Hard News
55 "militants" killed in Afghan raids:
"Afghan security forces and the NATO-led coalition troops conducted seven cleanup operations in Kabul, Nangarhar, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Zabul and Logar province, killing 55 armed insurgents over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.
7 Georgian occupation force soldiers killed in Afghanistan suicide blast:
A Taliban suicide bomber blew up a truck loaded with explosives at a base in Afghanistan, killing seven Georgian soldiers and injuring nine, officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack in a text message sent to journalists, The New York Times reported.
US Kills 3 Civilians In Afghanistan:
According to local authorities in eastern Kunar province of Afghanistan, at least three civilians were killed following a drone strike in this province.
US Kills 7 People In Pakistan:
Intelligence sources told media that the unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at a compound in Mangroati village in Shawal Tehsil of the North Waziristan Agency situated on Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Classified documents reveal CIA drone strikes often killed unknown people:
A review of classified US intelligence records has revealed that the CIA could not confirm the identity of about a quarter of the people killed by drone strikes in Pakistan during a period spanning from 2010 to 2011.
Roadside bomb kills 3 policemen in Pakistan:
Senior police officer Shafiullah Khan says the dead and injured officers were guarding a key road on the outskirts of Peshawar city when the bomb hit them Thursday evening.
16 Iranian pilgrims killed in Baquba bomb attack:
The incident occurred on Friday morning when an explosive-laden vehicle detonated in Muqdadiyah, which is located about 90 kilometers north of Baghdad.
Nine security forces killed in Iraqi armed attack:
At least nine security forces were killed and 18 others were injured at an armed attack in Iraq's Taji province of northern Baghdad. Security sources said that several unidentified assailants staged a bomb attack on a military car which was patrolling near a Taji police station.
Syria: state forces advance towards Homs:
Following the capture of strategic town Qsair, Syrian Forces continue to push the Free Rebel Army east towards Homs and capital Damascus.
Syrian troops capture central villages:
Syrian troops, backed by Hezbollah fighters, pressed on with their offensive Friday in the country's opposition heartland, taking two small villages near a strategic town that was captured by the government this week.
Israel-firster:
Sen. McCain Urges U.S. To Do More For Syrian Rebels:
In a speech to the Brookings Institution, McCain said the U.S. needs to tip the balance in favor of the rebels and he's suggesting setting up a safe zone in Syria protected by Patriot missiles where the opposition can organize a provisional government.
Is Israel arming "rebels"? :
Hebrew-inscribed flare found in al-Qusair:
Hezbollah TV channel shows alleged IDF weapons found in town recently retaken by Assad's forces;
Al-Qaida leader calls on Sunnis to fight in Syria:
Al-Qaida's leader has urged Sunni Muslims to spare no effort to join the battle in Syria, overthrow President Bashar Assad and set up Islamic rule in the country.
France: More than 600 EU citizens fighting in Syria:
More than 600 European nationals, including 120 from France, are fighting in Syria, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told Al Arabiya on Friday.
Lebanese army slams 'plot' to embroil country in Syria war:
The Lebanese army warned on Friday that a plot was afoot to embroil the country in the 26-month conflict in neighboring Syria, as deadly clashes between Damascus supporters and opponents inside Lebanon multiply.
Russia refutes US reports on Syria power handover agreement:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called a US State Department report that Russia, the US and UN agreed that Syrian authorities should pass their power to a transitional government as a "strong distortion of information".
Russia can replace Austria in UN Golan peacekeeping force, says Putin:
"Considering the difficult situation that is developing today in the Golan Heights, we could replace the departing Austrian contingent in this region separating Israeli forces from the Syrian army," Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying.
UN says can't accept Russia's offer of Golan troops:
The United Nations on Friday thanked Russia for offering to replace peacekeepers from Austria in the Golan Heights but said an agreement between Israel and Syria bars all permanent members of the Security Council from the U.N. observer mission there.
Putin Endorses Permanent Russian Navy Presence in Mediterranean:
Russia's Mediterranean fleet of 16 ships will visit ports in Syria, which hosts the country's only military base outside the former Soviet Union, during a mission that will include missile practise, commander Yuri Zemskoy told Putin via video link during a news conference in Moscow today
Pentagon official: Russian warships may be carrying weapons to Syria:
CNN has learned that U.S. intelligence agencies have identified three Russian amphibious warships in the eastern Mediterranean that are believed to be carrying weapons shipments that might be used to resupply the Syrian regime, according to a Pentagon official.
US Preparing For Attack On Iran?
Bunker Busters: Pentagon destroys replica of underground nuclear facility:
Pentagon uses advanced bunker buster bombs to destroy replica of underground facility as part of experiment whose results were relayed to friendly nations
One killed in fresh Egypt clashes:
At least one person has been killed and more than 20 others injured in clashes between supporters of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and anti-government protesters in the northern town of Damanhour.
Stop now, Prime Minister Erdogan tells Turkish protesters:
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan demanded on Friday an immediate end to a week of anti-government unrest, saying the protests which erupted over the redevelopment of an Istanbul park had been founded on a "campaign of lies".
A glance at some of Erdogan's supporters:
To his pious and conservative base, the three-term prime minister deserves respect for raising Turkey's international profile, improving their standard of living, cleaning up hospitals and providing better services. They adore him for curbing the powers of Turkey's secular military and for standing up to Israel when they felt Palestinians were oppressed.
Guantánamo Bay hunger strike: quarter of inmates now being force-fed:
Forty-one detainees being force-fed out of prisoner population of 166 as hunger strike shows little sign of ending
Obama on NSA: 'Nobody is listening to your telephone calls':
"I think it's important to recognize that you can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience," the president told the crowd while delivering several minutes of unscripted remarks about the NSA.
Anger swells after NSA phone records court order revelations:
The scale of America's surveillance state was laid bare on Thursday as senior politicians revealed that the US counter-terrorism effort had swept up swaths of personal data from the phone calls of millions of citizens for years.
James Clapper Admits Secret Surveillance Program:
US Spy Chief Calls NSA Surveillance Program Diclosure 'Reprehensible': The US has admitted using a secret system to mine the systems of the biggest technology companies to spy on millions of people's online activity, overshadowing attempts by Barack Obama to force China to abandon its cyber-espionage program.
Back Door Access? Tech Giants Deny Knowledge of PRISM Spy Operation:
Does the government have backdoor access so secret that not even their targets are aware? Are the tech companies lying? Or are they forbidden-as Verizon allegedly is with its NSA arrangement-from acknowledging its existence to an absurd extent?
Apple to Yahoo Deny Providing Direct Access to Spy Agency:
NSA and FBI Tapping Into Servers: The National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation access the central servers of nine U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs,
The National Security Agency: surveillance giant with eyes on America -
The NSA is the best hidden of all the US intelligence services - and its secrecy has deepened as its reach has expanded
UK gathering secret intelligence via covert NSA operation: Exclusive:
UK security agency GCHQ gaining information from world's biggest internet firms through US-run Prism programme
How Congress unknowingly legalized PRISM in 2007:
On Sept. 11, 2007, the National Security Agency signed up Microsoft as its first partner for PRISM, a massive domestic surveillance program . That's barely a month after Congress passed, and President George W. Bush signed, the Protect America Act.
By the numbers: The NSA's super-secret spy program, PRISM:
To put that debate in perspective, here's how PRISM stacks up by the numbers based on what we've learned today:
NSA tracked phone records of millions of Americans: Video -
Secret court orders authorized the National Security Agency to track phone records in an effort to thwart suspected terror plots. A majority of Democrats and Republicans did not object. Major Garrett reports.
Jonathan Turley: Obama's Verizon surveillance reveals massive erosion of US civil liberties - Op-Ed: -
Thanks to a secret court and compliant politicians, this administration is running an ever-expanding security state
US surveillance revelations deepen European fears:
"The U.S. government must provide clarity regarding these monstrous allegations of total monitoring of various telecommunications and Internet services," said Peter Schaar, German data protection and freedom of information commissioner
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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