Ukraine: Interim Leaders Seek EU Integration
Morsi trial: Egypt’s former president allegedly leaked secrets to Iranians
Ukraine interim government issues arrest warrant for Yanukovich
SO LONG, SOCHI
Afghan Taliban kill 19 soldiers, suspend prisoner swap attempt
U.N. council orders both sides in Syria to stop blocking aid
UKRAINE PRESIDENT OUT
Schism between Sunni and Shia has been poisoning Islam for 1,400 years – and it’s getting worse
Ukraine Agreement Signed By President Viktor Yanukovych And Opposition For Early Election
EU ministers agree to impose sanctions against Ukraine
Somali Islamist militants claim deadly palace attack
Ukraine Is On the Verge Of War And Putin Is To Blame
Corpses littered the streets of Kiev today and the man to blame for Ukraine’s crisis is none other than the king of Sochi himself.
Nicolás Maduro Orders 3 US Officials To Leave Venezuela Amid Anti-Government Protests, Alleges Conspiracy Plot
TRUCE GOES UP IN FLAMES
Medic: At Least 70 Activists Killed In Clashes… REPORT: Government Snipers Shoot At Protesters… CLAIM: 67 Police Captured By Protesters…Olympic Team Leaves Games In Support Of Protesters… What The Army Does Now Is Crucial… Deepening Clash Between East And West… Russia Warns Ukraine President: ‘Don’t Be A Doormat’..
UN warns of ‘grave’ food shortage in Somalia
THE WORLD IS WORRIED ABOUT UKRAINE
7 convicts in former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case to be freed
KIEV ON FIRE
.9 Dead… 7 Protesters, 2 Policemen… Protester Camp Engulfed In Flames…
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah vows to keep fighters in Syria
Syrian Peace Process Pretense
Crimes against humanity in N. Korea, U.N. panel finds
PUTIN’S ‘KIND OF LEADER?’
Russia Backs Egyptian Military Ruler In Attempt To Eclipse U.S. Influence
PM Enrico Letta steps down: Plagued by uncertainty, Italy set for its third government in …
Kerry pushes China on North Korea nukes
Security fears threaten US future in Afghanistan
North, South Korea hold rare high-level talks
PURGING BIN LADEN
ASSOCIATED PRESSEmail Reveals Effort To Shield Al Qaeda Leader’s Death Photos
Iraqi suicide bombing instructor accidentally kills himself and pupils
Over 20 trainee suicide bombers and their teacher were killed in Iraq when the tutor mistakenly detonated the bomb
The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program
Latest posturing of Americans
Homeland Security Chair: ‘High Degree Of Probability’ For Explosion During Olympics
The Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security said Sunday that there is a “high degree of probability” of an explosion during the Sochi Olympic games. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
AGHANISTAN’S AWFUL REALITY
Number Of Children Killed And Wounded Jumps As Taliban Steps Up Attacks
Syria crisis: Homs awaits food and medicine deliveries
Turkey Moves To Crack Down On Internet Freedom
Turkey’s parliament approved a new law on Wednesday that critics say will drastically reduce web freedom in the country — and let the government further clamp down on the press. “Turkey is moving very quickly in the wrong direction on Internet freedom,” says a watchdog.posted on
Protesters shout slogans against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration in Ankara Thursday. Umit Bektas / Reuters
DENIAL
ASSOCIATED PRESSRussia Says It Didn’t Leak ‘F*** The EU’ Call
‘NO ONE IS SAFE’
Stephane Victor via Getty ImagesHRW: Thousands Of Women Tortured And Raped In Iraqi Prisons
SOCHI SILENT
Foreign Fans Conspicuously Absent From Olympic Games…
AND THEY’RE OFF! Competition Officially Begins… What To Expect
Proposed Afghan law protects women’s abusers: Rights group
CLANDESTINE KARZAI
Afghan President In Secret Talks With Taliban, Report Says
Will the Ukraine Ever Shake-Off Its Russification?
World facing cancer ‘tidal wave’
Kerry Admits Obama’s Syria Policy Is Failing
In a closed-door meeting, two senators say, the Secretary of State admitted to them that he no longer believes the administration’s approach to the crisis in Syria is working. Peace talks have failed, he conceded, and now it’s time to arm the moderate opposition—before local al Qaeda fighters try to attack the United States.
Clinton warns new Iran sanctions could upend talks
THE WILD CARD
Afghan vote campaign begins amid violence
Protesters Disrupt Thailand Election
Trial of Mohammad Morsi to resume in Cairo
Ukraine opposition lobbies West for help against Yanukovich
China and the world in the Year of the Horse
Worshippers burn incense and pray at the Wong Tai Sin Temple to welcome the Chinese New Year of the horse in Hong Kong on January 31, 2014. (AFP Photo / Philippe Lopez)
‘EVERYTHING HAS TURNED COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN’
ASSOCIATED PRESSSyrian Refugee Describes How She Has ‘Given Up All Hope’ Of Returning Home
On constitutions, Sharia and Muslim political thought
Ukraine protesters defy terms of new amnesty law
Five years on Gaza’s children remain targets
Assad troops deliberately destroy Syria homes
SOCHI 2014
16 Eye-Popping Examples Of Alleged Corruption At The Sochi Olympics
A leading anti-corruption campaigner points fingers.
Tony Abbott attacks ABC for ‘taking everyone’s side but Australia’s’
Obama urges Guantanamo closure this year
GET THE BOOT
AMERICANS WANT THEIR OWN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS GONE
NOT GIVING UP ON DEMOCRACY
Sophia Jones
‘WE BELIEVE IN WHAT WE ARE DOING’
ASSOCIATED PRESSPutin’s Biggest Opponent Tackles Corruption In Sochi Olympics
Snowden accuses NSA of conducting industrial espionage
Ukraine opposition turns down president’s power-sharing offer
CASHING IN
How Corporations Are Profiting From The Worldwide Immigration Crackdown
Peace talks on Syria stuck over Assad’s future
Three Reported Dead in Ukraine Clashes
‘INDUSTRIAL’ KILLING
Anadolu Agency via Getty ImagesReport Details Holocaust-Like Conditions In Syrian Jails
Thailand declares state of emergency for protests
Swindlers Use Telephones, With Internet’s Tactics
By NICK WINGFIELD
SEATTLE — Phone swindles are practically as old as the telephone itself. But new technology has led to an onslaught of Internet-inspired fraud tactics that try to use telephone calls to dupe millions of people or to overwhelm switchboards for essential public services, causing deep concern among law enforcement and other groups.
People, businesses and government agencies across the country are combating the new schemes, in which scammers use the Internet to send huge volumes of calls at the same time. Many of the attacks bombard individuals with automated requests for personal data, in a variation of their email-scam cousins. But others are more vicious, flooding entire phone systems when demands are not met, similar to some attacks against websites.
UN invite to Iran sparks Syria peace talks storm
Syria’s Assad ‘Not Ready To Give Up Power’
The remarks are reported ahead of the first talks involving opposition leaders and the government since war broke out
Syrian President Bashar al Assad has reportedly said he is not ready to give up power and the issue is not up for discussion.
According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, Mr Assad said: “If we wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered from the start (of the nation’s civil war).”
He reportedly added: “We are on guard for our country. This issue is not up for discussion.”
The president apparently made the comments to Russian MPs ahead of an internationally backed peace conference on Syria.
The main opposition group has voted in favour of attending the talks next week aimed at ending the conflict.
The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) confirmed it will participate in the discussions after 58 of its 73 delegates voted in favour of attending.
Western and Arab sponsors of the opposition group have pressured the SNC to attend the talks, which are due to begin on Wednesday in the Swiss city of Montreux.
Mr Assad’s language continues to be defiant
The Syrian government had already committed to attending the talks, which are backed by the United Nations.
Sky correspondent Robert Nisbet in Damascus says security has been increased in the capital ahead of the conference.
He said: “There are roadblocks everywhere around the city. Our local producer says he has never seen security as tight as it is today.
“It would suggest the Assad government is nervous that perhaps an armed opposition group may want to stage some kind of event in the capital to show that the president hasn’t regained control of the biggest city in Syria.”
The conference will be the first face-to-face meeting between representatives of Mr Assad’s government and the opposition since war broke out in March 2011.
More than 100,000 people have been killed since the conflict began and millions have been displaced.
The US and Russia have been trying to hold the peace conference since last year, and it has been repeatedly delayed.
Both sides finally agreed to sit together at the negotiation table after dropping some of their conditions.
The aim of the conference, which has been dubbed Geneva 2, is to agree on a roadmap for Syria’s future based on one adopted by the US, Russia and other major powers in June 2012.
The plan includes the creation of a transitional government and eventual elections.
China’s closure of labor camps gets qualified applause
BY JULIE MAKINEN
BEIJING — In August, Ma Liangfu and the more than 100 other inmates at the Tumuji Reeducation Through Labor Camp in Inner Mongolia received good news: China was abolishing…
A United Korea’s ‘Peninsular’ Place in the Sun
Japan to Test Space Junk Cleanup Tether Soon: Report
PUTIN’S OLYMPIC DREAM**
ASSOCIATED PRESS**Built On Ruined Homes, Illegal Landfills And Broken Promises
Egypt: New Constitution Backed In Public Vote
THE NSA, PLAYING ALL YOUR COMPUTER’S FAVORITE HITS
ShutterstockReport: NSA Carved Path Into Offline Computers Using Radio Waves
EGYPTIANS ARE VOTING, BUT THAT MIGHT NOT BE SO DEMOCRATIC AFTER ALL
A REAL-LIFE MEXICAN STANDOFF
ASSOCIATED PRESSMexico Dispatches Federal Forces To Quell Clashes Between Vigilantes And Drug Cartels
U.S. and Russia say Syria aid access and local ceasefire possible
Thailand crisis: Protesters begin Bangkok ‘shutdown’
Iran and world powers reach N-deal
Thailand braces for new set of mass protests
Why the Biggest Threat in the World Still Needs al Qaeda
ARIEL SHARON
1928 – 2014
Fallujah pact in the making to keep army out
Iran voices: Hassan Rouhani’s first 100 days in office
The moderate conservative cleric Hassan Rouhani is marking his first 100 days in office as Iran’s president.
Mr Rouhani succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after winning just over 50% of the vote in Iran’s presidential election, avoiding the need for a run-off.
Unity was a big theme in Mr Rouhani’s inauguration speech to parliament on 4 August, in which he said he would represent all Iranians.
Here, people in Iran reflect on his first 100 days in charge and give their verdict on his achievements so far.
Leila (female), 32, management consultant, Tehran
“Start Quote
He needs to reverse the brain drain and invite educated Iranians to return to Iran to help build the economy”
I’m happy with this president. He doesn’t embarrass me as an Iranian. In fact, he gives me some hope. He is politically savvy and smart.
He may not have done anything ground breaking yet, but he has not contradicted himself, nor has anyone higher up contradicted him.
Bread and meat is still expensive, but two things have changed. Firstly, hope has given a boost to investor confidence. Secondly, social pressures are less. You can finally breathe in Tehran.
To some extent he has started to deliver on his domestic political reforms – such as freeing some political prisoners and on foreign policy, with his charm offensive in his UN speech and telephone conversation with President Obama.
He’s on the right track – especially on foreign policy. He now needs to engage intimately and openly with Saudi Arabia.
He also needs to reverse the brain drain and invite educated Iranians to return to Iran to help build the economy.
He needs to reverse the deep corruption and moral decline that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad planted in Iranian ethos.
Iran has seen a disgusting moral decay in the past eight years and it will take generations to fix it. But, so far, so good.
ESCAPE FROM SOUTH SUDAN’S WARZONES
EDGING CLOSER TO DEMOCRACY
3 Years After Arab Spring Uprising, Tunisia’s Islamist PM Set To Resign
Al-Qaida-linked group ramps up regional violence
Palestinian nationhood: End the politics of compromise now
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
KHALED DESOUKI via Getty ImagesJailed Former Egyptian President’s Court Date Delayed
Panama Canal authority proposes end to dispute
Syria crisis: Islamist rebels urge attacks on opposition rivals
PROTECTING THE SHIELD?
Turkey Dismisses 350 Police Amid Widening Corruption Scandal
Iraq calls on Fallujah residents to expel al-Qaida
Can the U.S. Stop China’s Korean Broadband Deal?
REBEL VS. REBEL
Syrian Opposition Fighters Battle Al Qaeda-Linked Militants
Iraqi police: Fallujah fully in hands of al-Qaeda group
At least 13 killed in Bangladesh election violence
January 4th…
Kerry presses ahead with Middle East talks, plans new visit to region
BY MAHER ABUKHATER
RAMALLAH, West Bank –- Secretary of State John F. Kerry pressed forward Saturday with his Middle East peace mission, returning to Jerusalem for fresh meetings with Israeli…
Dozens of polling stations ablaze on eve of disputed Bangladesh poll
UN: CAR violence displaces nearly one million
Syria rebels take on Islamist jihadists in fierce fighting
IS A SAFE STILL SAFE IF IT’S
BOOBY-TRAPPED WITH EXPLOSIVES?
Chip Forelli via Getty ImagesPalestinian Envoy’s Mysterious Death Raises Numerous Questions
South Sudan government, rebels set for New Year’s Day talks
Syria misses deadline to remove chemical arms
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says purge was a cleansing of ‘filth’
Fresh fighting in South Sudan as peace deadline nears
December 30
December 29, 2013
SUICIDE BOMBING ROCKS RUSSIA
At Least 16 Dead… 6 Weeks ‘Til Winter Olympics…
‘A TOOL OF REVENGE AND RETALIATION’
ASSOCIATED PRESSChina Votes To Abolish Much-Criticized Penal System
China formally eases one-child policy, abolishes labor camps
Egypt arrests dozens under anti-terror law, one killed in Cairo
African leaders seek peace talks in South Sudan
Chinese media attacks Japan’s Shinzo Abe for visit to Yasukuni shrine
December 26th
SCANDAL NEARS TURKEY’S STRONGMAN
SA helicopters assist in battle against Ugandan rebels in Congo
25 December 25th
Khodorkovsky vows to help Russian political prisoners
US sends envoy to violence-plagued South Sudan
December 20, 2013
Euro holds steady after EU downgrade
Gold on track for the biggest annual loss in more than three decades
The European Central Bank building in Frankfurt. The euro pared earlier losses after Standard & Poor’s stripped the European Union of its triple-A credit rating. Photograph: EPA/Boris Roessler
December 20,2013
A FREE MAN
Putin Pardons Jailed Tycoon In Highly Visible Pre-Olympics PR Move
December 19, 2013
‘I WAS NOT SORRY THEY ENDED UP BEHIND BARS’
Russia To Free Pussy Riot Under New Amnesty..
Oil Tycoon To Walk After Decade In Prison, Too
Improving US economy leads Fed to ease stimulus
THE BIGGEST MOMENTS OF 2013
UN told up to 500 killed in South Sudan clashes
December 18,
Ousted Egypt president to be tried over conspiracy
Maya Alleruzzo, File/Associated Press – FILE – In this Friday, July 13, 2012 photo, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi holds a joint news conference with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, unseen, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt state media is reporting that the top prosecutor has referred Morsi to trial for conspiring with foreign groups with the intention of carrying out terrorist operations in the country
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, December 18, 6:29 AM
Japan invests in new military kit as China row simmers
TOLD YA
APFEDERAL JUDGE: NSA Spying Program Likely Unconstitutional…
Not Only ‘Neocolonialsm’ – Why African States Keep Failing
As France embarks on its third military intervention in Africa in the past three years, in the Central African Republic, a search for the sources of a continent’s perennial instability.
Bachelet has big win in Chile presidential vote
December 15th
Thai premier to hold reform talks
OBAMA’S NSA PANEL: KEEP SPYING
Guantanamo’s secretive review boards
 |
There are 162 prisoners still held at Guantanamo. They fall into three categories: 84 were cleared for release in January 2010 by the high-level, inter-agency Guantanamo Review Task Force that US President Barack Obama established shortly after taking office in 2009, but they are still held because of obstruction by Congress and the president’s unwillingness to spend political capital overcoming those obstacles. Seven others are currently facing trials, and one other is serving a life sentence after a trial by military commission in 2008.
UN inspectors indicate chemical weapons were used in Syria
By John Aglionby in London….December 13…..
©AFPSyria attacks: Medics attend to a man at a hospital in Khan al-Assal in the northern Aleppo province in March, after Syria’s government accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons for the first timeChemical weapons were probably used in five of seven attacks UN inspectorsinvestigated in Syria, according to the team’s final report.
Typhoon survivors need shelter
Uruguay approves world’s first national marketplace for legal marijuana
Tuesday’s vote by Uruguay’s Senate gave final congressional approval to create the world’s first national marketplace for legal marijuana. The audacious experiment will have the government oversee production, sales and consumption of a drug that’s illegal almost everywhere else.
MATILDE CAMPODONICO/AP
A demonstration in support of the legalization of marijuana outside the Congress in Montevideo, Uruguay, is seen Tuesday where the Senate voted to create the world’s first national marijuana market,.
The World Gathers for Nelson Mandela’s Memorial Service
December 9th
‘I NEVER WANT HER TO FEEL THAT PAIN’
Spencer Platt via Getty ImagesEgyptian Mother Speaks Out On Genital Mutilation:
‘I Wake Up At Night Screaming, Just Remembering’
Thai PM dissolves Parliament, calls elections
Mandela death: ‘Day of prayer’ in South Africa
GRIPPED BY CHAOS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
World mourns Mandela, will bury him on December 15
December 6, 2013
THE WORLD GRIEVES
YOU TOO, SWEDEN?
Stockholm Reportedly Key Partner For U.S. Spying On Russia
December4, 2013
CHEATING BANKS DINGED $2.3 BIL
GettyThe $300 Trillion Libor Lie
Studies warn of abrupt environmental effects of warming
‘THE FIGHT ISN’T OVER, BUT WE’RE WINNING’
Jubilant Scenes As Thai Police Step Aside In Clash With Protesters
‘A FIGHT FOR THE SOUL OF THE NATION’
Thai Conflict Is A Battle About Power, And Who Ought To Have It
December 2, 2013
ONE IN FIVE AFRICAN ELEPHANTS FACE DEATH
December 1st,
FORCED APOLOGY
November 30,2013
NEW LAW, SAME OLD EGYPT
Thailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra rules out early election
UN urges support for Syrian refugee children
‘IRAN WILL CONTINUE TO BLEED FINANCIALLY’
BEHROUZ MEHRI via Getty ImagesEase In Sanctions Won’t Alleviate Cost Of Daily Life For Majority Of Iranians
PORN:
Denis Chapoullie via Getty ImagesThe Best Way To Discredit Your Enemies
Italian parliament poised to expel Berlusconi
POPE SLAMS UNFETTERED CAPITALISM: ‘A NEW TYRANNY’
UN: Central African Republic Needs Peacekeeping Operation
THE THAW BEGINS
Iran Sanctions Could Ease As Soon As December… ‘A Major Seismic Shift In The Region’… WH, UN, EU Tout Major Step Forward… Bibi Ballistic: ‘Historic Mistake’… Lawmakers Skeptical, Eyeing Plan B… Cantor: ‘Since When Do We Trust Iran?’… Iranians Chant: ‘No War, No Sanctions, No Insults And No Submission’… Kerry: U.S. Negotiating ‘With Eyes Absolutely Wide Open’…
November 24 th..
DEAL REACHED
.Details: Iran Nuclear Program Frozen For 6 Months… No New Centrifuges… U.S. Gives $6-$7 Billion In Sanction Relief… Source: No ‘Right To Enrich’… Kerry Tweets: ‘First Step Makes World Safer’…Rouhani: Iran People Voted For ‘Moderation’… Israel: Deal Based On ‘Deception’… Why It Matters… AP: U.S., Iran Met Secretly Over Last Year
MASSOUD HOSSAINI via Getty ImagesSTILL NOT A DONE DEAL
Philippines struggles to keep typhoon aid, donations graft-free
‘IF IT WAS EASY TO DO
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE A LONG TIME AGO’
FABRICE COFFRINI via Getty ImagesNegotiators Hope For Breakthrough As Nuclear Talks With Iran Resume
Video Highlights From the Medal of Freedom Ceremony
On Wednesday, President Obama bestowed America’s highest civilian honor to 16 exceptional men and women, from scientists to activists, athletes to musicians, politicians to journalists. In a presentation that combined heartfelt sincerity with playful humor, the president paid personal tribute to each medal winner, extolling their accomplishments and sharing humanizing vignettes. Here are the highlights: the speeches about President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Loretta Lynn, and Ben Bradlee
Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Gett
The Dance of Bubba and Obama—and How It Helps Hillary
NORWEGIANS WOULD
Norway Admits To Spying On Millions Of Phone Calls Outside Country
Suicide blasts near Iran Embassy in Beirut kill 23
Libya Protest Turns Deadly as Militias Open Fire
November 15, 2013
‘THIS IS PROGRESS’
China To Launch Unprecedented Reforms
Pope Francis Could Be Target Of Mafia Hit, Italian Prosecutor Claims
-
Pope Francis is welcomed by Italian president Giorgio Napolitano as he arrives for an official visit at Quirinale Presidential palace in Rome, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Francis is making the Italian mafia “very nervous” – and there are concerns they could come after him.
A leading Italian anti-mob prosecutor warned this week that Pope Francis could get whacked by one of the European country’s notorious mafias as the reforms in the Catholic Church he’s proposed have made the gangsters uneasy.
Nicola Gratteri, a state prosecutor in the southern Italian region of Calabria, said that the ‘Ndrangheta is not happy with Pope Francis’ proposed reforms to combat corruption in the Church, which for decades has faced allegations of collusion with the southern Italian crime family.
- SUMMARY
The ‘Nhdrangheta is an organized crime family similar to the Sicilian mafia and based out of the Calabria region of Italy. It is estimated that the ‘Ndrangheta earns between $30 billion and $50 billion annually, mostly from drug trafficking and pirated merchandise.
“I cannot say if the organization is in a position to do something like this, but they are dangerous and it is worth reflecting on,”Gratteri said, according to the Washington Post
. “If the godfathers can find a way to stop him, they will seriously consider it.”
State Dept. Calls Group in Nigeria Terrorists
DESPERATE TIMES,
DESPERATE MEASURES
NOEL CELIS via Getty Images
Philippine Typhoon Haiyan survivors ‘desperate’ for aid
‘WE NEED HELP.
NOTHING IS HAPPENING.’
Philippines Typhoon Aid Not Reaching Those Who Need It.. Disaster Reveals Weak Infrastructure.. Lack Of Roads, Ports And Power Lines Stymie Relief Efforts.. Snapshots From The Disaster Zone.. Death Toll At 1,744 And Rising
WIPED OUT
10,000 Feared Dead In Wake Of Super Typhoon
‘THE DROP THAT MAKES THE GLASS OVERFLOW’
APIn Mexico, Locals Take Fight Directly To Drug Cartel.. And Win
MAD AS HELL
AMERICANS STILL ANGRY AT CONGRESS
U.S. official: We think Iran wants a nuclear deal — and fast
General strike against cuts brings Greece to a halt
Mehsud killing leaves Pakistan on high alert
M23 rebels announce ‘end of rebellion’ in DR Congo
Mohamed Mursi goes on trial as Egypt struggles for democracy
Jordan king says he will press ahead with reforms
Kosovo vote key test for EU-backed deal with Serbia
John Kerry to begin Mid East tour amid regional tension
Tense Pakistan awaits Taliban move after drone killing
Peace is war: Israeli settler-colonialism and the Palestinians
Billionaire Eike Batista’s dreams crumble
Syria meets deadline to destroy chemical production facilities
Unconditional release of Marwan Barghouti is positive step forward
Obama may ban spying on friendly foreign leaders
Report: US spied on Merkel since 2002
Afghan soldier killed after row with Nato troops
US spying has shattered allies’ trust: Merkel
REPORT: NSA MONITORED CALLS OF 35 WORLD LEADERS
Syria chemical disarmament on track but peace talks in doubt
French fury over US spy claims
LISTENING IN ON FRANCE
New NSA Bombshell Reveals U.S. Spying On French Phones
Peace envoy pushes for Syria talks as bomb strikes Damascus
Pakistan tells UN at least 400 civilians killed by drone strikes
Suicide bomber kills 13 at restaurant in Somalia
Berlusconi banned from parliament for two years
Former Mexican drug lord killed: Report
China criticises Dalai Lama over Tibet autonomy
Ex-Pentagon lawyer nominated as homeland security secretary
Saudi Arabia rejects Security Council seat, lashes U.N. as failure
Maldives Police Block Attempt at Presidential Vote
Edward Snowden: I didn’t take classified documents to Russia
Syria: date set for Geneva talks to end conflict
Egypt ‘illegally detaining Syrian refugees’
US House plan crumbles on budget, debt
Is the Horn of Africa facing another collapsing state?
October 14th
Nations gear up for Iran nuclear talks
Iran seeks approval to enrich uranium but also relief from sanctions. The U.S. and European allies want Iran to dial down its nuclear program right away
US ‘partially resolves’ long-term security deal with Afghanistan post-2014 pullout
US confirms the capture top Pakistani Taliban leader
Fire fell ‘like rain’ in Syria
Incendiary bombs part of Syrian conflict
- Eyewitnesses of the attack: Incendiary like devices dropped from a government fighter
- These are “any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects”
- Rola Hallam treated victims, some of whom suffered burns over 80% of their bodies
(CNN) — It started with a baby.
Within minutes, dozens of teenagers and children staggered into an emergency room on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria.
Rola Hallam, a British Syrian doctor, describes what she saw there in late August.
“We had had, you know, over 30 who had arrived, all within about 10 or 15 minutes, all with just heartbreaking, extensive burns,” she said.
The patients were victims of an August 26 attack in Awram al-Koubra, outside Aleppo, where eyewitnesses described incendiary like devices being dropped from a government fighter jet onto a private residence, and then a school.
Syria said to be ‘cooperative’
Syria begins to destroy chemical weapons
Syrian refugees haunted by shelling
Syrian civil war in photosIncendiary bombs are not chemical weapons, but their effects can be just as devastating.
Syria: Chemical weapons team faces many dangers, says U.N. chief Ban
They are identified as “any weapon or munition which is primarily designed to set fire to objects or to cause burn injury to persons through the action of flame, heat, or combination thereof, produced by a chemical reaction of a substance delivered on the target,” according to the United Nations.
British emergency doctor Saleyha Ahsan describes them in less clinical terms, in the terms of her patients.
“The descriptions were fire falling like rain, just falling like rain, plumes of flames and then balls of flames falling out of the sky,” she said.
“Their clothes had just been stripped off them from the power of heat and the incendiary device, covered in burns and some of them very shocked and quiet, and not sure where they were and what was going on.”
Read more: Refugees inside their own war-torn country
The day of the attack, she, Hallam and others treated about 40 victims, some of whom suffered burns over 80% of their bodies.
By chance, the doctors were filming with the BBC’s Panorama program to highlight medical conditions in Syria. The cameras kept rolling as patients poured in.
‘I wanted their faces seen’
The video is disturbing to watch. It shows people sitting on the floor, their skin peeled and hanging like ripped clothes.
‘I felt like I was in a horror show or something on a movie set. It was so surreal,” said Hallam.
“All walking in, with a really bewildered look on their face, an absolutely awful smell of burning flesh mixed with a very weird synthetic smell that I’ve never smelled before.”
WMD: From A-bombs to pressure cookers
Eights students died in the attack and 50 other people suffered burns, according to the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which investigates alleged violations of human rights law in Syria. It will issue a report next month.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people, including civilians, have been killed since the start of the country’s two-year-old civil war. Conventional, not chemical weapons, are believed to be responsible for the vast majority of those deaths.
Both Hallam and Ahsan said they would expect very few of their patients to survive for any amount of time.
“I wanted their faces seen,” Hallam said.
“I wanted the whole world to know that what is happening in Syria is happening, and I don’t want anyone to say I never knew because you all know. And the world needs to act.”
Mohamed Morsy gets trial date as Egypt turmoil continues
- Mohamed Morsy and 14 other Muslim Brotherhood members will stand trial next month
- Morsy faces charges related to his alleged involvement in violence, state media reports
- He has been kept in detention since the military removed him from office in July
- The U.S. may announce it is cutting some military aid to Egypt, U.S. officials say
Obama Has a Shutdown Message Problem — Here’s How to Fix IT
A week into the federal government shutdown, the standoff has devolved into a grinding trench warfare. House Republicans remain fundamentally paralyzed. John Boehner insists he won’t reopen the government because the votes aren’t there, which is not true. Accounts of his thought process continue to emphasize his fundamental terror at antagonizing ultrarightists, leaving him unable to compromise with Democrats. The ultrarightists won’t vote foranything — they even blocked the original, implement-Romney’s-entire-agenda-or-we-kill-the-economy crazy-plan because it was too modest — leaving Boehner also unable to pass a bill without compromising with Democrats.
As everybody to the left of Ted Cruz predicted, House Republicans are losing the fight to shape public opinion over the shutdown. But they are not losing it in a total rout. Sam Wang notes that the “generic ballot,” which asks which party voters would support in House races, shows Democrats currently in the range they need to be to take back the House, but also points out that anger at the shutdown is likely to dissipate by next year. Nate Cohn notes that the public blames Republicans more than it blames President Obama, but the imbalance of blame is not (yet) as heavy as it was during the Newt Gingrich shutdown. Republicans have wounded themselves, but not mortally.
Chemical experts begin destroying Syria’s chemical arsenal
Italy panel set to decide on Berlusconi fate
For Israel, attack on Iran seems off the table
OUT OF SERVICE: Federal government enters first shutdown in 17 years; lawmakers remain divided over Obamacare
The US government has shut down as Democrats and Republicans refuse to negotiate on Capitol Hill. GOP leaders remain determined that key aspects of Obamacare must be delayed, while President Obama insists that the demand ‘is the height of irresponsibility.’
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013, 6:10 AM
SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The mood was grim at the Capitol Monday as Democrats and Republicans couldn’t get it together for the good of the nation.
India PM Singh in ‘terror’ warning to Pakistan ahead of talks
Russia Applauds Syria Resolution on Chemical Arms
PLAY VIDEOA Century of Chemical Weapons: Nations have fought for a century to stop the scourge of chemical weapons. But their use continues, as evidenced by the recent sarin gas attack in Syria.
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By RICK GLADSTONE
Published: September 27, 20
Fresh from victory in a compromise Security Council resolution to strip Syria of its chemical weapons, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday that the breakthrough was possible partly because the West has realized the threat of military force to solve conflicts is “ineffective, meaningless and destructive.”
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The foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, whose collaboration with Secretary of State John Kerry laid the groundwork for the resolution, also said in a General Assembly speech that he hoped the resolution would provide momentum to convene a conference aimed at purging the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction.
The Security Council resolution, finalized Thursday night by the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — is aimed at coercing the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad to comply with a pledge to relinquish its chemical weapons.
Although the resolution does not automatically threaten the use of force if Syria reneges — a Western concession granted to Russia — the measure nonetheless represents the Security Council’s most significant action to date on the Syria conflict.
The full 15-member council unanimously approved the measure Friday night.
Agreement on the resolution also reflected a dizzying rush of diplomacy that seemed unthinkable just a few weeks ago, when the Obama administration was threatening Mr. Assad with missile strikes in response to an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus that left more than 1,400 people dead including more than 400 children.
Mr. Obama, who contended that the use of such weapons had crossed a threshhold of tolerance that could not go unaddressed, scrubbed the military strikes amid a crescendo of criticism at home and abroad that he risked entangling the United States in another war. His reversal was aided by Russia, which devised a diplomatic alternative under which Syria agreed to voluntarily relinquish its chemical weapons under the agreement negotiated by Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Kerry.
Mr. Lavrov’s speech on Friday, as Russia’s representative during the annual General Assembly session in New York, seemed partly framed as a criticism of Mr. Obama, whose speech to the organization three days earlier had asserted that the United States would remain heavily engaged in the Middle East and leave all options open, including the use of force, to protect its interests.
“It is alarming to hear the statements on the right to use military force to ensure one’s own interest in the Middle East region under the pretext of the ‘remaining demand for leadership’ in international affairs,” Mr. Lavrov said according to the English translation of his speech, posted on the United Nations Web site. “All the recent history testifies that no State — no matter how big or powerful — can cope alone with the challenges of that scope faced by mankind today.”
Mr. Lavrov, whose country has supported Mr. Assad, also suggested in his speech that Western countries opposed to Mr. Assad because of his repression of the democratic opposition were increasingly coming around to Russia’s view that the greater danger in Syria lay in its growing attraction to jihadists.
“The desire to portray in a simplified way the developments in the Arab worlds as the struggle of democracies against tyrannies or the good against the evil has long obscured the problems associated with the rising wave of extremism which spills over to other regions today as well,” he said.
“The terrorist attacks in Kenya have demonstrated all the gravity of this threat,” he said, referring to the shopping mall siege in Nairobi this week by fighters from the Shabab, a militant Islamist group in neighboring Somalia.
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Published: September 27, 2013
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Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad (R) meets Russian deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Damascus, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria’s national news agency SANA on September 26, 2013.
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