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This Nov. 18, 2011 file photo shows the execution room at the Oregon State Penitentiary, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Terry Williams: A Life In The Balance

Archives for September 2012

The Fatwa That Shook The World

The Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie is back in the news, but this time over the release of his latest book, “Joseph Anton: A Memoir.” In his latest work, Rushdie looks at his life during the years he lived in hiding after Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa that called for his death after he allegedly […]

Norbert Schiller
By Norbert Schiller
Iranian women protesters hold a sign that reads, "Holy Koran" below a banner which reads, "Kill Salman Rushdie" during a march in Tehran condemning the author in February 1979. (Photo by Norbert Schiller/MintPress)

The Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie is back in the news, but this time over the release of his latest book, “Joseph Anton: A Memoir.” In his latest work, Rushdie looks at his life during the years he lived in hiding after Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa that called for his death after he allegedly insulted the prophet Muhammad

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Calif. Man Behind Anti-Muslim Film Ordered Jailed

The surrounding mystery of the man behind the crudely produced anti-Islamic video that sparked violence in the Middle East took a strange turn after he appeared in court and gave yet another name in a string of aliases. Arrested on Thursday after authorities said he violated his probation from a 2010 check fraud conviction, Nakoula […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
This courtroom sketch shows Nakoula Basseley Nakoula talking with his attorney Steven Seiden, left, in court Thursday Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Mona Shafer Edwards)

The surrounding mystery of the man behind the crudely produced anti-Islamic video that sparked violence in the Middle East took a strange turn after he appeared in court and gave yet another name in a string of aliases. Arrested on Thursday after authorities said he violated his probation from a 2010 check fraud conviction, Nakoula Basseley

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Why Big Pharma Is Bad For Your Health

On Wednesday I came down with a stinking cold. Loaded up with all the cold and flu medication I could find on the pharmacist’s shelves I headed into the office where I found on my desk a pre-ordered copy of Ben Goldacre’s new book Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients. I had […]

Maeve McClenaghan
By Maeve McClenaghan
This photo provided by Food and Drug Administration shows Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq. (AP Photo/Food and Drug Administration)

On Wednesday I came down with a stinking cold. Loaded up with all the cold and flu medication I could find on the pharmacist’s shelves I headed into the office where I found on my desk a pre-ordered copy of Ben Goldacre’s new book Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients. I had read and enjoyed Goldacre’s previous book

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Did GM Corn Cause These Rats To Develop Giant Tumors?

A scientific study of Monsanto’s GM corn has caused a huge row in France after the scientists released shocking pictures of rats distorted by tennis ball-sized tumours. The study has put the debate about genetically modified crops back on centre stage after the methods used were widely attacked by the wider scientific community. The two-year […]

Eva Blum Dumontet
By Eva Blum Dumontet
A farmer holds Monsanto's Round-Up Ready Soy Bean seeds at his family farm. (AP Photo / Dan Gill)

A scientific study of Monsanto’s GM corn has caused a huge row in France after the scientists released shocking pictures of rats distorted by tennis ball-sized tumours. The study has put the debate about genetically modified crops back on centre stage after the methods used were widely attacked by the wider scientific community. The two-year

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How New York Immigration Courts Are Upending A Federal Crackdown

From behind the bench of her small courtroom on lower Broadway, Judge Terry Bain began to read. In the second row of the gallery a young Chinese man in a white button-down shirt watched her carefully, his expression blank. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) had targeted him for deportation after he was […]

Sasha Chavkin
By Sasha Chavkin
immigration

From behind the bench of her small courtroom on lower Broadway, Judge Terry Bain began to read. In the second row of the gallery a young Chinese man in a white button-down shirt watched her carefully, his expression blank. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) had targeted him for deportation after he was caught in the United

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A Growing Trend: UK Government Spends £2bn On Drones

The British government has spent over £2bn on drones since 2007, according to a new report. Shelling Out, by advocacy group Drone Wars UK, is the first complete assessment of UK government spending on unmanned aircraft. It is built on publicly available data that is buried among mountains of government documents. Drone Wars UK trawled through the […]

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
In this June 1, 2012 photo provided by Boeing, the new Boeing Phantom Eye unmanned drone, designed to stay airborne for days, travels on its first autonomous flight at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (AP Photo/Boeing, Robert Ferguson)

The British government has spent over £2bn on drones since 2007, according to a new report. Shelling Out, by advocacy group Drone Wars UK, is the first complete assessment of UK government spending on unmanned aircraft. It is built on publicly available data that is buried among mountains of government documents. Drone Wars UK trawled through

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