New Zealand Prime Minister John Key apologized to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, saying the file-sharing tycoon was spied on illegally, since he was an NZ resident at the time of the surveillance. Key apologized on Thursday following the release of an official report into the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau’s (GCSB) surveillance of Dotcom. The FBI and New Zealand Police conducted... 

Patrick Clawson: “We are in the game of using covert means against the Iranians” A member of the influential pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) think tank has brazenly suggested that the United States should launch a false flag provocation in order to start a war with Iran. Speaking at a Washington Institute for Near East Policy policy forum luncheon on “How to Build... 

At a Washington, D.C. concert on Monday night, pop star Madonna praised Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights progress, leading her to demand the audience to support President Barack Obama, whom she sarcastically called the country’s “black Muslim in the White House”. “It is amazing and incredible that we have an African American in the White House… Y’all better... 

World-famous mistress of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky decided to make some more money on her controversial past. Lewinsky will write memoires. The former White House trainee negotiates the details of her book with major publishers. Reportedly, the forgotten sex scandal star has already requested $12 million for her confessions, including those about her relationship with... 

France’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric has been accused of “flipping his lid” after the Cardinal warned that plans to legalise same-sex marriage would open the door to polygamy and incest. Bertrand Delanoe, the Socialist mayor of Paris and one of France’s few openly gay politicians, expressed his shock at the comments, made at the weekend, by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin,... 

A few days ago, Germany’s Ministry of Justice exposed the draft amendments to the legislation to legalize gay marriage in the country. In fact, sexual minorities enjoy complete freedom in the country. In 2001, their freedom became official: their relationship was called a “civil partnership”. Something like a civil marriage or live-in relationship. Nowadays, according to the proposed... 

Afghan citizens Taliban radicals have reportedly beheaded 17 civilians, including 2 women, in Southern Afghanistan. Local authorities say the dead were executed for attending a party where unrelated men and women were present. ­The attack happened during a celebration near the Musa Qala district, about 75km north of the capital of Helmand province, Lashkar Gah, said district governor Nimatullah. The... 

Psychiatrists will be helping trainee priests in Belgium to avoid potentially dangerous situations at work. Special “anti-pedophile” training is the new measure to help prevent child abuse by priests. ­According to Belgium’s RTL online, psychiatrists will teach aspiring priests “the correct attitude in the presence of a child”. “The goal of the training? Not to repeat the errors of the... 

Mark of the Beast: A Louisiana public school’s decision to purchase palm scanners to speed up lunch lines and payments has been met with religious opposition A Louisiana public school’s decision to purchase palm scanners to speed up lunch lines and payments has been met with religious opposition. Mother Mamie Sonnier said that she will not allow her children to participate in the scanner... 

Qatar’s ambassador in Mauritania allegedly offered his Syrian counterpart an advance payment of US$1 million and a monthly salary of $20,000 over 20 years, trying to convince the diplomat to defect and voice support for the opposition. Hamad Seed Albni was also offered a permanent residence in the Qatari capital Doha, but refused the proposition, claims Lebanese-based Al-Manar TV. The diplomat reportedly... 

Science and religion meet at the intersection of a $5 million grant gifted to UC Riverside in Pennsylvania by the John Templeton Foundation for further research into an afterlife and immortality. John Martin Fischer, philosophy professor from UC Riverside, will host conferences and oversee post-doctoral students running a website that centers around immortality; along with international consensus... 

A Norwegian lawyer criticized the local judicial system that, in her opinion, protects pedophiles. As a result, in many families children are forced to live with parents who subject them to sexual abuse. All attempts to appeal to the court are unsuccessful because the testimony of the children simply is not trusted. Norwegian lawyer Thea Totland shared her fears with a reporter of local newspaper... 

US President Barack Obama has signed a secret order allowing the CIA and other American agencies to support rebels seeking to overthrow the Assad regime, a US government source told Reuters. Obama reportedly gave the order, known as an intelligence “finding”, earlier this year. The presidential finding also provides for US collaboration with a secret command center operated by Turkey and its allies. The... 

Mitt Romney has spent nearly a week shaking hands abroad while conducting a foreign policy trip that has managed to somehow spark some of the most uncomfortable roadblocks of his campaign. In Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, things didn’t get better. Right on the heels of having remarks made in London and Jerusalem eaten up and chewed out by the press, an appearance on Tuesday added another line to the... 

As every Olympic athlete knows, size matters. The London 2012 medals are the largest ever in terms of both weight and diameter – almost double the medals from Beijing. However, just as equally well-known is that quality beats quantity and that is where the current global austerity, coin-clipping, devaluation-fest begins. The 2012 gold is 92.5 percent silver, 6.16 copper and… 1.34 percent gold,...