Hard News
Iraq's
depleted uranium contamination spreads: :
The
report, which was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, documents
evidence that DU munitions were fired at light vehicles, buildings and other
civilian infrastructure. "The use of DU in populated areas is alarming," it
says, adding that many more contaminated sites are likely to be
discovered.
From
El Salvador to Iraq: Washington's man behind brutal police
squads:
In
2004, with the war in Iraq going from bad to worse, the US drafted in a veteran
of Central America's dirty wars to help set up a new force to fight the
insurgency. The result: secret detention centres, torture and a spiral into
sectarian carnage
Video
of Captive U.N. Peacekeepers in Syria:
One
day after Syrian rebels seized 21 United Nations peacekeepers from the
Philippines in the Golan Heights, a part of Syria held by Israel since the 1967
war, six of the captives appeared in a brief video clip released by an
opposition group.
Israel
warns of Lebanon pain in next war with Hezbollah;
Wary
of a spill over from the conflict in Syria, Israel is preparing to take on the
Hezbollah militia that it suspects is getting advanced weapons from a distracted
Damascus.
Palestinian
demonstrator dies two weeks after being shot by Israeli occupation
forces:
A
Palestinian man shot in the head with a rubber bullet by Israeli troops during a
West Bank demonstration two weeks ago has died.
U.N.
Finds Israeli Military Abuses Palestinian Children:
Palestinian
children detained by the Israeli military are subject to widespread, systematic
ill-treatment that violates international law, a report by the United Nations
Children's Fund said.
US
reduces Israel aid cut:
US
military aid to Israel for fiscal year 2013 will be reduced by 5%, instead of
the 8% initially planned, amounting to $155 million, rather than $250 million,
out of $3.1 billion.
Why
Is The US Spending Hundreds Of Millions On These Secret Israeli Bunkers?:
Last
year it was announced the U.S. was looking to build a secret underground complex
in Israel. On February 13 a contract was awarded to Conti Corp Federal Services
in Edison, NJ to complete the project.
In
historic move, Ohio buys $42 million in Israel Bonds;
Ohio
has bought $42 million in Israel Bonds, reportedly the largest single government
purchase of Israel Bonds in U.S. history.
Obama
will not address Knesset during upcoming visit:
According
to senior Knesset source, requests for Obama to address the Israeli people in
its representative body were rejected.
Sweden
recognizes Palestinian Embassy:
Sweden on
Wednesday upgraded the Palestinian Authority delegation in Stockholm to the
status of an embassy, but refused to recognize Palestine as an independent
state.
Prisoner
X was working for Israeli government, Australia confirms;'
Australia's
foreign minister, Bob Carr, has confirmed that the man known as Prisoner X, a
dual Israeli-Australian national who died in mysterious circumstances in a
high-security Israeli prison in 2010, was working for the Israeli
government.
Australian
probe: Prisoner X was facing 20-year sentence for 'serious espionage':
The
Australian foreign ministry investigation confirms Ben Zygier was facing a
20-year prison sentence for a security-related crime and criticizes the
Australian government's handling of the case.
Next
round of Iran-P5+1 talks test of Western sincerity:
Leader:
Ayatollah
Khamenei said the West has a track record of disregarding its own agreements and
statements.
US
general: thousands of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft arms from Libya are still at
large:
Army
Gen. Carter Ham tells the Senate Armed Services Committee some of those weapons,
as well as explosives and other arms once under Ghadafi's control, have fallen
into the hands of extremists in northern Mali. He says others have spread to
rebel groups in Syria.
Libyan
national congress attacked by rogue militias:
Several
hundred militiamen attacked building in protest against proposed isolation law
to purge Gaddafi-era officials
Gunmen
attack private Libyan TV and abduct owner:
Security
is still amiss in Libya. Several gunmen stormed the headquarters of Alessama TV,
a private television channel known to be close to Mahmoud Jibril's liberal
coalition.
Egypt
poll cancellation a blow to Mursi: experts:
Wednesday's
ruling by the administrative court cancelling controversial parliamentary
elections scheduled for April 22 has worsened the political crisis that still
faces Egypt two years after Mubarak's overthrow.
North
Korea threatens US with pre-emptive nuclear strike - video:
North
Korea's state television channel, KRT, broadcasts a statment from the country's
foreign ministry on Thursday, pledging a preemptive nuclear attack against the
US. North Korea has accused Washington of using military drills in South Korea
as a launch pad for a nuclear war
US
warns North Korea over 'suicidal' nuclear threat:
Experts do
not believe the North has managed to produce a warhead small enough to be
mounted on a missile that could reach the US. They also pointed out that the
original Korean language version referred to "invaders" rather than merely the
"aggressors" of the English translation.
China's
Richer-Than-Romney Lawmakers Reveal Reform Challenge:
Almost 10%
of those attending China's National Peoples' Congress are wealthier than Mitt
Romney. When the rich run the country, the poor are in trouble.
Chavez's
death could be US plot: Russian leader:
The
death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez from cancer may have been part of a
plot by the US to infect its enemies in Latin America with the disease,
according to Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russia's Communist party.
Chavez's
pal or US-backed rich kid: Who will inherit Venezuela?:
Maduro
made it all the way up to the top of the Venezuelan political elite from a
grassroots level. He was a bus driver and later a trade unionist for the workers
of the Caracas Metro transport system.
Behind
the Hatred and Love of Hugo Chavez; Op-Ed :
Within my
lifetime only one other figure came to symbolize the struggle for freedom with
the same potency, the same dignity, and that was Nelson Mandela.
Barack
Obama 'has authority to use drone strikes to kill Americans on US soil':
President
Barack Obama has the authority to use an unmanned drone strike to kill US
citizens on American soil, his attorney general has said.
Rand
Paul Ends 13-Hour Filibuster of CIA Director nominee John Brennan.:
'Oh,
the battlefield's come to America' and 'the battlefield's everywhere,' 'the war
is limitless in time and scope,' be worried, because your rights will not exist
if you call America a battlefield for all time," the senator said.
Paul
fires back: Sens. McCain, Graham think 'whole world is a battlefield':
Paul
criticized the hawkish senators for thinking the laws of war should take
precedence over the Bill of Rights. The two had criticized Paul's statements
about drone policy during the Kentucky Republican's nearly 13-hour filibuster on
Thursday.
Newly
Released Autopsy Reports Raise Questions About Deaths of Two Guantanamo
Detainees:
Nassim,
who was known as Inayatullah at Guantanamo, would eventually succeed in taking
his own life. In the dead of night on May 18, 2011, he secured a white bed sheet
to a pipe in the recreation area adjacent to his cell, stuck his head through a
noose he made and hung himself.
MA
Prosecutor Lets Rumsfeld Walk, Charges Protester Instead:
It
turns out that Rumsfeld not only knew about the worst of the worst abuses of the
Bush Torture Era, including what was happening at Guantanamo, in Afghanistan,
and at Abu Ghraib. He perhaps even ordered it.
Obama
promised to close Guantánamo. Instead, he's made it worse:
Facing
deteriorating conditions and the hopelessness of their legal abyss, detainees
are starving themselves in protest
Kansas
Lawmakers Tack Guns-For-Teachers On To Existing Bill:
A
Kansas legislative committee passed a bill Wednesday morning to allow concealed
guns in public buildings and to allow teachers to carry guns at
school.
Florida
bill would require anger management courses for bullet buyers;
A
Florida legislator wants anyone trying to buy ammunition to complete an anger
management program first, in what critics say is the latest example of local
lawmakers reaching for constitutionally-dubious solutions to the problem of gun
violence.
8
Year Old Girl Handcuffed and Thrown in Jail For Throwing Tantrum;
After
the police arrived, the little girl was handcuffed, put in the back of a police
car, and driven to jail like a common crook, where she remained for 2
hours.
New
data shows Eurozone sinking deeper into recession:
The
17-nation eurozone sank further into recession in the last three months of 2012
as the debt crisis continued to exact a heavy price, official data showed
Wednesday.
French
unemployment rises again to 10.6 percent in Q4:
Its
gross domestic product has shrunk for three of the last four quarters, and some
expect the economy will enter another recession in the first part of this
year.
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