With the conventional wisdom

The New York Times’ public editor wrestled this week with conflict-of-interest charges sparked by the revelation that Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner’s son had joined the Israeli army. The executive editor of the paper responded with a sensible defense of the paper’s decision to keep Bronner in that position.

In January 2010, Feeding America (FA, formerly America's Second Harvest) released its disturbing new report on growing hunger titled, 'Hunger in America 2010.' The Chicago-based organization is the nation's 'leading domestic hunger-relief charity,' serving the needy 'through a nationwide network of member food banks, over 200 in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.'

Mossadegh and Ahmadinejad: Iran Faces Almost the Same Dilemma as in 1953
by Ardeshir Ommani

There is a stark similarity between some aspects of the political atmosphere dominant over Iran today and those under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh right before the U.S.-led coup of 1953 that resulted in the overthrow of the legitimate government of Iran and the establishment of a U.S.-puppet government of the Shah.

by Joel S. Hirschhorn
 
As a long term, proud political dissident and rebel I have had some admiration for the national tea party movement.  I welcome all that shakes up and reforms our dysfunctional political system.  But in the end I find far too much distasteful about what these people embrace to participate in or support it.

Nigerian police and military units carried out extrajudicial killings last year in the aftermath of clashes with members of a Muslim group in the north of the country, footage obtained by media appears to confirm.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has temporarily halted food aid to about 10,000 survivors of Haiti's earthquake after some people tried to use fake coupons to secure rations.

North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong-il, has reiterated his country's goal of a nuclear-free peninsula in talks with a visiting Chinese envoy.

A Chinese activist who had been investigating the deaths of thousands of schoolchildren in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake has been sentenced to five years in jail.

Afghan civilians have been warned to "keep their heads down" when US-led Nato forces launch a planned military offensive in southern Helmand province.

Pakistani authorities have arrested six suspected Taliban fighters who were allegedly plotting to attack a five-star hotel and kill Americans.

The world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai has unexpectedly closed to the public a month after its lavish opening, the tower's owner said.

Iran has begun enriching uranium to a purity level of 20 per cent to produce a higher grade of nuclear fuel, state-owned television has reported.

Toyota has issued a worldwide recall for about 437,000 of its flagship Prius and other hybrid vehicles in the latest of a series of embarrassing safety problems to hit the Japanese carmaker.