Bush- Blair Legacy Continues As:
Iraq bombings kill at least 62:
A series of car bombings in Baghdad, an explosion at a market and a suicide assault in a northern city killed at least 62 people Sunday across Iraq, officials said, the latest in a wave of attacks washing over the country.
Iran hangs 16 rebels in border attack reprisal:
Iran has executed 16 rebels following overnight clashes in which 14 border guards were killed close to the border with Pakistan, an official has said.
13 killed in north Lebanon violence:
The death toll from a week of clashes in Lebanon between supporters and opponents of Syria's regime has risen to 13, a security official said on Sunday.
Rebel sources: 15 "Hezbollah soldiers" killed outside Damascus:
A video posted on the internet showed dead soldiers with Hezbollah label patches on their uniforms. Six wounded Hezbollah fighters were reportedly transferred to Lebanon for medical treatment.
Rocket kills family in Syrian Christian town, activists say:
A rocket smashed into the home of a family in the embattled Christian town of Sadad in central Syria, killing five people as al-Qaeda-linked rebels and soldiers clashed for control on Sunday, activists said.
Syria's Women, Many Raped In Refugee Centres, Long To Return Home: Video -
Many Syrian women would rather return to their war-torn homeland than endure the violence, rape and other sexual assaults they are experiencing as refugees, a humanitarian charity has said.
Al-Qaeda strives to build Islamic state in northern Syria:
Al-Qaeda is attempting to forge an Islamic caliphate across Syria, arresting any who resist the terrorist network, intimidating local businesses and restructuring courts and schools. The way it seized control of a key town in northern Syria illustrates its methods.
19 Syrian rebel groups refuse to take part in Geneva-2 peace talks:
"We consider it just another part of the conspiracy to throw our revolution off track and to abort it," he said, adding that actions of those choosing to disobey this recommendation would be viewed as "treason" and result in the groups having "to answer for it before our courts."
Syria submits plan to destroy its chemical weapons - OPCW: -
Syria has submitted a declaration of its chemical weapons programme and a plan to eliminate them to the world's chemical weapons watchdog, the organisation said on Sunday, meeting the first major deadline of the destruction plan.
UN envoy: Iran participation in Syria conference essential:
Brahimi in Tehran as part of Mideast tour to ramp up support for talks next month; comes ahead of 2nd round of negotiations over Iran's nuke program
Iran denies it has stopped enriching uranium to 20%: -
A senior Iranian official has denied reports the Islamic republic has temporarily stopped enriching uranium to the 20 percent level, the state news agency IRNA said on Saturday.
Propaganda Alert:
Israel issues warning on report on Iran bomb:
A new report that says Iran may need as little as a month to produce enough uranium for a nuclear bomb is further evidence for why Israel will take military action before that happens, an Israeli defense official said
Britain's Jack Straw: Jewish funds wrecking Mideast peace possibilities:
Jack Straw, a British lawmaker and former foreign secretary, said "unlimited" funds available to U.S. Jewish groups are used to control American policy in the Middle East.
'Russia eyes Egypt's ports in bid to boost military presence':
Cold-shouldered by Washington, Cairo could be just the thing Putin needs to secure more influence in the region, report says
Putin seeking to resume Russia-Egypt military ties amid US vacuum:
Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a possible state visit to Egypt in order to take advantage of frayed ties between Washington and Cairo and possibly gain access to Egypt's Mediterranean ports, The Sunday Times reported.
Saudi women who defied driving ban fined:
Few women braved official threats of punishment and drove on Saturday in response to an online campaign headlined "Women's driving is a choice." "Police stopped six women driving in Riyadh, and fined them 300 riyals ($80) each," said the capital's police deputy spokesman, Colonel Fawaz Al Miman.
Humor:
'No Woman, No Drive' - Video -
Hisham Fageeh's tongue-in-cheek version of a Bob Marley classic went viral. He offers a satirical take on the Saudi ban on female driving, poking fun at one cleric's assertion it could harm reproductive organs.
Saudi Arabia's Syria Connection is Part of a Larger, Dangerous Trend For the Royal Kingdom:
Opinions have changed with regards to the themes of the Saudi record on domestic personal freedoms and Saudi influence abroad.
Bahrain regime waging war on own people:
The US-backed Bahraini regime is mounting an undeclared, merciless war on the majority Shia population of the tiny Persian Gulf island.
Roadside bomb kills 18 Afghan wedding guests:
A roadside bomb has killed 18 civilians and wounded five on a small bus on its way to a wedding in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, deputy provincial police chief Colonel Asadullah Ensafi has said.
12 militants killed in Afghanistan:
At least 12 Taliban militants were killed in a series of clean-up operations since Saturday, the Afghan interior ministry said Sunday.
Afghan soldier killed after opening fire on Nato troops:
Afghan fired three rounds before being shot dead by Australian soldiers after row at Sandhurst-style training complex in Kabul
Pakistan: North Waziristan attacks: Solider killed, five injured:
A soldier was killed and five others injured when one of the mines detonated at Chashma Pul, two kilometers east of Miranshah.
Somali journalist dies from shooting injuries:
Mohamed Mohamud Tima-ade is the latest journalist murdered in one of the world's most dangerous places for the media.
Armed group shuts oil pipeline in Libya:
An armed group from Berber minority community shut down the Italian-led oil company ENI's pipelines in Mellitah Saturday evening, a source said. "About 75 armed men from Zuwara stopped Italian-led oil company ENI's ship 7 km off the Mellitah coast, demanding to stop their activities," Xinhua quoted a source as saying.
Car bomb blast in Libya:
Men attempt to move vehicles to keep them from catching fire after a car bomb blast near a school where a training workshop for municipal council elections was being held, in Benghazi, yesterday. No one was injured.
US bugged Merkel's phone from 2002 until 2013, report claims:
Der Spiegel claims to have seen secret documents from the National Security Agency which show Mrs Merkel's number on a list dating from 2002 - before she became chancellor. Another report says Mr Obama was told in 2010 about the surveillance.
Obama lied to Merkel:
Media reports suggest Obama knew NSA spied on Merkel:
Obama had told Merkel during a phone conversation on Wednesday that he had not known of the bugging. However, a report in Bild am Sonntag published Sunday cites an unnamed NSA official who said that the US leader instead ordered the program be escalated.
21 nations line up behind U.N. effort to restrain NSA:
Resolution calls on states 'to take measures to put an end to violations of privacy rights'
Thousands gather in Washington for anti-NSA 'Stop Watching Us' rally:
Thousands gathered by the Capitol reflection pool in Washington on Saturday to march, chant, and listen to speakers and performers as part of Stop Watching Us, a gathering to protest "mass surveillance" under NSA programs first disclosed by the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Armed agents seize records of reporter, Washington Times prepares legal action:
Maryland state police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department's Federal Air Marshal Service.
Jeremy Scahill on Media Venture with Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras: -
Video
Warrantless surveillance evidence to be used in US terrorist case:
In an unprecedented move for the US legal system, the federal government has notified a suspect in a terrorist case that it is going to use information intercepted through warrantless surveillance as evidence against him.
ACLU leads call for federal investigation of NYPD mosque surveillance:
Coalition of 125 civil rights, religious and community groups writes to Department of Justice over New York police tactics
Eat Your Heart Out Americans: 10 Remarkable Facts You Didn't Know About Australia:
1. Minimum full-time wage is almost $17 per hour. - Casual workers are covered by a national minimum wage and paid an extra 24 percent, which equates to up to $20.30 an hour
JPMorgan Chase to pay $5.1bn to settle claims:
Under the terms of the settlement, JPMorgan admits no wrongdoing. JPMorgan will pay about $2.74bn to Freddie and $1.26bn to Fannie for the securities it sold.
The cost of the financial crisis hits Americans harder than banks:
If you're an American, it's a price that has resulted in a recession and recovery characterized by historically high poverty - with 42 million Americans on food stamps - and historically low rates of Americans working, with only 63% of the population gainfully employed.
The next food stamp crisis is about to hit:
If you've been following the food stamp debate in Washington, you know it's about whether to cut food stamp benefits for the disadvantaged by $4 billion a year (the House proposal) or only $400 million a year (the Senate plan).
The Scholars Who Shill for Wall Street:
Academics get paid by financial firms to testify against Dodd-Frank regulations. What's wrong with this picture?
Jail the bankers:
Greenspan fears US government set for more debt stalemate:
Greenspan confessed to sympathies with the aims of the Tea Party, the Republican faction that fought the government during debt ceiling talks. But the former central banker said the movement's tactics were "undemocratic".
Celente Warns: "If You Don't Have Your Money In Your Pocket It's Not Yours":
If there's one thing that should be clear, it's that nothing the government or their banking partners have done to solve the economic crisis has been for your benefit. They've enriched themselves, yet again, on the backs of the American people.
Social Security's real retirement age is 70:
The simple fact is that monthly benefits are highest at age 70 and are reduced actuarially for each year they are claimed before age 70. This is a relatively new development, which may explain why Social Security's retirement age is the best-kept secret in town. But I think it's time we told folks.
US food corporations fueling obesity epidemic with addictive ingredients:
"While European countries require genetically modified foods to be labelled, in the US the biotech industry and corporations like Pepsi Co. and Coca Cola spent millions last year to defeat the California ballot initiative for GMO genetically modified organism labeling," Kucinich said.
