| Hard News
At least 39 people killed as Syrian towns rocked by deadly bombings :
Activists
said 20 people were killed on Thursday in a car bombing of a
government building in the town of Zamalka, near the capital Damascus.
Elsewhere in Syria, a roadside bomb struck a bus in a village in the
central Homs province, killing 19 people, according to a local
government official.
Al Qaeda fighters battle Syrian rebels in border town:
Fighters
linked to an al Qaeda-affiliated group overran the Syrian town of Azaz
near the Turkish border on Wednesday after fighting broke out with
Free Syrian Army units, according to local opposition activists.
Most of the reported deaths in Syria have not been committed by government forces:
Syrian rebels have "massacred" over 45,000 Syrian regime or paramilitary forces.
Syria: US helping al-Qaida:
The
remarks were made in a letter addressed to the United Nations, in
which Damascus complained that "Washington, France, Britain, Turkey,
and some other countries' funding and arming the terrorists in Syria
constitute a flagrant violations to principles of the international law
and the UN Security Council's laws pertaining combating terrorism."
Russia Calls U.N. Chemical Report on Syria Biased:
Russia
sharply criticized the new United Nations report on Syria's chemical
arms use on Wednesday as biased and incomplete, hardening the Kremlin's
defense of the Syrian government even while pressing ahead with a plan
to disarm its arsenal of the internationally banned weapons.
Russia: UN inspectors ignored evidence on Syria chemical attacks:
UN
inspectors ignored evidence on chemical weapons use in Syria secretly
passed to them by Damascus, said Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister in an
exclusive interview to RT. That is why the UN report is biased and
needs reinvestigation, he said.
Russia says it has proof rebels behind deadly chemical attack in Syria:
A
senior Russian official Wednesday said that Syria had handed over new
evidence showing that rebels had used chemical weapons in a deadly
attack near Damascus last month.
Propaganda alert:
U.N. Data on Gas Attack Point to Assad's Top Forces:
Details
buried in the United Nations report on the Syrian chemical weapons
attack point directly at elite military formations loyal to President
Bashar al-Assad, some of the strongest findings to date that suggest
the government gassed its own people.
Syria: Full Text Of French Declassified Intelligence Report Into Assad's Chemical Weapons Capability:
The
French Defense Ministry has released an English translation of its
declassified intelligence report into Syria's chemical warfare program.
Putin 'confident' on chemical weapons plan:
Russia's
President Vladimir Putin says he is "confident" Syria's chemical
weapons can be destroyed under a US-Russian plan, but not "100% sure".
Syrian students rally for Assad while NATO upholds military option: Video -
Students
in Damascus are denouncing potential military action against Syria, an
option the head of NATO says must stay on the table when dealing with
the country's chemical weapons program
Iraqi children find 10 blindfolded corpses:
Unidentified young men were apparently killed by gunshots to the head, police in Baghdad say
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani NBC INTERVIEW
Ann
Curry - Rouhani told Curry, "We have never pursued or sought a nuclear
bomb. We are not going to do so. " - When Curry pushed him to make
that a promise, Rouhani said, "We have time and again said that under
no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction,
including nuclear weapons, nor will we ever."
Nigeria: 23 killed, 100 houses, shops burnt in Borno:
Barely
a day after the military authorities claimed that its troops had
killed more than 150 Boko Haram terrorists and lost 16 of its personnel
in an encounter in Maiduguri, no fewer than 23 persons were,
yesterday, slaughtered in separate attacks in Kaga town, headquarters
of Beneshiek Local Government Area of Borno State
General killed as Egyptian forces raid pro-Morsi town:
Security
forces fought gun battles in the town as they searched for the killers
of 11 police officers in the town last month. At least 55 suspected
militants were arrested, police say.
Egypt returns $2 billion to Qatar:
Cairo's
relations with Qatar deteriorated after the Egyptian army deposed
President Mohamed Mursi on July 3. Qatar had been a firm backer of
Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and lent or gave Egypt $7.5 billion during
the year he was in power.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi transfer for Tripoli hearing blocked:
The
militia holding the son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif
al-Islam, has refused to transfer him to the capital for a pre-trial
hearing.
Chaos in Libya:
The
Libyan authorities appear to be toothless in the face of the
disturbances, though Zeidan, in a bid to calm the situation, revealed
that he was awaiting the recommendations of a fact-finding mission
conducted by a 13-member crisis committee set up by the Libyan
legislature to find a way out of the crisis.
Taliban kill 23 Afghan police, abduct 24 others in Badakhshan:
Taliban
attack Afghan police convoyAccording to local authorities in
north-eastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan, dozens of Afghan
police officers were killed or injured and several others were
kidnapped following an ambush by Taliban militants.
NATO to investigate drone strike after Afghans say killed civilians:
Afghanistan's
NATO force has launched an investigation into an attack by a drone
aircraft on an al Qaeda member which a senior Afghan official said
killed eight women and children.
Afghan politician defects to Taliban:
A
former Afghan senator and district governor has defected to the
Taliban in the northern province of Sar-e-Pol, officials have told the
BBC.
Five Pakistanis killed in firing by Afghan forces:
Five
Pakistanis were killed and three others, including a Levies Force
soldier, were injured in firing by the Afghan security forces in the
Pakistani area of Qamaruddin Karez of Zhob district on late Tuesday.
'Jihad' suspect held in alleged plot to bomb military office:
The
bomb he's accused of trying to detonate was fake and had been provided
by an undercover FBI agent. "There was never any actual danger to the
public during this operation this morning," U.S. Attorney Rod J.
Rosenstein said Wednesday. "That's because the FBI was controlling the
situation."
Will the Supreme Court Stop Cops From Reading Your Text Messages?:
In many states, police can rifle through your smartphone-even if you've just been arrested for not putting on your seat belt.
Former Halliburton Employee, Charged With Destroying Gulf Oil Spill Evidence:
Also
on Thursday, a federal judge accepted a plea agreement that calls for
the Houston-based company to pay a $200,000 fine for conduct related to
the charge against Badalamenti.
JPMorgan Chase to pay $920M over 'London Whale':
JPMorgan
Chase will pay $920 million in penalties and admit wrongdoing over a
$6 billion trading loss last year that tarnished the reputation of the
largest bank in the United States.
Surprise From Fed: No Pullback in Bond Purchases: Video -
In
a surprise, the Federal Reserve has decided against reducing its
stimulus for the U.S. economy because its outlook for growth has dimmed
in the past three months.
Ron Paul "Bernanke Is Literally Saying Is WE'RE IN BAD SHAPE!" :
Video
Study: Black People are Worse Off Financially Than Any Other Group in America:
The
most recent U.S. Census report reveals that minorities have the
highest poverty rates in the richest nation in the world. 27.2 percent
of African-Americans and 25.6 percent of Latinos are at or below the
poverty threshold. African-Americans, collectively, are the poorest of
all ethnic and racial groups in America.
===
"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
| 
