BAGHDAD — The worshipers heard the first shots and explosions about 20 minutes after the beginning of Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Salvation Church.
Heads turned, the sermon stopped abruptly and the Rev. Wassem Sabeeh quietly began ushering parishioners into a fortified room in the rear of the church.
‘We realized these explosions were close,’ said Bassam Sami, 21, one of the survivors of the attack on a Baghdad church carried out by heavily armed suicide bombers that left at least 58 people dead. ‘Father Wassem started pushing people inside the room.’
Once they penetrated the church building, the silent assailants began executing people. ‘They were well trained,’ Sami said. ‘They didn’t say anything. It was like someone had cut out their tongues.’
The carnage that unfolded during the next few hours outraged many in a city that has seen more than its share of bloodshed. The siege suggested that al-Qaeda in Iraq, the weakened Sunni insurgent group that asserted responsibility for the attack, remains capable of carrying out mass-casualty operations.
The target, an Assyrian Christian church in the upscale Karrada neighborhood, was highly unusual. The extremist group has in the past year directed its dwindling resources toward crippling symbols of the Shiite-led Iraqi […]
The famous cartoon character Popeye is no stranger to the power of produce. The world’s largest retailer isn’t either. In an announcement made today about new commitments to sustainable agriculture, Walmart not only declared its intentions, but also stated it recognizes the power it has to incentivize social and environmental changes through commerce. In effect, Walmart’s announcement provides a huge shot in the arm for sustainable agriculture.
What did the company say that’s so important? The company’s announcement outlines how it claims it will help small and medium-sized farmers and reduce the environmental impact of farming. First let’s look at just some of the commitments being made. By the end of 2015, Walmart will:
* Sell $1 billion in food sources from 1 million small & medium farmers
* Provide training to 1 million farmers and workers in sustainable farming practices (the company expects half of those trained to be women)
* Double its sale of locally sourced produce (in the U.S.)
Moreover, due to its footprint, the company has tremendous influence over a number of companies, farmers, and eventually consumers. To leverage its power, Walmart will ask its […]
America has long been a country of limitless possibility. But the dream has now become a nightmare for many. The US is now realizing just how fragile its success has become — and how bitter its reality. Should the superpower not find a way out of crisis, it could spell trouble ahead for the global economy.
It was to be the kind of place where dozens of American dreams would be fulfilled — here on Apple Blossom Drive, a cul-de-sac under the azure-blue skies of southwest Florida, where the climate is mild and therapeutic for people with arthritis and rheumatism. Everything is ready. The driveways lined with cast-iron lanterns are finished, the artificial streams and ponds are filled with water, and all the underground cables have been installed. This street in Florida was to be just one small part of America’s greater identity — a place where individual dreams were to become part of the great American story.
But a few things are missing. People, for one. And houses, too. The drawings are all ready, but the foundations for the houses haven’t even been poured yet.
Apple Blossom Drive, on the outskirts of Fort Myers, Florida, is a road to nowhere. The […]
