Hard News
Iraq: At least 16 killed including anti-terror policeman and family:
A string of attacks killed at least 16 people in Iraq on Saturday while gunmen abducted eight policemen guarding a post on the country's main highway to Jordan and Syria, as a wave of violence continued to grip the country.
US kills four people in attack on Yemen:
At least four people were killed and a number of others wounded in a drone strike on a vehicle carrying suspected al-Qaida members in southern Yemen, a local official said on Saturday.
Senior Yemeni military officer shot dead:
Colonel Abdullah Al Rabaki was walking home in the city of Mukalla in Hadramaut province late on Friday when the gunmen shot him six times with a revolver fitted with a silencer, the official said. They escaped on a motorbike.
Nigeria military says 10 insurgents killed, 65 arrested:
Nigeria's military yesterday imposed a 24-hour curfew in parts of a northeastern city as it pressed on with a campaign against Boko Haram that has sent residents fleeing the region.
Blast in Tripoli street housing 3 embassies:
A bomb exploded on Saturday in a Tripoli street housing the Algerian, Greek and Saudi embassies, lightly damaging a car, hours after a soldier was wounded in a bombing in Libya's second city Benghazi.
Armed groups bomb Libyan military posts in Benghazi:
Nearly two years after the uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, the government still exerts little control over the armed brigades that helped overthrow him.
Car bomb kills 8, injures 10 in Syrian capital:
At least eight people were killed and 10 others wounded when a car bomb ripped through Damascus' district of Ruken Addien Saturday night, local media and activists said.
God saved me, but I will bomb again:
A thwarted suicide bomber in Syria's fast-growing jihad movement reveals his part in an attack that killed 59, including schoolchildren
Gunmen abduct father of Syria deputy foreign minister: Watchdog::
Gunmen abducted the elderly father of Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad on May 18, apparently in reprisal for the arrest of one of their relatives, according to a government source and a watchdog.
Assad says Israel is helping Syrian rebels:
Israel provides Syria rebel groups with "logistical support and is even instructing them which targets to attack," he said.
Syria's Assad says he won't step down:
Syrian President Bashar Assad says he won't step down before elections are held in his war-ravaged country.
Al-Qaeda's Syrian wing takes over the oilfields once belonging to Assad:
Al-Qaeda's Syrian wing is helping to finance its activities by selling the product of oilfields that once helped to prop up the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian rebels claim Assad forces used chemical weapons again:
Four Iranians are also reportedly dead after rebels forces fired at two vehicles belonging to the Syria regime near Homs.
Fact or fiction?
Syria's Islamist Nusra Front getting eclipsed by Iraq-based al-Qaida:
The break-up of an important part of Syria's opposition, worsens the dilemma faced by the West, it may now be under pressure to attack al-Qaida opposition forces rather than Assad.
Russian arms defend Syria':
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov , "Russia is not planning to sell - Russia has sold and signed contracts a long time ago, and is completing supplies of the equipment - which is anti-aircraft systems, according to the already signed contracts," Lavrov told reporters in Warsaw.
Russian missiles to Syria could embolden Assad: U.S. general warns:
"It's at the very least an unfortunate decision that will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering," General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon when asked about the weapons shipment. "So it's ill-timed and very unfortunate," he said.
Russia 'does not understand' uproar over Syria arms sales:
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "We have not hidden that we supply weapons to Syria under signed contracts, without violating any international agreements, or our own legislation."
Israel warns against Russian arms supply to Syria:
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio Saturday that S-300 advanced air defense missile systems supplied by Russia to Damascus "could reach others in Syria or Lebanon and be used against Israel."
Erdogan to sue opposition leader over Assad comparison:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will sue opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu after he compared him to Syria's embattled president over deadly bombings near the border, media reported on Saturday.
Turkey not to end Iran oil imports: Erdogan:
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara has not yet made any decision on cutting oil imports from Iran despite US pressure to hinder the Tehran-Ankara energy cooperation.
Congress set to tighten economic noose on Iran:
Two widely supported bills would expand sanctions beyond financial and energy sectors, and urge support for Israel in any confrontation with Tehran
Outraged over state budget and Netanyahu's expenses, Israaeli protesters march on his residences:
1,500 rally nationwide; Netanyahu's lawyers come to his defense, say he and his wife live modestly, despite reports to the contrary
Thousands of Israelis protest against austerity measures:
Protests are taking place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be'er Sheva, in front of the prime minister's house in Caesarea, and in front of businessman Yitzhak Tshuva's house in Ramat Poleg.
Pakistan politician Zahra Shahid Hussain killed in Karachi:
Zahra Shahid Hussain was the senior vice-president of Pakistan's Movement for Justice party (PTI), led by former international cricketer Imran Khan.
Musharraf's escape route :
Informed commentators whisper that his old pals in the military are reaching out to the courts - where the 69-year-old faces a slew of cases - preparing the ground so he can leave before Mr Sharif is sworn in.
Afghan MPs block law banning violence against women:
Legislation was approved by President Karzai in 2009, but stalled by conservative MPs who deemed it un-Islamic.
UN envoy says CAR in 'state of anarchy':
The Central African Republic (CAR) has collapsed into "a state of anarchy" and the UN Security Council must impose sanctions and mandate a neutral security force to restore order, a UN envoy has said.
The UN and 250,000 Dead Somalis:
During this period of mass starvation of the Somali people the UN and its western overlords spent over $1 billion funding its military "peacekeeping mission" in what's left of the country.
Tunisia bars Ansar al-Sharia Salafist meeting in Kairouan:
The Salafist group has already vowed to go ahead with the gathering and warned that the government would be responsible for any violence.
SKorea says NKorea fires 3 short-range missiles:
The North fired two missiles Saturday morning and another in the afternoon, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said by phone. He said the North's intent was unclear.
Forced feeding continues:
102 Guantanamo prisoners on hunger strike, military says: Navy medical workers were tube-feeding 30 of the hunger strikers, said Army Lt. Col. Samuel House. Three were hospitalized
4 Inhumane Realities about the Guantanamo Hunger Strike:
Thirty of the 166 prisoners held at Guantanamo are being subjected to force-feeding--a practice that's considered torture and in violation of international law by the UN human rights office
Pastor Timothy Murphy On Hunger Strike In Solidarity With Guantanamo Inmates:
Timothy Murphy began a fast of solidarity with the Guantanamo inmates who are on a hunger strike to protest their indefinite detention. He is drinking water and nothing else.
Photos Sought of Guantanamo Prisoner Shot By Guards:
A lawyer for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner is calling on the U.S. Justice Department to release photos of wounds the man suffered when struck with non-lethal rounds at a recent clash with guards at the prison.
Google insider exposes 'immoral' tax scam:
A FORMER Google executive has blown the whistle on a massive and "immoral" tax avoidance scheme that has "cheated" British taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of pounds over the past decade.
Private Citizen Harassed for Her Political Writings:
For Prof. Anne Hendershott, the phone call to her home from the IRS came out of the blue in May 2010: "The IRS calls my house and says ... 'I just wanted to let you know that we're going to be auditing your business' and I said 'My businesses?' and he said, 'You know the expenses you take off for writing."
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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