By Gabriela Baczynska and Igor Belyatski in Moscow, Reuters, Oct 14, 2013
Russian police rounded up more than 1,600 migrants on Monday in Moscow after rioting swept through a southern neighborhood over a fatal stabbing of a Russian that many residents blame on a man from the Caucasus region. [....]
By Golnaz Esfandiari, Asia Times Online, Oct 11, 2013
Synopsis: Iran's new culture minister has condemned the censorship policy of former prime minister Mahmud Ahmadinejad as arbitrary and ill-informed, following calls from some 200 writers, poets, and translators for him to the lift "draconian" rules. However, Ali Jannati, has said book censorship will continue because "problematic books can poison society".
The US snatched a senior Pakistani Taliban leader out of the hands of Afghan intelligence agents who were in the middle of a delicate attempt to recruit him, according to the Afghan government.
The US confirmed that it had captured Latif Mehsud, a top commander in Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but refused to say how he came into American custody [....]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Friday that would have imposed the nation's toughest restrictions on gun ownership, saying it was too far-reaching.
The legislation would have banned future sales of most semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines, part of a firearms package approved by state lawmakers in response to mass shootings in other states.
Exclusive: Bipartisan bill pulls together existing efforts to dramatically reform the NSA in the wake of Snowden disclosures
By Dan Roberts in Washington, theguardian.com, 10 Oct., 2013
The conservative Republican who co-authored America's Patriot Act is preparing to unveil bipartisan legislation that would dramatically curtail the domestic surveillance powers it gives to intelligence agencies.
By Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight @ Grantland, Oct. 10, 2013
[....] While most of my focus has been on building the new site, the idea was never for me to stop writing completely during the transition period. Instead, Grantland has set up an interim website for me and other FiveThirtyEight contributors to write articles from time to time [.....]
By Karen McVeigh in New York, theguardian.com, Oct. 10, 2013
Barack Obama has pursued the most aggressive "war on leaks" since the Nixon administration, according to a report published on Thursday that says the administration's attempts to control the flow of information is hampering the ability of journalists to do their jobs.
By Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, online now and for the Oct. 14, 2013 issue
[....] For years, I had been travelling from New York to San Francisco, and the passage had always been dutiful. (I grew up there.) Then, about a year ago, I started to notice that landing back at Kennedy brought the warm release of a down-shifting engine, a sense of lowered stakes.
By Nic Robertson, Saad Abedine and Faith Karimi, CNN, updated 1:17 AM EDT, Oct. 10, 2013
Rebels kidnapped Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan at dawn Thursday and took him to an undisclosed location, his spokeswoman told CNN.
Armed rebels escorted the prime minister from the Corinthian Hotel in Tripoli into a convoy of waiting cars, said a hotel clerk who was not authorized to speak to the media.
It's like writing copy about hair dryers, one comment-shop explains, "The only difference is that this hair dryer is a political one."
By Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, Oct. 9, 2013
The principle point at the end actually applies everywhere in my opinion. Reams of agitprop (or P.R., or talking points, or whatever you want to call it,) even without abuse, discourages lurkers (often interested in learning some nuance on topic rather than reading passionate advocacy and debate) from participating:
By Sami Nader, Al-Monitor Lebanon Pulse, October 8, 2013
[....] The fundamental backstory to this conflict revolves around natural gas and gas-related dilemmas, which extend well-beyond the Syrian arena and directly encompass the other countries in the eastern Arab world such as Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey and even Cyprus [....]
BBC News, with photos and with analysis by Wyre Davies, Rio correspondent, Oct. 8, 2013
[....] Teachers have been agitating for a pay increase for two months. About 50,000 people were estimated to have marched to support them before the violence broke out, but police would only confirm the 10,000 estimate [.....].,
[....] The latest demonstrations in Rio were among the most violent yet, even though it had started out with at least 10,000 overwhelmingly peaceful teachers and other trades unionists.
U.S. special operations forces captured a terrorist operative sought in U.S. embassy bombings and participated in a raid targeting an Al-Shabaab leader, U.S. officials say. (Developing; link is the headline story & I imagine that it will be updated.)
Don't say Democrats aren't compromising. Their bill last night (rejected by the House GOP) would have funded government at Paul Ryan-levels.
By Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, Oct. 1, 2013
[....] today's news is a data point in a much larger story: Republicans have, in the last two terms, masterfully whittled down federal spending, often with precisely this form of brinksmanship.
Greeks stunned not only by revelations about country's far right group but also by strength of clampdown
By Helena Smith in Athens, theguardian.com, 1 Oct., 2013
