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<p>With some lawmakers chanting "Death to the America," Iran's parliament voted to ban access to military sites, documents and scientists as part of a future deal with world powers over its contested nuclear program.</p> <p>The bill, if ratified, could complicate the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the six-nation group — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — as they face a self-imposed June 30 deadline. The talks are focused on reaching a final accord that curbs Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.</p>

What has a Papal Encyclical calling on the world to end its use of fossil fuels and to pray to God for the success of the global “climate summit” in December got in common with the Greek euro crisis, the ominous rift between the West and Russia, and the shambles Europe is making over the desperation of African and Syrian refugees to find safety this side of the Mediterranean? They are all different aspects of the two greatest acts of political make-believe of our time, so all-pervasive that it is hard for us to grasp just how much effect they...

Two days after the shooting deaths of nine people during a Bible study at a Charleston church, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said the gunman 'absolutely' should be put to death. However, the state, though largely pro-death penalty, cannot secure one of the drugs needed for lethal injections and has not executed an inmate since 2011. Any potential execution order for Dylann Storm Roof, 21, would be years away. He is charged with nine counts of murder in Wednesday's killing spree at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. He appeared briefly before a judge on Friday and his next court appearance is...

Some viewers of Jurassic World are taking offense to the film, calling one of the lines in the movie "racist." Specifically, the abbreviation of the dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus. During the course of the film, the Pachycephalosaurus escape from their enclosures, leading one character to shout, "The Pachys are out of containment!" This has led news outlets and Twitter users to call the film "racist." A British comedian originally brought attention to the line, offering a tongue-in-cheek rant against the dinosaur's name. However, people did not get the joke, and are actually calling the film racist. The Independent called the line "very...

New research has revealed why it took more than 30 million years for large Triassic dinosaurs to populate the tropics after they first appeared on Earth, ending a mystery that has kept researchers baffled for decades. Using new geological evidence culled from Ghost Ranch, N.M., researchers from the University of Southampton in the U.K. have found that an extremely unpredictable hot and arid climate due to elevated carbon dioxide levels (four to six times of what they are today) kept large herbivorous dinos at bay until after 200 million years ago.

Prince Charles warns of human extinction Mankind will become extinct, the Prince of Wales has warned, unless humans transform our lifestyles to stop mass consumption, run away climate change and destruction of wildlife. By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent 2:34PM BST 08 Sep 2011 In his first speech as the new President of the Worldwide Wildlife Fund (WWF) UK, Prince Charles suggested 'surviving ourselves' should be a priority. Referring to himself as “an endangered species”, he warned that the world is already in the “sixth extinction event”, with species dying out at a much faster rate than at any time since...

The continuing movement of young Muslims from the UK to ISIS in Syria and Iraq has David Cameron concerned to the point of demanding more action from Muslim communities to fight radicalization. In a speech today, Cameron accused British Muslim leaders of “quietly condoning” the radical theology of ISIS and other Islamist terror groups. In response, leaders from those communities said that radicalization has been amplified by “rampant Islamophobia” in British society, and that Cameron needs to stop lecturing them on citizenship: Speaking at a security conference in Slovakia, Cameron urged British Muslims to do more to stop the...

The body of a suspected stowaway was found atop an office building in West London on Thursday, and is believed to have plunged around 1,400ft from a Boeing 747 as it approached Heathrow Airport. Meanwhile, another man is in critical condition in hospital after being discovered an hour earlier in the undercarriage of the aircraft — British police are investigating both incidents. The survivor is believed to have climbed aboard the British Airways plane at OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg before traveling over 8,000 miles from South Africa, largely in temperatures as low as -81 Fahrenheit on the 10-hour...

Adolf Hitler started World War II by attacking Poland on September 1, 1939. Nazi Germany moved only after it had already remilitarized the Rhineland, absorbed Austria and dismantled Czechoslovakia. Before the outbreak of the war, Hitler's new Third Reich had created the largest German-speaking nation in European history. Well before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese government had redrawn the map of Asia and the Pacific. Japan had occupied or annexed Indochina, Korea, Manchuria and Taiwan, in addition to swaths of coastal China. Attacking Hawaii, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia was merely the logical 1941 follow-up...

A Muslim security guard is suing his employer for $4.5 million saying that when he was booted from his well-paying post at auction house Sotheby’s because of his religious beliefs, the security company did nothing to defend him. Zakher Hamad, of Brooklyn, told employer Andrews International that he “worked in law enforcement in Palestine while still living in the Gaza Strip” during his job interview, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit. After verifying his credentials and performing a background check Andrews — the country’s largest security provider — hired Hamad in May 2014.

Tt is often regarded as the British Army’s greatest military victory. Led into battle by the Duke of Wellington, UK troops routed Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, a triumph ushering in almost a century of peace and stability in Europe. But the Government is refusing to mark the battle’s 200th anniversary in 2015 amid suspicions it does not want to offend France. SNIP Brussels is spending at least £20million on commemorative events, including restoring the battlefield. SNIP James Morrow, secretary of Waterloo 200, ...said he was ‘disappointed’. SNIP ‘The Belgian government has spent millions on events to commemorate the...

With the 200th anniversary of the famous Battle of Waterloo just two months away a survey in Britain has revealed that most ofthe public know little about it and some even think it's just an Abba song, while many thought the French actually won. A survey of Britons published in the build-up to the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo found three-quarters knew little or nothing about it -- while many thought France won. The poll of 2,070 people for the National Army Museum found 73 percent either knew nothing or next to nothing about the battle, one of...

September 10, 2007 Builder found Vikings washed up at pubJack Malvern Archaeologists believe they have found the only intact Viking boat in Britain beneath the patio of a Merseyside pub. The 10th-century vessel was discovered in the 1930s by builders excavating the basement of the Railway Inn on the Wirral peninsula, but they covered it up because they feared an archaeological dig would disrupt their work. The boat would have been forgotten had one of the builders not reported his discovery to his son, who passed the information on to academics at Nottingham University. Stephen Harding, of the university’s archaeology...

TREASURE dating back to the time of the Vikings has been found in a Bridlington field. The Viking finger ring has a silver content of 98% which, combined with its age, meets the criteria for it to be officially classed as treasure. The ring, found by Paul Rennoldson, has been sent to the British Museum in London where it will be valued. Alan Worth, chairman of the Bridlington Metal Detecting Society, said finding any items dating back to the Viking age was very rare. "The Vikings were around in about 700AD which is an incredibly long time ago," said Mr...

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - An apartment balcony collapsed early on Tuesday near the University of California at Berkeley, killing six people, all believed to be visiting college students from Ireland, and injuring several others, authorities said. The victims, most if not all of whom were working in the San Francisco Bay area on temporary visas for summer vacation, had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday when the tragedy occurred, according to Irish government officials in Dublin. Pictures from the scene showed that the fourth-floor balcony gave way and pancaked onto the third-story balcony just beneath it at the Library Gardens...

Last week I was writing about Magna Carta and how the Catholic Church’s role has been written out, in particular the part of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton. But the same could also be said about much of English history from 600AD to 1600; from the very first law code written in English, which begins with a clause protecting Church property, to the intellectual flourishing of the 13th century, led by churchmen such as Roger Bacon, the Franciscan friar who foresaw air travel. However, the whitewashing of English Catholic history is mainly seen in three areas: political liberty, economic...

Study indicates stagnating incomes of the poor and middle classes could have been instrumental in the financial crisis.The idea that increased income inequality makes economies more dynamic has been rejected by an International Monetary Fund study, which shows the widening income gap between rich and poor is bad for growth. A report by five IMF economists dismissed “trickle-down” economics, and said that if governments wanted to increase the pace of growth they should concentrate on helping the poorest 20% of citizens. The study – covering advanced, emerging and developing countries – said technological progress, weaker trade unions, globalisation and tax...

MAGNA CARTA, on which King John placed his seal 800 years ago today, is synonymous in the English-speaking world with fundamental rights and the rule of law. It’s been celebrated, and appropriated, by everyone from Tea Party members to Jay Z, who called his latest album “Magna Carta Holy Grail.” But its fame rests on several myths. First, it wasn’t effective. In fact, it was a failure. John was a weak king who had squandered the royal fortune on a fruitless war with France. Continually raising taxes to pay for his European adventures, he provoked a revolt by his barons,...

'Among the 27 men named in the preamble to Magna Carta as King John of England's advisors and negotiators was Alan, lord of Galloway and constable of the Scottish king, Alexander II. How had this man, ruler of semi-independent Galloway, a senior officer in Alexander's kingdom and lord of Lauderdale and Cunninghame, come to exercise such influence in English politics?'

Originally published on June 11, 2015 11:30 am Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: The Magna Carta has a big birthday coming up. That document, establishing the foundation of the modern judicial system, will turn 800 years old on Monday. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: At the British Library in London, an exhibition displays the Magna Carta alongside original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Bill of Rights. Both of those documents were inspired by the Magna Carta. A couple of months ago, I visited the British Library for a story on the...