| Hard News
At least 71 killed, more than 200 injured in Iraq terrorist acts:
About ten car bombs have been exploded in urban districts predominantly inhabited by Shiites.
Syria asks UN to immediately investigate three new 'chemical attacks' by rebels:
The attacks took place on August 22, 24 and 25 in Jobar, Sahnaya, and al-Bahariya, Bashar Jaafari told journalists Wednesday. The "militants" used toxic chemical gas against the Syrian army, the diplomat said.
UN To US: Wait 4 Days For Team To Complete Investigation Before Deciding On Military Strike:
The United Nations is calling on the United States and its allies to wait longer on a potential military strike against Syria..
Syria Vote Will Not Approve UK Military Action:
The Government appears to delay a decision on intervention after Labour demands "compelling evidence" on chemical weapons use
Britain proposes Syria resolution; Russia objects:
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council failed to reach an agreement Wednesday on a British-proposed resolution that would authorize the use of military force against Syria. The draft resolution would almost certainly be vetoed by Russia and China
Military intervention in Syria would need UN approval: Brahimi:
Any US military action taken in response to apparent chemical weapons attacks in Syria would need to be approved by the UN Security Council, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday.
Hans Blix: Even if Assad used chemical weapons, the west has no mandate to act as a global policeman: Op-Ed:
By ordering air strikes against Syria without UN security council support, Obama will be doing the same as Bush in 2003
Syrian PM: We'll surprise invaders like on Yom Kippur:
Addressing possible US strike, Wael al-Halqi says Assad forces will surprise 'aggressors' just as they surprised Israel during 1973 war; says West inventing 'face scenarios' to justify intervention
Remember bogus U.S. excuses for Iraq war before attacking Syria:
China's Xinhua: An attack on Syria would be dangerous and irresponsible, and the world should remember the Iraq war was started by U.S. allegations of weapons of mass destruction which turned out to be false, China's official Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.
In case you missed it: -
'FSA Syrian Terrorists' chemical lab uncovered near Damascus :
Video report: July 14, 2013
The U.S. Has Repeatedly Falsely Accused Others of Chemical and Biological Weapons Use:
In 1981, the U.S. accused the Soviets of supplying chemical weapons to Communist states in Vietnam and Laos for use in counterinsurgency warfare. The U.S. bombed a chemical weapons factory in Sudan in 1998. It turned out that it only made pharmaceutical drugs. - The U.S. accused Iraq of possessing chemical weapons ... even though everyone knew that it didn't.
Syria evacuates army buildings in Damascus: residents:
Activists in east Damascus said barracks and housing compounds for the Republican Guards and Fourth Division near the suburbs of Somariya and Mouadamiya had been evacuated and troops and their families had gone into the city.
US Marine units positioned near Syria:
Marines in the Middle East, Africa and Europe are poised to reach Syria within hours should President Obama order a strike . The various units include the following capabilities:
Syria: US Asks Greece for Military Base Access: Report:
Washington has asked Greece for permission to use its military bases in Kalamata and Souda for a possible strike on Syria over the alleged use of toxic gas in Ghouta on the eastern outskirts of Damascus.
An attack on Syria will only spread the war and killing: Op-Ed:
All the signs are they're going to do it again. The attack on Syria now being planned by the US and its allies will be the ninth direct western military intervention in an Arab or Muslim country in 15 years.
Fact or fiction?
Iran army chief warns 'Zionists will burn' if US attacks Syria:
Iran's chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi was quoted by Israel's Channel 2 Wednesday declaring that "if the US attacks, the Zionists will burn," and an Iranian journalist said to be close to Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly warned that Israel would "face tens of thousands of missiles."
Iran Approves Bill to Sue US Over 1953 Coup:
Iran's parliament gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill requiring the government to sue the U.S. for its involvement in the 1953 coup that overthrew the country's democratically elected prime minister.
IAEA data suggests Iran's supply of uranium gas below Israel's 'red line':
Iran has installed about 1,000 advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges and is set to test them, a UN nuclear report showed, a development likely to worry Western powers hoping for a change of course under the country's new president.
16 killed in three Taliban attacks in Afghanistan:
At least 16 people, including three Afghan soldiers, were killed and more than 75 people were injured Wednesday in three Taliban attacks in Afghanistan, officials said, dpa reported.
3 Civilians Killed, 15 Wounded in Afghanistan's Lashkargah Blast:
Three bodies and 15 wounded people were evacuated from the blast site to the Emergency Hospital, a doctor said. The injured included seven children and an Afghan intelligence operative.
Taliban torch 40 NATO fuel supply tankers:
According to local authorities in western Farah province of Afghanistan, Taliban militants torched at least 40 oil tankers which was carrying fuel supply for the NATO troops in this province.
Pakistan Rocket Attacks Killed Two Worshipers:
The civilians while worshiping in a mosque in Dangam district hit by a rocket shell fired by Pakistani troops.
UN peacekeeper killed in eastern Congo fighting:
A United Nations peacekeeper killed in fighting in eastern Congo Wednesday in which U.N. helicopters fired on rebels just outside a city of nearly 1 million people, ratcheting up the U.N.'s role in Congo's current conflict, officials said.
Egypt backs away from plan to dissolve Muslim Brotherhood:
Egypt should not ban the Muslim Brotherhood or exclude it from politics after the army's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the interim prime minister said Wednesday, reversing his previous stated view.
Egypt: Interior Ministry declares state of alert for Friday demonstrations:
All vacations of officers, conscripts, and security personnel were cancelled and the state of alert was hightened in provinces where mass demonstrations are expected to take place, the Middle East News Agency reported security sources as saying
Nidal Hasan gets death penalty for Fort Hood rampage:
A former US Army psychiatrist has been sentenced to death for killing 13 soldiers at a Texas Army base, a military jury has decided.
Japanese agency labels radioactive leak 'serious'; :
Japan's nuclear regulator on Wednesday upgraded the rating of a leak of radiation-contaminated water from a tank at its tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant to a "serious incident" on an international scale, and it castigated the plant operator for failing to catch the problem earlier.
Miniature 'human brain' grown in lab:
The pea-sized structures reached the same level of development as in a nine-week-old foetus, but are incapable of thought.
200 days of Guantanamo hunger strike:
37 detainees currently remain on hunger strike after nearly seven months without food, with 33 of them being force fed, the prison authorities said on Saturday.
50 Days Without Food: The California Prison Hunger Strike Explained:
42 of them are still refusing to eat, putting themselves at extremely high risk of death, according to state medical officials.
America's private prison companies have expanded across the globe:
As the growth of the U.S. prison population has stalled, American private prison companies have expanded their reach across the globe, operating prisons and detention centers in at least 11 countries, according to a new report by The Sentencing Project, a non-profit advocacy group.
Amputee Says Cops Abused & Mocked Him:
Police forced an innocent, double-leg amputee to get out of his car at gunpoint, with hands up, then beat and ridiculed him as "a cripple crawling around," the African-American man claims in court.
Fidel Castro denies that Cuba refuses to accept Edward Snowden under US pressure :
"In my opinion, he has rendered a service to the world having revealed the disgusting, vile policy of the powerful empire that is lying and deceiving the world," Castro wrote. He notes that Cuba has resisted US pressure for 54 years and is not going to surrender.
Obama administration asks court to force NYT reporter to reveal source:
Previous ruling said reporters have no privilege to safeguard confidentiality leaving Risen to reveal his source or go to jail
Surveillance of students in public schools: how much is too much?:
A school district amid the vast suburban sprawl of Los Angeles has hired a self-described social network monitoring service to stalk its students on internet-based platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
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