The European Union has approved a law that will enable the bloc’s 28 member states to restrict the cultivation of genetically modified crops, even if the EU has declared them as safe. The law comes despite furious lobbying from multinationals. Previously, countries that opposed the cultivation of crops approved by Brussels potentially faced legal challenges. Now, any country may unilaterally ban... 

American poultry producers exported 267,000 metric tons of chicken valued at USD 303 million to Russia in 2013. Russia has decided to impose restrictions on poultry imports from the United States because of “harmful residues.” Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) said on Thursday that the new decision would come into effect as of December 5. VPSS said it made the... 

Sydney actress says she’s the victim of brutal police assault… A video showing three Sydney police officers brutally beating a young woman has gone viral, with over 750,000 views on Facebook. During the clip, the victim is repeatedly hit with a police baton and appears to be kicked in the head by a male officer. Police brutality has been hitting the headlines in the US, but now it seems... 

Power is slowly returning to Detroit, Michigan, after a massive power outage on Tuesday morning left much of the Motor City in the dark. As of 2:15 p.m., about 33 percent of the power outages had been restored, according to the Detroit Free Press, while the majority of city buildings should have electricity back by the evening. In a statement, the city said the power grid was shut down following a... 

A human rights group has criticized Saudi Arabia for blocking its website inside the conservative Persian Gulf Arab kingdom. The [Persian] Gulf Center for Human Rights posted a message on its website (http://gc4hr.org) on Tuesday deploring the move “as a form of repression that is part of intimidation patterns that are being used persistently in the Kingdom these days.” Attempts inside the... 

Health inspection and quarantine researchers work in their laboratory at an airport in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. China has recently approved home-grown Ebola tests that comply with international norms to fight the spread of the deadly disease. In a brief statement on Friday, the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said top health authorities approved three home-grown Ebola test reagents... 

Palestinians carry their belongings as they leave their flooded houses during heavy rain in Gaza City on November 27, 2014. Thousands of Palestinians have been evacuated from their homes and moved to safer places in the Gaza Strip after heavy flooding struck the besieged coastal sliver earlier this week. Among those affected on Saturday were families who had lost their homes during Israel’s 50-day... 

Scientists discover a new property of graphene that could have major new applications. An unexpected property of a form of carbon graphite the material in pencil lead could revolutionize green energy development. Positively charged hydrogen atoms or protons are allowed to pass through graphene although it remains totally impermeable to all other gases, including hydrogen itself, said a report by The... 

Complex jobs may benefit brain function, a new study says. Researchers have identified an association between complexity of main lifetime occupation and cognitive performance in later life. The research indicated that people with complex jobs, including working with other people or data such as lawyers and engineers, could benefit from a better memory and thinking abilities in later life. The results... 

Airlines in the United States have cancelled nearly 300 flights thus far Wednesday given rain and snow along the East Coast and Appalachians. The heaviest snow through the day is expected just west of the I-95 corridor between Philadelphia and Boston. Holiday travelers will have to deal with a storm consisting of rain, at times heavy snow, fog, and poor visibility on Thanksgiving Eve, traditionally... 

Twitchy is reporting on tweets from a rapper named Azealia Banks who reportedly stated that she “might have to kill one of these crackers in their sleep.” Banks tweeted several offensive statements before apologizing. Nah don’t worry. We know how you are Ms Banks. A former stripper turned “rapper” desperately jealous of real artists like Iggy Azalea who grace the covers of magazines... 

A health worker is disinfected in an Ebola treatment center in Hastings, Sierra Leone on November 11, 2014. The Ebola epidemic is likely to have passed its culmination point in Sierra Leone and may start to slow down in the near future. “We believe that … the transmission of new cases will start reducing,” Sierra Leone’s Information Minister Alpha Kanu told reporters on Wednesday. “I... 

A nightmare-inducing sea creature made famous in ‘Finding Nemo’ was caught on video in the depths of the ocean for the first time. Scientists believe global warming is affecting its environment, bringing the rare anglerfish species to shallower waters. As shown in Pixar’s famous fish film, anglers get their name from the built-in fishing rod attached to their foreheads. The black seadevil (scientific... 

Turkey’s president says men and women cannot be equal, and that feminists don’t understand motherhood. Recep Tayyip Erdogan caused widespread offence with his comments at a conference on women’s rights in Ankara. “You cannot make women and men equal; this is against nature,” Erdogan stated on Monday. “You cannot subject a pregnant woman to the same working conditions as a man. You cannot... 

A car is carried away by flood waters in the southern region of Ouarzazate in Morocco, November 22, 2014. At least 35 people have been killed in a flooding in Morocco while 214 others have been rescued, the country’s Interior Ministry says. The southern province of Guelmim which was worst affected by the floods, accounted for 24 of the fatalities, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The...