en-us
Separately, the Department of Homeland Security said there was no active plot against the United States at this time. "We have no specific, credible information regarding an active terrorist plot against the U.S. at this time," DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142412--officials-say-cia-foiled-al-qaida-bomb-plot-in-yemen Mon, 07 May 2012 19:02:42 -0400 REUTERS http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142412--officials-say-cia-foiled-al-qaida-bomb-plot-in-yemen
Greece has been in shambles for years now. The country's financial woes are nothing new.

Even so, you'd expect the country that prides itself on inventing democracy to make  more sound decisions on election day.

The May 6 elections gave the Greek people a chance to voice their opinion on the austerity measures and the European bailout.

Let's just say that Greeks are not happy, and they expressed it with their ballots.

Here's the breakdown:

New Democracy, the conservative party, won the majority of the votes with 18.9%

PASOK, the socialist party that was in power the past several years when the spotlight was on Greece's troubles came in third with 13% of votes, after SYRIZA, a coalition of the radical left, with 16.7% of votes.

The surprise came with the hard-right, fascist party "Golden Dawn."

After the elections, Nikos Michaloliakos, the leader of "Golden Dawn" delivered a rousing speech, which you may be forgiven for finding incredibly frightening.

Watch the video below and ask yourself, 'Why would the people grant this man access to Greek Parliament?"

We don't have the answer, either.
]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142387--video-golden-dawn-leader-makes-fascist-style-speech-after-greek-elections Mon, 07 May 2012 17:07:36 -0400 MARY ANN GEORGANTOPOULOS, NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142387--video-golden-dawn-leader-makes-fascist-style-speech-after-greek-elections
The dolphins, Shadow and Chelmers, suffered painful deaths after zoo handlers rented space near their training tank for a massive club-style party attended by thousands of people.

The deaths, which occurred more than a year ago, were initially blamed on antibiotics administered to the dolphins by zoo pets, according to the Daily Express. However, a "leaked" toxicology report reveals that the heroin substitute Buprenorphin was detected in the dolphins' urine following the rave.

At the time of the death, zoo keeper Nadja Gasser told local media that Shadow died first, and it wasn't long before Chelmers suffered the same fate.

"He was drifting under the water and was clearly in trouble and so we jumped into the water. We tried to hold him. He was shaking all over and was foaming at the mouth," she said. "Eventually we got him out of the water. His tongue was hanging out. He could hardly breathe. He was given adrenalin, but it didn't help. After an hour the dolphin died."

In addition to the possibility that partiers dropped illegal drugs into the dolphins' tank, animal rights activists are also criticizing the zoo for allowing such a loud event to take place near the underwater mammals which have sensitive sonar hearing.

The zoo has denied any wrong-doing, though a spokesman said he plans to follow up with prosecutors about why they didn't follow up about the dolphins being poisoned with drugs. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142363--connyland-zoo-rave-leads-to-dolphins-heroin-overdose-report-says Mon, 07 May 2012 13:47:46 -0400 CASSANDRA GARRISON, NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142363--connyland-zoo-rave-leads-to-dolphins-heroin-overdose-report-says
The pills are believed to ward off diseases, according to customs agents who have busted 35 smuggling attempts since August. More than 17,450 pills disguised as "stamina boosters" have been seized in luggage or through mail, according to The Telegraph.

Korea Customs Service said the pills were made in northeastern China using the chopped flesh of babies, which was dried on a stove and then converted into a powder. However, unsurprisingly, the capsules contained harmful bacteria.

No charges have been filed in the smuggling cases because the amount is deemed small and not for retail sale, but rather for personal consumption, according to the agents.

So far, China's State Food and Drug Administration and its Health Ministry has yet to comment on the disturbing discoveries. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142350--dead-baby-powder-pills-exist-apparently-in-korea Mon, 07 May 2012 12:04:25 -0400 CASSANDRA GARRISON, NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142350--dead-baby-powder-pills-exist-apparently-in-korea
“I think we both say that what we found is the Taliban is stronger,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein told “Fox News Sunday” in an interview that included House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, who agreed with her statement. The two lawmakers returned last week from a trip to Afghanistan.

The Defense Department said last week in a report to Congress that its surge of 33,000 extra troops in Afghanistan ordered in late 2009 had weakened the Taliban but that the insurgency remained resilient.   

The report said overall insurgent attacks declined in 2011 for the first time in five years, even though violence increased in areas surrounding the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar, a region where U.S. efforts have been focused since 2009.

Feinstein, a Democrat, said radical Islamist religious schools in Pakistan were providing new recruits to the Afghan insurgency. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142289--lawmakers-taliban-stronger-after-us-surge Sun, 06 May 2012 19:01:27 -0400 REUTERS http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142289--lawmakers-taliban-stronger-after-us-surge
But rights activists sounded a note of caution over expectations of a quick way out for Chen, saying Beijing could be worried that appearing to be soft might embolden other challengers to Communist Party rule ahead of a power handover late this year.

The announcement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry followed a dramatic and very public appeal by Chen, who spoke by phone to a U.S. congressional hearing on his case, asking to be allowed to spend time in the United States after fleeing 19 months of extra-judicial captivity in his home village.

"If he wants to study abroad, he can apply through normal channels to the relevant departments in accordance with the law, just like any other Chinese citizen," ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a brief statement, adding Chen was still being treated in hospital.

Clinton, in Beijing for strategic and economic talks, said the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Gary Locke, had spoken to Chen again on Friday when he had confirmed he wanted to go to the United States to study, along with his family.

"Over the course of the day progress has been made to help him have the future that he wants and we will be staying in touch with him as this process moves forward," she said.

"This is not just about well known activists; it's about the human rights and aspirations of more than a billion people here in China and billions more around the world and it's about the future of this great nation and all nations," Clinton added.

U.S. officials said they now expect to have regular access for both American diplomats and doctors. They also said that checks had shown that Chen had three broken bones from his escape, and his foot was put in a cast.

UNIVERSITY FELLOWSHIP

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Chen had been offered a fellowship from an American university, where he can be accompanied by his wife and two children.

She said Washington expected Beijing to quickly deal with his application to travel abroad. "The United States government would then give visa requests for him and his immediate family priority attention," Nuland said in a statement.

The crisis erupted last week when Chen sought refuge in the U.S. embassy. He stayed there for six days until Wednesday when U.S. officials took him to a Beijing hospital after assurances from the Chinese government that he and his family would receive better treatment.

But within hours, Chen, 40, had changed his mind, scuppering what had seemed to be a delicately constructed deal between Chinese and U.S. diplomats to allow him to receive treatment for a broken foot and be reunited with his wife and children.

Chen was anxious about his future and the fate of family members who apparently helped his escape and were detained by authorities in the rural eastern province of Shandong.

The issue cast a shadow over this week's visit to Beijing by Clinton for talks intended to improve ties between the world's two biggest economies.

Despite the friction, a U.S. official said China would raise foreign ownership limits in domestic joint venture securities firms and allow them to trade commodities and financial futures in a move to further liberalize capital markets. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said China had also made significant reforms to its currency regime, long a bone of contention.

Clinton told Chinese President Hu Jintao ties were the strongest they had ever been. But Beijing has nevertheless accused the United States of meddling in its affairs in the Chen case.

Chinese human rights lawyer Tang Jitian cautioned that the authorities could easily hold up the paperwork to delay Chen leaving the country. China's security forces might not be as keen as its diplomats for a quick exit.

"This notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is positive news, but how it will play out we don't know. For instance, getting the approval for the paperwork to go, there are many potential pitfalls," said Tang. "We can't be 100 percent optimistic."

STARBUCKS-SIPPING TROUBLEMAKER

One of China's main official newspapers accused Chen of being a pawn of American subversion of Communist Party power and described U.S. ambassador Locke as a backpack-wearing, Starbucks-sipping troublemaker.

"Chen Guangcheng has become a tool and a pawn for American politicians to blacken China," the Beijing Daily said.

Chen, in translated comments, also told the congressional hearing that villagers who had helped him were "receiving retribution" and he was most concerned about the safety of his mother and brothers.

His village remained under lockdown. Guards chased away two Reuters reporters who attempted to enter the village on Friday. The four heavy-set guards ran slowly, yelling at the reporters as their car drove away.

Chen, who campaigned against forced abortions under China's "one-child" policy, sought refuge in the U.S. embassy after escaping from house arrest in a village in Shandong on April 22.

The Chen case comes at a tricky time for China, which is engaged in a leadership change. The carefully choreographed transition has already been knocked out of step by the downfall of ambitious senior Communist Party official Bo Xilai in a scandal linked to the apparent murder of a British businessman. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142199--chen-guangcheng-clinton-applauds-china-allowing-dissident-to-apply-to-study-in-u-s Fri, 04 May 2012 10:36:09 -0400 Reuters http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142199--chen-guangcheng-clinton-applauds-china-allowing-dissident-to-apply-to-study-in-u-s
Some historical documents set to be auctioned off at a price between $1,500 to $2,000 each are painting a very different picture of the Nazi dictator. As reported by the Washington Examiner, the cache of documents includes interviews with Hitler's doctors and the diary entries of one physician who wrote down things he heard the Nazi leader say.

His doctors noted that Hitler had several medical complaints, one of them being flatulence, which was blamed on his vegetarian diet. He took pills in an attempt to quell the embarrassing problem.

Hitler also expressed his desire for beautiful women, but his libido eventually decreased, though he was living with Eva Braun, his long-time companion. Hitler injected himself with semen from young bulls in an effort to stimulate his sexual desire, as recorded by Dr. Theodore Morrell.  

"Sexual organs showed no indications of abnormality or pathology and secondary sex characteristics were normally developed. Hitler was very fond of the society of attractive women, particularly during the years of his rise to power. In later years his libido was apparently sublimated with the increase in...responsibility. Morrell believes that Hitler, although not strongly inclined to sexual activity, did have sexual intercourse with Eva Braun, though they were accustomed to sleep in separate beds," one document said.

Another report from Dr. Erwin Giesing said Hitler used cocaine to "clear his sinuses," and began craving it more because it made him happy. Giesing wrote that he had to cut Hitler's "dosage."

Giesing also wrote that he overheard Hitler, in a voice that was "unnaturally loud and a little bit screaming," make comments about his own political influence.

"My only opponent is Stalin, who is almost on the same level as I am...Bolshevism will lose against Nationalism, and I will crush East Asia," Hitler said, according to Giesing. "Churchill and Roosevelt are neither politically nor militarily a factor. England will break-up...America will take whatever is left and wipe the English empire from history...I will be the one who tips the scale between the Russians and the Anglo-Americans."

Many of the documents are in German. The cache will be auctioned May 8th and 9th at Alexander Historical Auctions. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/national/article/1142095--sex-farting-and-drugs-the-real-hitler-revealed Thu, 03 May 2012 15:16:55 -0400 METRO.US, NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/boston/national/article/1142095--sex-farting-and-drugs-the-real-hitler-revealed
Luckily, with the efforts of officials in China's Henan province, at least one of our pet peeves is over: No longer will people be having sex in the cable cars, if this sign is to be believed.

Truly, if this gondola is a-rockin', it might fall off its cables and plummet into the ground below.

Apparently gondola-sexing is a problem among Chinese youth, which means maybe we don't need to worry so much after all. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142080--don-t-have-sex-in-our-gondolas-says-chinese-park-service Thu, 03 May 2012 12:27:26 -0400 NATE JONES, NATE JONES http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142080--don-t-have-sex-in-our-gondolas-says-chinese-park-service
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has published 17 declassified documents online that were seized during the 2011 raid on bin Laden's compound, during which the terrorist leader was killed by U.S. troops.

The documents, which date from 2006 to 2011, offer a glimpse into a crumbling organization of which bin Laden knew he was losing control. He was determined to reform the al-Qaida name and focus efforts on attacking the United States.

"I plan to release a statement that we are starting a new phase to correct (the mistakes) we made," bin Laden wrote in 2010. "In doing so, we shall reclaim, God willing, the trust of a large segment of those who lost their trust in the jihadis."

Bin Laden hoped for an opportunity to target airplanes carrying General David Petraeus and President Obama.

"The groups will remain on the lookout for Obama or Petraeus. The reason for concentrating on them is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there," bin Laden wrote. "Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis."

Bin Laden and his second-in-command, Abu Yahya al-Libi, scolded other terrorist offshoots that associated themselves as al-Qaida for their attacks on Muslim civilians. The documents included information about spin-off organizations like AQI in Iraq, al-Shabab in Somalia, and AQAP in the Arabian Peninsula.

In a letter to the terrorist group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, al-Libi "threatened to take public measures unless we see from you serious and immediate practical and clear steps towards reforming (your ways) and dissociating yourself from these vile mistakes that violate Islamic Law."

Another letter, with an unknown author, discusses possible name changes for al-Qaida, saying that name has allowed the U.S. to launch a war against al-Qaida without offending Muslims. The author suggests new names like Monotheism and Jihad Group, Muslim Unity Group, Islamic Nation Unification Party, or Al-Aqsa Liberation Group.

These documents are among the thousands recovered in the raid of his compound. It is unclear whether any others will be made public in the future. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142069--documents-osama-bin-laden-hoped-joe-biden-would-become-president Thu, 03 May 2012 09:53:51 -0400 CASSANDRA GARRISON, NEW YORK http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1142069--documents-osama-bin-laden-hoped-joe-biden-would-become-president
Pulling few punches, the lawmakers listed failings of the 81-year-old News Corp chief, his son James and a company they said had showed "willful blindness" about the scale of hacking that existed at the British News of the World tabloid.

The cross-party parliamentary committee, which approved the report by a majority of six to four, also scolded News Corp's British newspaper arm for misleading the British parliament during its five year investigation into the hacking of the phones of celebrities, murder victims, politicians and soldiers.

But it split along party lines, with members from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party voting against the report, saying they did not agree with its view that the Australian-born Murdoch was not fit to run a major company.

Cameron, who has acknowledged that Britain's political elite had been in thrall to the Murdochs for years, is facing criticism ahead of local elections this week that he was too close to the media tycoon.

The report said there had been huge failures in corporate governance which raised questions about the competence of Rupert's 39-year-old son, James.

"News International and its parent News Corporation exhibited willful blindness, for which the companies' directors -including Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch - should ultimately take responsibility," it said.

"Their instinct throughout, until it was too late, was to cover up rather than seek out wrongdoing and discipline the perpetrators," the lawmakers said in an 85 page report.

"We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company," it wrote.

The hacking scandal has not affected most of Murdoch's global media empire, which includes the Wall Street Journal, 20th Century Fox and pay-TV operations around the world.

But it could persuade shareholders of News Corp that Australian-born Rupert Murdoch should step back from the helm of his $50 billion media empire.

It has already forced James Murdoch to sever almost all his ties with Britain, although he still holds a directorship of Britain's biggest satellite TV firm BSkyB, which News Corp had sought to take over before the scandal.

British media regulator Ofcom is investigating whether BSkyB, which is 39 percent owned by News Corp, is a "fit and proper" owner of a broadcast license, which entails an examination of the company's officers and shareholders.

James Murdoch recently stepped down as chairman of BSkyB in response to the scrutiny the broadcaster is facing as a result of the hacking scandal. The regulator said on Tuesday it was reading the parliamentary report with interest.

Traders said the committee had few teeth so there had been little movement in BSkyB shares, which were up 0.8 percent in London at 1114 GMT, slightly outperforming a 0.4 percent rise on the broad FTSE 100 index.

NOT FIT TO RULE?

The impact of the report may also be diminished by the fact it was split largely along party political lines.

"None of us were able to support the report and we all voted against it," Conservative lawmaker Louise Mensch said, referring to her party members. "It will be correctly seen as a partisan report and we've lost a very great deal of its credibility, which is an enormous shame."

Mensch said she would have supported the report if the reference to Rupert Murdoch being unfit to run a major international company had been removed.

Murdoch, who took London by storm in the 1960s before moving to New York on his quest to become the world's most powerful media tycoon, has apologized for the scandal.

He told a judicial inquiry into press ethics last week that senior staff at his British newspaper publisher had hidden the hacking scandal, saying he had been betrayed by minions.

News Corp said in a statement it was carefully reviewing the report, adding that it "fully acknowledges significant wrongdoing at News of the World and apologizes to everyone whose privacy was invaded".

CONTEMPT FOR BRITAIN?

The report said News Corp executives had shown a contempt for the parliamentary system, singling out ex-News International chief Les Hinton, the News of the World's former top lawyer Tom Crone and the tabloid's last editor Colin Myler for having misled them.

Crone and Myler have contradicted evidence given by James Murdoch about a crucial document pointing to widespread phone-hacking at the company, which they say they showed to him to secure his support for a large pay-off to a hacking victim.

James has also apologized for failing to get to the bottom of the scandal but said he was kept in the dark by staff at the paper.

The committee said it did not have sufficient evidence to judge that matter, but said Murdoch should have asked more questions both then and later.

"Surprising as it may seem that James Murdoch did not ask to see this crucial piece of evidence... his lack of curiosity - but willful ignorance even - subsequently is more astonishing," it said.

"Even if there were a 'don't ask, don't tell' culture at News International, the whole affair demonstrates huge failings of corporate governance at the company and its parent, News Corporation."

The committee has been investigating the allegations on and off since a single reporter went to jail for the crime in 2007, believing that the practice went far beyond the one "rogue" staffer and questioning a string of executives over what they knew and when. ]]> http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1141860--uk-lawmakers-rupert-murdoch-unfit-to-run-company Tue, 01 May 2012 09:24:42 -0400 Reuters http://www.metro.us/boston/international/article/1141860--uk-lawmakers-rupert-murdoch-unfit-to-run-company