The head of a humanitarian agency in Chechnya and her husband were found dead early Tuesday, their bodies stuffed in the trunk of their car, a prosecutor’s spokeswoman said. “These two soldiers nabbed her, put a bag over her head and pulled her into the bushes. She explains it as, ‘They got me,’ ” says Sherrlyn Borkgren, who spent a month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo late last year.
Tag Archives: words
Tropical Storm Felicia to lash Hawaii
Tropical Storm Felicia is expected to cause localized flooding in Hawaii as it hits Tuesday, forecasters said.
Corazon Aquino 1933-2009: The Saint of Democracy
It shouldn’t have been surprising, really, that the world’s most populous continent would give birth to a movement called People Power. In 1986, a housewife from the Philippines whose given name meant “heart” gave lifeblood to her wounded nation.
Top adviser says stimulus is preventing economy’s free fall
White House economic adviser Christina Romer declared the president’s stimulus plan "absolutely" is working to slow the economy’s decline, though she still held open the possibility of a second stimulus package a few months down the road.
Programs to change gays to straights don’t work, report says
The American Psychological Association concluded Wednesday that there is little evidence that efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation from gay or lesbian to heterosexual are effective. In addition, the 138-page report — covering 87 peer-reviewed studies — said that such efforts may cause harm
Will High-Heel-Friendly Streets Keep Seoul’s Women Happy?
By 2010, Seoul’s women should officially be happy at least the ones with driver’s licenses. In May, the city government started to paint 4,929 public and private parking places pink throughout the city, with thousands more slated to go under the brush next year.
Kidnapped boys ‘brainwashed’ to die as suicide bombers
The boys shuffle into the room in a remote army base high in the mountains of Pakistan’s Swat Valley. They are disheveled, disoriented.
Obama’s weapon: A dose of homecoming king charm
As President Obama pushes forward with his agenda, he may find that a homecoming king’s likeability is just as integral as the power and authority inherent to the Oval Office. “I just don’t think you can be effective without being liked,” said Bruce Newman, a professor of marketing at DePaul University and editor of the Journal of Political Marketing. Newman describes Obama’s leadership as a “two-pronged support system of both being popular but yet having the respect.” “I don’t think you can be effective without that first step of making that emotional connection with the voter, but to continue to be effective, it’s not enough,” he said
Caller in Gates case says she’d do it again
In her first public appearance, the woman who made the 911 call that led to the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said Wednesday she would make the call again if placed in the same situation.
Castro calls for tight finances in Cuba
Sunday was a day of commemoration in Cuba — the 56th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution — but the message from President Raul Castro was not all celebratory. The island nation will face a second round of belt-tightening as a result of the global financial crunch, Castro said in a speech marking Revolution Day. He said that on Tuesday he would hold a meeting of the Council of Ministries “dedicated to the analysis of the second cost adjustment in this year’s plan, due to the effects of the global economic crisis, especially on the reduction of revenues from exports and the additional restrictions on accessing external financing.” The global economic downturn has hit Cuba hard.