Iran has spent plenty of time researching the construction of nuclear weapons technology but a report compiled by 16 American intelligence agencies clearly stated in 2011 that the country was not actively attempting to actually build those weapons at this time.

According to the report which was revealed by the Los Angeles Times Iran stopped attempting to build nuclear bombs in 2003 and the country is now only enriching uranium at low levels (20% purity).

Because of the low level uranium enrichment in the country American officials don’t believe that the countries active weapons program is still in operation. In order to create weapons grade nuclear weapons the country would need to be enriching uranium at levels closer to 90% purity.

National Intelligence Director James Clapper said last week:

“I think they are keeping themselves in a position to make that decision [to build a bomb]. But there are certain things they have not yet done and have not done for some time.”

In the meantime Israel is taking the lower levels of uranium enrichment serious and have promised to take action should the country move towards any type of nuclear weapons building strategy. Some officials in the country have already proposed air strikes in an attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Israel’s rhetoric has strengthened in the last week after Iran refused to provide inspectors from the  International Atomic Energy Agency access to the Parchin military site. Officials wanted to determine if explosives tests were aimed at creating nuclear technology.

The IAEA released a report of it’s own in November that raised “serious concerns” about the ”possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.”

While U.S. agencies have not seen a “decision-making structure” built around creating nuclear weapons in Iran avid Albright, who heads the nonprofit Institute for Science and International Security says the countries centrifuges could allow Iran to build nuclear weapons in as little as six months if they move in that direction.

Do you think Israel, the United States and other allies need to put an end to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure or should the country be allowed to continue it’s efforts while enriching uranium at low purity levels?

Iran Isn’t Building Nuclear Weapons Right Now [US Intelligence Reports] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sex offenders in Germany can often have their prison terms reduced by volunteering to be surgically castrated but now an anti-torture committee is urging officials in the country to stop the practice.

The panel that wants the practice stopped was formed by the Strasbourg Council, Europe’s top human rights watchdog group. According to the group the practice of castration is “degrading” and they insist that there is no proof that the practice actually helps stop men from committing further sexual crimes.

The practice of surgical castration in Germany is only available as an option to men older than 25 and even then the procedure is extremely rare. In fact the last 10 years has experienced only five such procedures. In order to be considered for surgical castration the procedure must be requested by an inmate and then a panel of experts must weigh all available options and offer approval.

Officials in Germany have decided at the panels urging to place the practice of castration under review. Officials believe there is still medical grounds for offering the procedure.

Whether the Czech Republic will also place the practice under review is not yet known.

Germany could choose to move towards the less invasive chemical procedure which stops the creation of testosterone. Chemical castration is a mandatory treatment for offenders in Poland and some states in the United States.

Do you think Germany should ban the surgical castration option and instead move towards chemical castration or should sex offending prisoners still be given the surgical option?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Council Urges Germany To Ditch Castration Practices is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you are in the market for a new home and you have always wanted to live in France the village of Courbefy can be yours for just £278,000 (approximately $431,000).

The village is comprised of 19 buildings and includes a swimming pool, stables, family homes and a village hall. The village was put up for sale by judicial authorities in nearby Limoges after the town went more than £400,000 in debt after a man bought the town in 2003 with the hopes of turning it into a tourist destination.

As Yahoo UK points out:

It’s not a lot of money compared with British property prices – less than it would cost to buy a two-bedroom flat in Clapham, a four-bed semi in Bristol or detached villa 10 miles from Glasgow – but you get an awful lot for it.

The local newspaper La Figaro says the town is now visited by ”thieves, ravers and squatters” although it was once home to more than 200 people. Given the news of thievery it’s no wonder not a single bid has been placed with the auction period ending this coming Friday.

In the meantime the only thing living in Courbefy is a bunch of vegetation and the occasional overnight thief.

Given the amount of money it would take to fix up the town I’m willing to bet no bidders come forth before the Friday auction deadline.

Would you be willing to purchase an entire village for less then $500,000?

French Village For Sale, Listed For Just $431,000 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Youcef Nadarkhani, a 34 year old father of two, had gotten his final verdict from the Iranian court.  The Christian Pastor will be executed for apostasy.  He was charged after he converted from Islam to Christianity.

Jordan Sekulow, executive director of The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said,

“The world needs to stand up and say that a man cannot be put to death because of his faith. This one case is not just about one execution. We have been able to expose the system instead of just letting one man disappear, like so many other Christians have in the past.”

The order to execute Nadarkhani comes on the heels of a Congressional resolution sponsored by Joe Pitts condemning the apostasy charge and demanding his release.

Congressman Pitts told Fox News,

“Iran has become more isolated because of their drive for nuclear weapons, and the fundamentalist government has stepped up persecution of religious minorities to deflect criticism. The persecuted are their own citizens, whose only crime is practicing their faith.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 89 members of Congress, along with the European Union, France, Great Britain, Mexico and Germany, have condemned Iran for arresting Nadarkhani and have called for his quick release.

After the guilty verdict was returned against him he was given three chances to repent. The first chance was to publicly recant his beliefs, the second was to convert to Islam the third was to declare Muhammad a prophet.  He declined to do all three.

What do you think about the idea that countries can execute citizens who go against the country’s fundamental belief system?

Iran Sentences Christian Pastor To Death For Leaving Islam is a post from: The Inquisitr

Workers at an Australian mining company have discovered a 12.76-carat pink diamond, the second largest in recorded history.

The rare pink diamond was discovered at Rio Tinto’s Argyle diamond mine located in Western Australia’s East Kimberly region.

The diamond is estimated to be worth millions of dollars and has been named the Argyle Pink Jubilee.

After traveling to various locations including New York and Hong Kong the diamond will be sold at auction in late 2012 but first it has been sent to Perth where it will be cut and polished over the next 10 days.

The Argyle mine is a popular location for pink diamonds with Rio Tinto claiming that 90% of the world’s pink diamonds come from that location.

According to Rio Tinto the diamond is a light pink color similar to that of The Williamson Pink diamond that was found Tanzania and later given to Queen Elizabeth II as a wedding gift.

Argyle Pink Diamonds Manager Josephine Johnson said of the find:

”It has taken 26 years of Argyle production to unearth this stone and we may never see one like this again.”

In considering the possible pricing for the diamond a rare 24.78-carat “fancy intense pink” diamond sold for a record-breaking $46 million in 2010, the highest price ever paid for a single jewel. The diamond had been held in a private college for 60 years.

How much do you think a Pink Diamond with this type of rarity will fetch during public auction?

Australian Miners Discover 12.76-Carat Pink Diamond is a post from: The Inquisitr

Australia foreign minister Kevin Rudd announced his resignation on Wednesday following a bitter battle with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

In a statement to the press Rudd said of his resignation:

“I can only serve as foreign minister if I have the confidence of Prime Minister Gillard and her senior ministers.”

The two lawmakers have been at odds since June 1010 when Gillard outstand Rudd in an internal coup that left the center-left Labor Party barely scrapping through last years elections with a minority government.

Rudd addressed “distracting speculation” that his supported would try to bring him back into control of the party.

“The truth is the Australian people regard this whole affair as little better than a soap opera and they are right,” he said. “And under current circumstances, I won’t be part of it.”

With speculation circulating that Rudd would attempt to bid for the party’s leadership, Gillard’s deputy Wayne Swan offered up scathing criticism of Rudd:

“For too long, Kevin Rudd has been putting his own self-interest ahead of the interests of the broader Labor movement and the country as a whole, and that needs to stop. The party has given Kevin Rudd all the opportunities in the world and he wasted them with his dysfunctional decision making and his deeply demeaning attitude toward other people including our Caucus colleagues.”

Upon his announcement Labor senior strategist Bruce Hawker revealed that Rudd will likely challenge Gillard.

After the resignation was announced Gillard said she was surprised by Rudd’s resignation:

“I am disappointed that the concerns Mr. Rudd has publicly expressed this evening were never personally raised with me, nor did he contact me to discuss his resignation prior to his decision.”

Do you think Paul Rudd would make a better choice for running Australian politics then Julia Gillard?

Australia’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd Resigns is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ask just about any guy if he thinks Sweden has some of the hottest women in the world and you’ll likely be met with a resounding yes and now a hospital in that country plans to capitalize on their stock of really hot women.

The Stockholm South General hospital has put out an add for new nurses that are “motivated” and “professional” but above all they want women who are “TV-series hot” to fill the open positions.

Whether the hospital will stick to their “hot nurses” only plan isn’t known, however the nursing manager at the facility says they just wanted to ”stick out a bit with our advertising campaign” and that plan appears to be working very well.

The hospitals campaign came about after a satisfied patient told a local newspaper that the hospital’s nurses were “TV-series hot” and  ”Söder hipster.”

The nursing manager does admit:

“Being good looking is no requirement at all. We put out an ad looking for interest and we got a great response. We want a nurse who is qualified and good at their job, regardless of looks.”

Would you be more willing to visit a hospital if it was stocked full of hot Swedish nurses? If this hospital was in the United States guys would be breaking their own bones just for a quick visit.

Swedish Hospital Job Ad: We Want “TV Hot” Nurses is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a strange event that’s not likely to happen again anytime soon a stray bullet from the city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico traveled across the United States border and hit a female who was shopping in downtown El Paso, Texas.

Immediately following the incident the city’s mayor John Cook urged citizens to remain calm over the incident telling the El Paso Times:

“People get struck by lightning, too, and that doesn’t make us stay indoors when there is a rainstorm.”

The believed accidental shooting took place half-a-mile from the U.S.-Mexico border, the same location where a carjacking was reported during the same time period.

It wasn’t just El Paso, Texas residents feeling the danger of the bullet, three schools in Ciudad Juarez were put on lockdown following the incident.

Police Chief Greg Allen told CBS affiliate KDBC-TV:

“We had a lady grazed by a stray bullet we (believed could) be from Mexico during a gun battle where a carjacking was perceived to be taking place.”

The 48-year-old mother was shot while pushing her baby in a stroller. The bullet passed right through the mothers leg after striking her upper right calf.

Bullets from the Mexican city have struck various buildings in El Paso, Texas over the years but this is the first reported case in which a person was hit by a stray bullet from the region.

Do you think a wall needs to be erected between the Mexican town and El Paso to ensure that no other citizens are hit by stray bullets from across the border?

Texas Woman Hit By Stray Bullet From Mexico is a post from: The Inquisitr

Experts say the Prado Mona Lisa copy, previously thought to have been “just another replica” until a few short weeks ago, reveals much about one of the world’s most famous painting.

“I think what’s important is it enables us to understand how Leonardo worked in his studio,” said deputy director of conservation, Gabriele Finaldi.

According to Reuters, the Mona Lisa copy has belonged to the Prado ever since the museum was founded in 1819.

Experts began a technical study of the copy when the Louvre requested it two years ago for an exhibition opening next month. They found it had been painted on walnut, just like the Mona Lisa, and infrared images showed traces of background mountains just like in the original painting.

When conservators proceeded to remove a coat of varnish from the figure in the painting — who is believed to be Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Florentine merchant Francesco Del Giocondo — they uncovered additional important nuances of her 16th century dress and appearance.

“We know that from the underdrawing that the changes which appear on our picture also appear in the Louvre’s picture, that makes us pretty confident this was, as I say, being produced at the same time as the original. So it really introduces us to Leonardo’s working methods apart from being a a rather beautiful picture in itself,” Finaldi said.

The beauty of the Prado’s version however is unlikely to threaten the popularity of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and the reason is simple: the Louvre’s Mona Lisa was painted by the master himself, the Prado’s by an assistant.

“I don’t think there is a competition, I think it’s perfectly clear the Louvre’s picture is Leonardo’s original, this is a copy produced by an assistant, there are some differences which reveal, as I say, what are possibly earlier stages in the execution of the painting that is now in Paris,” Finaldi said. “I think this is a picture which complements our knowledge of the Leonardo in the Louvre,” he added.

The Prado’s copy of the Mona Lisa painting will be on display at the museum until 13 March. From there, it will travel to the Louvre in Paris to sit next to the original for a temporary exhibition.

For more on Prado’s Mona Lisa copy, check out the following video clip below:

via BBC News

Earliest Mona Lisa Copy Put on Display at Madrid’s Prado Museum [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The deputy head of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces was quoted by a semi-official news agency as saying on Tuesday that if Iran felt that its interests were threatened they would launch a preemptive attack against their enemies, including Israel and the United States.

Mohammad Hejazi told Fars news agency,

“Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran’s national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions,”

Senior United States defense officials have said that while they believe that Iran would respond if attacked they do not believe that Iran will act first.

Iran has been hit with crippling sanctions against its energy sector over the last few months.  The country is financially choking and it appears that the sanctions are even spilling over into world oil prices.  The Sanctions have raised the cost of oil to over $117 per barrel.

Israel and the United States have warned the Iranians that time was running out for a deal on their nuclear program.  Iran insists its uranium enrichment efforts are for medical purposes and for generating electricity.  The United States and Israel believe that Iran is planning on using the Uranium to build nuclear bombs.

Israel has in no way ruled out a military strike to stop the Iranian nuclear threat.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel would not tolerate a nuclear Iran.  Defense Minister Ehud Barack has hinted that if nothing changes Israel may be forced to attack Iran this spring.

Do you think Israel and the United States are going to attack Iran this year?

Iran Threatens Preemptive Strike Against Israel, United States is a post from: The Inquisitr

The countries that make up the Euro Zone met with representatives of the Greek government last night and after 12 hours of talks agreed to a $170 billion dollar bailout for the government.  This bailout is expected to save Greece from the catastrophe of a default on debt, the effects of which would have been felt all around the world.

The deal is expected to bring Greece’s debt down to 120.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2020. While this is a ridiculous amount of debt to occur by a sovereign nation, the members of the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund say that this is a sustainable amount of debt.

News of the bailout helped the Euro surge in overnight trading and is expected to push an additional rise today.

The Eurozone leaders rushed to secure the bailout for Greece because a Greek default would have collapsed the Euro, forced Greece to abandon the currency and wreaked havoc on world financial markets.

Greek Premier Lucas Papademos said upon signing the bailout papers,

“It’s no exaggeration to say that today is a historic day for the Greek economy,”

The eurozone countries also agreed to cut interest on the loans Greece is currently paying back by up to two percentage points. National banks from the Eurozone that hold Greek debt have also agreed to forgo any profits earned from Greece to ease the burden on the country and help it grow.

US Financial markets have been watching the talks very closely in order to gauge how the bailout would effect the Euro.  Europe in America’s largest trading partner.

Do you think the bailout will hep the Greek Government get back on its feet?

Greece to get $170 Billion Dollar Bailout is a post from: The Inquisitr

A grandson of the late Princess Grace of Monaco has been released form the hospital after a brief checkup.  Prince Pierre Casiraghi was admitted to the hospital after a huge bar fight the prince  and his entourage got into in New York City.

Details of the brawl are a bit sketchy, but from news reports it seems as if Prince Pierre Casiraghi’s entourage were partying at the Double Sevens lounge, a posh upscale lounge in New York City.  Patrons said that the princes entourage was getting rowdy and making sexually obnoxious statements at some of the bar’s women.

Casiraghi reportedly clashed with the club’s former owner, Adam Hock, who was charged with eight counts of third-degree assault for the alleged attacks on the prince and his entourage, the New York Post reports.

A witness who saw the prince after the fight told the New York Post,

“Pierre’s face looked broken, with deep cuts and blood everywhere. He looked like he needed plastic surgery.”

Police told PEOPLE Magazine,

“At 2:22 a.m. Sunday police responded to a call at 63 Gansevoort Street and were met by the complainant, during which he said the defendant punched him in the face.”

Hock had been at a private table with a celebrity hairdresser and a group of models when the Prince’s entourage started shouting some sexually abusive comments.  Hock told him to be quiet and after a verbal altercation the fight got physical fast.

Do you think that the Prince of Monaco, Prince Pierre Casiraghi, should also be charged for starting the fight?

Watch a news report on the incident,

Prince of Monaco Bloodied Up in NYC Barfight [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Iran’s Oil Ministry has confirmed that the Islamic Republic will suspend all sales of crude oil to British and French companies effective immediately.  The move comes in retaliation for EU sanctions placed against Iran’s energy sector.

Alireza Nikzad, an energy ministry spokesman was quoted as saying,

“Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped … we will sell our oil to new customers.”

Iran has one of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, but concerns over their nuclear program have prompted Western countries to implement sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.  The move will have more of an impact on Europe than it will on the United States.  The US has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  Doing business with Iran is a crime in America.

Iran has been accused by the West, primarily the US, Israel and The European Union of using their nuclear program to manufacture nuclear weapons.  Iran contends that its uranium enrichment program is meant to produce electricity and medical needs for the country and is 100% peaceful.

President Obama has recently announced new sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s energy sector in order to convince them that the world will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear bomb.  Israel’s government has taken no options off the table, including military action, to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.

The newest sanctions are also seen as being a last effort by the West to stop Israel from launching a preemptive strike in order to cripple Iran’s nuclear program.  An Israeli strike could be a prelude to all out war between Israel, the US and Europe against Iran.

Do you think the current round of sanctions will stop Iran from developing the bomb?

Iran Cutting Off Oil Supply From Britain and France is a post from: The Inquisitr

According to Bloomberg, the discovery of the fake bonds — made to look as if they were printed by the U.S. Federal Reserve in 1934 — was carried out by Italian and Swiss authorities after a year-long investigation.

The operation was “the biggest for this type of investigation,” Giovanni Colangelo, the head of the prosecutor’s office in the city of Potenza in southern Italy, told reporters.

“The counterfeiting of bonds, the transfer of the deposit boxes from Hong Kong to Switzerland, the global travel (of the suspects) had an enormous cost and we think that the interests are at a high level,” Colangelo said.

While authorities still remain uncertain as to what exactly the gang was planning on doing with the fake securities, which were worth almost half the total of the US national debt, they say the fraud posed “severe threats” to global financial security.

Friday’s was by no means the first seizure of fake US bonds by Italian authorities but by far the one with the highest face value.

In September 2009, Italian police seized $116bn in phoney bonds and arrested two Filipino nationals carrying them at Milan’s airport.

In June of the same year police arrested two Japanese nationals on the Italian-Swiss border carrying US Treasury bonds with a face value of $134bn.

via Bloomberg

$6 Trillion in Fake US Bonds Seized by Italian Police is a post from: The Inquisitr

Participants taking part in the famous Carnival festivities of Rio de Janeiro will be able to party a little bit more safely this year after officials announced plans to hand out 3 million free condoms.

The government initiative is meant to help stop the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases during the five-day festival.

While the campaign targets 19 through 24-year-old gay men the condoms will be handed out to anyone willing to take them.

Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha told CNN:

“There is a new generation that has not had the experience of seeing idols who fought at the beginning of the AIDS (epidemic) and who died, and therefore (they) are less sensitive to the risks of HIV infection.”

Padilha was referring specifically to two of Brazil’s biggest rockstars who died of AIDS in the 1990s.

To promote the free condom program and to raise awareness about sexually transmitted diseases health officials will also hand out 330,000 paper fans with information about STDs written on them.  Also being offered will be 160,000 informational pamphlets  and 55,000 small bags party-goers can use to carry their free condoms.

Furthering the health organizations efforts will be HIV and hepatitis testing tends that will be setup in cities throughout the area.

The health department has enacted the program because upwards of 40% of the residents in Rio de Janeiro have said in recent studies that they do not use condoms.

Do you think the government’s plan to hand out 3 million free condoms will help slow the spread of HIV, Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases?

Rio de Janeiro Giving Out 3 Million Free Condoms During Carnival Festivities is a post from: The Inquisitr

New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid, a two time Pulitzer Prize winner died on Thursday while reporting from the war torn region of Syria. It’s believed that the 43-year-old writer passed away after suffering a massive asthma attack that may have been triggered by the horses being used by his guides.

Following his death Tyler Hicks, a Times photographer carried Shadid’s lifeless body over the countries border into Turkey.

Shadid was carrying medication for his asthma and according to his party he began showing asthma related symptoms on Thursday morning.

Anthony had suffered a similar less life threatening asthma episode last week when his group met up with men on horseback as they entered the country.

Syrian officials allow very little press access into the region and the New York Times had not told Syrian officials that he was in the country to cover the Syrian resistance.

Shadid has covered various regions of the Middle East for almost two decades as a reporter for the The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Associated Press.

Aside from his work as a journalist Shadid had also written the book “House of Stone,” which is set to be published next month by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt along with two other books, ”Legacy of the Prophet: Despots, Democrats and the New Politics of Islam” and “Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War.”

Shadid is survived by his wife and two children.

Have you followed Shadid’s work over the years? If you have feel free to leave your favorite piece of writing from the acclaimed author and journalist.

New York Times Reporter Dies In Syria, Carried Over Border Into Turkey is a post from: The Inquisitr

With a new government left to deal with pressing issues that include arsenic in the water supply, a lack of proper garbage disposal, and various other pollution control issues Calcutta’s new government has decided that painting the town blue and white will somehow make things better.

Under the governments new plan taxis, government buildings, footpaths and other government controlled and public areas will be pained blue and white because ”blue is a beautiful color, and is also soothing for the eyes.”

In a public statement Calcutta officials said of the new plan:

“From now on, all government buildings, whenever they are re-painted, will be done in sky blue. The owners of private buildings will also be requested to follow the same colour pattern. The necessary government orders will be issued soon.”

After hearing about the government’s beautification plan the Calcutta Telegraph scoffed:

“Finding the right colour combination is undoubtedly the crucial first step in making a city safer, healthier, cleaner and generally more user-friendly for its inhabitants,” the newspaper wrote in an editorial.

“It could, with as little doubt, sort out its core problems – chaotic health care, inability to implement pollution control norms, arsenic in the water, archaic sewers and garbage disposal, bad roads, killer buses for public transport, an airport falling apart and beyond dismal, priceless paintings rotting away in public art galleries, to name a few.”

As expected the governments opposition is calling the blue plan a waste of public funds.

On the other hand painting the city blue will help wipe away all of the red symbology that has been the focal point of the city after the communist rule of the country from 1977 through 2011.

Calcutta To Be Painted Blue As Government Tries To Pretty Up City Areas is a post from: The Inquisitr

According to the Daily, Ludovic Masciave, a 36-year-old father of two, was driving through the Arly Gorge in the French Alps when the enormous rock hit his SUV.

“I remember the impact of the rock,” Masciave told French newspaper Le Parisien. “I’d been driving slowly at between 40 and 50 kilometres [25 to 31 miles] an hour when suddenly there was a terrible shock which brought the vehicle to a sudden halt. I immediately lost consciousness.”

Rescuers who discovered Masciave’s mangled car could not even determine what type of car it was due to the damage and expected to find no survivors.

Instead they found Masciave in the driver’s seat, now awake but pinned against the dashboard of his car.

“My back was pressed against the door and my torso against the rock. I was completely compressed,” Ludovic explained to the Daily. “The space was very restricted. It could be measured in centimeters.”

After they were able to free him from the wreckage, rescuers took Mr Masciave to a nearby hospital where he was found to have injured a number of vital organs, as well as damaging tendons and nerves. Despite the severity of the injuries, Ludovic is expected to make a full recovery.

“It’s a miracle I’m alive. Although I’m not a believer I do think this was a miracle…Now I will see life differently,” he told Le Parisien.

According to the Daily, the 20-boulder that crushed Ludovic Masciave’s vehicle and nearly took his life had been overhanging a pass used by thousands of skiers, including many British ones, every day.

Following his recovery, Mr Masciave said he intended to complain to the local council for not securing the boulder properly.

via Daily Mail

French Man Survives After 20-Ton Boulder Crushes His Car is a post from: The Inquisitr

Large gated mansions line the streets of this Palestinian village only minutes from the Palestinian Authority capital of Ramallah

American dominated towns are nothing new in Israel, with major American populations in cities such as Bet Shemesh and Modiin, but the existence of a separate Palestinian-American identity in the West Bank is less known. Since many of the town’s resident’s live and work in the United States and earn American salaries, they have been able to take advantage of low land prices and cheap construction costs to build a suburban paradise that is two parts “Leave it to Beaver” and one part “Arabian Nights.”

The Post reported that “according to local residents, the origins of the town’s unusual circumstances date back to the 1930s when ‘people left the village because of the lack of jobs.’ Many went to Cuba and, beginning in the 1950s, began arriving in the US as well. Once a villager received American citizenship, he would usually bring along as many members of his extended family as possible.”

Every summer, as thousands of expatriates throng back to their hometown on summer break, the local language switches from Arabic to English and you are more likely to hear youngsters referring to Justin Bieber than Mohammed as they stroll down Mazraa Sharqiya’s main drag.

The American influence is most apparent in the breaking down of barriers cited by the Mayor, who stated that women are now allowed to dance with men at weddings, an act previously banned in this strict Muslim society. This is a far cry from the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip, in which modesty patrols walk the pristine beaches in order to enforce Islamic dress codes.

An interesting mix of people has emerged in this little, Mid-Eastern, slice of America, with local Arabs saying that they have inducted many Cubans, North Americans and Mexicans into their community as honorary Palestinians.

An American suburb in Palestine? Leave it to Beaver meets the Arabian Nights is a post from: The Inquisitr

Forget the internet, trapped citizens in Syria have begun communicating via the age old practice of carrier pigeons.

Protesters became trapped in the city after government forced laid siege to the area and they have begun sending requests for help via the pigeons because telecommunications and even basic electricity have been severed.

To communicate hand written letters have been written and attached to pigeons’ legs at which point neighbors send the pigeons to one another.

One note according to Raw Story read:

“From the activists in Old Homs (district) to those in Baba Amr, please tell us what you need in terms of supplies, medicine and food.”

An answer was then sent that read:

“God willing, we will deliver them to you.”

In other efforts to communicate anti-government Syrians with electricity have taken to Google’s Map Maker to show where certain government control areas have fallen by changing the names of streets to signal a victory.

In the middle of a General Assembly meeting Syria’s UN envoy accused Google of participating in a foreign plot to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs and undermine Assad.

Here’s a video featuring Syrian streets recreated using Google Map Maker:

Do you think Syrian rebels are getting the upper hand on government officials by implementing various communications techniques that allow them to circumvent problems that can arise when electricity and other infrastructures have been demolished?

Trapped Syrian Citizens Communicating By Carrier Pigeons is a post from: The Inquisitr