Female soldiers are three times more likely to commit suicide once they are deployed to a war zone, according to a major Army study. The 5-year study, conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health, found that suicide rates rose from 5 to 15 out of 100,000 among female…
Continue reading …The US military has hired a California company to develop a program that will let it operate a host of bogus social media accounts, in the hopes of covertly influencing online discourse and spreading pro-American propaganda overseas, the Guardian reports. This “online persona management service” would allow each user to…
Continue reading …As Japan continues its struggle to get the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant under control, a government spokesman acknowledged that the initial response to the earthquake and tsunami was lacking, reports AP . “In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided…
Continue reading …The earthquake that rocked Japan may also put a dent into Apple’s iPad supply, a financial analyst warned yesterday. Two key iPad 2 components—its super-thin battery and its flash memory—are manufactured in Japan, research firm HIS iSuppli noted. Toshiba, which makes the device’s flash memory, had to briefly…
Continue reading …Facebook is emerging as the bane of criminals ( see here ), and the latest feather in the social network’s cap involves a not-so-stealthy case of possible polygamy. A Michigan man was charged with polygamy after his Rhode Island wife found Facebook photos of his wedding to another woman, Michigan…
Continue reading …Last week, three Mexican Jewish passengers on an Alaska Airlines 737 strapped tefillin prayer boxes to their foreheads and started praying—and all hell broke loose. The crew put the cabin in “lockdown” mode, and by the time the plane landed, police, FBI, and ambulances were waiting. It was the…
Continue reading …
Young man pulled from rubble in Kesennuma, one of the hardest-hit cities, reports say A survivor of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami has been pulled from the rubble eight days after the disaster, Japanese broadcaster NHK has reported, citing the military. The young man was found in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, which was one of the hardest-hit regions. Japan’s police agency has said nearly 7,200 are dead and more than 10,900 missing. A week after the disaster on the north-east coast, the National Police Agency said Saturday that 7,197 people died and 10,905 were missing. Some of the missing may have been out of the region at the time of the disaster. The tsunami is likely to have sucked many people out to sea – after the the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami many of those bodies were never found. More details soon Japan disaster Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …President Obama warned Moammar Gadhafi today if he doesn’t immediately pull back his troops from major cities and cease attacks on protesters, the world community will make good on its promise of military action, reports CNN . He emphasized that the US would not act alone and that no American ground…
Continue reading …It’s a good day for bribery allegations: In California, Bristol-Meyers Squibb is accused of bribing doctors to push its drugs in exchange for swanky gifts and “happy hours” with Los Angeles Lakers players. Players also participated in “dream camps” for doctors and their families. Ex-player Lucius Allen, who worked for…
Continue reading …Marc Lynch hopes “fervently” that the UN’s decision on Libya causes Moammar Gadhafi’s regime to fall quickly. It could “reverse the flagging fortunes of the Arab uprisings” and put both the US and international community on the right side of the protest movement, he writes in Foreign Policy . But don’t…
Continue reading …