NATO airstrike kills 15 "Taliban" in Logar province:
According to local authorities in eastern Logar province of Afghanistan, at least 15 "Taliban militants" were killed following a NATO airstrike in this province.
Seven Afghan soldiers killed in militants attacks:
Afghan army soldiers and US MarinesSeven Afghan national army soldiers were killed following roadside improvised explosive device (IED) and militants attacks during the past 24 hours across the country.
US Special Forces accused of ordering torture and murder of civilians:
An Afghan interpreter arrested on suspicion of torturing and murdering civilians has accused US Special Forces of ordering the atrocities, but denied personal responsibility.
Taliban urges Malala Yousufzai to return back to Pakistan:
The Pakistani Taliban commander, Adnan Rasheed urged the 16-year-old girl to return back to Pakistan and called the attacked on her as "shocking," the NBC News reported.
Bombing in Iraq targets swimmers at a stream, killing 4 people:
Iraqi officials say a bombing targeting a stream where youngsters had sought refuge from the summer heat has killed four people.
Syria: Car Bomb Kills Seven People:
Seven people, including women and children, have been killed in a car bomb explosion close to Damascus, according to Syrian state television. The car was parked near the Amari Mosque in Kanaker, a town south of the capital, the channel reported.
Pro-Assad Syrian figure shot dead in south Lebanon:
Mohammad Jemo, a Syrian Baath Party official and staunch supporter of President Bashar Assad, was killed early Wednesday after being shot over two dozen times at his house in south Lebanon, security sources said.
Syrians fleeing war at rate not seen since Rwandan genocide: UN:
The number of people fleeing the conflict in Syria has escalated to an average of 6,000 a day during 2013 - a rate not seen since the genocide in Rwanda nearly two decades ago, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.
UN struggles to feed millions of Syrians: Video -
"We have gotten to the stage where people receive food from the World Food Program inside Syria or they don't eat. It is very simple. There is no other way."
Free Syrian Army arming al Qaeda, ISIL commander claims:
A leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed that the FSA is selling weapons to the terror group:
Britain could still arm the Syrian rebels, William Hague says:
The Foreign Secretary's comments appeared to contradict reports earlier this week which claimed that David Cameron had decided against the move. Senior military figures had apparently warned him that sending small arms and missiles would make no difference to the conflict either way.
FSA says Al-Qaeda to announce Islamic state in Syria:
"The implementation of this plan started last week with the killing of Commander Fadi El-Qash and his brother in Dana village, followed by the killing of senior member of the Supreme Command Council, Kamal Hamami, and will be followed by more assassinations of officers and important figures in the FSA."
G'Day Damascus: Australians Are Joining Syria's Rebels in Surprising Numbers:
Surprising estimates suggest that Australians now make up the largest contingent from any developed nation in the Syrian rebel forces.
Stray bullets from Syria kill two in Turkish border town:
A man and a 15-year-old boy were killed by stray bullets shot from Syria in a Turkish border town and Turkish troops returned fire, officials said on Wednesday, in the most serious spillover of violence into Turkey in weeks.
Turkey fires into Syria after stray bullet from battle across border kill 1 Turkish teenager:
A Turkish teenager was killed and two other people were wounded near Syria's border by stray bullets fired during renewed clashes between Syrian rebels and Kurdish gunmen, an official said Wednesday.
Syrian rebels seize IDF post in Golan:
Armed cell takes over unmanned IDF post, Israeli force identifies cell, gunfire ensues; no injuries reported
Netanyahu responds to EU: Israel will not tolerate external edicts on our "borders":
New guidelines stipulate Israel must acknowledge East Jerusalem, West Bank and Golan as occupied territories before any future agreements signed with member states.
Netanyahu to ask EU leaders: Help postpone EU guidelines on illegal Israeli "settlements":
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to phone a number of European leaders on Wednesday and ask them to help postpone the publication of the new European Union guidelines concerning Israeli settlements.
Iran's Rouhani says Israel threats 'laughable':
"There has been a lot of talk that this option is on the table," said Rouhani, referring to Israel's veiled threats. "You laugh when you hear them," Rouhani told veterans of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. "Who are the Zionists to threaten us?"
Egypt's New Government Doesn't Include Muslim Brotherhood:
Not one of the 34 cabinet members belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, the 80-year-old Islamist movement that propelled Mr. Morsi to the presidency a year ago, or to any other Islamist party.
Islamist leader sees no Egyptian reconciliation without Mursi return:
Abdel Akhir Hammad, spiritual leader of the formerly militant group al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, said that joining an army-backed transitional government or participating in elections would amount to giving his group's blessing to military rule.
Raw Video - Clashes in Egypt:
Clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi have left at least seven people dead and more than 260 injured.
4 Algerian troops killed in bomb attack:
Four Algerian soldiers were killed when two bombs struck their passing patrol in the region of Tipaza, west of the capital Algiers, media reports said Wednesday, adding the attack wounded another three troops.
3 killed in Nigeria security raid: military:
Three suspected terrorists were killed in a raid by combined team of security operatives in Guri local government area of northwest Nigeria's Jigawa State on Tuesday, according to a statement by the military authorities.
Gunmen shoot down Libyan colonel outside his shop; :
A Libyan air force colonel was shot dead in the eastern city of Derna, a military spokesman said on Tuesday, a conservative stronghold plagued by attacks on security officials.
Libyan oil port 'stormed by armed protesters':
Armed protesters have stormed the eastern Libyan oil port of Zueitina in an attempt to stop export operations, a witness has said.
Seized N Korean ship: Cuban weapons on board:
BBC Video Report
UK approves £12bn of arms exports to countries with poor human rights:
Committee of MPs says government should apply more cautious judgments when considering arms export licence applications
20,000 U.S. Troops Descend On Australia For Military Exercise:
The focus of this year's exercise has shifted to amphibious operations as the training moved from the Northern Territory to Australia's east coast and the Coral Sea.
Hagel: Top military brass to be cut 20 percent:
Hagel spokesman George Little later said the top brass cuts could save between $1.5 billion to $2 billion over the five years and will target personnel, including civilians and contractors. He said the cuts will happen even if Congress eases budget caps that have created sharp limits on defense spending.
Obama's defense budget larger than any other president's since World War II:
The vast majority of people in the USA, including Congressmen and analysts, have little idea just how large the Pentagon's defense budget increases have been under President Obama.
News from US Gulag:
Judge rejects request to block force-feeding of Guantanamo Bay detainees:
Collyer also found that the detainees had not shown that the military's policy is "unreasonable."
California prison hunger strike is call for justice:
Alleged gang members in the California prison system are forced into 'living graves'. It's inhumane and without review
Snowden has no plans to leave Russia, might seek citizenship - lawyer:
Snowden has no plans to leave Russia yet, according to the lawyer who is assisting the NSA whistleblower. Anatoly Kucherena also said that Russia has no legal basis to hand over Snowden to the US.
U.S. to Russia: Turn over Snowden or risk 'long-term problems':
The White House left no doubt on Tuesday that American patience with Russia playing host to NSA leaker Edward Snowden is wearing thin.
US ties outweigh intelligence 'squabbles' - Putin:
On Wednesday Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer with strong links to the Kremlin who helped Mr Snowden with the paperwork for his asylum application, said he expected Mr Snowden would be able to leave the transit zone in Sheremetyevo "within days".
Lindsey Graham Suggests U.S. Should Boycott Russia Olympics Over Snowden:
Would You Have Allowed Adolf Hitler to Host'?
UK spy agency's use of U.S. data was legal: parliament:
The committee said it would be "proper" to study whether the laws governing electronic eavesdropping by spy agencies were strong enough.
Glenn Greenwald, Guardian Reporter, Blasts Media, MSBNC Over Edward Snowden Stories:
Glenn Greenwald, blasted the American media on Monday and said a recent Reuters story on Snowden was a "fabrication." Speaking in a radio interview, Greenwald also accused MSNBC talk show hosts of bias and said they were "desperate to distract attention away from [the NSA] disclosures."
The Creepy, Long-Standing Practice of Undersea Cable Tapping:
The newest NSA leaks reveal that governments are probing "the Internet's backbone." How does that work?
Obama administration drowning in lawsuits filed over NSA surveillance:
Day by day, new lawsuits waged against the United States government are being filed in federal court, and with the same regularity President Barack Obama and the preceding administration are being charged with vast constitutional violations alleged to have occurred through the NSA spy programs exposed by Mr. Snowden.
Unitarian Church, Gun Groups Join EFF to Sue NSA Over Illegal Surveillance:
Nineteen organizations filed suit against the National Security Agency (NSA) today for violating their First Amendment right of association by illegally collecting their call records
Yahoo wins battle over Prism court papers:
Yahoo has won a legal fight that will see papers from a key 2008 court case declassified and published. The 2008 case is widely seen as pivotal in letting the NSA establish Prism and start gathering data on web use.
Millions of Americans Living Abroad: Get Ready to Comply with New and Absurd U.S. Tax Rules or Give Up Citizenship:
The sledgehammer is the overreaching effect of legislation that is alienating other countries and resulting in millions of U.S. citizens abroad being forced to either painfully reconsider their nationality, or face a lifetime of onerous bureaucracy, expense and privacy invasion.
Gov't Bureau 'Creating a Google Earth on Every Financial Transaction,' Senator Warns:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is looking to create a "Google Earth" of every financial transaction of every American, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) warned today in a Senate speech opposing confirmation of Richard Cordray as CFPB director.
Driving somewhere? There's a government record of that:
Chances are, your local or state police departments have photographs of your car in their files, noting where you were driving on a particular day, even if you never did anything wrong.
ACLU warns of mass tracking through license plate scanners:
The American Civil Liberties Union is warning that law enforcement officials are using license plate scanners to amass massive and unregulated databases that can be used to track law-abiding citizens as their go about their daily lives.
When a Retailer Asks, 'Can I Have Your ZIP Code?' Just Say No: .
Most of us have, at some point, been asked for our address, ZIP code, phone number or e-mail address while buying something and wondered what the deal was. Here's what you need to know.
Police state USA: Press Photographer Arrested While Filming Cops Making Another Arrest:
Wright was let go after being detained for six and a half hours with no charges.
UK anti-terror law allows border cops to seize phone data with no justification:
UK border police can seize mobile phone data from anyone entering Britain without any justification. Under an anti-terror law, authorities can examine personal information and retain it for as long as they deem necessary.
Hungry Canadian aboriginal children were used in government experiments during 1940s, researcher says:
Aboriginal children were deliberately starved in the 1940s and '50s by government researchers in the name of science.
Pharma group accused of using cash and sex to generate $1.5bn in Chinese sales:
Drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) faces allegations of funneling $489 million (3 billion yuan) through travel agencies to pay kickbacks to doctors, hospitals, and government officials to prescribe GSK drugs to patients.
Barclays' $453m fine for US energy market-rigging upheld:
Barclays must pay $435m within 30 days, while one trader must pay $15m and three others $1m each. Barclays must also forgo $34.9m in profits, which will be distributed to low-income aid programmes in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington.
Bank of America Profit Surges:
Bank of America reported on Wednesday that its second-quarter net income rose 63 percent to $4 billion, or 32 cents a share, compared with $2.5 billion, or 19 cents a share, in the period a year earlier.
The Problem with Record Bank Profits: What do these large dollar numbers have in common:
$6.5 billion, $5.5 billion, $4.2 billion, and $1.9 billion? They represent the latest quarterly net profits made by too-big-to-fail banks-in order, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs
Leaks expose rotten core of Irish banking:
Taped comments by Ireland's top bankers reveal contempt, deception, and insults.
UK: Long-term joblessness at 17-year high:
Fresh figures show long-term unemployment in Britain is now at its highest level in almost two decades, with around 915,000 Britons been unemployed for a year or more, media reports said.
France loses its third triple-A: :
Fitch agency's announcement on July 12 that it was downgrading the country's AAA credit rating to AA+. Fitch, which after Standard & Poor's and Moody's was the last major agency to maintain France at the highest level, said the downgrade came because of sustained high debt, the spike in unemployment levels and the absence of growth.
Stranger than fiction:
Papal court handling pardons for sins says contrite Catholics may win 'indulgences' by following World Youth Day on Twitter
