
The home is “at the very core” of the Fourth Amendment’s protection [....] what if the police lawfully arrest the objecting tenant and remove him from the home, may they enter then? That is the question the Supreme Court is considering on Wednesday in Fernandez v. California.
Sectarian tension between Shia and Sunni Muslims is probably the most serious threat to the world security, according Iran's foreign minister.
Speaking to the BBC, Mohamed Javad Zarif blamed some Sunni countries for what he called "fear-mongering". "Some people have fanned the animosity for short-sighted political interests," he said.
Syria, Iraq and Pakistan are among the countries currently grappling with a surge in sectarian violence.
Amid galloping inflation and shortages, the Venezuelan government has sent its army to occupy electronics stores that it accuses of profiteering.
