Hard News Blasts kill 8 Afghan soldiers, 4 civilians: Roadside bomb attacks have killed eight Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and four civilians in various provinces, officials said on Wednesday. 8 "insurgents" killed in E. Afghan operations: ISAF: Eight insurgents had been killed and 14 detained in military operations since early Tuesday, the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Wednesday morning. Officials reach Islamabad to handcuff Musharraf: A team from Quetta Crime Branch on Wednesday reached Islamabad to arrest former president Pervez Musharraf in the Akbar Bugti murder case. Reports of 'massacre' by "rebels"in eastern Syria: The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 60 people were killed in the village of Hatla in the oil-rich province of Deir al-Zour, bordering Iraq. William Hague Says World Must 'Do More' For Syria After Talks With John Kerry : "We agreed today that we cannot turn away from Syria and its people," he added. U.S. approves waivers to aid opposition-controlled areas of Syria: The Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it is taking several "significant steps" to ease U.S. economic sanctions, enable additional relief and reconstruction activities in opposition-controlled areas of Syria, and support the Syrian opposition and the people of Syria. Lebanon warns Syria over helicopter raid: Army vows to respond to any further cross-border attacks after Syrian helicopter gunship fires on Lebanese border town. Syria: Consult Commons on arms sales Miliband urges PM: Ed Miliband has urged David Cameron to guarantee a Commons vote before any arms are sent to the Syrian opposition. Iran support for Syria is more politics than religion -video - Iran's support of Syria in its civil war is not about the common Shia religious belief, but more about politics - with Iranians blaming the west for backing the rebel "terrorists" fighting Assad. Why Washington Fears Iran: According to results of a Gallup poll in February, 85 percent of Iranians claim sanctions have hurt their livelihood either "a great deal" or "somewhat." But 70 percent of those polled blame external parties (the US, western European countries, Israel, and the UN) for this suffering; remarkably, only 10 percent blame their government and their leaders. US Makes Payoff: Jordan receives $200m in additional US grant: Annual US aid to Jordan is around $400 million. The $200 million is additonal assistance. Israel losing America: Op-Ed: If the forms of ties between Washington and Jerusalem are ever revealed, the world will be flabbergasted American Jews fund $2.2 million gym for Israel's Mossad: The Mossad's annual budget is in the billions of shekels, but the spy agency apparently saw nothing wrong this year with seeking donations from Diaspora Jews. To be able to train in a modern gym, Israel's spies have turned to American Jewry. 'Arrest Obama when he visits':" The Muslim Lawyers Association in Johannesburg wants US President Barack Obama arrested and tried for war crimes when he arrives in South Africa on June 29. Erdogan's chilling warning: 'these protests will be over in 24 hours': 'We have not responded to punches with punches. From now on security forces will respond differently,' Turkish PM says Resist Istanbul: Or how I got teargassed again and started losing hope that this government will ever stop the violence Greece: Abusive Police Crackdown on Migrants: Athens police are conducting abusive stops and searches and have detained tens of thousands of people in a crackdown on irregular migration, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Killing the Messenger: Greek Government Shuts Down the State Broadcaster: In the name of transparency and cutting costs, the government has closed, by fiat and at great expense, the country's only public broadcaster-the only broadcaster (for all its flaws) that isn't pushing the agendas of the oligarchs. NSA surveillance played little role in foiling terror plots, experts say: Obama administration says NSA data helped make arrests in two important cases - but critics say that simply isn't true Russia may grant asylum for CIA whistleblower: Russia may grant political asylum to a former CIA whistleblower who has revealed Washington's highly classified global surveillance programs, the Kremlin said Tuesday. 27 Edward Snowden Quotes About U.S. Government Spying That Should Send A Chill Up Your Spine: "I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building." Should the Director of National Intelligence Be Impeached for Lying to Congress : Wyden's question to Clapper was quite explicit: he asked, does the NSA collect "any type of data." And Clapper said no. If the reports in the Washington Post and the Guardian on PRISM and the Verizon phone records program are accurate, then this statement appears to be a lie. Flashback: Biden Agrees Access to Metadata Is 'Very, Very Intrusive' (VIDEO): Here's then-Senator Joe Biden, in a clip featured on The Daily Show Monday night, criticizing a similar call record-collection program revealed in 2006 under the Bush administration, and explaining how studying your call habits can be "very, very intrusive": Rep. Peter King: "Legal Action" Should Be Taken Against Glenn Greenwald: Video - "[Glenn] Greenwald, not only did he disclose this information, he has said he has names of CIA agents and assets around the world and they're threatening to disclose that. The last time that was done, we saw a CIA station chief murdered in Greece," Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said on FOX News this afternoon. "No right is absolute," King declared. Thomas Drake: Snowden saw what I saw: surveillance criminally subverting the constitution: Op-Ed: So we refused to be part of the NSA's dark blanket. That is why whistleblowers pay the price for being the backstop of democracy. Edward Snowden: US government has been hacking Hong Kong and China for years: Former CIA operative makes more explosive claims and says Washington is 'bullying' Hong Kong to extradite him. E.U. Official Pushes U.S. to Explain Its Surveillance: The European Union's top justice official has demanded in unusually sharp terms that the United States reveal what its intelligence is doing with personal information of Europeans gathered under the Prism surveillance program revealed last week. India says U.S. spying on internet data of its citizens unacceptable: India is the fifth most tracked country by American intelligence agencies which used a secret data-mining program to keep a tab on the worldwide internet data, according to media reports. Law & Order More: NSA Surveillance Spying: During the trial his defense team argued that Nacchio, 63, believed Qwest was about to win secret government contracts that would keep it in the black. FBI sharply increases use of Patriot Act provision to collect US citizens' records: The FBI has dramatically increased its use of a controversial provision of the Patriot Act to secretly obtain a vast store of business records of U.S. citizens under President Barack Obama, according to recent Justice Department reports to Congress. House committee looks into IRS seizure of 60 million medical records: The IRS, in the course of executing a search warrant at a California health care provider's corporate headquarters improperly seized the personal medical records of millions of American citizens in possible violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution," FBI Visits Oregon Man at Home, Inquiring why he Photographed Dam: An Oregon man who enjoys taking pictures of wildlife around a local dam received a visit today from an FBI agent and a police officer, inquiring what he intends to do with his photographs. 7-Year-Old Killed During Police Raid : Grandmother Testifies: The 50-year-old Mertilla Jones said that the police "came to kill" and that when they shot Aiyana Stanley-Jones she saw "the light leave out of her eyes and the blood started gushing out her mouth and she was dead," The U.S. job market is still worse than at any point during the last downturn: Right now, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, there's approximately one job opening for every 3.1 unemployed persons who are looking for work. US Senate bill cuts $4 billion from food stamp program: The Democratic-controlled US Senate passed a $500 billion, five-year farm bill on Monday that would cut $4 billion over a decade from food stamps, known today as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Pope confirms 'gay lobby' at work at Vatican: Pope Francis is quoted as saying that while there were many holy people in the Vatican, there was also a current of corruption. "The 'gay lobby' is mentioned, and it is true, it is there ... We need to see what we can do ..."
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"Let us be peace and joy" Tom Feeley | 
