A fake
bubble of certainty that has imprisoned us
in the west - and is now preventing us from
understanding what is really going on in the
world outside.
"You might ask what it takes
to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war "
Three young
British Muslims tell the story of how they
came to be in US custody at Guantánamo for
over two years, and discuss the Kafkaesque
horrors that awaited them there
Israel is
delighted to see Syria, a
primary foe, lying in ruins
as a result of a US,
British, French, Turkish and
Saudi-instigated civil war.
-
Continue
It is time to
speak out against the
coordinated effort to
silence Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn and critics of
Israel, by smearing them as
anti-semites. -
Continue
Iraq: ISIS claims
to kill 50 in suicide attack in Anbar
province:
Islamic State has issued a news release
claiming to have carried out a suicide
attack on a police station in the town
of Kubaysah, in Iraq’s Anbar province,
killing over 50 police officers and
soldiers.
Security forces
free 2 villages in Iraq's Anbar, 27 IS
militants killed:
Iraqi security forces on Friday
liberated two villages from Islamic
State (IS) militants in Iraq's western
province of Anbar, as the troops killed
27 IS militants, including six suicide
bombers, a provincial security source
said.
MSF Says Syria
Hospital Bombing Killed 50:
The medical charity Doctors Without
Borders says the death toll from the
bombing of a hospital and nearby
buildings in Aleppo in Syria has risen
to 50, including 6 medical staff and
patients.
Syrian TV: Rebel
shelling kills 15 at Aleppo mosque:
State TV said several rockets hit the
mosque and its surroundings as
worshipers were leaving after Friday
prayers. It said the attack struck the
Malla Khan mosque in the Bab al-Faraj
neighborhood.
Syria : Body of
Russian 'hero' flown home: The body of a
Russian officer killed near Palmyra
during a battle against so-called
Islamic State (IS) militants has arrived
back in Moscow from Syria.
US against
sanctions for Ahrar Al-Sham, Jaysh
al-Islam:
Russia's Permanent Representative to the
U.N., Vitaly Churkin, recently proposed
the U.N. place sanctions on Ahrar
Al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam, claiming the
groups were linked to al-Qaeda and
Daesh.
Fresh U.S.-led
airstrikes kill 24 IS militants in
Afghanistan:
About 24 Islamic State (IS) militants
were killed Friday in U.S.-led coalition
airstrikes in eastern province of
Nangarhar with Jalalabad as its capital,
120 km east of Kabul, a military
statement said.
EU and Russia: On
the Path to Normality?: Op-Ed:
Relations between the EU and Russia are
on their way back to normal, slowly but
surely. Neither the US nor certain East
European states can halt the process
Irish parties
agree to form minority government:
Ireland's two key political parties,
Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, have struck a
deal to create a new government. The
agreement comes after an inconclusive
election led to months of political
deadlock.
Protests rage
outside Trump rally in Orange County;
17 arrested, police car smashed :
Traffic came to a halt as a boisterous
crowd walked in the roadway, some waving
American and Mexican flags. Protesters
smashed a window on at least one police
cruiser, punctured the tires of a police
sport utility vehicle, and at one point
tried to flip a police car.
Thousands
converged on Tel Aviv's city
hall on 19 April 2016 to
register their support for
an Israeli soldier who was
filmed executing a
Palestinian youth.
-
Continue
Russia denies
blame for airstrikes on Aleppo hospital:
"According to our information, on the
evening of April 27, for the first time
after a long break, there was a plane
over Aleppo that belonged to one of the
so-called anti-ISIS coalition
countries," it said in a statement.
11 civilians
injured by ISIS shelling in Anbar
Province:
“A bomb exploded, at noon today,
targeting a bus while passing in Hurriya
District northwest of Baghdad, killing
the driver and wounding five others, as
well as causing material damage to the
bus.”
Dunford
Acknowledges US Troops in Iraq Conduct
Combat Operations:
While the White House maintains that
U.S. troops supporting the fight against
Islamic State militants are not in a
combat role, the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff acknowledged Thursday
that troops are fighting and dying in
combat operations in Iraq and elsewhere
in the Middle East.
US to give Israel 'largest military aid
package in history':
The White House is reportedly planning
to accept Israeli demands for increased
military aid, following pressure by the
US Senate . Israel has been pressuring
the White House to enlarge the annual
aid package from $3.1 billion to between
$4-4.5 billion.
U.S. Ruling Over
Compensation for ’83 Beirut Bombing
Riles Iran:
Anger is building among even Iran’s
staunchest defenders of the historic
nuclear agreement with the United
States, after a recent decision by the
American Supreme Court allowing
relatives of victims of a 1983 bombing
to sue Tehran for $2 billion in
compensation from frozen Iranian funds.
Pakistan Was
Aware Of US Operation That Killed Osama
Bin Laden:
US Journalist: Osama bin Laden was in
Pakistan's detention for years and was
killed after the country struck a deal
with the US, a top American journalist
has claimed citing new evidence and
disputed Islamabad's assertion that it
was not aware of the raid that killed
the al Qaeda terrorist.
Hybrid war hyenas
tearing Brazil apart - Pepe Escobar:
Op-Ed: The gloomy and repulsive night
when the female president of the 7th
largest economy in the world was the
prey of choice fed to a lynch mob of
hyenas in a drab, provincial Circus
Maximus will forever live in infamy.
Five days in the
favela:
'I know what it feels like to rob
because of hunger' : Evangelical
preacher and radio DJ Pastor Nininho
found redemption from a life of crime in
favela Maré.
Baltimore police
shoot 13yo who had replica gun
: After chasing the boy for about 150
yards and seeing he did not drop what
they thought was a weapon, one of the
officers giving chase discharged his
firearm and struck the boy,
Homeownership
rate falls to third lowest on record:
The rate that Americans own their homes
fell in the first quarter to the third
lowest on record, another indication
that worsening finances as well as
changing preferences since the Great
Recession are altering behavior.
You don’t
even have to be a dissident
to get flagged by the
government for surveillance,
censorship and detention. -
Continue
=========
Aleppo death toll
mounts; rescue workers killed:
Attacks by government forces and rebels
killed at least 30 people, including
eight children, in the last 24 hours in
Aleppo, a city seeing some of the worst
of a renewed escalation in the Syrian
war, a monitoring group said.
Iraqi MPs block
vote on new cabinet reshuffle:
Iraqi MPs disrupted a parliament session
Tuesday, blocking Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi from presenting a new cabinet
lineup aimed at fighting corruption as
tens of thousands of protesters took
over part of central Baghdad to demand a
vote.
Russia supplying
S-300 missiles to Iran ahead of schedule
: Russia is supplying its S-300 air
defence missile systems to Iran ahead of
schedule and is now in talks with the
Islamic Republic on deliveries of other
military equipment, the head of Russia's
federal arms exports service, FSVTS,
said on Tuesday.
Swiss Envoy
Summoned over US Seizure of Iran's
Assets:
The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned
Swiss Ambassador to Tehran Giulio Hass
in protest at the recent ruling by the
US Supreme Court which authorized the
transfer of $2 billion of Tehran's
frozen assets to the families of the
victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut.
Yemeni forces
seize main oil terminal from al Qaeda:
Yemeni government forces and their
Emirati allies took back control of the
country's largest oil export terminal
from al Qaeda on Monday, security
officials said, a day after routing the
militants from their nearby stronghold.
Al Shabaab kills
five at Somali military base: army
captain:
"Al Shabaab militants
attacked early in the morning. Five
soldiers died and 12 others were
wounded," captain Aden Nur told Reuters
from Baidoa. Six al Shabaab fighters
were killed, he added.
At least four
policemen killed in Afghanistan Source
:
TOLO News has reported that the attack
took place on Monday in Gereshk district
of the province after the Taliban
attacked a police outpost and engaged in
clashes. This was confirmed later by
District Governor Salim Rodi.
Two
Nagorno-Karabakh soldiers 'killed by
Azeri gunfire':
Two soldiers from the Armenian-backed
Nagorno-Karabakh were killed by gunfire
from Azerbaijan in the early hours of
Tuesday, the defence ministry of the
breakaway region said.
ISIS has secret
cells in Europe, US spy chief claims:
Islamic extremists have more secret
cells hidden throughout Europe that
could be deployed in terror attacks
against civilians, the top U.S.
intelligence official warned on Monday.
ISIS fighters in
Sweden to attack ‘civilian targets’ in
Stockholm - reports:
Swedish security services are on high
alert in connection with a potential
terror threat, officials said. Reports
in Swedish media say several Islamic
State fighters have arrived in Sweden to
carry out attacks on civilian targets in
the capital Stockholm.
Obama pushes
controversial TTIP trade deal in Germany:
President Obama on Sunday defended a
controversial trade deal between the
United States and the European Union
that he wants to finalize before leaving
office in January.
More than 50,000
junior doctors begin two-day strike in
UK:
The unprecedented decision by 55,000
junior doctors to not provide emergency
cover during the 48-hour strike that
begins today is a measure of their
determination to beat the attack being
mounted against them and the National
Health Service by the Conservative
government.
Classified Pages
From 9/11 Report Could Be Released by
Summer:
The top intelligence official in the
United States said on Monday that a
review to declassify 28 pages of
material in a Sept. 11 report, which
families of victims and some lawmakers
are demanding be made public, could be
completed by June.
New Poll Shows
Americans Want Complete 9/11 Disclosure:
Amid surging public interest in 28
classified pages said to link Saudi
Arabia to 9/11, a new Rasmussen Reports
poll finds 74% of Americans want the
U.S. government to release everything it
knows about the attacks, other than
information that would imperil national
security.
Majority of
Senate pushes Obama to boost Israel aid:
More than four-fifths of the US Senate
have signed a letter urging President
Barack Obama to quickly reach an
agreement on a new defense aid package
for Israel worth more than the current
$3 billion per year.
How Wartime
Washington Lives in Luxury:
In the decade after 9/11, it has grown
into a sprawling, pretentious
representation of the federal
government’s growth, vices and
prosperity, encompassing the wealthiest
counties, the best schools, and some of
the highest rates of income inequality
in the country.
The
Republican and Democratic
parties are functioning like
two identical but competing
Orwellian Ministries of
Truth. -
Continue
=========
100 rebels killed
in foiled Aleppo attack: source:
More than 100 rebels were killed when
Syrian army and allied forces foiled an
attack on the Rashidin neighborhood in
Aleppo on Sunday, a security source told
The Daily Star Monday.
15 killed in
Syria checkpoint attack:
At least 15 people were killed and 35
others injured on Monday when a car bomb
ripped through a military checkpoint
near the Syrian capital of Damascus, a
military source said.
35 killed in
clashes with IS in Iraq:
A total of 35 people were killed on
Sunday in US-led coalition air strikes
and clashes between Iraqi security
forces and Islamic State militants in
the western province of Anbar, a
provincial security source said.
Car bomb in
eastern Baghdad kills at least 11,
sources say:
A car bomb exploded in a predominantly
Shi'ite Muslim district of eastern
Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 11
people and wounding 39 others, security
and medical sources said, the third such
blast in four days in the capital.
Two Turkish
soldiers killed, 4 wounded in Kurdish
militant attack:
Two Turkish soldiers were killed and
four wounded on Monday in an armed
attack by Kurdish militants in the
southeastern Turkish town of Nusaybin
near the Syrian border, the armed forces
said in a statement.
Clashes erupt at
Yemen border, three Saudi guards killed:
Three Saudi Border Guard soldiers died
in fighting with "enemy elements" trying
to cross the border from Yemen to attack
two watch towers, the Saudi Press Agency
(SPA) said on Monday.
80 Taliban killed
in Afghanistan:
In Afghanistan, at least eighty Taliban
have been killed in an ongoing military
operation in southern Ghazni province.
Cruz and Kasich
team up to slow Trump:
Donald Trump's two rivals for the
Republican party's presidential
nomination have announced they will now
co-ordinate strategies against him
Kurd-Shi'ite
clashes in northern Iraq kill ten, key
road cut:
Clashes between Kurdish and Shi'ite
Turkmen paramilitary forces in northern
Iraq have killed at least 10 fighters
and cut a strategic road between Baghdad
and the oil city of Kirkuk, security and
medical sources said.
At least 14
killed in govt, rebel attacks in Syria's
Aleppo:
Rebel and government bombardment in
Syria's Aleppo on Sunday killed at least
14 civilians, emergency workers and
activists, on the third day of renewed
violence in the battered city.
Syrians Hold
Elections In Defiance of Western-Backed
Terror:
While talks on a transitional government
come to a halt in Geneva, Syrians choose
their own. But Syria and Russia are
again under threat from the 'regime
changers' and their terrorist armies
Bombing kills 7
Yemen soldiers in anti-Al-Qaeda
offensive:
A bomb-laden vehicle exploded Sunday,
killing seven soldiers in Yemen's south,
where government forces backed by air
power from an Arab coalition have
launched an offensive against Al-Qaeda,
military sources said.
New clashes kill
three army soldiers in east Ukraine:
Kiev:
“As a result of hostilities, three
Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and
another six wounded over the past 24
hours,” Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a
spokesman for Kiev’s military, said on
Sunday.
Food Banks Brace
for Long Lines as Thousands Lose SNAP
Benefits:
Across the country, food banks and other
organizations that serve the needy are
preparing for long lines as childless
adults begin losing SNAP (formerly food
stamps) benefits due to the return in
over 20 states of a three-month time
limit for able-bodied adults.
Sanders seeks
‘root cause’ of Saudi role in 9/11
:
Bernie Sanders urges the United States
to address the “root cause” of the
September 11, 2001 attacks, voicing
support for Senate legislation that
would allow families of terror victims
to sue Saudi Arabia in federal court.
Washington
has been threatening Riyadh
to freeze Saudi assets all
across the spectrum if the
House of Saud does not
“cooperate” in the oil price
war against Russia. -
Continue
The election
of Sanders or Trump is
important, because it
demonstrates that American
citizens - have no
confidence in the two
corrupt political parties.
Continue
Syrian government
strikes on two rebel-held areas kill 23:
Pro-rebel monitor: Syrian warplanes
bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near
Damascus and parts of Aleppo in the
north on Saturday, killing 23 people,
with the death toll likely to rise, the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said.
Islamic State
bomber kills nine at Baghdad mosque:
A suicide bomb attack claimed by Islamic
State killed at least nine people
following Friday prayers at a Shi'ite
Muslim mosque in southwestern Baghdad,
police and hospital sources said.
Merkel in Turkey
to discuss refugee deal:
German chancellor travels to
Turkish-Syrian border in attempt to
soothe tensions over controversial
refugee swap deal.
NATO's new
deterrent may include bigger Black Sea
presence:
Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania may expand
the NATO alliance's maritime presence in
the Black Sea as part of a broader
strategy to deter Russia, NATO's deputy
chief said on Friday.
Why Greece’s
third ‘bailout’ solves nothing:
Since 2010 when financial markets first
realized Greece could never afford to
pay its debt, the country has been
subjected to a brutal regime of
austerity.
Brazilian Coup?
: Brazil is in
acute political crisis – the president
has already been impeached by the
country’s lower house of parliament, and
now the Senate will decide her fate. We
are told it is all about corruption in a
country consumed by corruption.
CrossTalking with Brian Becker, Pepe
Escobar and Andrea Murta
Study finds US
suicide rate highest in 30 years:
The number of suicides in the US has
been on the rise since 1999 for everyone
between the ages of 10 and 74 but the
increase was particularly pronounced
among the country's white middle-aged
population.
The conflict emanates from Washington and is
perpetuated by Washington. Why? To justify
what would otherwise be seen as simply
outrageous US militarism in the Asia
Pacific.
The wars on Afghanistan
and Iraq are part of a broader military agenda,
which was launched at the end of the Cold War. The
ongoing war agenda is a continuation of the 1991
Gulf War and the NATO led wars on Yugoslavia
(1991-2001).
The overt theme is
unilateralism, but it is ultimately a story of
domination. It calls for the United States to
maintain its overwhelming military superiority and
prevent new rivals from rising up to challenge it on
the world stage.
A SECRET blueprint for
US global domination reveals that President Bush and
his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on
Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took
power in January 2001.
02/25/03 - The Project
for the New American Century, or PNAC, is a
Washington-based think tank created in 1997. Above
all else, PNAC desires and demands one thing: The
establishment of a global American empire to bend
the will of all nations.
A highly classified
British memo, leaked in the midst of Britain's
just-concluded election campaign, indicates that
President Bush decided to overthrow Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein by summer 2002 and was determined to
ensure that U.S. intelligence data supported his
policy.
MINISTERS were warned
in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking
part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they
had no choice but to find a way of making it legal.
Those who have hoped
that a U.S. military victory in Iraq would somehow
bring about a more peaceful world are in for a rude
awakening. The final resolution of this war and the
U.S. occupation of Iraq will likely not be the end,
rather, only the prelude to a succession of future
crises: in Kashmir, Syria, North Korea, and Iran.