Despite Changes to One-Child Policy, Chinese Parents Say Having Two Kids is Too Expensive

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Photo Credit: Stringer Shanghai / ReutersDespite China announcing changes to its strict one-child policy, many young parents say they will not choose to have a second child due to the high cost of living in modern-day China.

“Giving birth to a second child is not difficult, but we do not have the energy anymore,” said Wang Tao, a 35-year-old native of Beijing, who is married and has a 5-year-old daughter.

“We lack a safe social net to support a family with two children,” Wang added. “China doesn’t provide a pension or free education,” he said while ticking off a list of things that make having a larger family a financial burden.

After more than 30 years of the strict policy aimed at controlling population growth, the new policy will allow couples to have two children if one of them is an only child.

But Wang is not alone in his views, according to a survey conducted by the Communist Party controlled “People’s Daily” newspaper.

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North Korea and Iran Move Forward with Missile Technology Designed to Strike US

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Photo Credit: APIranian collaboration with North Korea on a new rocket booster for long-range missiles undermines the deal with Tehran on its nuclear program, key Senate and House Republicans said on Tuesday.

“While the president was undertaking his secret negotiations—which Congress wasn’t informed of—he had to know Iran and North Korea were testing new engines for ballistic missiles to target the United States,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.) chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces.

Rogers said in a statement that despite sharp budget cuts, U.S. space monitoring systems would not miss the development of the new booster engine.

“Every day the president’s deal looks worse and worse,” Rogers said when asked about the Tehran-Pyongyang missile collaboration.

The chairman, whose subcommittee is in charge of overseeing U.S. strategic weapons, ballistic missile defenses, and space programs, made the comments in response to a report Tuesday revealing that Iran is covertly working with North Korea on a new 80-ton rocket booster that can be used in both nations’ long-range missile programs.

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Ayatollah: Do Not Include Israel in Negotiations, ‘Must be wiped off face of the earth’

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Photo Credit: WND An influential Iranian cleric has warned President Obama not to include Israel in any nuclear negotiations because the Jewish state must be destroyed.

“What is visible is that Obama has agreed to include the fake Zionist regime (Israel) in future negotiations,” said Ayatollah Mohammad Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts.

“However, we firmly believe [Israel] must be wiped off the face of the earth and we don’t recognize [its existence].” Khatami said according to IRNA, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic.

The Assembly of Experts is responsible for appointing the regime’s supreme leader.

After the six-month interim deal was reached last weekend, Obama asked in a telephone call to Benjamin Netanyahu that the Israeli prime minister “take a breather” in his vocal denunciation of the agreement. In return, the two agreed that Israel would send a delegation, headed by Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, to Washington to discuss strategy for a permanent agreement.

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Dutch King Declares Welfare State ‘Dead’! (+video)

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In an address to the people of the Netherlands earlier this year, the Dutch King Willem-Alexander declared the welfare state ‘dead,’ and said that the people of the Netherlands needed to look more after themselves in a ‘participatory society’ without depending so much on government.

Apparently, the Dutch are, well, going Dutch.

Commenting on the remarkable turn of events in European politics was the website “Libertarian Republic, “…the progressive, post-World War II welfare state has failed and its continuation is not financially possible.”

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NSA ‘Collected Details of Online Sexual Activity’ of Islamist Radicals

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Photo Credit: Patrick Semansky/APThe NSA has been collecting details about the online sexual activity of prominent Islamist radicals in order to undermine them, according to a new Snowden document published by the Huffington Post.

The American surveillance agency targeted six unnamed “radicalisers”, none of whom is alleged to have been involved in terror plots.

One document argues that if the vulnerabilities they are accused of were to be exposed, this could lead to their devotion to the jihadist cause being brought into question, with a corresponding loss of authority.

As an example of vulnerabilities, it lists: “Viewing sexually explicit material online or using sexually persuasive language when communicating with inexperienced young girls.”

The names of the six targeted individuals have been redacted. One is listed as having been imprisoned for inciting hatred against non-Muslims. Under vulnerabilities, the unnamed individual is listed as being involved in “online promiscuity” as well as possibly misdirecting donations.

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Saudi Cleric says ‘Women Driver Ban Guards Against Evil’

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Photo Credit: AFP/Fayez NureldineThe grand mufti of Saudi Arabia said a ban on women driving in the conservative Gulf state protects society from “evil”, in remarks published in the press on Thursday.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, in a speech delivered Wednesday in the western city of Medina, said the issue of giving women the right to drive should not be “one of society’s major concerns”.

The kingdom’s most senior cleric called for “the matter to be considered from the perspective of protecting society from evil” which, according to him, included letting women drive.

His comments came as activists said they had been assured by Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef that authorities were reassessing the controversial Saudi ban on women drivers.

“Rest assured that the issue is being discussed, and expect a good outcome,” the minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday by Aziza al-Yusef, who met him along with fellow activist Hala al-Dosari.

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Helicopter Crashes into Scotland Pub

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Photo Credit: AP/JAN HOLLANDSA police helicopter crashed late Friday night into the roof of a popular pub in Glasgow, Scotland, leaving the building littered with debris and emergency crews scrambling to the scene.

Photos taken at the scene on Stockwell Street, located near the banks of the River Clyde, showed a helicopter smashed into the roof of The Clutha pub. Part of the roof appears to have caved in. Emergency workers can be seen near the pub’s door.

It was not immediately clear how many people were injured in the crash. The helicopter, described as a Eurocopter EC135 T2, had a crew of two police officers and a civilian pilot, the official Police Scotland Twitter feed said.

But Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National Party and first minister of Scotland, tweeted that “given an incident of this scale, we must all prepare ourselves for the likelihood of fatalities.”

Labour party spokesman Jim Murphy said there had been multiple injuries, the BBC reported. Reports of people trapped inside could not be immediately confirmed.

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China Sends Warplanes to Newly Declared Air Zone; US., Japan, South Korea Challenging

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Photo Credit: APChina has sent warplanes to its newly declared air defence zone in the East China Sea, state media reports.

The vast zone, announced last week, covers territory claimed by China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

China has said all planes transiting the zone must file flight plans and identify themselves, or face “defensive emergency measures”.

But Japan, South Korea and the US have all since flown military aircraft through the area.

The new dispute in an already tense region has raised concerns it could escalate into an unplanned military incident.

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Canada Allowed Widespread NSA Surveillance at 2010 G20 Summit

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Photo Credit: REUTERSCanada allowed the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct widespread surveillance during the 2010 Group of 20 summit in Toronto, according to a media report that cited documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp is the latest potential embarrassment for the NSA as a result of Snowden’s leaks, although it remains unclear precisely what information the agency was looking for during the summit.

Snowden has already revealed the agency spied on close allies such as Germany and Brazil, prompting heated diplomatic spats with Washington.

The CBC report, first aired late on Wednesday, cited briefing notes it said showed the United States turned its Ottawa embassy into a security command post during a six-day spying operation by the top-secret U.S. agency as President Barack Obama and other world leaders met that June.

Reuters has not seen the documents and cannot verify their authenticity. One of the bylines on the CBC report was Glenn Greenwald, the U.S. journalist who has worked with Snowden on several other NSA stories.

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Maritime ‘Black Hole’: Russia Launches New ‘Stealth’ Submarine (+video)

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Photo Credit: RIA Novosti / Igor RussakRussia has launched its new state-of-the-art Novorossiysk submarine, which set sail from a St Petersburg shipyard to become the first of six diesel-electric stealth subs delivered to the Russian Black Sea fleet in the next two years.

The Novorossiysk belongs to the Varshavyanka-class (Project 636), which is characterized by advanced stealth technology, making it virtually undetectable when submerged.

“Our potential opponents call it the ‘Black Hole’ due to the very low noise emission and visibility of the submarine,” Konstantin Tabachny, captain of the Novorossiysk, told Channel One TV. “To be undetectable is the main quality for a submarine. And this whole project really fits its purpose.”

The construction of the Novorossiysk at St Petersburg’s Admiralty Shipyards took over three years, beginning in August 2010.

Construction was also started on two other Varshavyanka-class vessels – the Rostov-on-Don sub in November 2011 and the Stary Oskol in August 2012.

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