Isis an Hour Away from Baghdad
With no sign of Iraq army being able to make a successful counter-attack
By Patrick Cockburn
The Iraqi army, plagued by corruption, absenteeism and supply failures, has little chance against Islamist fanatics using suicide bombings and fluid tactics. And US air strikes are making little difference.
291 Days of 'Islamic Justice'
Shell-Shocked Syrian Town Freed After Savage Massacre
By Franklin Lamb
When the Syrian army would try to enter Adra the Jihadists would throw women and children from the 20,000 people it captured off the top floors in front of the army.
Look around, ISIS's Acolytes Are Just Apprentices At Atrocity
WARNING: This story contains graphic content
By Neil Macdonald
Compared to the acts committed by Kabila's military and the rebels fighting it, and the interventions by neighbouring Rwanda, the 20,000 or so fighters of ISIS are tenderfoot apprentices in the atrocity business.
The Imperial Game Continues
Why the Showdown with Islamic Extremists Is the War the Pentagon Was Hoping For
By Nicolas J.S. Davies
The contrived nature of the narrative presented by U.S. officials was evident from the outset if one cared to look behind the propaganda screen.
Turkey and Israel Are Directly Supporting ISIS and Al Qaeda Terrorists In Syria
U.S. Allies Support the Terrorists We're Supposedly "Fighting"
By WashingtonsBlog
A German news program - with English subtitles captions - shows that Turkey is sending terrorists into Syria:
Bomb Everyone
By George Monbiot
Let's bomb the Muslim world - all of it - to save the lives of its people. Surely this is the only consistent moral course?
Why Do Americans Hate Beheadings But Love Drone Killings?
By Coleen Rowley
How is it that even members of peace groups have now come to support US bombing?
Hillary Clinton Admits Role in Honduran Coup Aftermath
By Mark Weisbrot
Clinton's embrace of far-right narrative on Latin America is part of electoral strategy.
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Hard News
More Than 230 Killed in Syria Since U.S.-Led Attacks Launch:
At least 233 people have died in Syria since the start of airstrikes launched by the U.S.-led international coalition against positions of the Islamic State (IS), the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). : This figure includes at least 60 members of al- Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.
White House says OK to kill Syrian civilians :
Amid reports of women and children killed in U.S. air offensive, The White House has acknowledged for the first time that standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply to U.S. military operations in Syria and Iraq.
US Strikes In Syria Blow Up Grain Silos and Kill Civilians:
The war monitoring organization claims that the military strikes hit grain silos, killing civilian workers who help distribute food to the Syrian population struggling to survive under difficult conditions.
America's Allies Almost Bombed in Syrian Airstrikes:
The White House says it wants to work with Syria's moderate rebels. But warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition came awfully close to striking one of their HQs.
Despite US-led airstrikes, Islamic State closing in on Kurdish area of Syria:
Islamic State fighters pounded the city of Kobani with mortars and artillery shells, advancing within three miles (five kilometers) of the Kurdish frontier city, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Nawaf Khalil, a Kurdish official.
Kurds advance, U.K. joins fray in Syria:
Iraqi Kurdish troops drove ISIS fighters from a strategic border crossing with Syria Tuesday and won the support of members of a major Sunni tribe, in one of the biggest successes since U.S. forces began bombing the Islamists.
Turkey and Israel Are Directly Supporting ISIS and Al Qaeda Terrorists In Syria:
A German news program - with English subtitles captions - shows that Turkey is sending terrorists into Syria:
An Aid Worker Tweeted the Location of an ISIS Camp. Now They're Hunting for Him.:
After a Swiss humanitarian broadcasts the location of an Islamic State bunker, the group's followers say they're "coming for Mr. Aid Worker."
British hostage in new ISIS video panning Obama strategy:
Cantlie slams Obama's tactics of using airstrikes and coalition plans to use Iraqi troops, Kurdish Peshmerga and Syrian rebels to fight the IS. The journalist delivered a response to Obama's recent speech on the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which he described as "prideful chest banging."
Bush- Blair Legacy Continues As -
Wave of attacks in Shi'ite parts of Baghdad kill 35:
It was one of the most violent days the capital has witnessed since U.S.-led forces began bombing Islamic State insurgents in Iraq last month.
Iraq air strikes 'halt IS advance':
Iraqi ground forces, backed by air strikes, appear to have halted advancing Islamic State (IS) militants in a town west of Baghdad.
Iraqi Pilots Mistakenly Drop Food, Ammo to Militants:
The Iraqi Air Force mistakenly dropped food, water and ammunition to militants from the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS), thinking they were their own soldiers, US television NBC reported Tuesday.
We Cannot Bomb Islamic State into Obscurity: US Military:
The US military cannot bomb the Islamic State group into "obscurity," it cautioned on Tuesday, appealing for patience in its escalating attempts to defeat the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.
By hyping ISIL threat, US is falling into group's trap:
Expanded military campaigns in Iraq and Syria will strengthen ISIL's position domestically and abroad
New crisis response unit to be based in Kuwait:
The Marine Corps is preparing to deploy about 2,100 grunts to be based out of Kuwait in a new unit configuration designed to respond to crises in the region, according to Corps officials.
ICC already has authority to investigate Israel for war crimes, legal group says:
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG), along with several other prominent legal groups, is urging the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to "initiate her own investigation" into "crimes committed and ongoing during and immediately before Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza."
7,000 people call for removal of BBC journalist from reporting on Palestine:
The demand followed an article published on the BBC website, in which the Head of Statistics, Anthony Reuben, misused Palestinian casualty figures in an attempt to back up Israel's claims that it had not targeted civilians during its July/August assault on Gaza.
Israeli squatters take over 25 homes in occupied E.Jerusalem: residents
Israeli settlers forcefully took over 25 apartments in Arab east Jerusalem Tuesday, residents and Palestinian leaders said, with the new occupants claiming they had legitimately bought the properties.
15 killed in Afghanistan:
Suicide bombing in Kabul killed four members of the security forces and three civilian passers-by, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said on Monday.Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujadid said the bomber was targeting Afghan and foreign forces
Blast kills 6 Afghan troops:
The Afghan Defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said the soldiers were martyred in the past 24 hours following improvised explosive device (IED) attack.
NATO airstrike in Khost, Afghanistan, leaves 4 civilians dead:
Four people believed to be civilians were killed in a drone strike in Ali Sher district of Khost province, the governor's spokesman said. Mubarez Mohammad added the four people were traveling in a car when they came under attack.
The occupation continues:
Afghanistan Signs Pact to Keep U.S. Troops:
The accord with the U.S. provides ground rules for a continued presence, including immunity from local prosecution for American troops.
Afghans in north threaten rebellion if power-sharing deal fails:
Afghans in a strategically important province north of the capital have threatened to rebel if the country's new president does not respect an agreement to share power with their chosen leader, Abdullah Abdullah.
Afghanistan : CIA-Backed Warlord Behind Massacre of 2,000 POWs Sworn-In as VP:
Dostum is one of Afghanistan's most notorious warlords, once described by Ghani himself as a "known killer." Dostum's rise to the vice presidency comes despite his involvement in a 2001 massacre that killed up to 2,000 Taliban prisoners of war.
In case you missed it:
Afghan Massacre : The Convoy of Death: Video -
The film has been broadcast on national television in countries all over the world and has been screened by the European parliament. Human rights lawyers are calling for investigation into whether U.S. forces are guilty of war crimes. But no U.S. media outlet has broadcast the film.
Massive protests light up Hong Kong skyline (PHOTOS):
Hong Kong is witnessing one of the city's largest rallies in decades, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to join a protest movement, widely known as #OccupyCentral, demanding election reform.
Hong Kong protesters stockpile supplies, flood streets:
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters filled the streets of Hong Kong late on Tuesday, stockpiling supplies and erecting makeshift barricades ahead of what some fear may be a push by police to clear the roads before Chinese National Day.
Violence erupts near toppled Lenin statue in Kharkov, Ukraine (VIDEOS):
Tensions remain high around the toppled Lenin monument in Kharkov, Ukraine, where overnight skirmishes saw a group of radical youths attack demonstrators protesting the demolition of the statue.
"Russia Could Ditch Dollar In 2-3 Years";
"Two to three years is enough, not only to launch [settlements in rubles], but also to complete these mechanisms," says Andrey Kostin, head of Russia's second-biggest bank VTB, noting that the possibility of the US and EU widening sanctions to exclude Russia from the SWIFT global money transfer system would become "a point of no return" making any further dialog impossible.
How Sweden cares for its elderly population:
The country takes a very different approach, with care packages based around what is requested by individuals.
Argentina deposits debt payment in "defiance" of US ruling:
Argentina has deposited $161m (£99m) in bond interest payments with the state-controlled Nacion Fideicomisos bank, in an effort to skirt US court rulings. The country had previously kept its funds with US-controlled Bank of New York Mellon.
Vulture(fund)s Reloaded: Madeleine Albright Comes on the Scene:
Albright is a representative archetype of North American imperialism in her disrespect for international rule of law, and in the genocidal racism that informed her political career, from her domestic to her foreign policies.
Human Activity Killing the Planet's Life-Supporting Systems:
World Wildlife Fund state of the planet report reveals alarming and avoidable biodiversity loss
First Ebola case diagnosed in the US:
The first case of the deadly Ebola virus diagnosed on US soil has been confirmed in Dallas, Texas. The man is thought to have contracted the virus in Liberia before travelling to the US nearly two weeks ago.
Armed man 'slipped past agents, rode in elevator with Obama':
An armed man who has been convicted of assault and battery three times was somehow able to slip past the Secret Service and ride in an elevator with President Barack Obama earlier this month, several media reports have said.
White High School Dropouts Have More Wealth Than Black And Hispanic College Graduates:
White families are much wealthier than black and hispanic families at every education level. More than that, all white families, even those at the lowest education level, have a higher median wealth than all black and hispanic families, even those at the highest education level.
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