| Hard News
Rocket kills at least 12 in Aleppo:
Rockets have struck two eastern districts of Aleppo city, killing at least 12 people and trapping many families in the ruins of their homes, activists in the city said.
Brahimi says 100 killed in Damascus 'war crime' attack:
"Nothing could justify such horrible actions that amount to war crimes under international law," the UN-Arab League envoy added in a statement.
Russia accuses US of double standards over Syria:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the United States on Friday of having double standards on Syria, saying it had blocked a U.N. Security Council statement condemning a car bomb attack in Damascus.
Free Syrian Army began bombing "Hezbollah targets" at border regions:
Al-Avvak also threatened that the FSA would target Hezbollah strongholds in the south of Beirut and on South Lebanon
Hezbollah never involved in Syria unrest: Hisham Jaber:
Hezbollah has never been involved directly in the events in Syria but since the fighting arrived to their villages it was normal that Hezbollah support those people to defend themselves.
Christians, threatened by Syrian war, flee to Lebanon:
A convent in the mountains of Lebanon is a refuge for Syrian Christians who have been forced from their homes and their country.
Syrian opposition to form government in "liberated" areas:
"We agreed to form a government to run the affairs of liberated areas," spokesman Walid al-Bonni said after a meeting in Cairo, adding that the Coalition will meet in Istanbul on March 2 to decide on the composition of the government and to choose its head.
Gunmen kill 7 pro-govt militants in Iraq:
Unidentified gunmen kidnapped eight pro-government militants and killed seven of them on Friday in Iraq's restive central province of Salah ad Din, said the local police.
Protests in Iraq continue amid new killings:
Anti-al-Qaeda fighters targeted near Baghdad as fresh demonstrations are held against Maliki's Shia-led government.
Three killed in Yemen ahead of protest rally:
Security forces in Aden shoot three supporters of the separatist Southern Movement heading to a rally for independence.
Powerful elite cast a shadow over reforms in Yemen:
Political transition stalled as influential families continue to wield power in Sana'a.
Almost 100 wounded in Palestinian hunger strike clashes:
Nearly 100 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces during demonstrations in the West Bank on Friday to demand the release of hunger-striking prisoners, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Draconian arrests of Palestinians: .
This revolving door system is not only inhuman in itself, it also undermines the agreements Israel signed and will make future deals much harder to achieve.
Israel-West Bank' reality is an apartheid state: Ex Israel's envoy to South Africa:
As long as there is no Palestinian state and Israel rules over the West Bank, Israel is a de facto apartheid state, a former top Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday, using a highly contentious term usually employed only by radical anti-Israel activists.
Israeli Arab couple denied medical care:
Beit Safafa resident calls Natali medical services company to order doctor's visit for feverish husband only to be told 'No doctor will go to an Arab area'
Sharon in 1983: Israel could be accused of genocide:
"There are parts of the report which I believe we just cannot accept if we do no want this burden - this mark of Cain - to be imprinted onto our forehead for generations to come."
Graham to Hagel: Did You Say Israel Risked Becoming an Apartheid State?:
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham has just sent a letter to Barack Obama's defense secretary nominee, Chuck Hagel. Graham asks if, at a 2010 appearance at Rutgers University, Hagel said Israel "was risking becoming an apartheid state."
Chuck Hagel gains enough support for defense secretary:
Hagel cleared the threshold when five-term Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama said he would vote for the former GOP senator from Nebraska after joining other Republicans last week in an unprecedented filibuster of the Pentagon nominee.
Senators Ask Obama to Withdraw Hagel Nomination:
In a letter dated Feb. 21, the senators-all Republican-said Hagel in his confirmation hearing "displayed a seeming ambivalence about whether containment or prevention is the best approach [to Iran's nuclear program], which gives us great concern."
Israel Okays Cheney-Murdoch Firm to Drill in Occupied Golan:
Genie Energy International's President is retired Israeli General Effi Eitam, a former Likud Housing Minister and MP who has repeatedly called for Israel to "cleanse" the occupied territories of all Arabs, and predicting in a New Yorker interview that eventually "we will have to kill them all."
Five killed in Islamist car bomb attacks in north Mali: -
Five people were killed in two car bomb attacks by Islamists on pro-autonomy MNLA Tuareg rebels in a remote Malian town bordering Algeria, a spokesman for the fighters operating said on Friday.
Fierce fighting rages in Mali: Video -
French and Malian troops battle Islamists on the streets of Gao in a relentless battle to regain control in northern Mali
France ready to start Mali withdrawal despite attack: army chief:
France is still ready to start pulling its forces out of Mali next month despite a rebel attack on the key northern town of Gao, the French head of the armed force said on Friday.
Worried Russia sends humanitarian aid to Mali:
The dispatch of the aid signalled Moscow's growing unease about the situation in Africa since the Arab Spring popular revolts, which Russian officials have long warned may strengthen the hand of radical Islamists and fuel violence.
Obama's Wars in Africa: Boots on the ground: 100 Military Personnel in Niger :
President Obama sent about 100 U.S. military personnel to Niger to support the French mission to root out Islamists in Mali, of which he informed Congress today.
Tunisia's ruling Islamist party Ennahda names new prime minister:
Tunisia's ruling Islamist party, Ennahda, has named another former political prisoner as prime minister after his predecessor resigned this week.
NATO occupation force soldier killed following blast in southern Afghanistan:
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force following a statement announced, "An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today. "
US To Continue Afghan Occupation: Will station up to 12,000 troops in Afghanistan, says German official:
The US defence secretary has told Nato allies the US will leave between 8,000 and 12,000 troops in Afghanistan after 2014, when combat ends, according to a senior government official.
US denies German claim over US troops in Afghanistan:
Mr Panetta said "several figures were discussed" but no specific numbers had been committed.
NATO mulls funding Afghan troops through 2018:
NATO is considering plans to continue supporting about 350,000 Afghan troops in the country until 2018, its Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday.
'US may impose sanctions on Pakistan over Iran gas deal':
The US seems annoyed over Pakistan's plans to import Iranian gas to meet its increasing energy needs and may come up with economic sanctions on Islamabad.
India's Iran oil imports drop 21.8% in April-January period:
India's imports of oil from Iran rose 3.7 percent in January from December, but overall purchases fell 21.8 percent in the first 10 months, data from trade sources shows, as New Delhi cut dependence on Tehran under the pressure of sanctions.
Guatemala checking Mexico drug lord death:
Officials investigating whether Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman died amid clashes between forces and traffickers near border.
Health of Hugo Chávez not improving, Venezuelan government indicates:
Update on president's breathing problems since return from cancer clinic in Cuba says 'tendency has not been favourable'
Mission to transport 23,000 liters of bomb-grade uranium from Canada to US:
Up to 76 trucks will be utilized in the operation, the Ottawa Citizen estimated. Each cask would carry up to 257 liters and contain approximately 175kg of HEU, which would be enough to produce nearly seven nuclear bombs.
http://is.gd/dQ5Zdz
Georgia rushes to complete executions before lethal drug supply runs out:
Georgia confirmed to the Guardian that its entire supply of pentobarbital expires on 1 March. The expiration date leaves the state in a quandary: it still has 94 men and one woman on death row, including Hill and Cook, but with no obvious means by which to execute them.
Warren Hill stay of execution stands:
The U.S. Supreme Court denied the Georgia attorney general's request to lift a stay of execution a federal appeals court issued less than an hour before Warren Hill was to have been executed Tuesday evening for a 1990 murder.
Horsemeat or not, it's all junk:
If we are ever to make any progress towards having a saner, more wholesome food system, this defence of processed food has to stop.
What are you eating? 87 Percent of Snapper is Mislabeled, Study Says:
A whopping 87 percent of red snapper and 84 percent of canned "white" tuna tested was found to be mislabeled, the study found.
EC admits recession will be deeper than feared:
German president Joachim Gauck has called for English to be made the language of the EU and appealed for the UK to remain in the EU.
Spanish firefighters refuse to be 'puppets of the banks':
Some 200 protesters gathered to prevent the elderly lady's eviction, which had been triggered because she had fallen behind on rent by one month.
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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