Hard News
15 killed in Syria: Activists say:: At least 10 civilians and five Syrian soldiers were killed in fresh violence across the country on Monday, activists said, also reporting a string of clashes between deserters and the army.
Syria Rejects Arab League Council's Decision: Syria considers these decisions a violation of its national sovereignty, a blatant interference in its internal affairs and a flagrant violation of the objectives for which the AL was established and a breach of Article VIII of its Charter. http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/01/23/395975.htm
Report: Russia to deliver combat jets to Syria: Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria in a show of support for President Bashar Assad's regime, a newspaper reported Monday. http://bit.ly/yOdeqi
Saudi Arabia: the Middle East's most under-reported conflict: Shia protesters, demanding long overdue and promised reforms, are bearing the brunt of a security crackdown http://bit.ly/z5jdsb
US kills 5 people in Pakistan: A drone attack in a volatile tribal region of north-west Pakistan has killed at least five suspected militants, officials say. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16676361
Pakistan rejects NATO border-attack account: Military releases report rejecting US claim that its forces fired on Pakistani troops "in self-defence" http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2012/01/2012123154326216810.html
Pakistan: Senate adopts resolution against Pervez Musharraf: The Senate on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution against former President Pervez Musharraf demanding his arrest upon arrival to Pakistan and registration of a case under article 6 of the Constitution. http://bit.ly/AgtBxK
Afghanistan: Two Children Killed, Four Wounded in Kapisa Blast: At least two children were killed and four others were wounded in eastern Kapisa province on Sunday, Kapisa police said. http://bit.ly/AvXHoi
'Pro-Kadhafi' attack kills four in Libya: "There are around 100 and 150 men armed with heavy weapons who are attacking. We have asked for the army to intervene, but the defence ministry and NTC (National Transitional Council) have let us down," he said. http://bit.ly/AdBSbe
"Gaddafi diehards" control Bani Walid: official: Diehard supporters of slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi seized control on Monday of "the entire city of Bani Walid", his one-time bastion, after launching a brazen attack on a base there, a local official told AFP. http://bit.ly/A1eLkH
Libya suspends transitional government members: The head of Libya's transitional government on Sunday suspended delegates from Benghazi, the city that kicked off the movement that toppled ruler Moammar Gadhafi last year. http://bit.ly/z25VLr
'NTC head may resign - if he makes it out alive': The deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council is resigning in light of continuing protests. Sukant Chandan, a spokesman for British Civilians for Peace in Libya, says the Council's head may resign as well - if he doesn't get killed first. http://rt.com/news/ntc-resign-libya-regime-411/
US-NATO war crimes in Libya: A report released last week by Middle East human rights groups presents extensive evidence of war crimes carried out in Libya by the United States, NATO and their proxy "rebel" forces during last year's war, which brought down the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jan2012/pers-j23.shtml
4 killed in deadly battles between Kenya and Shebab Militants in Southern Somalia: Two Kenyan and one Somali soldiers were killed during an attack late Sunday on hardline Shehab positions at Delbio and Hosingo http://bit.ly/zXMAMU
Act of war: EU agrees Iranian oil embargo: Foreign ministers' deal in Brussels could lead to soaring fuel prices and Iran closing the strait of Hormuz http://bit.ly/yaq6tD
Russia critical of EU sanctions against Iran: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was critical on Monday of planned new European Union sanctions against Iran, saying they would push Tehran away from the negotiating table and do little to increase regional security. http://bit.ly/wZUAD2
Engineering Consent For An Attack On Iran : Israel: EU oil embargo on Iran 'step in right direction': "It is necessary to pressure Iran very hard and very quickly and we must examine these sanctions in the light of their results. Until today, Iran continues to create nuclear weapons unhindered." http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/diplomacy-iran-oil.eqa
'Iran can shut Hormuz if threatened': A senior member of Iran's Majlis says it is the right of the Iranian nation to close the Strait of Hormuz if US-led Western states proceed with threats to impose an oil embargo on Iran. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222591.html
Strait of Hormuz Will Stay Open, U.S. NATO Ambassador Says: U.S., British and French warships sailed as a group through the strait "to underline the unwavering international commitment to maintaining rights of passage under international law," the U.K. defense ministry said http://bloom.bg/wTsEps
'Iran will make world unsafe for US': An Iranian lawmaker says in the event of US "military adventurism" in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will respond in the shortest possible time by making the entire world unsafe for Americans. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222643.html
Murder in Tehran: How the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist has exposed the double standards of the international news media. http://aje.me/AzluRS
Human Rights Watch: Iraq becoming 'police state' : Iraq's Shiite-led government cracked down harshly on dissent during the past year of Arab Spring uprisings, turning the country into a "budding police state" as autocratic regimes crumbled elsewhere in the region, an international rights groups said Sunday. http://spjour.nl/AtGDAA
Ex-Iraq PM accuses Maliki of 'detaining, torturing' political opponents : Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has accused Nouri al-Maliki of jailing over 1,000 members of opposition political parties, detaining many of them in secret locations with no access to legal counsel and using 'brutal torture' to extract confessions. http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-148343.html
Iraq's warning for neighbours: - Iraq on Sunday criticised neighbouring Turkey, Iran and unnamed Arab countries for trying to "intervene" in Baghdad's month-long political crisis and not respecting its sovereignty. http://bit.ly/wv5Zrv
HRW accuses Israel of rights violations: In annual report on rights abuses, group charges Israel with using unnecessary lethal force. http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=254699
ICC charges four over Kenyan vote violence; International Criminal Court judges ordered four prominent Kenyans, including two potential presidential candidates, to stand trial for allegedly orchestrating a deadly wave of violence after their country's disputed 2007 presidential election. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/01/20121231101285806.html
UN rights chief urges US close Guantanamo: "It is 10 years since the US government opened the prison at Guantanamo, and now three years since January 22, 2009, when the president ordered its closure within 12 months," the High Commissioner for Human Rights said. "Yet the facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained - indefinitely - in clear breach of international law," she said in a statement. http://bit.ly/xtXsHI
We Need Your Help To Close Guantanamo: We need your help to secure 25,000 signatures on the Close Guant�namo Now! petition http://bit.ly/xEjbir
Sen. Rand Paul stopped by airport security: He said he was "detained" at a small cubicle and couldn't make his flight to Washington for a Senate vote scheduled later in the day. http://huff.to/z5Lvp4
January 22, 2012
Afghan, Nato Forces Kill 20 "Insurgents": Sixteen insurgents were killed and ten others were captured by Afghan and Nato led troops over the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said on Sunday. http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/5089-afghan-nato-forces-kill-20-insurgents
Afghan soldier 'killed French troops over US video': An Afghan soldier who shot dead four French troops has said he did it because of a recent video showing US Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban insurgents, security sources told AFP. http://bit.ly/xDKsIs
How Pakistan continues to help US drone campaign despite political tensions: The Jan 10 strike -- and its follow-up two days later -- were joint operations, a Pakistani security source based in the tribal areas told Reuters. http://bit.ly/w4aBW3
12 killed in south Yemen clashes: - Eight "militants" and four Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes on Thursday, local officials and medics said, near a southern provincial capital seized by Islamist dissidents in May. http://bit.ly/ysim2n
Yemen's president leaves for US: Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday left for the United States after asking his people for forgiveness for "any shortcomings" during his 33-year rule, reported the Yemeni news website Mareb Press. http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1982791.html
Nine killed in Iraq attacks: At least nine people were killed Sunday in three areas across Iraq, security and medical sources said, DPA reported. http://bit.ly/x0fila
Report: US kills Somali Al Qaeda "insurgent": A U.S. drone strike killed a British Al Qaeda official fighting alongside insurgents in Somalia, officials said. http://fxn.ws/wB5MAA
Arab League extends Syria mission 1 more month: The League decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, the officials said. http://bit.ly/wZMoBf
Saudi withdraws Syria monitors: Saudi Arabia will withdraw its observers from Syria because the mission has failed to end 10 months of bloodshed and will call on the international community to apply "all possible pressure" on Damascus to end the violence, its foreign minister said. http://thesent.nl/x6uGBW
Syrian deserters take suburb near Damascus, activists say: Syrian activists say insurgents now fighting army at the entrances to the suburb of Douma, which has been a center of protests in the 10-month revolt against President Bashar Assad. http://bit.ly/zxJaws
Syria deserters retreat after seizing area near capital: "No one can get in or out of Douma right now. This is the first time the rebels do anything more than hit-and-run attacks. Tonight they started making barriers in the streets," an activist living in Douma told Reuters by Skype. http://yhoo.it/AiJypX
Syrian exiles smuggling weapons, goods to "revolutionaries": Syrian dissidents based in Lebanon have stepped up efforts to help the opposition in their country by smuggling medicine, satellite phones, cameras and weapons into Syria - and refugees and injured fighters out. http://bit.ly/wBn8qs
2 US Senators Seek Sanctions On Syria: The bill, to be released Sunday by Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, would require President Barack Obama to identify violators of human rights and call for reform and protection of pro-democracy demonstrators. http://bit.ly/yHyZ4w
US aircraft carriers to deliver 'direct message to Iran': Panetta added that the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is on course for the Persian Gulf - and will steam through the Strait of Hormuz in a direct message to Iran, AP reports. http://rt.com/news/aircraft-carrier-hormuz-iran-391/
Report: Iranian Officer Killed in Shooting Attack: Two motorcyclists fired shots at a group of soldiers who were on their way to an air force base located near the city. http://bit.ly/xz9qrT
Greece presses EU to ease Iran oil sanctions: European diplomats are confident that EU foreign ministers will agree plans on Monday to impose a phased ban on the import of crude oil from Iran over the next few months. http://www.livestation.com/bbc-world-service
Deputy head of Libya's NTC quits after protests: The deputy head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Sunday he was resigning after a series of protests against the new government which the country's leader warned could drag Libya into a "bottomless pit." http://reut.rs/zRbxbR
'Libya's like Somalia': "Africans are being beaten and killed in Libya and no one there cares," http://bit.ly/xZHAkX
Online companies win piracy fight: Outspent but hardly outgunned, online and high-tech companies triggered an avalanche of Internet clicks to force Congress to shelve legislation that would curb online piracy. They outmaneuvered the entertainment industry and other old guard business interests, leaving them bitter and befuddled. http://fxn.ws/yOlume
"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley |