Hard News
At least 18 people killed as hundreds flee deadly gunbattles in Somalia:
Gunmen
from the Ras Kamboni armed group of Ahmed Madobe, recently
self-appointed "president" of the southern Jubaland region, battled
against forces loyal to Iftin Hassan Basto, another leader claiming to
be president.
11 people killed in Libyan Benghazi:
At
least 11 people were killed and 35 wounded in clashes on Saturday
between protesters and a Libyan militia operating with Defence Ministry
approval in the eastern city of Benghazi, a doctor in the city said.
Libya: Extremists Setting Up Shop in Libya:
al-Qaida-linked
jihadists driven out of Mali by a French-led offensive earlier this
year have set up at least three jihadist camps in southern Libya in
recent months. As a consequence, the source said, Libya has now become
the headquarters for al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
U.S. quietly allows military aid to Egypt despite rights concerns:
Secretary
of State John Kerry quietly acted last month to give Egypt $1.3
billion in U.S. military aid, deciding that this was in the national
interest despite Egypt's failure to meet democracy standards.
Mali holds crisis talks with Tuareg rebels:
Malian
authorities and armed ethnic Tuareg rebels began talks on Saturday
aimed at resolving the conflict in the north to enable planned
nationwide elections to go ahead next month.
UK Acknowledges Torturing Kenyans: Offers compensation:
Britain
has agreed to compensate Kenyans tortured during the Mau Mau uprising
against colonial rule in the 1950s, Foreign Secretary William Hague has
said.
12 Iraqis killed, over 35 injured in blasts in Baghdad:
A
booby-trapped car which was parking behind a health center in the 2nd
Al-Ameen district has been detonated killing four civilians and inuring
18 others, including three women and two children, the source told
KUNA. Another explosion took place shortly after that in southeast of
Baghdad killing one Iraqi and wounding nine others, he added.
How Many Iraqis Killed in the Iraq War and occupation?:
The
results from a new poll commissioned by the British media watchdog
group MediaLens exposed a startling disconnect between the realities of
the Iraq War and public perceptions of it: Namely, what the Iraqi
death toll was.
U.S. responsible for
"1,455,590" Killed During Iraq War and Occupation:
The
number is shocking and sobering. It is at least 10 times greater than
most estimates cited in the US media, yet it is based on a scientific
study of violent Iraqi deaths caused by the U.S.-led invasion of March
2003.
Car bomb kills 7 in Homs, Syria as gov't forces keep pressing north:
A
suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car Saturday in Syria's
central city of Homs, tearing through an area largely populated by the
regime's Alawite sect and killing seven people
Syrian army 'captures' final rebel stronghold near Qusair:
Eastern
Bouweida village, which lies between Qusair and the restive city of
Homs was captured by troops backed by militants from Lebanon's
Hezbollah
Red Cross evacuate wounded from Qusair to Lebanon:
About
12 vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross moved
around 30 wounded people from Qusair on Saturday through the Syrian
border town of Qara into the Bekaa town of Arsal, northeast Lebanon,
security sources told The Daily Star.
Al-Jazeera and Co. Challenge Qusayr Victory:
For
the past several weeks, Qusayr had been a top news item on the major
channels, as networks hosted military experts to shed light on the
battles between the Syrian regime and its opposition. Yet once images
confirming an opposition defeat began to surface, the channels adopted a
unilateral discourse of sectarian incitement.
Sleiman to UN Envoys: Lebanon Can No Longer Host Syria Refugees:
Lebanese
President Michel Sleiman warned that Lebanon could no longer host
Syrian refugees escaping violence in their homeland during a meeting
with the ambassadors of the permanent members of the UN Security
Council in Beirut on Friday.
Syrian "rebels" urge global military action:
Syria's
opposition leader has said he is unlikely to attend planned US and
Russian-backed peace talks in Geneva as he urged the world to act over
the conflict.
Foreign militant Islamists streaming into Syria:
Researchers
who monitor the conflict said this week that they've detected the
influx of foreigners in firsthand observations on the battlefield,
spotting them in rebel videos posted on the Internet, observing a
recent spike in reported deaths of foreign fighters and studying their
postings on social media sites.
Fact or fiction?
1,000 US troops arrive in Jordan for deployment at Syria border:
The
Israeli military intelligence website DEBKAfile has reported that
1,000 U.S troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force arrived at
the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba on Tuesday and made their way to
the north of the country under heavy Jordanian military escort.
Pontius Pilate Washes Hands:
Envoy urges Saudi nationals to leave Lebanon:
Saudi
nationals in Lebanon should go back to their country because they are
in danger here, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri
said in remarks published Saturday.
Police use tear gas, water cannon on Ankara protesters:
Turkish
police have attacked protesters who took to the streets in Ankara
defying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call for an immediate end
to protests.
Thousands join Turkey protests defying PM:
Thousands
of angry Turks took to the streets on Saturday to join mass
anti-government protests, defying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
call to end the worst civil unrest of his decadelong rule.
Iran not UN nuclear watchdog's only headache, report shows:
Iran is not the only country stalling inspectors' requests for atomic-related information, anew IAEA report suggests.
US KILLS 9 people draws angry Pakistan protest:
The
government of Pakistan has summoned an American envoy to lodge an
official protest over the latest drone attacks that killed at least
nine people in the country's northwest region, officials said. About
six missiles were fired at a compound suspected to belong to a Taliban
commander in the Shawal area of North Waziristan
Three Americans killed after argument with Afghan soldier - officials:
The
three Americans were shot dead by the man following an argument, the
Paktika provincial governor's spokesman Mukhlas Afghan said, adding
that three other Americans had been wounded. The attacker was himself
shot dead soon after opening fire, the spokesman said.
Anger at US drone war continues in Yemen:
Four
drone strikes in total, a few minutes apart, violently tore Salem,
Walid and the three visitors to shreds. Amidst the pandemonium,
villagers cowering inside the mosque ran out for safety between
strikes, believing they would die inside.
Ex-drone operator: 'I lost that respect for life': Video -
Former
drone operator Brandon Bryant tells NBC's Richard Engel that he felt
like he became a 'heartless' 'sociopath' under the drone program.
In propaganda move:
McCain and Feinstein pledge to close Guantánamo but sidestep hunger strike:
As
of Saturday, 104 of the 166 people still being held at the centre were
refusing food. Of those 41 were being force-fed, with four in
hospital.
UK Spying On Own Citizens Using US Spy Program:
The
UK's electronic eavesdropping and security agency, GCHQ, has been
secretly gathering intelligence from the world's biggest internet
companies through a covertly run operation set up by America's top spy
agency, documents obtained by the Guardian reveal.
NSA Surveillance Revelations: Osama Bin Laden Would Love This: Op-Ed:
The
US has shown itself so paranoid in the face of possible
'al-Qaida-linked terror' that it has played right into jihadist hands
Paper: UK government getting US spy agency's data:
The
Guardian said it had seen documents showing how the British signals
intelligence agency GCHQ has had access to America's "PRISM" electronic
eavesdropping system since at least June 2010, adding that the data
had generated nearly 200 intelligence reports over the past year.
U.S. Collects Vast Data Trove:
The
National Security Agency's monitoring of Americans includes customer
records from the three major phone networks as well as emails and Web
searches, and the agency also has cataloged credit-card transactions,
said people familiar with the agency's activities.
Facebook and Google insist they did not know of Prism surveillance program:
America's
tech giants continued to deny any knowledge of a giant government
surveillance programme called Prism, even as president Barack Obama
confirmed the scheme's existence Friday.
Denials in surveillance program require decoding:
It's
all part of a linguistic tango that's often performed when the cover
is blown on a top-secret operation, Tien says. - "A company could say
"'We've never heard of the PRISM program.' Well, maybe the government
didn't call it that. Or the company could say "'We don't allow backdoor
access!' Well, maybe they allow front door access."
The PRISM spin war has begun:
Google may be engaging in a far more subtle public relations strategy than outright denial.
How the NSA and FBI Lie With Numbers:
The
court that's supposed to be protecting Americans from abusive domestic
surveillance is not only failing in that duty, it's also lazy.
Watch Top U.S. Intelligence Officials Repeatedly Deny NSA Spying On Americans Over The Last Year (Videos) -
To paraphrase Joseph Heller: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't surveilling you.
Lest we forget
Exclusive: Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans:
Despite
pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence
officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been
eavesdropped on as they called friends and family back home, according
to two former military intercept operators who worked at the giant
National Security Agency (NSA)
Assange on PRISM: US justice system in 'calamitous' collapse:
"The
US administration has the phone records of everyone in the United
States and is receiving them daily from carriers to the National
Security Agency under secret agreements. That's what's come out," he
said.
Anonymous Just Leaked a Trove of NSA Documents:
Anonymous
has leaked a treasure trove of NSA documents, including seriously
important stuff like the US Department of Defense's 'Strategic Vision'
for controlling the internet.
Obama orders US to draw up overseas target list for cyber-attacks:
Obama's
move to establish a potentially aggressive cyber warfare doctrine will
heighten fears over the increasing militarization of the internet.
Obama's cyber target list - full document text:
Eighteen-page
presidential memo reveals how Barack Obama has ordered intelligence
officials to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US cyber
attacks.
Texas actress charged in Obama ricin threat:
The
US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says a Texas woman has
admitted to sending ricin-tainted letters to President Barack Obama and
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but only after trying to blame
it on her husband.
Nicaragua gives Chinese firm contract to build alternative to Panama Canal:
Project will reinforce China's growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over a key shipping route
David Cameron to attend Bilderberg group meeting:
Downing Street defends visit to secretive group, where prime minister will not be accompanied by civil servants
Neoliberalism has spawned a financial elite who hold governments to ransom: Op-Ed:
The
crash was a write-off, not a repair job. The response should be a
wholesale reevaluation of the way in which wealth is created and
distributed around the globe
Bulk of U.S. Payroll Gain in Jobs Paying Less-Than-Average Wages:
Jobs
paying below-average wages accounted for more than half of last
month's U.S. payroll increase, a dynamic that may restrain consumer
spending and the economic recovery.
High prices are driving more motorists to rent tires:
Chains
such as Rent-a-Wheel and Rimco are seeing business boom. Many
consumers pay double or triple the cost of buying and face aggressive
repossession policies
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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