Hard News
Turkey blames Syria after car bombs kill dozens near border:
Deputy prime minister says Syrian regime's intelligence agency and armed groups are 'usual suspects' in attack on Reyhanli
Turkey claims evidence of Syrian chemical weapons use:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cited the discovery of missile remains and Syrian patients showing signs of wounds from chemical weapons.
Jabhat al-Nusra Behind "Chemical Weapons" Attacks?;
A photo from the Ras al-Ayn area of Al-Hasakah Governate (Province) in the North of Syria, shows a Jabhat al-Nusra fighter with a device identical to one flaunted as a chemical weapon device which was allegedly deployed by Syrian forces
'Nusra claimed responsibility for terror':
Syria's ambassador to the United Nations says the al-Nusra Front terrorist group has claimed responsibility for carrying out at least 600 acts of terror in the past year.
Syrian Islamists to be added to UN sanctions list, diplomats say:
Following a move by France and Britain, the Islamist group, Al-Nusra Front, which has become one of the most feared fighting forces in Syria's two-year-old conflict, will be subject to a global asset freeze from Tuesday, the diplomats told AFP.
Palestinian-Syrian group says forming units to fight for the Golan:
A militant Palestinian group in Damascus said it is forming combat units to try to recapture Israeli-occupied territory, in particular the Golan Heights, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah that they would support such operations.
Russia "completing supplies" of missiles to Syria, Lavrov says:
Russia is completing its delivery of surface-to-air missiles to Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday, a move the United States has called destabilizing.
Netanyahu to meet Putin in bid to dissuade Russia from missile delivery to Assad:
Two leaders hurriedly schedule talks, amid reports that Moscow is set to supply highly sophisticated S-300 defense systems to Damascus
Experts doubt US-Russia common ground on Syria:
Washington, in contrast to Moscow, has long insisted that Assad must go, but Kerry suggested that Washington no longer considered the Syrian leader's departure a prerequisite to establish a transitional authority. On Friday, Lavrov confirmed that Russia was continuing to deliver military hardware to the Assad regime, including anti-aircraft systems, in defiance of calls for a freeze.
Syrian Opposition Figure Faces Allegations of Money Laundering in France:
The accounts of Mohamad Azzet Khattab were frozen by an order of the French Justice after they received reports that his accounts have increased greatly in a very short period. After further inspection, the authorities discovered that he's involved in Syrian artifacts smuggling, through Lebanon and Turkey.
Suicide tanker truck targets house of army officer in northern Iraq, kills 3 people:
Iraqi officials say that a suicide tanker truck packed with explosives blew up outside the home of an army intelligence officer, killing three people and wounding 18 others in the country's north.
Witnesses: Settlers open fire in Hebron village:
Israeli settlers raided a village near Hebron on Thursday night and opened fire at Palestinian homes, witnesses said.
Stephen Hawking is right, it's time to end international support for Israeli impunity: Op-Ed:
As long as Israel can count on a blank cheque from the international community, it will continue to displace more Palestinians and further abuse and curtail their rights.
Noam Chomsky helped lobby Stephen Hawking to stage Israel boycott:
US professor Noam Chomsky expressed regret at Hawking's initial acceptance of invitation to speak at conference in Israel
Israel angry with Scottish Church report criticising its policies:
The paper entitled "The Inheritance of Abraham," which was published last week rejects "claims that scripture offers any peoples a privileged claim for possession of a particular territory."
ProPalestinian Ad Ignites Jewish Fury - Video
Exiled Bahraini Activist Maryam Alkhawaja Condemns Ongoing Abuses:
Maryam Alkhawaja, acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and co-director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights. Her father, prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, and sister Zainab Alkhawaja are in prison in Bahrain.
Pakistanis go to polls, 22 killed in attacks:
The parties of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan appeared to be well ahead of their rivals in Pakistan's election, according to a partial count of votes cast on Saturday.
Nawaz Sharif surges ahead in Pakistan poll count:
Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif, seeking to become prime minister for a third time, appeared way ahead of his rivals in Saturday's general election, according to a partial count of votes cast.
Report: Pakistan's Imran Khan wins parliament seat:
Pakistani cricket star turned politician Imran Khan was Saturday elected into parliament in the northwestern city of Peshawar, where his main opponent conceded defeat.
Afghanistan says nine migrants killed by Iranian border guards:
Iranian guards fired on a large group of Afghan migrants illegally crossing the border overnight, killing at least nine people, Afghan officials said on Saturday.
Afghanistan: Nuristan Blast Kills Deputy Chief of Intelligence:
The Deputy Chief of Intelligence of Nuristan province Mohammad Faiz was killed when a bomb exploded in his home in Wigal District on Saturday afternoon, officials said.
Bangladesh Jamaat leader sentenced to death:
A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal has convicted and sentenced the assistant secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami party to death for war crimes, raising fears of clashes between the police and supporters of the Islamist leader.
Blasts rock Libyan police stations: Video - May 11 -
Bombs explode in Benghazi in the latest wave of violence to hit the cradle of the country's revolution. Andrew Raven reports.
Militiamen attack Libyan protesters:
Scores of Libyan militiamen descended on an anti-Islamist rally in the nation's capital, Tripoli, kicking and beating protesters who had taken to the streets on Friday as part of a call for mass demonstrations against the country's unruly militias and Muslim radicals.
U.S. Withdrawing Diplomats From Libya After Protests:
Growing concerns over protests roiling Libya prompted the State Department to begin evacuating some diplomats from Tripoli, as the Pentagon put troops stationed at nearby European bases on high alert.
Spain is officially insolvent: get your money out while you still can:
The latest IMF Fiscal Monitor, published last month, comes about as close to declaring Spain insolvent as you are ever likely to see in official analysis of this sort. Of course, it doesn't actually say this outright. The IMF is far too diplomatic for such language.
Former Guatemala leader guilty of genocide:
Former military leader Efrain Rios Montt sentenced to 80 years in jail over massacres of indigenous people in the 1980s.
A Formal Legal Mandate for a Criminal Investigation of Guatemala's Current President:
The court that convicted Rios Montt has also ordered the attorney general to launch an immediate investigation of "all others" connected to the crimes.
Uruguay: Former General Convicted for Murder During Dictatorship:
A former general in the Uruguayan army, Miguel Dalmao, has been found guilty of a murder dating back to 1974, when the country was under military rule. Dalmao was sentenced yesterday to 28 years in prison by the Uruguayan Supreme Court of Justice in what has been celebrated as a victory by human rights advocates and former political prisoners in the country
Gulag that shames the West:
Five years after Obama said he'd shut it, over 100 prisoners - including a British resident - are still chained in Guantanamo. DAVID JONES went inside and was horrified by what he found
Americans demand closure of Guantanamo Bay Prison:
The protesters in Washington DC wore prison-style jumpsuits in support of the 166 prisoners being held at the notorious US prison. As a result of the protest, Pennsylvania Avenue was closed down.
Dad who died during arrest 'begged for his life'; witness videos seized:
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
Beaten for Filming a Beating, Woman Says:
Baltimore police beat up a woman and smashed her camera for filming them beating up a man, telling her: "You want to film something bitch? Film this!" the woman claims in court.
Police Hold Shooting Drills Video -
"They're Pretending To Be Angry PARENTS At A School" :
Use of secretive 'Stingray' FBI cell phone tracking tool ruled lawful by judge:
This case could quite unfortunately have wide-ranging effects on how the government conducts the type of dragnet surveillance enabled by the Stingray device.
Apple deluged by police demands to decrypt iPhones:
ATF says no law enforcement agency could unlock a defendant's iPhone, but Apple can "bypass the security software" if it chooses. Apple has created a police waiting list because of high demand.
NYPD Sergeant Says 'Guilty Until Proven Innocent' Is Just The Price We Pay For A 'Free Society':
The way law enforcement agencies approach online activity that appears sinister is this: "If you're not a terrorist, if you're not a threat, prove it," he says.
Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform:
The immigration reform measure the Senate began debating yesterday would create a national biometric database of virtually every adult in the U.S., in what privacy groups fear could be the first step to a ubiquitous national identification system.
IRS admits targeting conservatives for tax scrutiny in 2012 election:
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday apologized for targeting groups with "tea party" or "patriot" in their names, confirming long-standing accusations by some conservatives that their applications for tax-exempt status were being improperly delayed and scrutinized.
'I'm not good at math': The IRS' public relations disaster:
About a half-hour into a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon, senior Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner said something she will regret.
Michigan district closes all schools, fires all teachers:
"Our analysis of the District's cash flow demonstrates to us that, absent an extraordinary situation, we will not be able to make payroll for staff on May 24," according to a letter on the school district's official website.
Largest fast food strike yet as workers walk out in Michigan:
Organizers estimate that as many as 400 workers at more than 60 fast food restaurants in the Detroit metro area walked off the job on Friday, in what may be the largest fast food strike in American history.
More Americans spending majority of income on rent, except in Washington:
Nationally, the share of working Americans who spend more than half their income on housing costs has grown every year since 2008, reaching 23.7 percent of all working households in 2011, according to the Center for Housing Policy, a research group. It was 21.8 percent in 2008.
Greenhouse Gases Hit Threshold Unseen in 3 Million Years:
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surpassed a threshold not seen for 3 million years, exceeding 400 parts per million for the first time since researchers began tracking the data.
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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