| Hard News
NATO and Afghan Forces Kill 25 Insurgents;
NATO and Afghan forces have killed at least 25 insurgents and three of their commanders in separate operations around the country, Afghan and coalition officials said Wednesday.
Roadside bomb kills 2 Afghan police, wounds 1:
Two personnel of Afghan Border Police Force were killed and another sustained injuries as a roadside bomb struck a police van in Kunar province, 185 km east of Kabul on Wednesday, a local official said.
Pakistan: "We must never forget what happened here":
David Cameron condemned the UK Army's role in the 1919 slaughter of 379 Indian protester but insisted Britain did not have to say sorry
Air raid kills at least 14 near Syrian capital: Actvists say:
Amateur videos posted online showed several vehicles on fire as thick black smoke billowed from a street. The videos show the bodies of two people, who were burned, in a pickup truck and a third person lying on the ground.
Aftermath of 'scud-style missile attack' on Aleppo:
Amateur video purports to show the aftermath of a ground-to-ground missile attack on the Jabal Badro neighbourhood of Aleppo
Jihadists and Islamists Clash in Syria:
The killing of the northern commander of one of Syria's largest rebel groups wasn't carried out by gunmen loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but by men supposedly on the rebel side in the nearly two-year-long Syrian civil war.
Free Syrian Army threatens to shell Hezbollah:
Free Syrian Army threatened yesterday to shell positions of the Hezbollah militant group in neighboring Lebanon after accusing it of firing across the border into territory it controls.
Russia, Arab League push for Syria conflict talks:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that Russia and the Arab League are attempting to establish direct contact between the two sides of the conflict that the UN says has killed at least 70,000 people.
Russian warships head to Syria in show of power;
The Russian Defense Ministry told the RIA-Novosti news agency on Tuesday that four large landing vessels were on their way to the Mediterranean near Syria, three weeks after the Russian navy conducted its biggest maneuvers in the region since the breakup of the Soviet Union
Jewish leader raps US for taking aircraft carrier out of Gulf;
Iran could see move as 'a diminution' of the American commitment to keep all options on the table, warns Malcolm Hoenlein in an unusually robust critique
Syria reportedly downs Israeli drone over Lebanon;
Eye witnesses in the village of Deir Al-Ashayer report spotting burning wreckage fall from the sky
Likud members: Livni will block rightist legislation;
Ruling party officials slam Netanyahu, say coalition agreement gives Hatnua leader too much power. Habayit Hayehudi: Putting negotiations in hands of woman who was responsible for Gaza disengagement plan make it hard for us to join coalition
'Sharon was about to leave two-thirds of the occupied West Bank':
Prime minister was drafting plan for a unilateral pullout when he fell ill, says his former adviser Rafi Eitan, and Netanyahu should tell Obama he's ready for similar 'mosaic separation'
So?
Hagel said Israel was en route to becoming 'apartheid' state;
In 2010 speech, current defense secretary nominee reportedly called Netanyahu a 'radical'; said we must negotiate with Hamas
Iran Backs Nuclear-Free Middle East in Dig at Israeli Arsenal:
Iran supports the establishment of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and backs efforts to dispose of existing ones in the region, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said today.
Fact of fiction?
Nigeria busts cell plotting attack on Israelis:
Domestic spy agency arrests three members of group with Iranian handlers
British men 'tortured by Dubai police':
A human rights charity has accused Dubai police of beating and electrocuting three British men who are awaiting trial on drugs charges.
Egypt Rights Groups Allege Rising Police Brutality;
More than a dozen groups charged in a statement that police were reverting back to the systematic torture that prevailed under Mubarak's autocratic regime. "Some of the crimes have even gone beyond that," the statement said.
Morsi is leading Egypt to a disaster: Op-Ed:
There are too many signs that Morsi is leading Egypt to a disaster. Each one of these signs on its own may not make you conclude that the disaster is coming soon but these signs in total can convince anyone that the disaster is coming sooner than later.
Egypt's Military Signals Impatience with President :
The tension is raising the specter of another military intervention much like the one in 2011, when generals replaced longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak after they sided with anti-regime protesters in their 18-day popular uprising.
Shops in Mali's northern region closed following order by rebels:
Shops in Kidal, a town on the extreme northern region of Mali, did not open their doors on Tuesday morning following an order by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Touareg separatist movement, local sources have said.
Mali: the worst is yet to come: Op-Ed:
Despite the rapid withdrawal of militants after the arrival of French troops, there are signs that the crisis is far from over
US Lawmakers meet with jailed American in Cuba;
The seven-member delegation led by Sen. Patrick Leahy also met with Cuban President Raul Castro and other senior officials.
Oakland, California: FBI foils another fake terror plot;
The charges filed against Matthew Llaneza, 28, stem from a months-long operation staged by the FBI's South Bay Joint Terrorism Task Force. The event is the latest in a long series of bogus terror plots hatched or otherwise encouraged by the federal government.
China to become South America's top trading partner by 2015:
China will replace the European Union as South America's most important trading partner by 2015, according to the Germany's Der Spiegel magazine online.
Currency wars: It's starting to look a bit too much like 1931;
History may not repeat itself, but the parallels between the world economy in the 1930s and the world economy today are becoming hard to ignore.
Protesters set cars, truck on fire in India strike:
Protesting workers destroyed vehicles and damaged factories near the Indian capital, New Delhi, on Wednesday at the beginning of a two-day strike called by major trade unions over high prices.
Bulgarian government resigns amid protests over high electricity costs:
The prime minister, Boiko Borisov, had tried to calm protests by sacking his finance minister and pledging to cut power prices and punish foreign-owned companies, but the moves failed to defuse discontent, and demonstrations continued on Tuesday.
Greek police fire tear gas at anti-austerity protesters:
Police in Athens fired tear gas at stone-throwing protestors Wednesday as thousands of Greeks walked off the job to join the debt-ridden country's first general strike this year and oppose austerity measures.
Italy public transport workers strike over wage, job cuts:
Public transport workers have gone on strike across Italy to protest the government's pay and job cuts, only days before the country's parliamentary elections.
Teachers demonstrate in Berlin:
About 3,000 teachers and day-care workers stopped work on Monday and demonstrated through the centre of Berlin. The protest was organized following the collapse of the second round of state contract negotiations for public sector workers taking place in Potsdam.
It Takes a B.A. to Find a $10.00 an Hour Job as a File Clerk;
The college degree is becoming the new high school diploma: the new minimum requirement, albeit an expensive one, for getting even the lowest-level job.
JPMorgan Leads U.S. Banks Lending Least Deposits in 5 Years;
The biggest U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are lending the smallest portion of their deposits in five years as cash floods in from savers and a slow economy damps demand from borrowers.
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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