Israel, Jordan, Palestinians sign ‘historic’ water agreement

Israel, Palestinians and Jordan signed on Monday an agreement to support the management of scarce water resources and the joint development and use of new water resources through sea water desalination.
The project includes the development of a desalination plant in Aqaba at the head of the Red Sea, where the water produced will be shared between Israel and Jordan; increased releases of water by Israel from Lake Tiberias for use in Jordan; and the sale of about 20-30 million m3/year of desalinated water from Mekorot (the Israeli water utility) to the Palestinian Water Authority for use in the West Bank.

French forces deploy outside C. African Republic capital

The Central Africa Republic’s shaky interim authorities on Saturday ordered all forces except foreign peacekeepers and the presidential guard off the streets of Bangui, where gunfire has eased but attacks on civilians have continued.
A senior U.N. aid official said French and African peacekeepers must push into neighborhoods where “senseless” Muslim-Christian killings are rife, not just control the main roads of the capital.

Poll: Majority of Americans support legalizing marijuana

The poll found that 58 percent of those surveyed favored marijuana legalization, up from 50 percent two years ago.
When Gallup first asked the question in 1969, only 12 percent favored allowing the drug.
Washington state and Colorado became the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational adult use by approving separate ballot measures in November 2012. Some 20 states and the District of Columbia allow the drug to be used for medical purposes.
The poll, which drew on a random sample of 1,028 adults living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, found support for legalization was strongest among 18- to 29-year-old adults, 67 percent of whom were in favor.

NASA: Ancient lake on Mars may have supported life

NASA's Curiosity rover has uncovered signs of an ancient freshwater lake on Mars that may have teemed with tiny organisms for tens of millions of years, far longer than scientists had imagined, new research suggests.
The watering hole near the Martian equator existed about 3.5 billion years ago. Scientists say it was neither salty nor acidic, and contained nutrients — a perfect spot to support microbes.
"This just looks like a pretty darn ordinary Earth-like lake in terms of its chemistry," said project scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology. "If you were desperate, you could have a drink of this stuff."

NSA reportedly snooped on online gaming communities

 

British and American intelligence agencies infiltrated online gaming communities, searching for what they thought could be terrorist and criminal groups lurking in the digital realm of orcs, elves and player-created avatars.
According to documents provided by whisteblower Edward Snowden, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) analysts in 2007 became convinced that online communities like the World of Warcraft and Second Life had become hubs for the secret transfer of information and money between wanted organizations, according to reports published Monday

Mandela sought balance between capitalism and socialism

Nelson Mandela was the pivotal, indispensable architect of one of the greatest political miracles of the 20th century, the abolition of apartheid in South Africa and the establishment of a multiracial democracy, achieved through tough negotiation rather than the catastrophic civil war that many observers had predicted.
Yet the second half of the revolution he sought for South Africa — freedom from poverty, establishment of genuine equality of opportunity and a fair share of national wealth — has yet to be achieved. Poverty was a central theme of Mandela’s famous 1964 speech at the Rivonia trial, in which 10 African National Congress leaders were prosecuted for sabotage, just as poverty was a central theme of the 1955 Freedom Charter, which articulated the ANC’s ambitions for a democratic society.

18 LA sheriff's deputies face charges

Federal officials on Monday unsealed five criminal cases filed against 18 current and former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies as part of an FBI investigation into allegations of civil rights abuses and corruption in the nation's largest jail system.
The charges were announced at a press conference after 16 of 18 defendants were arrested earlier in the day. They were expected to be arraigned later in U.S. District Court.