Advocating: Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, appeared in a commercial supporting same-sex marriage for the Human Rights Campaign Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, one of Wall Street’s most powerful figures, has become the first major business leader to join a national media campaign in support of same-sex marriage. Gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign... 

On December 29, nationally syndicated talk radio show host Michael Weiner “Savage” trashed Ron Paul. He characterized him as a “lunatic” who supports Hamas and Hezbollah after Paul said the Gaza Strip is a concentration camp. Savage joins the rest of the “conservative” punditry in the act of viciously trashing Ron Paul as the Iowa caucus approaches. His audience is well over 9 million... 

If you feel like Congress fat cats can’t relate to their fellow Americans anymore, the truth behind the matter might just be that they can’t. While Americans have seen a recession ravage savings accounts, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have only gotten richer. Between the US Senate and House of Representatives, the median net worth for a member of Congress is around $913,000, reports The New York Times.... 

Israel's Iron Dome system The Unites States will give an additional USD 235 million to Israel for the development of its rocket and missile systems at a time that Americans are experiencing dire economic situation. According to Israeli media, a large part of the money is scheduled to be spent for the development of the David’s Sling system, which is designed to intercept medium- to long-range... 

Arrested US spy, Amir Hekmati. A senior Iranian lawmaker says the US government demanding that Iran return the CIA spy, recently arrested by the country’s intelligence agents, is outrageous. “The US spy is a criminal and must be tried in Iran for the crime he has committed,” Kazem Jalali said on Wednesday. The lawmaker, who is also the spokesman for Iran’s Majlis (parliament) National... 

US President Barack Obama Following days of silence on the American spy drone captured and unveiled by Iranian armed forces, US President Barack Obama says Washington has asked Tehran to return the US reconnaissance drone. “We’ve asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond,” Obama said in a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Monday. The plea comes... 

Police have been criticised after tearing a tent being worn as a dress by an Occupy Melbourne protester. The Ethical Standards Department is investigating a physical assault complaint over an incident in which police stripped an Occupy Melbourne protester down to her underwear. The incident happened in the Flagstaff Gardens this morning when police moved in to remove tents being worn by a couple of... 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Russia has down-scaled the level of diplomatic relations with Qatar following an incident with the Russian ambassador to the country, who was physically attacked by Qatari customs and security officers. ­Ambassador Vladimir Titorenko suffered an assault at Doha Airport on November 29, on his return from a mission to Jordan. While passing through customs control... 

Julian Assange addresses News 2011 Summit via Skype (28 November, Hong Kong) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has told a media summit that the US government has ordered him to destroy all the material WikiLeaks holds on them – published and unpublished – and to stop using government insiders to gather fresh material. “[When we released our documents] the Pentagon said we must destroy everything... 

Accused: The prostitute's revelations are the latest in a tide of sleazy accusations to surround Strauss-Kahn which overall is now morally unsuitable to become next French President A prostitute told how Dominique Strauss-Kahn joined her at 11 orgies over six years, it was revealed in France today. The 30-year-old vice girl named Florence described in lurid detail how the disgraced economist enjoyed... 

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has expressed her support for a parliamentary vote on same-sex marriage, despite her personal opposition to changing the existing law. In an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald and other Australian newspapers, Gillard emphasized that politicians should have the freedom to vote in parliament based on their own values and beliefs. This stance... 

After the October 11, 2011 Republican Presidential debate, Ron Paul took a 75% lead in the post-debate poll. Did he win? No, Allen Wastler, Managing Editor, CNBC.com, admitted that Ron Poll supporters “flooded” the server. He determined that the actions of a “few” strong Paul supporters distorted the poll; the poll was removed. CNBC posted an internet poll after Wednesday’s debate, too.... 

Authorities in Iasi, northeastern Romania, started an investigation after a man has died in the yard of the hospital C.I. Parhon, as doctors, ambulance crew and patients passed by and ignored him. The man, 76, was brought there by taxi from another hospital for a urological consultation, but while his family was looking for the doctor to check his health, the man died in the yard, ignored by medical... 

Fatal: The truck that killed her five-year-old Xiong Maoke After the tragedy of Yue Yue, the Chinese trucker who hit a boy… then ran over him again to be sure he’d died ‘because it was cheaper than paying the hospital bills’. A lorry driver ran over a five-year-old boy – and then reversed over him to make sure he was dead in an apparent attempt to avoid footing hospital bills... 

No mercy: Warrior, as he has now been named by rescue workers, was found buried five feet under the ground, covered in dirt. Cruelty beyond words in South Africa: The disabled dog ‘buried alive by school caretakers annoyed by its barking’. Traumatised and just minutes from death, a disabled stray was rescued after allegedly being buried alive by school caretakers. Police think the unwanted...