Pussy Riot whipped by Cossacks in Sochi

Pussy Riot band Members have been attacked by Cossacks with batons, pepper spray and whips, as the young women attempted to perform a song near the seaport in the Olympic host city, Sochi.

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In their tall, fur hats and embellished traditional jackets, hundreds of Cossacks are patrolling the streets of Sochi, Russia, as the 2014 Winter Olympic Games approach.

These Russian soldiers, whose ancestry dates back thousands of years, are known in the West for their gravity-defying dance style. Closer to home, the Cossacks have long symbolized rebellion and military might in Western and Southern Russia and Ukraine.

After the Bolsheviks (who later became Communists) came to power, they massacred many Cossacks for their opposition to the revolution. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in the late 20th century, there has been a revival of Cossack culture and pride in Russia and the former Soviet states. Russia has been turning to the Cossacks to help bolster security, even before Sochi was named as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Once Russia's henchmen, Cossacks now helping with Olympic security (CNN)

Ethos

Presented by twice Oscar nominated actor & activist Woody Harrelson

From criminal conflicts of interest in politics, to unregulated corporate power, to a news media in the hands of multi-national conglomerates, to a military industrial complex that effectively owns the US government. Ethos looks at the systemic issues that work against democracy, the environment, democracy, justice and our own personal liberty.

PLO official: Rick Perry is a "racist"

A top Palestine Liberation Organization official responded to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's scathing criticisms of the PLO on Tuesday by telling The Cable that Perry's comments were "discriminatory and racist."

Perry hosted a pro-Israel rally in New York on Tuesday morning, during which he repeatedly accused President Barack Obama of "appeasement" of the Palestinians and of bungling three years of Middle East diplomacy. He also called for the closing of the PLO mission in Washington, and the cutting off of U.S. aid to the Palestinian leadership as punishment for their drive to seek member-state status at the United Nations.

But the part of Perry's remarks that really angered the PLO's Washington representative, Maen Rashid Areikat, was when Perry said, "The Obama policy of moral equivalency, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a very dangerous insult. I was appalled by what he said about ‘moral equivalence,' that there shouldn't be moral equivalence between Israelis and Palestinians. This amounts to taking a discriminatory and racist position," Areikat said in a Tuesday interview with The Cable.

"I thought the fundamental principles of the United States were to support people who are seeking freedom and liberty and justice and the Palestinian people are doing exactly that," Areikat continued. "To try to give the impression that there's no moral equivalence between the struggle of the Palestinians and the Israelis is really something that requires condemnation. It is really surprising and unacceptable."

The Cable

Links between Gaddafi Regime and British Intelligence

Documents retrieved by Human Rights Watch from Colonel Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief reveal embarrassingly close ties between the regime and western intelligence services.

The documents, found in the offices of Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi’s former right-hand man who has since defected, implicate the CIA in the rendition of suspects to the Libyan security forces, and suggest that MI6 gave the Gaddafi regime details of Libyan dissidents. Koussa, Libya’s spy chief before he became Foreign Minister is suspected by human rights groups of involvement in the torture of Libyan prisoners; the British Government came under pressure to arrest him when he defected to the UK earlier this year. He has since moved to Qatar.

The files are believed to originate from a period of rapprochement between Gaddafi and the West, with Tony Blair instrumental in bringing the despot back into the international fold.

More on huffingtonpost.co.uk

Political Repression 2.0

Agents of the East German Stasi could only have dreamed of the sophisticated electronic equipment that powered Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s extensive spying apparatus, which the Libyan transitional government uncovered earlier this week. The monitoring of text messages, e-mails and online chats — no communications seemed beyond the reach of the eccentric colonel.

What is even more surprising is where Colonel Qaddafi got his spying gear: software and technology companies from France, South Africa and other countries. Narus, an American company owned by Boeing, met with Colonel Qaddafi’s people just as the protests were getting under way, but shied away from striking a deal. As Narus had previously supplied similar technology to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, it was probably a matter of public relations, not business ethics.

Amid the cheerleading over recent events in the Middle East, it’s easy to forget the more repressive uses of technology. In addition to the rosy narrative celebrating how Facebook and Twitter have enabled freedom movements around the world, we need to confront a more sinister tale: how greedy companies, fostered by Western governments for domestic surveillance needs, have helped suppress them.

Libya is only the latest place where Western surveillance technology has turned up. Human rights activists arrested and later released in Bahrain report being presented with transcripts of their own text messages — a capacity their government acquired through equipment from Siemens, the German industrial giant, and maintained by Nokia Siemens Networks, based in Finland, and Trovicor, another German company.

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Some journalists covering events in Libya are “not real journalists”

Global Research journalist Mahdi Nazemroaya says he fears for his life and is being threatened for “not going by what NATO is presenting” as news out of Libya. He says he believes that some of the journalists covering events are “not real journalists”, but are instead working for security services.

Mystery over Libyan rebel commander's death

The head of the Libyan rebels' armed forces and two of his aides were killed by gunmen on Thursday, creating a power vacuum at the top of the opposition military hierarchy and raising questions about who was responsible.

Abdel Fattah Younes was killed after being summoned to the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi to appear before a judicial inquiry, opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil announced at a press conference late on Thursday night.

Rebel security reportedly arrived at Younes's operations room near the rebels' eastern front and arrested him and his aides early on Thursday.

Security officials said at the time that Younes was to be questioned about possible ties to Muammar Gaddafi's regime. Younes was Gaddafi's interior minister before defecting to the rebels early in the uprising, which began in February. Jalil said that Younes had been summoned for questioning regarding "a military matter". He said Younes and his two aides, a colonel and a major, were shot before they arrived for questioning.

More on Al Jazeera and BBC

US UK, French forces land in Libya

The United States, Britain and France have sent several hundred “defence advisors” to train and support the anti-Gadhafi forces in oil-rich Eastern Libya where “rebels armed groups” have apparently taken over.
According to an exclusive report confirmed by a Libyan diplomat in the region “the three Western states have landed their “special forces troops in Cyrinacia and are now setting up their bases and training centres” to reinforce the rebel forces who are resisting pro-Qaddafi forces in several adjoining areas.

A Libyan official who requested not to be identified said that the U.S. and British military gurus were sent on February 23 and 24 night through American and French warships and small naval boats off Libyan ports of Benghazi and Tobruk.
The Western forces are reportedly preparing to set-up training bases for local militias set-up by the rebel forces for an effective control of the oil-rich region and counter any push by pro- Qaddafi forces from Tripoli.
Other reports claim that efforts to “neutralize” the Libyan Air Force were also underway to limit Qaddafi’s rule in Tripoli if not fully uprooted from the country.

Pakistan Observer

ISLAMIC-INTELLIGENCE for an other view…

Gaddafi clings to power and his brolly

Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi made a bizarre brief appearance on state television last night — cowering under an umbrella. The surreal scene followed days of violent confrontation between anti-government protesters and the country's military.

Perched in the passenger seat of a car while clutching the brolly through the open door, Gaddafi denied rumours he had fled to Venezuela, where South American tyrant chum Hugo Chavez had offered sanctuary. After 42 years of iron rule Gaddafi, 68, appeared to have vanished from his lavish palace in Tripoli yesterday as the growing uprising against him finally engulfed the capital.

But in a statement that lasted less than a minute, he said: "I was talking to the youths in Green Square, just to show them I am here, not in Venezuela." Referring to foreign media, he added: "Don't believe those dogs, those TV channels."

It has been raining in the Libyan capital for two days.

The Sun

Now Violent protests break out in Libya

Protesters have clashed with police and government supporters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, reports say.

Demonstrators gathered in the early hours of Wednesday morning in front of police headquarters and chanted slogans against the "corrupt rulers of the country", Al Jazeera's sources said. Police fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, the sources said without providing further details.

The online edition of Libya's privately-owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi, said the protesters were armed with petrol bombs and threw stones. According to the newspaper, 14 people were injured in the clashes, including three demonstrators and 10 security officials.

Al Jazeera reports – More on Al Arabiya

Bahrain promises media freedoms amid protest calls

Bahrain's leaders promised Sunday to expand media freedoms in another apparent attempt to quell plans for the first major anti-government protests in the Gulf since the uprising in Egypt.

The tiny kingdom of Bahrain is among the most politically volatile in the Gulf and holds important strategic value for the West as the home as the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Bahrain's majority Shiites have long complained of discrimination by the ruling Sunni dynasty, whose crackdown on dissent last year touched off riots and clashes.
Shiite-led opposition groups and others have joined calls for demonstrations on Monday - the anniversary of Bahrain's 2002 constitution that brought some pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.

More on Al-Arabiya