UN OPENS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF YOUTH WITH CALL TO TAP INTO YOUNGSTERS´ TALENT, IDEALISM

New York - The International Year of Youth kicked off today with calls from United Nations officials to harness the talents and energy of the world´s young people to promote better understanding and dialogue between different generations, cultures and religions. Dialogue and mutual understanding ...

Recent News

Amnesty International Report Cites Unlawful Killings and Torture Linked to Yemen's Counter-Terrorism

We are people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights. Our purpose is to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. We investigate and expose abuses, educate and mobilize the public, and help transform societies to create a safer, more just world.

US: Immigration Detainees at Risk of Sexual Abuse

WASHINGTON -- The US government needs to strengthen its protection of people in immigration detention to prevent sexual abuse and to ensure justice for victims, Human Rights Watch said in a report. The 24-page report, "Detained and at Risk: Sexual Abuse and Harassment in United States Immigration...

Kenya Refuses to Arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.

FDA Knowingly Sitting on Deceptive Labeling Claims Legal Expert

What do you do when someone threatens to display your dirty laundry in public? According to legal expert, Terence Mix, if you´re the FDA, you ignore him. "After all," says Mix, "most of the FDA´s operations have been beyond public scrutiny for decades." But after a two-month effort, Mix finally got ...

Expert on "Merchant of Death" Warns of U.S. Government Pressure in Ruling

Bangkok, Thailand -- Viktor Bout, the Russian businessman dubbed Merchant of Death is in a Thai jail waiting to hear if he is to be extradited to the U.S. Last year, the government tried and failed to bring him to the States on spurious charges of arms trafficking, and is now using new charges of mo...

Fidel Castro Lauds Book Uncovering the Secretive Bilderberg Group

Walterville, OR -- Fidel Castro, one of the most famous world leaders of the 20th Century, published an article in which he quoted extensively from the book The True Story of the Bilderberg Group. Written by investigative journalist Daniel Estulin, the best selling book details the inside workings o...

Newly Launched Forestry Standard Combats Illegally Harvested Timber

Demand for third party-verified wood increases with EU ban on illegal timber sales and expansion of US Lacey Act

U.S. Military Members Arrive in Sri Lanka for Humanitarian, Partnership Mission

Puttalam Township, Sri Lanka -- More than 40 U.S. servicemembers arrived in Sri Lanka to begin a six-day combined medical and engineering training mission with the Sri Lankan government and medical representatives from Maldives and Mongolia. The mission, called Pacific Angel-Sri Lanka, will be co...

Special Attention Needed for Pregnant Pakistanis Affected by Floods, Says UNFPA

New York, NY -- With more floods expected to hit large parts of Pakistan, causing deadly disruptions to more people´s lives, it is critical to address the special needs of displaced women and girls, particularly pregnant women, says UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. More than 15.4 ...

More Women Need Second Opinions Before Hysterectomy and Other Surgeries

Dallas, TX -- A new awareness campaign called "Give Me a Second" is stressing the importance of medical second opinions for women who are advised to get hysterectomies and other major surgeries. Led by patient support advocate and entrepreneur Kathy Kelley, founder and CEO of HysterSisters, the G...

Volunteers of America Opens Additional Housing for Residents of New Orleans

Alexandria, VA -- Soon residents will begin moving back into Elysian Courtyards of Gentilly in New Orleans. The housing complex, owned and operated by Volunteers of America, was flooded during Hurricane Katrina. As part of Volunteers of America´s Coming Back Home initiative, it provides 150 un...

KRG Representative Qubad Talabani Thanks U.S. Military, Recognizes Steep Cost of War for America

WASHINGTON -- In an address to the World Affairs Council in Denver, Qubad Talabani, the U.S. Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government, praised the strong strategic relationship between the United States government and the KRG, and called for continued U.S. involvement in the Kurdistan Reg...

Honeywell Breaks Ground on New School in Jacmel, Haiti

In Partnership with Operation USA and the City of Jacmel, Honeywell Delivers On Its Commitment to Haiti; New School Slated for Completion

Public Outcry for FDA Reform

High-profile, deadly and previously undisclosed side-effects of mass-marketed prescription medications like Vioxx and Avandia have consumer watchdog groups, medical professionals and the public at large wondering if the Food and Drug Administration can stem the tide of "bad medicine." Most people th...

The Dodd-Frank Act: Financial Reform and New Whistleblower Protections

President Obama's signing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act brings increased oversight to an industry that many feel recklessly brought about "The Great Recession" and sent the economy into a tailspin. The stated aims of the new law include improving transparency and a...

BP Oil Spill Solutions - American and European Entrepreneurs Propose to President Barack Obama

MIAMI, FL -- Mr. Paul Chehade has been working on the serious problem to do with the pollution in our coasts due to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Chehade has been sending letters to Mr. Barack Obama, President of the United States and to all the Governors, District Attorneys and EPA Direct...

Germany's Best Quality Car is... a Hyundai

Leading German motoring magazine AutoBild has awarded the Hyundai i30 compact sedan the top honour in its annual AutoBild Quality Report for 2010. Hyundai edged out local manufacturers BMW and Audi, and eclipsed its rival Toyota to take the prestigious award based on a comprehensive analysis of r...

DuPont Collaborates to Support Hong Kong´s Largest Thin Film Photovoltaic Rooftop Installation

HONG KONG -- DuPont is collaborating with the Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd. (HK Electric), a major power utility company in Hong Kong, to support the building and operation of the largest thin film photovoltaic rooftop project in Hong Kong. With an installation capacity of 550 kilowatt-peak (kWp), ...

ETAN Condemns U.S. Plan to Get Back in Bed with Indonesia's Kopassus Killers

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) condemnes the Obama administration's decision to resume engagement with Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces. "Slipping back into bed with Kopassus is a betrayal of the brutal unit's many victims in Timor-Leste, West Papua and throughout...

New Theory Unifies General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics

The ultimate quest of modern physics is the unification of general relativity and quantum mechanics into a single holistic description of our entire physical universe, and a successful unification has now emerged from a completely unexpected direction--not through esoteric mathematics or strange new physics, but through the unification of known theories, concepts and premises.

$8.4 Million in State Funding Awarded to Help Solve Renewable Energy Challenges

Houston, TX -- Texas Governor Rick Perry announced that $8.4 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) will be awarded to the National Institute for Renewable Energy (NIRE) and Texas Tech University . The grant allows NIRE, a non-profit, public/private collaboration and partner of The W...

International Living Reports Costa Rica Nearing Carbon-Neutral Goal

Waterford, Ireland -- International Living magazine reports that Costa Rica is nearing a goal it set for itself in 2007… to be carbon-neutral in time for the country´s 200th birthday in 2021. Three years after making that pledge, Costa Rica is practically there. It already produces 90% of i...

And the New Tourism Leader in Latin America is… Uruguay?

Waterford, Ireland -- Mexico has more visitors and makes more money from tourism per year than any country in Latin America…but in the recently released Latin Tourism Index, Uruguay came out on top as Latin America´s tourism champion. Assembled by the Latin Business Chronicle, the index ass...

Pelosi Statement on House Passage of the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on the Emergency Border Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which passed the House: "This legislation honors our first responsibility to protect the American people by giving law enforcement the tools they need to add...

New investigation shows Indonesia´s largest palm and pulp group still destroying critical habitats

Jakarta, Indonesia -- A new Greenpeace investigation into the operations of Sinar Mas, one the most notorious destroyers of Indonesia´s rainforests, reveals how it is continuing to break its own environmental commitments on protecting forests and peatland. Publishing new photographic evidence, ae...

Wyle Scientist to Study Stress in Haughton-Mars Project Spaceflight Analog

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- A remote Canadian island is being used to simulate isolated space flight conditions for a NASA-funded medical research study that could produce important information to assist astronauts in potential long duration flights to Mars or an asteroid. The Haughton-Mars Project Res...

Although Oil Spill is Slowed, Economic Damages are Still Being Calculated, Says Texas Attorney

Houston, TX -- The apparent capping of BP´s blown-out well that has been spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico marks progress, Houston attorney Kurt Arnoldsaid. But an accurate accounting of the spill´s long-term economic damage to commercial fishermen, shrimpers, and coastal businesses m...

AIDS Research Alliance of America Awarded $250,000 by Pepsi

Los Angeles, CA -- Carolyn Carlburg, President & Chief Operating Officer of AIDS Research Alliance of America (www.aidsresearch.org), expressed deep gratitude to the hundreds of thousands of donors and friends across the United States who voted for AIDS Research Alliance in the Pepsi Refresh competi...

Adopt-a-Pet.com Encourages Department of Homeland Security to Consider Recruiting Shelter Dogs

Washington, DC -- North America´s largest non-profit pet-adoption web service, Adopt-a-Pet.com, expressed hope that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security would include qualified shelter dogs in its plan to add 3,000 new sniffer canines to its ranks, and offered to head up a nationwide searc...

UK Border Agency Approves Pearson Test of English Academic

London, UK -- Pearson announced that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has formally approved Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) as fully satisfying the Government´s criteria for English language proficiency tests for student visas under Tier 4 of the Points Based System. Under the te...

Nyiragongo Volcano, a New Tourist Attraction in Congo DRC

Washington, DC -- Lakes of hot lava are one of the most spectacular forms of volcanic activity, but they are very difficult to see since there are only a few of them in the world at any given time. So, if you want to see a really impressive lava lake, you have only one option left: Nyiragongo. Ny...

Former State Department Official Sentenced to Life In Prison for Nearly 30-Year Espionage Conspiracy

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Walter Kendall Myers, a former State Department official, and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and 81 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a nearly 30-year conspiracy to provide highly-cla...

Phoenix Licensed Gun Dealer Sentenced for Trafficking Firearms to California

PHOENIX, AZ -- Shawn Michael Nealon, 38, of Mesa, Ariz., a federal firearms licensee and owner of Cavalry Arms Corp., was sentenced to three years probation, 300 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to illegal firearms sales by a federally licensed firearms dealer to ...

Northrop Grumman Agrees to Pay $12.5 Million to United States Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation has agreed to pay the United States $12.5 million to settle allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims to a number of government agencies in connection with electronic parts the company supplied for use in the manufacture of navigati...

New Space Station Crew Members Launch From Kazakhstan

HOUSTON, TX -- NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin launched to the International Space Station aboard their Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Wheelock, Walker and Soyuz commander Yurchikhin will join Expedition...

Obama Call for Action on Clean Energy Lauded by American Businesses for Clean Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Obama's appeal for Congress to act swiftly to move the United States forward on clean energy is being applauded by American Businesses for Clean Energy (ABCE), the largest group of small- and medium-sized companies supporting such steps. Now with nearly 5,000 companies ...

Bavaria Fully Supports Arrested Dutch Women

LIESHOUT, The Netherlands -- Because Bavaria is unable to respond to all the questions from the press on this issue, it would like to react with a written statement concerning the arrest of two Dutch women. Unfortunately, Bavaria has been drawn into the furore surrounding the arrest of the two ladie...

Energy Solutions Drive $19 Billion in Federal Spending

New Report Analyzes Technology Strategies Shaping Federal Sustainability Plans

Boeing Completes First Flight of GE-Powered 787

EVERETT, Wash. -- The first Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner with General Electric (GE) engines, the airplane referred to as ZA005, completed its first flight. GE executives and Boeing employees were on hand to welcome Captains Mike Bryan and Mike Carriker to Boeing Field in Seattle following com...

Sand Sculpture Festival Breaks World Record

BLANKENBERGE, Belgium -- The Sand sculpture festival in Blankenberge is featuring its longest sculpture promenade ever. After achieving the European height record in Zeebrugge in 1998, the festival is now vying for the world record. The length of 841,80 metres was taken and it is enough to become th...