international – Page 43 – 4VF News

An Anti-Iranian Enclave in Iraq Fights to Stay

The dozens of middle-aged Iranians standing in six neat, gender-segregated rows stare straight ahead from behind the chain-link fence close to the entrance of Camp Ashraf, some 40 miles north of Baghdad in Diyala near the Iranian border. “Ashraf is our home, Ashraf is our home,” they robotically chant in Iranian-accented Arabic, as they jab their right fists into the air in unison. Some of the women, who are all dressed in pantsuits with long jackets and colorful headscarves tied under the chin, carry placards in Persian

Cows With Gas: India’s Contribution to Global Warming

Indolent cows languidly chewing their cud while befuddled motorists honk and maneuver their vehicles around them are images as stereotypically Indian as saffron-clad holy men and the Taj Mahal. Now, however, India’s ubiquitous cows — of which there are 283 million, more than anywhere else in the world — have assumed a more menacing role as they become part of the climate change debate.

Inventor turns cardboard boxes into eco-friendly oven

When Jon Bohmer sat down with his two little girls for a simple project they could work on together, he didn’t realize they’d hit upon a solution to one of the world’s biggest problems for just $5: A solar-powered oven. The ingeniously simple design uses two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, and an acrylic cover that lets in the sun’s rays and traps them. Black paint on the inner box, and silver foil on the outer one, help concentrate the heat.

African pirates copy ideas for ransom riches

Incident details : "Armed pirates chased, boarded and hijacked a fishing trawler underway" SE of Mogadishu, Somalia … "Several persons armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and machetes attempting to climb onboard with use of rope" Lagos anchorage, Nigeria

15 years later, Rwanda remembers the massacre

Crowds gathered in somber reflection near the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Tuesday, marking the 15th anniversary of the start of a 100-day genocidal massacre in Rwanda in which an estimated 800,000 people were brutally killed. Rwandan President Paul Kagame addressed thousands during an emotional candle-lighting ceremony, criticizing the international community for not doing more to prevent the bloody wave of violence. “I remind those experts that they need to go back to school,” Kagame told reporters

Afghanistan ‘rape’ law puts women’s rights front and center

"In Afghanistan, the sacrifice in the political game is women and children," female Afghan parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi said.

Clinton calls for stricter Antarctic tourism limits

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for tighter controls over tourism and other forms of pollution in Antarctica Monday, arguing for greater global cooperation to help preserve the continent’s environmental and scientific research value. Addressing a joint session of the Arctic Council and the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, Clinton said the Obama administration is concerned about the growing popularity of tourism in the southern polar region.

Obama slams North Korea’s ‘provocative’ launch plans

U.S. President Barack Obama sent a public warning to North Korea Friday, calling on Pyongyang to back off plans to launch what the United States believes to be a missile.

Jupiter’s stormy Great Red Spot is shrinking

Everything about Jupiter is super-sized, including its colorful, turbulent atmosphere.

Commentary: Obama finds a world that blames U.S.

After firing the CEO of General Motors and putting Chrysler on a path that could lead to bankruptcy, the still-popular President Obama moved from the domestic battlefield to the international one. But the subject is the same, with no relief in sight: the woeful world economy