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A mountain in New Zealand is now legally recognised as a person after being granted all the rights and responsibilities of a human by the government. The new law offers extra protection for Mount Taranaki - now known as Taranaki Maunga, its Maori name - and means it has all the rights, powers, duties and responsibilities of a person. It is part of an agreement between New Zealand's government and the indigenous Maori tribes, which have long considered the 8,261ft mountain an ancestor.

The greatest political event in American history. 🇺🇸🗽

fyi twitter is down - I know it's good news - just saying.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. But there is also a clear message to Israel behind it. Israel stands accused of war crimes against the Palestinians. Are some war crimes greater than others?The Russian leader has been charged with personal responsibility for the abduction of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation. International law experts consider the most recent arrest warrant against Putin to be the most dramatic decision since the tribunal was founded in 2002. In the past, arrest warrants have been...

One by one the lines have all been crossed. Patriot missile-defence systems. Bradley armoured fighting vehicles. Leopard and Abrams tanks. Weapons that NATO had previously balked at providing Ukraine, for fear of “provoking” Russia, are now being supplied in abundance, if not in haste. The latest Ukrainian request to give NATO pause is for F-16 fighter jets, though France and Italy are already talking of going ahead with these. That is in part a measure of Russian weakness. Each new weapons shipment brings forth blood-curdling new threats from the Russian side, up to and including nuclear war. But Western strategists...

Before her third consecutive double shift at a pizzeria last year, Grace Velez pulled her hair, which fell past her waist, into pigtails. Ms. Velez says she was used to inappropriate comments from customers, but what she experienced that day shocked her. Regulars who usually never tipped put money in the pizzeria’s tip jar. A few older men winked at Ms. Velez, 21, as they dropped in cash. Another man, who Ms. Velez guessed was in his 30s, tried to flirt with her for 10 minutes before asking her whether she was a high school student. About halfway through her...

The referendum ascertains three sequential decisions: secession of territories from Ukraine; formation of an independent state; and its entry into the Russian Federation as a subject. The referendum on September 23-27 in the Donbass and southern Kherson and Zaporozhye regions of Ukraine on their accession to Russian Federation is, prima facie, an exercise of the right of self-determination by the native population who reject the Western-backed regime change in Kiev in 2014 and the ascendancy of extreme nationalist forces with neo-Nazi leanings in the power structure. But it has other dimensions, too. In all probability, the referendum will overwhelmingly opt...

Teddy Roosevelt pioneered National Parks. Richard Nixon created the EPA Margaret Thatcher, the holder of a degree in chemistry, was a pioneer in voicing concern over climate change. Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced America's first cap on greenhouse emissions. These were not acts of God but human actions of mostly conservative icons. Conservatives can and should lead the way on stewardship of God's gift to us of Creation.

EVIDENCE for Jesus Christ's crucifixion story was provided by a stunning archaeological discovery of a Jewish tomb from the biblical era. We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The Easter story is at the heart of the ChristIan religion. On Good Friday Jesus was executed by crucifixion for treason after claiming he was “King of the Jews”, and his body was subsequently taken down from the cross,...

San José (United States) (AFP) - The acceleration in climate change and its impact on agricultural production means that profound societal changes will be needed in coming decades to feed the world's growing population, researchers at an annual science conference said. According to scientists, food production will have to be doubled over the next 35 years to feed a global population of nine billion people in 2050, compared with seven billion today. Feeding the world "is going to take some changes in terms of minimizing climate disruption," said Jerry Hatfield, director at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment....

Scientists from NASA and the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., have identified what could be a supervolcano on Mars—the first discovery of its kind. The volcano in question, a vast circular basin on the face of the Red Planet, previously had been classified as an impact crater. Researchers now suggest the basin is actually what remains of an ancient supervolcano eruption. Their assessment is based on images and topographic data from NASA's Mars Odyssey, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, as well as the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter.In the Oct. 3 issue of the journal...