Tashah

Here are the rules and some guidelines to help you properly use this forum:

1. All threads started in the *Breaking News* (*BN*) forum must adhere to the Rules and Guidelines as stipulated below. Be advised that Infraction Points may be awarded for failure to adhere to these Rules and Guidelines.

2. Independent commentary and OpEd pieces are not allowed in *BN*.

3. Each *BN* Opening Post (OP) must have a citation link to a news story.

4. The title of every *BN* thread must be identical to the title of the cited news story headline. This is important as it helps to avoid multiple topics about an issue while starting discussions out on a more neutral basis.

5. Cited *BN* news sources must exhibit the following two identifiers: news-agency and story-dateline. A news-agency tag verifies that a published article is bona-fide news, and a story-dateline verifies that the story was published within the past 48 hours per Point 7 below.

The two identifiers required above above may be located in either the OP or at the source.

5a. Your citation link must point to a bona-fide news source. Personal websites, message boards, and web blogs are disallowed.

6. Do not quote the entire news article. Quote the opening paragraph or two and stop there. Readers can peruse the full article via the required link.

7. All cited *BN* news stories should be from within the past 48 hours. If they are outside of that, please post them in the relevant discussion forum.

8. The OP must include personal author commentary about the cited news story and why this news story merits attention. This commentary should be at least a small paragraph (minimum of 4 sentences) in length.

9. News stories pertaining to the environment/climate are not allowed in the *BN* forum. Please post these stories in the Environment & Climate Issues forum.

10. These basic *BN* rules are not intended to cover all circumstances. In some scenarios, Moderator discretion shall prevail.

11. If you see a *BN* OP that does not adhere to these Rules and Guidelines, please use the Report Post feature.

12. If a *BN* OP is reported, be advised that the Moderation Team is under no obligation to inform the person reporting of our decisions/actions.

Please help by following these Rules and Guidelines closely so our *Breaking News* forum can stay organized.

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