Hard News
10 "militants" killed in E Afghan airstrike:
"On an intelligence tip, the warplanes of the NATO-led occupation forces pounded a militant hideout in Koh-Band area of Muqur district, killing 10 militants at wee hours of Monday," an army spokesman in the region Nazifullah Sultani told Xinhua.
One person killed as Myanmar hit by fresh round of sectarian violence:
President Thein Sein toured Myanmar's conflict-torn west on Tuesday as sectarian violence once again gripped the state of Rakhine, with Buddhist mobs killing a 94-year-old Muslim woman and torching more than 70 homes, officials and panicked residents said.
Suicide bomber kills five Iraq police:
A suicide bomber killed five police in Iraq on Tuesday, an officer and a doctor said, as an Al-Qaeda front group claimed a wave of deadly bombings. The attack in Tikrit, which hit the counter-explosives police headquarters for Salaheddin province, also wounded seven police.
Bush- Blair Legacy Continues As Iraq violence kills nearly 900 in September, gunmen storm police station:
Nearly 900 civilians were killed across Iraq in September as sectarian violence worsened, raising the death toll for 2013 to more than last year's total, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
More than 115,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war: Activists say:
Among the dead were 47,206 fighters loyal to the Syrian government. On the rebel side, 17,071 were civilians who picked up weapons to join the insurgency, 2,176 were army defectors and 4,460 were either foreign or unidentified fighters killed in battle.
U.N. experts enter Syria to dismantle chemical stockpile:
Experts from the United Nations arrived in Syria on Tuesday to begin the process of verifying and eliminating the regime's chemical weapons stockpile, Alarabiya reported.
Russia says to push for Mideast free of mass-destruction weapons:
Such a move could put Moscow at odds with Washington which announced the conference would be delayed last year. Analysts said it feared the event would be used to criticize its ally Israel, believed to be the region's only nuclear-armed state.
Russia seeks to fill vacuum in the Middle East: Op-Ed:
Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union affirmed the United States as the dominant power in the Middle East, a resurgent Russia is seeking ways large and small to fill the vacuum left by the departure of American troops from Iraq and the toppling of U.S. allies in the Arab Spring revolts.
Iran must dismantle nuclear program: Netanyahu:
"Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone," he claimed.
Netanyahu calls on US senators to keep up pressure on Iran:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with members of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Monday evening, thanking them for their support of bills sanctioning Iran for its nuclear program, and urging them to continue to pressure the Islamic Republic.
Iranian foreign minister lashes out at Obama via Twitter:
"Pres. Obama's presumption that Iran is negotiating because of his illegal threats and sanctions is disrespectful of a nation, macho and wrong," Zarif tweeted.
United Nations decries widespread use of torture in Libya:
Torture is widespread in Libyan detention centres run by brigades which emerged during the 2011 revolution, a UN report said Tuesday, urging Tripoli to bring all facilities under full state control.
Libyan protest cuts into gas exports to Italy:
Libyan protesters have shut down a gas pumping station supplying a facility jointly run with Italy's ENI, reducing exports to Italy, Libyan officials and operating companies said on Tuesday.
Disgruntled Mali troops fire weapons, kidnap officer:
Dozens of disgruntled soldiers involved in Mali's 2012 coup fired guns in the air at a protest on Monday, wounding and taking hostage a close aide of mutiny leader Amadou Sanogo, military sources said.
Mursi supporters stage protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square:
Supporters of Egypt's ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday for the first time since the army forced him from office in July, a Reuters witness said.
U.S. Approves Military Aid For Countries With Child Soldiers:
The White House on Monday afternoon announced that it had issued blanket waivers to three countries, allowing them to receive military aid despite their ongoing use of child soldiers despite a 2008 law to the contrary.
'Yankees go home': Venezuela expels 3 top US diplomats:
Three US diplomats have been accused by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of plotting with the country's far right to sabotage the national electric grid. In a scathing TV address, the socialist leader told the diplomats to leave within 48 hours.
Morales: Obama can invade any country for US energy needs: Video -
In his dramatic speech in New York, Bolivian President Evo Morales called for the UN to be moved out of the US and for Barack Obama to be tried for crimes against humanity. Speaking to RT, Morales explained his controversial proposals.
Four tonnes of radioactive water spilled in Fukushima:
The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday workers had spilled four tonnes of radioactive water, likely contaminating the soil and possibly groundwater.
Forget Climate Change, We Must Prepare for a Catastrophic Climate Breakdown:
We're headed for the collapse of the benign climate in which humans evolved and have prospered, and the loss of the conditions upon which many other lifeforms depend.
UN Report: Hunger Affects 1 In 8 People Around The World:
One in eight people around the world is chronically undernourished, the United Nations' food agencies said on Tuesday, warning world leaders that some regions would fail in halving the number of hungry by 2015.
It's Official: NSA Wants to Suck up All Americans' Phone Records:
Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) asked NSA director, Gen. Keith Alexander, whether his spy agency should be collecting all Americans' phone records. Gen. Alexander, admitted that he "believe[s] it is in the nation's best interest to put all the phone records into a lockbox that we can search when the nation needs it."
NSA stores metadata of millions of web users for up to a year, secret files show:
Metadata provides a record of almost anything a user does online, from browsing history - such as map searches and websites visited - to account details, email activity, and even some account passwords. This can be used to build a detailed picture of an individual's life.
NSA Spying Creates a New Data Haven Industry. :
"Countries are competing to be the Cayman Islands of data privacy," and the result could be not only privacy as a saleable commodity, but a balkanized Internet.
Author and NSA critic denied entry into US:
A German author and fierce NSA critic has pointed to his attacks on America's mass surveillance programme as the reason behind authorities denying him entry to the United States on Monday.
The Government Leakers Who Truly Endanger America Will Never Face Prosecution: Op-Ed:
Secrecy is for the convenience of the state. To support military adventures and budgets, vast troves of U.S. government secrets are routinely released not by lone dissident whistle-blowers but rather skilled teams of government officials.
Snowden shortlisted for Sakharov Prize:
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has made the shortlist of finalists for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The other nominees include Pakistani women's rights activist Malala Yousafzai, and three Belarusian dissidents.
U.S. government shutdown starts; Congress deadlock remains:
The U.S. government began a partial shutdown on Tuesday for the first time in 17 years, potentially putting up to 1 million workers on unpaid leave, closing national parks and stalling medical research projects.
Pentagon Spent $5 Billion on Weapons on the Eve of the Shutdown:
The Pentagon pumped billions of dollars into contractors' bank accounts on the eve of the U.S. government's shutdown that saw 400,000 Defense Department employees furloughed.
Dollar sinks to 8-month low after US shutdown:
The dollar has fallen to an 8-month low against a range of currencies, driven by fears that a partial shutdown of the US government will hit the economy.
10 ways govt shutdown will hurt America: -
1 Countdown to US default looms - A halt of US government operations would drag the world's biggest economy closer to bankruptcy, something unprecedented in US history. If no budget deal is done, the US would bump up against their "debt ceiling" and run out of money by October 17
Student-Loan Defaults Rise in U.S. as Borrowers Struggle:
About one in seven borrowers defaulted on their federal student loans, showing how former students are buckling under higher-education costs in a weak economy.
Militarization creep: Texas cops get army tanks :
There's little political will to contain the increasing militarization of police, the sees Robocop-style SWAT teams with army vehicles increasingly become the norm for domestic policing:
How Cops Became Soldiers:
It won't be long before we see pro-militarization lobbying and pressure groups. Say hello to the police-industrial complex.
Country Club Politics: How McCutcheon v. FEC Could Tee Up Elite Donors for More Influence:
On October 8th, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could take a political system already centered on big money and put power even further into the hands of Wall Street bankers, billionaires, and K Street lobbyists.
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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