| Tea party's bid to 'make the establishment great again' Posted: 01 Mar 2017 02:04 PM PST ![Tea party's bid to 'make the establishment great again']( "Tea party's bid to 'make the establishment great again'") If this was a Trump-era reprise of the tea party, it was a distinctly less energized one than eight years ago, when a horseback "Paul Revere" delighted a huge crowd of self-described patriots outside the Georgia Capitol. On Monday in Atlanta, veteran tea party organizers were among about 150 people who gathered to wave placards, including one depicting "fake news media" personalities with their hair on fire while President Trump smiles in the background.
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| Forced to work? 60,000 undocumented immigrants may sue detention center Posted: 01 Mar 2017 01:47 PM PST ![Forced to work? 60,000 undocumented immigrants may sue detention center]( "Forced to work? 60,000 undocumented immigrants may sue detention center") A class action suit alleging that as many as tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants were coerced to perform free labor in a privately operated Colorado detention center has been given the green light to move forward in a federal district court. On Tuesday, a district judge ruled to grant the 2014 lawsuit class action certification, marking the first time a class action suit alleging forced labor has been brought against a private prison. The suit was launched by nine former and current detainees at the Aurora Detention Facility, a holding center near Denver, Colo., operated privately on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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| China’s honesty about its whopping debt Posted: 01 Mar 2017 01:25 PM PST ![China's honesty about its whopping debt]( "China's honesty about its whopping debt") Since taking power in China five years ago, President Xi Jinping has made three important confessions, a rarity for the ruling Communist Party. The latest confession has been the most difficult and yet the most critical: China has far too much debt, both for its own stability and perhaps the global economy. Being truthful about China's debt is halfway to solving the problem.
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| As US pressures Iran, parallel tensions grow between Israel and Hezbollah Posted: 01 Mar 2017 12:39 PM PST ![As US pressures Iran, parallel tensions grow between Israel and Hezbollah]( "As US pressures Iran, parallel tensions grow between Israel and Hezbollah") The calm that has prevailed for more than a decade along the Lebanon-Israel border is being rattled by a flurry of fiery warnings from both sides that has many here concerned another war between the Jewish state and Lebanon's Hezbollah organization may be drawing closer. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to hit Israel's nuclear reactor should the Jewish state attack. The prospect of a mutually destructive war unleashed on Lebanon and Israel continues to act as a deterrence, but it remains perilously vulnerable to a miscalculation that could spiral into a conflict before either side can dial it back.
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| Could Trump pave the way for ... President Oprah? Posted: 01 Mar 2017 12:32 PM PST ![Could Trump pave the way for ... President Oprah?]( "Could Trump pave the way for ... President Oprah?") For years, Oprah Winfrey, the beloved matriarch of afternoon talk shows, has denied any possibility of a White House run.
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| Guaranteed paycheck: Does a 'basic income' encourage laziness? Posted: 01 Mar 2017 09:45 AM PST ![Guaranteed paycheck: Does a 'basic income' encourage laziness?]( "Guaranteed paycheck: Does a 'basic income' encourage laziness?") What would you do with a modest paycheck that showed up monthly, regardless of employment: Retire early? This question lies at the heart of the growingly popular but contentious topic of Universal Basic Income (UBI), which proposes replacing often inefficient social welfare programs with a guaranteed paycheck for all, enough to afford at least the basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing. It's a counter-intuitive income model that challenges assumptions about effective compassion and induced laziness, but amid fears of an automated future, more economists are starting to take a hard look.
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| Duterte signs Paris agreement. Why now? Posted: 01 Mar 2017 09:38 AM PST ![Duterte signs Paris agreement. Why now?]( "Duterte signs Paris agreement. Why now?") Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and sent it to the country's Senate, which is expected to ratify it. Under the agreement, Manila aims to reduce its carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2030 – an amount open to revision – and will receive assistance from the United Nation's Green Climate Fund to do so. Duterte's commitment comes more than 10 months after the agreement was signed by more than a hundred countries at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Since taking office last June, Mr. Duterte has drawn increasing criticism from other international leaders for his actions in launching a bloody war on drugs.
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| Why China is strongly objecting to South Korea’s THAAD developments Posted: 01 Mar 2017 07:58 AM PST ![Why China is strongly objecting to South Korea's THAAD developments]( "Why China is strongly objecting to South Korea's THAAD developments") As South Korea moved ahead this week with plans to deploy a US missile defense system southeast of Seoul, China responded by ramping up its opposition to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. After the board of an affiliate of South Korea's Lotte Group conglomerate approved a land swap for the system on Monday, state-run Chinese media reacted with threats of boycotts and an end to diplomatic relations with the South. Lotte should be shown the door in China, state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times wrote in an editorial on Tuesday.
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| Harvard officials allegedly stole $110,000 meant for students with disabilities Posted: 01 Mar 2017 07:31 AM PST ![Harvard officials allegedly stole $110,000 meant for students with disabilities]( "Harvard officials allegedly stole $110,000 meant for students with disabilities") Meg DeMarco and Darris Saylors, both now resigned from their positions at the Dean of Students office, stole around $110,000 in total, Harvard University police allege in a criminal complaint. "Knowing that someone is out there taking away those crucial resources from the vulnerable student population that needs it to succeed is honestly very appalling to me," Ms. Vu told CBS Boston.
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| Colombia peace accord: FARC doubts grow as 'demobilizing' zones stumble Posted: 01 Mar 2017 06:28 AM PST ![Colombia peace accord: FARC doubts grow as 'demobilizing' zones stumble]( "Colombia peace accord: FARC doubts grow as 'demobilizing' zones stumble") After 18 years of fighting in the jungles and mountains of Colombia, Tomas Acero now talks with quiet enthusiasm about peace and the prospect of a new life. What was meant to be a government-built camp for 300 guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to hand over weapons and receive preparation for their return to civilian life, is nothing more than a muddy field. The scene plays on the guerrillas' worst fears: that the government will not deliver on the promises it made to convince them to end half a century of Marxist insurgency.
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| The presidential Trump emerges, at least for a night Posted: 01 Mar 2017 05:09 AM PST ![The presidential Trump emerges, at least for a night]( "The presidential Trump emerges, at least for a night") On the morning of his debut speech to Congress, Donald Trump awarded himself high marks as president – except on communication. "In terms of messaging, I would give myself a C or a C+," President Trump told Fox News. Trump may well revise the grade, after delivering the most polished, optimistic address of his short political career on Tuesday night.
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| Can refugees save a town? Posted: 28 Feb 2017 04:52 PM PST ![Can refugees save a town?]( "Can refugees save a town?") With its imported prosciutto and branded pasta sauces, Devitis Fine Italian Foods is an enduring symbol of the migratory patterns on which this city's fortunes were built. A mile away, Naresh Subba is the new face of immigration in Akron. It's very, very welcoming," says Mr. Subba.
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| When a famine points to a deeper need Posted: 27 Feb 2017 01:06 PM PST ![When a famine points to a deeper need]( "When a famine points to a deeper need") Last week, the United Nations issued its first famine alert in six years, citing a dire need for aid to reach 100,000 people currently facing starvation in South Sudan. At least another million people in the East African nation are on the brink of famine, the UN said, a result largely of a three-year civil war. South Sudan, which has a large Christian population, gained independence from mostly Arab Sudan in 2011.
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