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Hard News
52 Taliban insurgents killed in Afghanistan:
Up
to 52 Taliban insurgents have been killed and 45 wounded in operations
in Afghanistan, the interior ministry said Wednesday.
Occupation forces kill four children in Afghanistan - police:
Reuters television footage taken in the village, Sejewand, showed the bodies of at least three children.
NATO occupation force soldier killed in militants attack in eastern Afghanistan:
NATO
soldier killed in AfghanistanA NATO service member was killed
following militants attack in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Four killed in Iraq attacks:
A
series of attacks near Baghdad and north of the capital killed four
people on Wednesday, the latest in an apparent spike in violence just
weeks ahead of Iraq's first elections in three years.
Iraq executes 18 despite international outcry:
Iraq
executed 18 people this month, eight of them on the same day as an
attack on the justice ministry, a top official said today, despite
global condemnation over its ongoing executions.
Car bomb explodes near Damascus, kills 3 - Syrian TV;
A
terrorist suicide bomber blew up a van in the east of Rukn al-Din
neighbourhood in Damascus and preliminary information indicates there
are martyrs and people wounded," state news agency SANA reported.
Aftermath of Suicide bombing in Damascus -
Video
In Syria, the Rebels Have Begun to Fight Among Themselves:
"Nobody
dies before his time," Abu Azzam said, repeating a common Arabic
phrase. In a chilling premonition of what would happen just a few hours
later, he said: "I know that I am going to be killed either by the
regime or by the Jabhat. There is no difference, they are both dirty."
Outsiders are killing Syrian People, destroying Churches and mosques - Christian Bishop:
They
kill people. They do not care about people, about human lives. And
that's more important than churches and cathedrals, because if there
are no people, there's no need for cathedrals.
Arms Airlift to Syria Rebels Expands, With Aid From C.I.A.:
With
help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply
increased their military aid to Syria's opposition fighters in recent
months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the
uprising
Summit says Arab states have right to arm Syria rebels:
Member
states had the right to provide military support to Syrians fighting
al-Assad, says the final declaration of the 24th Arab League Summit
Syria Rejects AL Resolutions, Warns against Playing with Fire:
In a
statement issued on Wednesday, the government considered the AL
resolution as "unprecedented" in the League's history "for it blatantly
violates the AL Charter and its statutes and the rules of the joint
Arab action."
Syria, Russia, Iran Slam Arab League:
Russia's
foreign ministry called the league's move "illegal and indefensible"
because it said the Syrian government is still a "legitimate" United
Nations member-state.
Assad Appeals To BRICS Countries For Help To Fight 'Terrorists':
"This
requires a clear international will to dry up the sources of terrorism
and stop its funding and arming," Assad said Syria is subjected to
"acts of terrorism backed by Arab, regional and Western nations" and
asked the leaders to "work for an immediate cessation of violence that
would guarantee the success of the political solution."
BRICS warns against militarising Syria conflict further:
The
BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - have
warned against militarising the conflict in Syria any further and, for
the first time, made a strong statement on the humanitarian situation
in the country torn by civil war.
'Too late' for military intervention in Syria, Annan says:
"Further
militarisation of the conflict, I'm not sure that is the way to help
the Syrian people. They are waiting for the killing to stop. You find
some people far away from Syria are the ones very keen for putting in
weapons
Critically wounded Syrian (rebels?) treated in Israel; one dies:
Syrians
wounded in civil war met by Golani soldiers at border; those in
critical condition secretly transferred to hospital in Israel with army
chief's authorization
Turkish police fire teargas at protesting Syrians in refugee camp, many wounded: Raw Video:
Rock-throwing
Syrian refugees clashed with Turkish military police during a protest
against poor living conditions in their relief camp, witnesses said.
Police fired teargas and a water cannon to break up the crowd at the
Suleiman Shah site according to protesters. Rough Cut
Israel to pay Turkey tens of millions over Gaza flotilla deaths, sources say:
Israel
will transfer the amount to a humanitarian fund set up by Turkish
government to compensate for deaths of Turkish activists on Mavi
Maramara in 2010; Turkish diplomat says U.S. pressuring Erdogan not to
visit Gaza, West Bank.
Abbas hails Emir's proposal to set up $1bn Arab fund:
Describing
HH the Emir's gesture as "fantastic and wonderful", the Palestinian
president expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Emir.
600 Islamists and 63 Malian soldiers, killed since January: army:
"The
deaths among the Islamists is an estimate, because the Islamists
generally take their dead away for burial," Maiga told AFP, adding that
it was French and African forces who had killed "these terrorists".
U.N. chief proposes peacekeeping force for Mali:
Up to 11,200 troops were suggested for the peace keeping mission at a meeting of the Security Council.
28 killed in Nigeria village attack:
Up
to 28 persons were confirmed dead on Tuesday by the police in central
north Nigeria's Plateau State following an attack by unknown gunmen in
two communities in the state
N. Korea Warns : Danger of Nuclear War on Korean Peninsula:
On
Monday U.S. B-52 strategic bombers - staged a nuclear bomb dropping
drill aimed at a surprise nuclear preemptive attack on the DPRK. Their
flight defying our repeated warnings clearly proves that the U.S. plan
for a nuclear war has entered an uncontrollable phase of practice.
North Korea cuts its military hotline with the South:
The
decision coincided with an announcement that the North's top political
leadership would meet in the next few days to discuss an unspecified
"important issue" and make a "drastic turn".
South Korea, US sign military plan against North 'provocations':
Under
the new plan, South Korea will be able to call on US assistance should
Pyongyang follow through with its recent threats, for example to
attack remote South Korean islands, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in
Seoul.
Day 50 of Gitmo strike: Red Cross on alert, attorneys fear protest turning deadly:
The
US Military admitted that 31 Guantanamo inmates are refusing food, as
the prison's biggest-in-years hunger strike enters its 50th day. The
Red Cross is urgently sending delegates to Gitmo as the detainees'
lawyers warn the strike may turn deadly.
Striking Guantanamo Prisoners Say Water Denied:
Prisoners
at Guantanamo Bay say they are being denied access to drinking water
as a hunger strike grinds on and apparently grows at the U.S. base in
Cuba.
FBI Pursuing Real-Time Gmail Spying Powers as "Top Priority" for 2013:
The
bureau says it has made gaining more powers to wiretap all forms of
Internet conversation and cloud storage a "top priority" this year.
Brain scans predict which criminals are more likely to reoffend:
In a
twist that evokes the dystopian science fiction of writer Philip K.
Dick, neuroscientists have found a way to predict whether convicted
felons are likely to commit crimes again from looking at their brain
scans.
Smile & Wave! Fed pushes big bro drones despite public outcry in US:
It
appears the sky is the limit for U.S. law enforcement, with aerial
surveillance drones set to be used domestically. But Capitol Hill has
met some firm resistance to the plans
Cyprus bail-out: savers will be raided to save euro in future crises, says eurozone chief:
Savings
accounts in Spain, Italy and other European countries will be raided
if needed to preserve Europe's single currency by propping up failing
banks, a senior eurozone official has announced.
Much of the big Russian money in Cyprus has escaped:
Der
Spiegel is reporting that the Cypriot central bank may have looked the
other way as large sums of capital exited the island earlier this
month. Whether this happened just before the bank holiday or right
after the holiday began is unclear.
Saving Cyprus Means Nobody Safe as Europe Breaks Taboo:
The
message that stakeholders of all stripes can be coerced into helping a
cash-strapped nation may make investors more skittish they'll be
targeted if Slovenia, Italy, Spain or even Greece again is next in line
to need help.
UK: Plan to force banks to stockpile an extra £25billion will hit lending and damage growth:
Britain's banks have been told to stockpile £25billions by the end of the year to prepare for future financial crises.
UK: Poorer families 'cut back on food':
More
than five million families with children cut back on food last year as
they struggled to stay in their homes, a charity has said.
Spanish deficit, retail figures deepen economic gloom:
Spain
revised up its public deficit for 2012 on Wednesday, piling pressure
on the government to scale down its budget ambitions for 2013 as data
suggested economic recovery was a distant prospect.
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