Islam4UK that proposed a march on Wootton Bassett, is actually a British Intelligence group hired by our corrupt government in order to cause further conflict between Muslims and Brits, to keep support for the wars high and to continue the trumped up threat of terrorism. Anjem Choudary is a unislamic fraud linked to Al-Mujaharoun, a group created by British Mi6 to fight the Serbians in the Kosovo war. Either it came back to bite us on the ass or he is still controlled by our own government! BNP and EDL supporters, and Islam4UK supporters are both dupes, being played like puppets by the new world order (global governance) agenda.
31 Jan 2010
U.S. halt to Haiti evacuations stirs fears for sick
Critically injured Haitian earthquake victims are no longer being flown by the U.S. military for treatment in the United States, raising fears some will die in a dispute over where to treat them and who should pay the costs.
U.S. officials said on Saturday no solution had yet been found in order to renew the U.S.-run medical evacuations, which were halted earlier this week.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist is asking the federal government to share the burden of treating people seriously injured in the January 12 quake and who need specialized medical care in U.S. hospitals.
"Florida's health care system is quickly reaching saturation, especially in the area of high level trauma care. We will not be able to sustain these efforts alone," Crist said in a letter to the federal government earlier this week.
He asked the federal government to send some patients to other states and ensure that hospitals are paid for the treatment.
Hundreds of people have already been evacuated to the United States for treatment, most of them to Florida hospitals, but military officials said they canceled the flights on Wednesday because they no longer knew where to take them.
Israel ‘poisoned Hamas leader’
A hit squad that killed a top Hamas commander in his Dubai hotel room injected him with a drug that induced a heart attack, photographed all the documents in his briefcase and left a “do not disturb” sign on the door.
The body of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 50, was discovered by staff at the luxury Al Bustan Rotana hotel after lunch on January 20. There were no suspicious signs and local doctors diagnosed a heart attack.
Nine days later, after blood samples sent to Paris for analysis showed signs of poison, Hamas announced his death and blamed Mossad, the Israeli overseas intelligence service, for the assassination.
30 Jan 2010
Israeli mind-scanner may take over US airports
As part of stringent measures to beef up airport security, US authorities may use an Israeli-made mind-reading scanner that allegedly predicts whether a passenger is a potential threat or not.
The Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA) and the Homeland Security are considering the installment of a controversial mind-reading system, that was recently developed by the Israeli-based WeCU Technologies, in all American airports, AP reported on Thursday.
The device, which functions by blending high computer technology and behavioral psychology, is essentially designed to "get inside the evildoers head" without the subject's knowledge and prevent him or her from placing the lives of fellow travelers in jeopardy.
According to WeCU Technologies CEO, Ehud Givon, people cannot help reacting mechanically to recognizable images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places.
29 Jan 2010
Haiti earthquake: orphans for sale for $50
In a remote area north of Port-au-Prince, a man was reported to have offered to sell a young boy to a Canadian man for just $50.
In camps around the capital there were several reports of men being lynched after being accused by earthquake victims of trying to steal infants from tents.
The incident near Gonaives raised fears that child trafficking gangs could move into desperately poor rural areas that have yet to be properly reached by aid agencies. The gangs are also be less likely to be picked up by authorities there.
Abduction of children by child traffickers was already a chronic problem in pre-earthquake Haiti, where thousands were handed by their families into lives of domestic servitude.
"There are an estimated one million unaccompanied or orphaned children, or children who lost one parent," said Kate Conradt, a spokesman for Save the Children. "They are extremely vulnerable."
As fears for the safety of Haitian orphans grew a group of 78 children sleeping in the street outside their shattered orphanage in the capital were being guarded at night by a group of local people.
Simulated volcanic eruptions to block Sun
A global plan to put man-made particles into the atmosphere to deflect the Sun's heat would rapidly lower global 
temperatures until cuts in carbon dioxide emissions took effect, they argued.
They acknowledged concerns about geo-engineering but said multi-national experiments should begin soon before it is too late to reverse climate change or in case a rogue state carried out separate measures.
The environmental scientists, David Keith of the University of Calgary in Canada, Edward Parson of the University of Michigan and Granger Morgan of Carnegie Mellon University, were writing an editorial in the journal, Nature.
They called for governments to establish a multimillion-pound fund for research into the simulated volcanoes and other solar-radiation management techniques for shielding the Earth against sunlight. More on Telegraph
Bin Laden deplores climate change
Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has condemned the US and other industrial economies, holding them responsible for the phenomenon of climate change.
In an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, bin Laden criticised George Bush, the former US president, for rejecting the Kyoto pact and condemned global corporations.
"This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions - whether intentionally or unintentionally - and about the action we must take," bin Laden said.
"Speaking about climate change is not a matter of intellectual luxury - the phenomenon is an actual fact." Bin Laden says "all the industrial states" are to blame for climate change, "yet the majority of those states have signed the Kyoto Protocol and agreed to curb the emission of harmful gases".
Corruption in Washington is smothering America's future
Gallup has found in polls for a decade now that two-thirds believe the government should guarantee care for every American: they are as good and decent and concerned for each other as any European. No: it is because private insurance companies make a fortune today out of a system that doesn't cover the profit-less poor, and can turn away the sickest people as "uninsurable". So they pay for politicians to keep the system broken. They fund the election campaigns of politicians on both sides of the aisle and employ an army of lobbyists, and for their part those politicians veto any system that doesn't serve their paymasters.
Look for example at Joe Lieberman, the former Democratic candidate for Vice-President. He has taken $448,066 in campaign contributions from private healthcare companies while his wife raked in $2m as one of their chief lobbyists, and he has blocked any attempt in the Senate to break the stranglehold of the health insurance companies and broaden coverage.
The US political system now operates within a corporate cage. If you want to run for office, you have to take corporate cash – and so you have to serve corporate interests. Corporations are often blatant in their corruption: it's not unusual for them to give to both competing candidates in a Senate race, to ensure all sides are indebted to them. It has reached the point that lobbyists now often write the country's laws. Not metaphorically; literally. The former Republican congressman Walter Jones spoke out in disgust in 2006 when he found that drug company lobbyists were actually authoring the words of the Medicare prescription bill, and puppet-politicians were simply nodding it through.
Escalating violence against anti-mining campaigners in El Salvador
On 26th December, Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto became the third victim of a wave of violence against environmental campaigners in the Cabañas Region of El Salvador, where community members are protesting against the re-opening of a Gold Mine by Canadian Company Pacific Rim.
Dora Alicia was a member of the Cabañas Environmental Committee, and had been active in opposing the mine. She was eight months pregnant when she was shot dead, and her two year old son was also wounded in the attack.
Her murder comes six days after the fatal shooting of Ramiro Rivera Gomez, Vice President of the Cabañas Environmental Committee, who had survived being shot eight times in August this year. A passenger in his car was also killed in the attack, and a teenage girl wounded. In June, another environmental campaigner, Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno, had been tortured and killed. Many other members of the community have received death threats, including youth workers and journalists for the local community radio station Radio Victoria, and the local priest Father Luis Quintanilla narrowly escaped an attempted kidnapping. Despite the clear indications that these murders and threats have been politically motivated, and organised, the local prosecutor has refused to investigate adequately, putting the initial attacks down to 'common delinquency'.
28 Jan 2010
Support the call from Iranian bloggers to stop executions in Iran
Support the call by the Iranian bloggers to stop the executions in Iran. They are asking for Iran to halt all execution orders immediately. In particular, the execution of five men in relation to the election protests, a Kurdish woman and a political prisoner. All seven are in immiment danger of execution.
Whoever you are, wherever you are, even if you are not a blogger, go to this page and enter your name to be included in the comments to support this act.
Mussolini Audio Is Italy’s No. 2 iPhone Application
A collection of speeches by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini is Italy’s second-most downloaded iPhone application on Holocaust Memorial Day.
The application, called iMussolini, is available on Apple’s online store for 79 euro cents ($1.11). It has been downloaded more than a video game based on the blockbuster film Avatar, according to Apple Inc.’s Italian iTunes store. A wallpaper application is the most downloaded item.
The Mussolini application makes 100 of the so-called Duce’s speeches available on the iPhone. Mussolini ruled Italy from 1922 until his death in 1945 at the end of World War II. His granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, is a politician and ally of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government.
US Conservatives Attack Avatar
Is the movie 'Avatar' anti-religion and anti-military? Some conservatives think so. CNN's Jason Carroll takes a closer look.
Iran 'executes two over post-election unrest'
Iran has executed two men arrested during the period of widespread unrest that erupted after June's disputed presidential election, reports say.
"Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour whose cases were confirmed by a Tehran appeals court were hanged on Thursday morning," the ISNA news agency said.
They had been convicted of being "enemies of God", members of armed groups and trying to topple the Islamic establishment, Isna news agency said.
The executions are believed to be the first related to last year's protests.
Millions demanded a re-run of June's poll at the largest demonstrations in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Opposition groups said it had been rigged to ensure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a charge the government denied.
At least 30 protesters have been killed in clashes since the elections, although the opposition says more than 70 have died. Thousands have been detained and some 200 activists remain behind bars.
More on BBC News - Al Jazeera
27 Jan 2010
Israel calls UN Gaza report 'anti-Semitic'
A UN report on Israel's 22-day offensive against Hamas-controlled Gaza is anti-Semitic, an Israeli government minister said, as the Jewish state prepares to formally respond to its allegations of war crimes.
"The Goldstone Report ... and similar reports, are simply a type of anti-Semitism," Diaspora and Information Minister Yuli Edelstein told the YNet news agency ahead of a trip to New York, where he will present Israel's rebuttal on Thursday. YNet's report suggested the Israeli leadership is planning an all-out attack on the report to coincide with Wednesday's anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz.
"The connection between the Goldstone Report and the international Holocaust memorial day is not an easy thing. On the other hand, however, we must learn the lessons from what happened," Edelstein said. "Then too, those who yelled out were told that Hitler is a clown and that all the gloomy predictions of the 1930s were nonsense," he added.
Israel has sought to discredit the UN report since its release in September, denouncing it as anti-Semitic even though its lead author, South African judge and international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone, is Jewish. (AFP)
Chaotic scramble as thousands of hungry Haitians overrun peacekeepers delivering food
Thousands of hungry Haitians spilled into the streets defeating barbed wire and a tiny contingent of blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers distributing food. The chaotic scene unfolded outside the wrecked presidential palace in Port-au-Prince where aid agencies struggled to control 4000-strong mass of desperate Haitians, two weeks after the devastating earthquake struck.
Security forces fired pepper spray into the air in an effort to disperse the thousands of men, women and children jostling for food.
One peacekeeper (far right) can be seen using pepper spray to try and keep crowds under control.
Stalin's Complicity in "Operation Barbarossa"
Stalin's inaction despite foreknowledge of "Operation Barbarossa", Hitler's 1941 invasion of Russia, is one of the great mysteries of World War Two.
Like the improbable Dunkirk, where Hitler allowed the evacuation of 330,000 Allied soldiers, the explanation lies in the collusion of the wartime leaders: Hitler, Churchill, FDR and Stalin.
The Illuminati bankers manufacture war to advance a satanic world government agenda. The wartime leaders belonged to the Illuminati Order and were chosen to impose another catastrophe upon the human race. Their incongruous behavior was designed to prolong the war.
According to author David Murphy, Stalin had precise intelligence regarding Barbarossa yet "rejected it and refused to permit his military to take necessary actions to respond lest they 'provoke' the Germans." (What Stalin Knew: The Enigma of Barbarossa, 2005, p.xix)
More on savethemales.ca
A crime of aggression: The damning verdict of top Whitehall lawyers on invading Iraq
Tony Blair and Jack Straw brushed aside repeated warnings from Government lawyers that they would not have a 'leg to stand on' if Britain invaded Iraq.
Devastating evidence at the Iraq inquiry yesterday revealed that every senior legal adviser at the Foreign Office believed the conflict was in breach of international law.
Astonishingly, Downing Street asked lawyers to assess what the consequences would be if Britain toppled Saddam Hussein without legal authority. When they received the lawyers' memo, No.10 demanded: 'Why has this been put in writing?'
Sir Michael Wood, then the Foreign Office's senior legal adviser, warned ministers again and again that to go to war without approval from a UN Security Council resolution would constitute a 'crime of aggression' in international law.
More on Mail Online
26 Jan 2010
Web censorship in China? Not a problem, says Bill Gates
Less than two weeks after Google said it planned to uncensor its Chinese search engine in protest at attempts to break into the email accounts of human rights activists, Gates criticised his rival's decision and insisted that agreeing to Beijing's demands was just part of doing business in the country. "You've got to decide: do you want to obey the laws of the countries you're in or not? If not, you may not end up doing business there," he told ABC's Good Morning America programme.
He also brushed aside accusations that Microsoft has been complicit in helping filter the web by saying that it was not an issue because any censorship could be circumvented with technical knowledge. "Chinese efforts to censor the internet have been very limited," he said. "It's easy to go around it, so I think keeping the internet thriving there is very important."
Gates's comments echo those last week by Microsoft chief executive, Steve Ballmer, who took a swipe at Google by suggesting that the company had over-reacted in China. "People are always trying to break into other people's data," he said on Friday. "There's always somebody trying to break into Microsoft."
More on The Guardian
Hundreds held over Nigeria clashes
More than 300 people have been arrested over clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in central Nigeria that left at least 326 people dead, police have said.
Many of the suspects in the brutal attacks have been sent to Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital, to be interviewed, according to police and security sources.
Mohammed Lerama, the police spokesman for Plateau state, said on Monday that those responsible for the four days of violence would be "dealt with firmly and decisively".
However, the spokesman for the state government expressed concern that many of those held following the violence were the same people who perpetrated similar attacks in 2008 but never faced trial.
25 Jan 2010
Report: US weapon test aimed at Iran caused Haiti quake
An unconfirmed report by the Russian Northern Fleets says the Haiti earthquake was caused by a flawed US Navy 'earthquake weapons' test before the weapons could be utilized against Iran.
A US High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) station, Gakon, Alaska
United States Navy test of one of its 'earthquake weapons' which was to be used against Iran, went 'horribly wrong' and caused the catastrophic quake in the Caribbean, the website of Venezuela's ViVe TV recently reported, citing the Russian report.
After the report was released, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also made a similar claim, saying that a US drill, carried out in preparation for a deliberate attempt to cause an earthquake in Iran, had led to the deadly incident in Haiti, claiming more than 110,000 lives.
Though Russian Northern Fleets' report was not confirmed by official sources, the comments attracted special attention in some US and Russian media outlets including Fox news and Russia Today.
The Israel lobby
An episode of the Dutch documentary program "Tegenlicht" about the Israel lobby in the USA. This documentary (April 2007) was created as a result of the controversy created by Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby" article. (English version)
Obama to indefinitely imprison detainees without charges
One of the most intense controversies of the Bush years was the administration's indefinite imprisoning of "War on Terror" detainees without charges of any kind. So absolute was the consensus among progressives and Democrats against this policy that a well-worn slogan was invented to object: a "legal black hole." Liberal editorial pages routinely cited the refusal to charge the detainees -- not the interrogation practices there -- in order to brand the camp a "dungeon," a "gulag," a "tropical purgatory," and a "black-hole embarrassment."
As late as 2007, Democratic Senators like Pat Leahy, on the floor of the Senate, cited the due-process-free imprisonments to rail against Guantanamo as "a national disgrace, an international embarrassment to us and to our ideals, and a festering threat to our security," as well as "a legal black hole that dishonors our principles." Leahy echoed the Democratic consensus when he said:
The Administration consistently insists that these detainees pose a threat to the safety of Americans. Vice President Cheney said that the other day. If that is true, there must be credible evidence to support it. If there is such evidence, then they should prosecute these people.
Martin Amis in new row over 'euthanasia booths'
Martin Amis has never fought shy of an argument, whether it be with the critic Terry Eagleton (over Islamist extremism), his pal Christopher Hitchens (over Stalin) or fellow novelist Julian Barnes (over Amis leaving his agent – Barnes's wife).
But none of those opponents were as tough as his new target promises to be. Now 60, Amis has picked a fight with the grey power of Britain's ageing population, calling for euthanasia "booths" on street corners where they can terminate their lives with "a martini and a medal".
The author of Time's Arrow and London Fields said in an interview at the weekend that he believes Britain faces a "civil war" between young and old, as a "silver tsunami" of increasingly ageing people puts pressure on society.
24 Jan 2010
Venezuela TV channels taken off air
The Venezuelan government has taken six cable television channels off the air for breaking a law on transmitting government material.
The privately owned RCTV International, openly opposed to President Hugo Chavez, is one of those affected. On Saturday the government had ordered RCTV to televise a government message, but the channel refused to comply.
The communications director for RCTV, Gladys Zapain, told AFP there was "no prior notification" of the move.
Last week RCTV, along with 23 other cable channels, was redefined by the government as a national, rather than international broadcaster. As such, the channels would now be expected to carry presidential addresses and government campaign material in what is an election year in Venezuela.
21 Jan 2010
U.S. Preparing Gitmo for Haitian Migrants
The U.S. has begun preparing tents at Guantanamo Bay for Haitians migrants in case of a mass migration spurred by the earthquake, a senior official at the base said Wednesday.
About 100 tents, each capable of holding 10 people, have been erected and authorities have more than 1,000 more on hand in case waves of Haitians leave their homeland and are captured at sea, said Navy Rear Adm. Thomas Copeman.
Authorities have also has tested the latrine facilities and gathered cots and other supplies, said Copeman, the commander of the task force that runs the detention center for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds nearly 200 men.
The Haitian migrants would be held on the opposite side of the base as the detention center, separated by some 2 1/2 miles of water across Guantanamo Bay, and would have no contact with the prisoners.
U.S.- China Military Tensions Grow
Even though the U.S. military budget is almost ten times that of China's (with a population more than four times as large) and Washington plans a record $708 billion defense budget for next year compared to Russia spending less than $40 billion last year for the same, China and Russia are portrayed as threats to the U.S. and its allies.
China has no troops outside its borders; Russia has a small handful in its former territories in Abkhazia, Armenia, South Ossetia and Transdniester. The U.S. has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in six continents.
On December 23 of last year Raytheon Company announced that it had received a $1.1 billion contract with Taiwan for the purchase of 200 Patriot anti-ballistic missiles. In early January the U.S. Defense Department cleared the transaction "despite opposition from rival China, where a military official proposed sanctioning U.S. firms that sell arms to the island."
Koalas in Australia dying from AIDS, habitat loss
Koalas generate almost US$1 billion for the Australian economy, thanks to tourists who come to see this national icon. But these cuddly creatures are under serious threat from infectious disease and habitat loss and some scientists believe they are facing extinction.
"Extinction is inevitable in some areas," according to Dr Jon Hanger, a veterinary scientist at Australia Zoo's Wildlife Hospital. "I certainly hope we don't see it across Australia. But if we don't take the decline seriously and pick up on the warning signs now it's certainly a risk."
A recent report by the Australian Koala Foundation backs up those beliefs. It claims the national population has dropped from 100,000 to fewer than 43,000 in the past six years and if nothing is done to stop the decline, koalas could be extinct within 30 years.
Besides Chlamydia, there is another disease plaguing these marsupials -- and there is no vaccine or cure and it's spreading rapidly.
Koala AIDS or KIDS (Koala Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is similar to AIDS in humans. The immune system of the animals is weakened and they are made susceptible to cancer and other deadly infections.
The hospital's head veterinary scientist, Dr. Jon Hanger, discovered the retro virus causing the condition and says it's just as severe as AIDS in humans but affects koalas more quickly. "It's knocking off a large proportion of koalas that come into this hospital and that means a large number in the bush are dying from it too."
The disease is spread by koalas coming into contact with each other. Hanger believes most of the animals carry the virus, but only some are predisposed to it becoming full-blown KIDS.
19 Jan 2010
Israel accused of silencing political protest
Israel is arresting a growing number of prominent opponents to its policies toward the Palestinians, say critics who are accusing the government of trying to crush legitimate dissent.
In the most high-profile case yet, Jerusalem police detained the leader of a leading Israeli human rights group during a vigil against the eviction of Palestinian families whose homes were taken by Jewish settlers.
Since the summer, dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists have been picked up, including those organizing weekly protests against Israel's West Bank separation barrier as well as others advocating international boycotts of Israeli goods.
Some of the Palestinians were released without charge only after weeks and months of questioning.
The arrests come at a time of shifting tactics in the protests against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and annexation of east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel captured both from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.
PDD 51 & New Executive Order Give Obama Dictator Power
An Obama executive order that creates a council of state governors who will work with the feds to expand military involvement in domestic security, together with PDD 51, a Bush era executive order that gives the President dictatorial power in times of national emergency, eliminate the last roadblocks to declaring martial law in the United States.
The new order, which is entitled Establishment of the Council of Governors (PDF), creates a body of ten state governors directly appointed by Obama who will work with the federal government to help advance the “synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States”.
The governors will liaise with officials from Northcom, Homeland Security, the National Guard as well as DoD officials from the Pentagon “in order to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State governments,” according to the executive order.
The exective order combines seamlessly with Presidential Decision Directive 51 to hand Obama dictator status in times of declared, and not necessarily genuine, national emergency.
In May 2007, former President George W. Bush sparked much alarm by openly declaring himself to be a dictator in the event of a national emergency under provisions that effectively nullify the U.S. constitution, but such an infrastructure has been in place for over 70 years and this merely represented a re-authorization of martial law powers.
Legislation signed on May 9, 2007, declares that in the event of a “catastrophic event”, the President can take total control over the government and the country, bypassing all other levels of government at the state, federal, local, territorial and tribal levels, and thus ensuring total unprecedented dictatorial power.
Drugs in Drinking Water
Not just fluoride, which is bad enough - much of our drinking water, in the U.S., Canada and U.K. at least, is contaminated with Prozac and a "vast array" of other drugs.
And you wonder why everyone around is sleepwalking and/or sick?
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.... More on Freethought Nation
Study Finds Traces of Drugs in Drinking Water in 24 Major U.S. Regions - Prozac in Tap Water - Prozac 'found in drinking water'
18 Jan 2010
U.S. Military Weapons Inscribed With Secret 'Jesus' Bible Codes
Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.
At the end of the serial number on Trijicon's ACOG gun sight, you can read "JN8:12", a reference to the New Testament book of John, Chapter 8, Verse 12, which reads: "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." The ACOG is widely used by the U.S. military.
The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious "Crusade" in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents
ABC News - More PhotosDozens die in Nigeria clashes
Troops are patrolling the northern Nigerian city of Jos after clashes between Christians and Muslims left at least 26 people dead and injured around 100 more, officials said.
Violence erupted on Sunday over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in 2008 clashes between the two religious groups, residents said, although reports as to why the latest round of fighting broke out varied.
According to the Associated Press, Muslim youths set fire to a church filled with worshippers, starting a riot that saw mosques and homes burnt. But the AFP news agency said the unrest was sparked by youths protesting the building of a mosque in a predominantly Christian area.
Earlier: Nigerian police and security forces have been accused of killing at least 90 people – almost all of them Muslims – during two-days of religious violence in the central city of Jos in November (2008). Telegraph
Frustration mounts over Haiti aid
Tensions are rising on the streets of Haiti as the bulk of earthquake survivors continue to go without food, medicine or proper shelter.
Aid organisations continued to struggle to reach them with supplies on Sunday, six nights after the devastating earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
A bottleneck at the capital's small airport – the main entry point for the massive assistance pledged by world leaders following the disaster – means little help has reached the many people waiting for help in makeshift camps on streets strewn with debris and decomposing bodies.
16 Jan 2010
H1N1 'false pandemic' biggest pharma-fraud of century?
The Council of Europe will launch a probe into pharmaceutical companies accused of manipulating Swine Flu data. This follows a claim by a renowned German scientist that vaccine manufacturers pressured the World Health Organisation into declaring a Swine Flu pandemic seeking to increase profits.
Chinese police shut down country's first gay pageant
Chinese police shut down the country's first gay pageant tonight, just one hour before the event was due to begin.
Participants hoped the contest would help challenge domestic stereotypes about homosexuality, classified as a mental illness until 2001, and show the rest of the world that gay people could be accepted in China. But officers arrived at a Beijing nightclub shortly before the Mr Gay China competition started and told organisers it was not properly licensed. They are understood to have told the venue's owners that it was "a sensitive issue".
The event was to feature a swimwear round and talent section, but contestants would also have been judged on their ability to represent the gay community. The winner was to take part in the Mr Gay Worldwide final in Norway next month.
US images show how Osama Bin Laden may look
The US State Department has issued digitally-altered photos showing how Osama Bin Laden may look now, aged 52.
Its 1998 file image of the al-Qaeda leader has been adapted to take account of a decade's worth of ageing, and possible changes to facial hair.
The digitally-altered photos on the State Department's website show two options for how he may look now - one with a full beard, and one without. BBC
FBI Uses Lawmaker's Photo For Aged Bin Laden Image
Officials Admit Spanish Lawmaker Gasper Llamazares' Photo Found On Google, According To Newspaper (wbztv.com)
The long history of troubled ties between Haiti and the US
Historically US military deployments to Haiti have been controversial to say the least, and ties have often suffered.
Both countries were born out of a struggle against European colonisers.
The US declared independence from Britain in 1776 - the first to do so in the Western Hemisphere - followed by Haiti, which broke away from France in 1804.
But there the similarities end. While the American War of Independence was driven by a white elite unwilling to continue paying taxes to its colonial masters, the Haitian revolution was led by a freed slave, Toussaint Louverture.
The existence of a nation of freed slaves to the south became an inspiration for slaves in the US, and a thorn in the side of many Southerners who relied on slavery for their economy.
In 1868, President Andrew Johnson suggested the annexation of the whole island of Hispaniola - present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic - to secure a US presence in the Caribbean.
Many Haitians fled to the US during the political repression under Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
At first, the US government welcomed the refugees, but as the numbers swelled and boatloads of Haitians arrived on the South Florida coast in the 1970s and 1980s, this attitude changed to a policy of intercepting boats at sea and returning those on board to Haiti.
After decades dominated by dictatorships and coups, democracy was restored in 1990 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected in a popular vote.
The ousting of President Aristide by a military regime in 1991 led to a new wave of Haitians headed for the US.
15 Jan 2010
US army to double weapons stockpiled in Israel
The US military plans to double the amount of military equipment it has stockpiled in Israel under a recent agreement with Tel Aviv. "The deal will double the value of military equipment kept on Israeli soil from 400 million to 800 million dollars," a Pentagon spokesman, Major Shawn Turner told AFP.
He ruled out the notion that Iran's nuclear issue was a major factor for the agreement and said that the US Congress initially authorized the expansion in 2007. "This is not in any way related to Iran or the current situation as the authorization was from 2007," he stated.
Washington's staunch ally Israel could have access to the weaponry in a military emergency. US missiles, armored vehicles, aerial ammunition and artillery ordnance are already stockpiled in Israel. The United States began by stockpiling $100 million worth of military equipment in Israel in 1990.
Obama Information Czar Calls For Banning Free Speech
The controversy surrounding White House information czar and Harvard Professor Cass Sunstein’s blueprint for the government to infiltrate political activist groups has deepened, with the revelation that in the same 2008 dossier he also called for the government to tax or even ban outright political opinions of which it disapproved.
Sunstein was appointed by President Obama to head up the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an agency within the Executive Office of the President.
On page 14 of Sunstein’s January 2008 white paper entitled “Conspiracy Theories,” the man who is now Obama’s head of information technology in the White House proposed that each of the following measures “will have a place under imaginable conditions” according to the strategy detailed in the essay.
1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing.
2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories.
That’s right, Obama’s information czar wants to tax or ban outright, as in make illegal, political opinions that the government doesn’t approve of. To where would this be extended? A tax or a shut down order on newspapers that print stories critical of our illustrious leaders?
14 Jan 2010
Chinese plead with Google not to quit
Google's threat to withdraw from China sent shockwaves through the country's internet users yesterday. Some pleaded with the search engine not to abandon them, while others applauded its tough stance after it uncovered cyber attacks on Chinese human rights activists.
While there was no official reaction from the government, ordinary people lit candles and left flowers outside the company's headquarters in Beijing. "Google – a real man" read one note attached to a bouquet at the Tsinghua Science Park. In such a politically charged environment as China, where dissent is not tolerated, the laying of flowers is a daring move.
Security at the science park has declared the act "illegal flower donation", according to a flurry of Twitter messages. "China has created a new term: 'illegal flower donation'. To put 'illegal' and 'flower donation' together in one phrase, we live in an era of truly distorted values," said one Tweet. (Although use of Twitter is blocked by the so-called Great Firewall of China, the web-savvy use virtual private networks or proxy servers to get around restrictions.) - The Independent
Timeline: Chinese internet censorship over the last year – The Guardian
Israel: One law for all?
In 1948, Israel's founding fathers issued a manifesto declaring among other things that the new state would uphold the equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race or creed. Six decades later that is not a principal that many of Israel's Arab citizens - who make up about 20 per cent of the population - believe applies to them, especially in matters involving law and order.
In his film, One Law for All?, filmmaker Tony Stark investigates whether Israeli Arabs are regularly the victims of legal double standards.
13 Jan 2010
Britain to fight ruling on police searches
The British government said Wednesday it will appeal a European court ruling that certain police stop-and-search powers are a breach of human rights.
Under Section 44 of Britain's Terrorism Act 2000, uniformed officers may stop any pedestrian or vehicle and search them, regardless of whether they have reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.
Human rights groups complain the rules are subject to abuse, but the British government calls the powers an important tool in the fight against terrorism.
British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he was disappointed in Tuesday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, because the appeals had previously gone through the British courts and been rejected.
"We are considering the judgment and will seek to appeal," Johnson said in a statement. "Pending the outcome of this appeal, the police will continue to have these powers available to them." - CNN.com
Iraq invasion violated international law, Dutch inquiry finds
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a violation of international law, an independent inquiry in the Netherlands has found.
In a damning series of findings on the decision of the Dutch government to support Tony Blair and George Bush in the strategy of regime change in Iraq, the inquiry found the action had "no basis in international law".
The 551-page report, published today and chaired by former Dutch supreme court judge Willibrord Davids, said UN resolutions in the 1990s prior to the outbreak of war gave no authority to the invasion. "The Dutch government lent its political support to a war whose purpose was not consistent with Dutch government policy. The military action had no sound mandate in international law," it said.
Mars probe shows 'trees' on planet
A MARS probe has stunned NASA scientists by sending home pictures of what look like TREES. Rows of dark "conifers" appear to sprout from alien hills on the Red Planet.
Allegations fly over Iranian scientist's assassination
Even for a country deep in political turmoil, the killing of Massoud Ali Mohammadi in Tehran today came as a shock. There have been arrests, disappearances and occasional shootings, but the manner of his death was as meticulous as it was disturbing.
Mohammadi was blown up outside his home in an smart northern suburb of Tehran by a remote-control bomb that had been attached to a motorcycle parked on the street. As his stunned neighbours cleared up the rubble they struggled to understand why a little-known academic would have fallen victim to such a highly professional assassination.
The answer may lie in Mohammadi's profession and political inclinations. He was a particle physicist and a supporter of the Iranian opposition movement, raising the possibility he had become the latest victim in a covert war over Iran's nuclear aspirations. It is a war in which scientists find themselves potential soft targets.
Over the past three years, another nuclear scientist has died in mysterious circumstances, and a third vanished without trace while visiting Saudi Arabia last June. In the same period, a former deputy defence minister and general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards also disappeared while on a visit to Istanbul.
12 Jan 2010
Research finds Neanderthals enjoyed makeup
For decades, our low-browed Neanderthal cousins have been portrayed as dim savages whose idea of seduction was a whispered "ug" and a blow to the cranium.
But analysis of pierced, hand-coloured shells and lumps of pigment from two caves in south-east Spain suggests the cavepeople who stomped around Europe 50,000 years ago were far more intelligent – and cosmetically minded – than previously thought.
In 1985, archaeologists excavating the Cueva de los Aviones in Murcia found cockle shells perforated as if to be hung on a necklace and an oyster shell containing mineral pigments, hinting that the cave's Neanderthal residents had developed a taste for self-adornment and makeup.
The Guardian – Also see More Notes From Underground
Israeli Robots Remake Battlefield
Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare.
Sixty years of near-constant war, a low tolerance for enduring casualties in conflict, and its high-tech industry have long made Israel one of the world's leading innovators of military robotics.
"We're trying to get to unmanned vehicles everywhere on the battlefield for each platoon in the field," says Lt. Col. Oren Berebbi, head of the Israel Defense Forces' technology branch. "We can do more and more missions without putting a soldier at risk."
In 10 to 15 years, one-third of Israel's military machines will be unmanned, predicts Giora Katz, vice president of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., one of Israel's leading weapons manufacturers.
"We are moving into the robotic era," says Mr. Katz.
11 Jan 2010
Mass Implant of IBM's VeriChip
Do you know about the company IBM's dark past? Do you know about IMB's plans, in cooperation with the U.S. government, for your dark future?
wethepeoplewillnotbechipped.com
UAE sheikh acquitted of torture
Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the brother of UAE president and Abu Dhabi emir Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, has been acquitted of charges of torture, his lawyer has said.
An Emirati court on Sunday acquitted Shiekh Issa despite a video tape of the 2004 incident showing him torturing an Afghan man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails.
"The court acquitted Sheikh Issa after establishing he was not responsible," for the torture, lawyer Habib al-Mulla said on Sunday.
"The court accepted our defence that the Sheikh was under the influence of drugs [medicine] that left him unaware of his actions," al-Mulla said.
Bassam and Ghassan Nabulsi, former business partners of Sheikh Issa, who filmed and kept the video tape, were sentenced in absentia to five years each in prison.
The 'false' pandemic: Drug firms cashed in on scare over swine flu, claims Euro health chief
The swine flu outbreak was a 'false pandemic' driven by drug companies that stood to make billions of pounds from a worldwide scare, a leading health expert has claimed.
Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, accused the makers of flu drugs and vaccines of influencing the World Health Organisation's decision to declare a pandemic. This led to the pharmaceutical firms ensuring 'enormous gains', while countries, including the UK, 'squandered' their meagre health budgets, with millions being vaccinated against a relatively mild disease.
A resolution proposed by Dr Wodarg calling for an investigation into the role of drug firms has been passed by the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based 'senate' responsible for the European Court of Human Rights. An emergency debate on the issue will be held later this month.
Dr Wodarg's claims come as it emerged the British government is desperately trying to offload up to £1billion of swine flu vaccine, ordered at the height of the scare.
Afghan women turning to suicide in greater numbers
More Afghan women are choosing suicide to escape the violence and brutality of their daily lives, says a new human-rights report prepared by Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.
The 2008 annual assessment paints a grim picture of a country where violence against women and girls is common, despite rising public awareness among Afghans and international condemnation.
"Self-immolation is being used by increasing numbers of Afghan women to escape their dire circumstances, and women constitute the majority of Afghan suicides," said the report, completed in November 2009.
The document was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
The director of a burn unit at a hospital in the relatively peaceful province of Herat reported that in 2008 more than 80 women tried to kill themselves by setting themselves on fire, many of them in their early 20s.
Many of those women died, the report said.
The frank evaluation of the plight of women was written against the backdrop of international debate last year over the Afghanistan government's so-called rape law.
The legislation, aimed at courting votes in the minority Shiite community, legalized rape within a marriage. It prompted outrage in Canada and many other countries.
The move was an attempt to codify social and religious practises, but the international condemnation forced the government to review the law. It was eventually enacted with some amendments, although the basic tenets remained unchanged.
10 Jan 2010
An eight-year crime against humanity
Monday marks the eighth anniversary of the first renditions to the US concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay.
Almost 200 prisoners are still being held at the base despite pledges from President Barack Obama that the prison would be closed by the end of this month.
To mark the occasion, the 12-year-old daughter of the last Briton to be held in Guantanamo, Shaker Aamer, will hand a letter to Downing Street on Monday afternoon urging Gordon Brown to step up British efforts for the return of her father.
Mr Aamer, a Saudi national and long-term resident in Britain, has been held at Guantanamo since 2002. He was cleared for release in 2007, but his release has been blocked by the US authorities.
There are fears that Mr Aamer's release is being delayed as "punishment" for his role in acting as a representative of fellow detainees at the camp.
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