<div class='node-body'><p><span class="image-full" style="width: 540px"><img alt="" border="0" src="/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/105586522_b072d17e63_z-wh-michael-baird-630x400.jpg" style="width: 540px; height: 343px;" title="Clarity from the White House (Photo: Michael Baird/ Flickr)" /><span class="caption">Clarity from the White House (Photo: Michael Baird/ Flickr)</span></span>Tw

<div class='node-body'><p>German brewers are warning officials that the country&#39;s highly prized beer industry may be in jeopardy if the practice of fracking becomes widespread.</p>

<div class='node-body'><p>Ice melting at a dangerous pace <a href="http://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/russia-evacuates-drifting-arctic-research-station-145226993.html" target="_blank">has forced</a> a Russian research team in the Arctic to pack up shop early&mdash;and leave in a hurry.</p>

<div class='node-body'><p><a href="http://wikileaks.org">WikiLeaks</a> leaked an <a href="http://wikileaks.org/IMG/html/gibney-transcript.html">annotated transcript</a> of the documentary &quot;We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,&quot; on Thursday, the eve of its opening, in an effort to &quot;reveal errors and sleight of hand by the director Alex Gibney,&quot; the group <a href="http://wiki

<div class='node-body'><p>Environmental groups and activists slammed the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) this week for partnering with a coalition of Big Energy companies and pro-fracking groups, saying there is &quot;nothing sustainable about shale oil or shale gas.&quot;</p>

<div class='node-body'><p>Radioactive cesium from the Fukushima plant was found at <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/23/national/cesium-levels-in-water-plankton-baffle-scientists/#.UZ-FGOtyRyg">10 points</a> in the Pacific Ocean, including a location as far as 1300 miles from the plant, less than a year after Fukushima nuclear disaster began, scientists revealed on Tuesday.</p>

<div class='node-body'><p>Pakistan officials criticized President Obama&#39;s speech on Thursday for not announcing an immediate moratorium on all drone strikes in the country, insisting that any drone attack on Pakistan&#39;s soil is illegal and constitutes an assault on Pakistan&#39;s sovereignty.</p>

<div class='node-body'><p>Senator Elizabeth Warren&#39;s (D-Mass.) call to lower student loan interest rates to the same &quot;discounted rates&quot; given to big banks has received an &quot;outpouring of support&quot; as organizations and institutions of higher education are lining up to endorse the measure.</p>

<div class='node-body'><p><span class="image-full" style="width: 540px"><img alt="" border="0" src="/sites/commondreams.org/files/imce-images/2021046167.jpg" style="width: 540px; height: 360px;" title="(Photo: Harley Soltes / Special to The Seattle Times)" /><span class="caption">(Photo: Harley Soltes / Special to The Seattle Times)</span></span>As the nation continues to follow the slash and bur

<div class='node-body'><p>Better, but not nearly good enough.</p>
<p>That&#39;s the message many were sending after President Obama&#39;s speech at the <span id="articleText">National Defense Universityin Washington, DC on Thursday.</span></p>