Daily News Channel
A Turkish television show is offering contestants what it claims is the "biggest prize ever" — the chance for atheists to convert to one of the world’s major religions. The show, called “Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor,” or “Penitents Compete,” features a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk attempting to persuade 10 atheists of the merits of their religion, according to CNN Turk
With one sweeping judgment Thursday, the Indian High Court decriminalized homosexuality, shook off a stubborn piece of colonial baggage and may have added momentum to a broader regional movement for gay rights. “This is a huge step forward,” says Anjali Gopalan, director of the Naz Foundation India Trust, an advocacy group based in New Delhi that successfully brought a public interest petition to overturn India’s anti-sodomy law, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
For black American men of a certain generation — my generation — the death of Michael Jackson is a particularly heavy loss. One of my best memories of MJ is from my seventh birthday party, in September 1984.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford did not spend the last five days hiking the Appalachian Trail — as his staff indicated — but instead was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he told The State newspaper
In early June, the founders of Thailand’s New Politics Party unveiled their logo — usually a routine procedure in a country where new parties seem to come and go with the monsoons. But the yellow-and-green symbol of the NPP has generated controversy not just for its questionable 1970s color scheme but because it resembles a swastika. Asians are rightly miffed that Adolf Hitler hijacked an ancient religious symbol of luck and peace and turned it into the unofficial logo for genocide and racial hatred.
Anti-secrecy campaigners have criticized a decision by UK lawmakers to censor a report on their expenses claims, some of which was leaked earlier amid huge public outcry. The online publication on Thursday is the result of a newspaper filing a freedom of information request to see the claims by MPs, but some of the information is blacked out. The redaction prompted criticism from campaigners seeking transparancy.
One election spot shows a masked wrestler fighting drug traffickers and promising to crack down on cartels. Another ad vows to give the death penalty to kidnappers. A third pledges to hand out free medicine to the poor
More than 100 Romanians fled their homes Tuesday night in Belfast, Northern Ireland, following what politicians called "racist attacks and intimidation." “On Tuesday evening, when the Romanians saw their windows starting to be smashed, they felt the threats were very real and contacted the police,” said Trish Morgan, the media relations manager at the Belfast City Church, which took them in. A church member was advised by the police that “the situation was getting too tense,” and that the group — 113 people in all — needed to find a safe place that could accommodate them quickly.
Internet piracy is costing the U.K. alone almost $300 million a year, according to technology analysis group Jupiter Research.
It was billed as tragedy — an insurrection that would topple the Labour Party’s flawed hero, Gordon Brown — but it played out like a Marx Brothers farce. The June 8 meeting that would determine Brown’s fate attracted so many Labour MPs and members of the House of Lords that a House of Commons committee room quickly filled to capacity. And still they came, squeezing their way into the mass of bodies politic.