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Shots - Health Blog
9:52 am
Thu March 29, 2012

Just Say No To The 'Cinnamon Challenge'

Credit Maxim Khytra / iStockphoto.com
A spoonful of cinnamon is a great idea for apple pie. Eaten straight? Not so much.
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By editor

Do not take the "cinnamon challenge." Don't let anyone you know take it, either.

And don't take our word for it. Instead, heed the warning from the folks who run the country's poison control centers.

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Europe
9:41 am
Thu March 29, 2012

Vatican Leaks Raise Questions Over Finances

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Credit Angelo Carconi / AP
Italian financial police officers talk in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Recently leaked Vatican documents have raised questions about the Vatican's financial transactions.
Credit Paul Haring / Catholic News Service
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, 70, is the new papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States. He complained of corruption in the Vatican before he was assigned to his new post.
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The Vatican has launched a rare criminal investigation to uncover who is behind leaks of highly sensitive documents that allege corruption and financial mismanagement in Vatican City.

The documents also shed light on purported infighting over the Vatican Bank's compliance with international money-laundering regulations.

A television show in late January on an independent network first revealed letters addressed last year to Pope Benedict XVI from the then-deputy governor of Vatican City, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

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The Salt
9:32 am
Thu March 29, 2012

What Foodies Heard During This Week's Supreme Court Arguments

Credit J. Scott Applewhite / AP
The broccoli was flying this week in the Supreme Court.
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By Maria Godoy and Debra Rosenberg

There were plenty of weighty questions bandied about during this week's historic oral arguments on the future of the health care law — which our colleagues over at Shots did an excellent job covering. But we here at The Salt couldn't help noticing that when the Supreme Court justices talk, they let the food metaphors fly.

By now, you've probably heard the most famous of these: the broccoli question. If the government can mandate you to have health insurance, can it also force you to buy broccoli?

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Afghanistan
9:13 am
Thu March 29, 2012

Dreams Of A Mining Future On Hold In Afghanistan

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Credit Majid Saeedi / Getty Images
Afghan miners in a makeshift emerald mine in the Panjshir Valley in 2010. Reports suggest that Afghanistan is sitting on significant deposits of oil, gas, copper, iron, gold and coal, as well as a range of precious gems like emeralds and rubies. Currently these minerals are largely untapped and are still being mapped.
Credit Benjamin Lowy / Getty Images
Hesco barriers and concertina wire surround the living quarters of the Chinese-owned Ainak copper mine in Logar, Afghanistan, in 2011.
Credit Majid Saeedi / Getty Images
Afghan miners work a coal mine some 60 miles east of the western city of Herat, Afghanistan, in 2010.
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Originally published on Fri May 17, 2013 3:27 pm

Afghanistan faces the daunting prospect of a drastic reduction in foreign aid, which currently makes up about 90 percent of the country's revenue. Some have seen an economic life raft in geological surveys that indicate huge deposits of copper, iron, uranium and lithium in various parts of the country. But multinational mining firms have been slow to invest in Afghanistan — not least because of questions about stability after American troops draw down.

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The Two-Way
8:54 am
Thu March 29, 2012

West Virginia Mine Superintendent Pleads Guilty To Fraud

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"The former superintendent of a southern West Virginia mine where an explosion killed 29 workers in April 2010 pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal fraud charge," The Associated Press reports. "Gary May of Bloomingrose, the highest-ranking Massey Energy official charged in connection with the blast, faces up to five years in prison when sentenced Aug. 9."

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