7 Oct 2013
4 Oct 2013
Ex-NSA/CIA chief Hayden wants to put Snowden on kill list
CIA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden should be on a hit list rather than a list of names recently nominated for a Prize for Freedom of Thought. That was a joke made by former NSA director Michael Hayden. But his humor has sparked a wave of criticism. He told RT's Marina Portnaya he was misunderstood. RT
2 Oct 2013
26 Sept 2013
Qatar's World Cup 'slaves'
Dozens of Nepalese migrant labourers have died in Qatar in recent weeks and thousands more are enduring appalling labour abuses, a Guardian investigation has found, raising serious questions about Qatar's preparations to host the 2022 World Cup.
This summer, Nepalese workers died at a rate of almost one a day in Qatar, many of them young men who had sudden heart attacks. The investigation found evidence to suggest that thousands of Nepalese, who make up the single largest group of labourers in Qatar, face exploitation and abuses that amount to modern-day slavery, as defined by the International Labour Organisation, during a building binge paving the way for 2022.
According to documents obtained from the Nepalese embassy in Doha, at least 44 workers died between 4 June and 8 August. More than half died of heart attacks, heart failure or workplace accidents.
24 Sept 2013
Pope Francis 'Excommunicates Priest Over Views On Gay Marriage And Women'
An Australian priest has been excommunicated by the Vatican over his liberal views, according to reports. Greg Reynolds has reportedly been both defrocked and excommunicated over his support for women priests and the gay community. The excommunication document - written in Latin and giving no reason - came directly from Vatican under the authority of Pope Francis, who just recently said that the Church focuses too much on gays and abortion, International Business Times reported.
20 Sept 2013
18 Sept 2013
Is war biggest crime committed in Syria against Syrians?
As the UN Independent Commission on Syria releases yet another report, one thing is painfully clear: both sides have committed countless war crimes and atrocities, with no end in sight to the hostilities. How independent and impartial can the Commission be, with so much at stake? Vitit Muntarbhorn, one of the authors of the report, joins Oksana in this special edition of Worlds Apart.
8 Sept 2013
1 Sept 2013
31 Aug 2013
30 Aug 2013
28 Aug 2013
27 Aug 2013
Secret Pakistan - Double Cross
"Secret Pakistan" by BBC showing involvement of ISI and Pakistan Army in helping taliban.
26 Aug 2013
23 Aug 2013
North Carolina Bans Use of Latest Science on Rising Sea Level
A new law in North Carolina will ban the state from basing coastal policies on the latest scientific predictions of how much the sea level will rise, prompting environmentalists to accuse the state of disrespecting climate science.
The law has put the state in the spotlight for what critics have called nearsightedness and climate change denial, but its proponents said the state needed to put a moratorium on predictions of sea level rise until scientific techniques improve.
The law was drafted in response to an estimate by the state's Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) that the sea level will rise by 39 inches in the next century, prompting fears of costlier home insurance and accusations of anti-development alarmism among residents and developers in the state's coastal Outer Banks region.
Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue had until Thursday to act on the bill known as House Bill 819, but she decided to let it become law by doing nothing.
22 Aug 2013
Gay Reporter Kicked Off RT After Protesting Anti-Gay Law
Reporter James Kirchick was kicked off the air of Russian TV Wednesday after he refused to talk about Bradley Manning and instead spoke about the Russian government's anti-gay laws.
21 Aug 2013
CCR Condemns Manning Sentence, Whistleblower Should Have Never Been Prosecuted
Today, in response to the sentencing of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement.
We are outraged that a whistleblower and a patriot has been sentenced on a conviction under the Espionage Act. The government has stretched this archaic and discredited law to send an unmistakable warning to potential whistleblowers and journalists willing to publish their information. We can only hope that Manning’s courage will continue to inspire others who witness state crimes to speak up.
This show trial was a frontal assault on the First Amendment, from the way the prosecution twisted Manning’s actions to blur the distinction between whistleblowing and spying to the government’s tireless efforts to obstruct media coverage of the proceedings. It is a travesty of justice that Manning, who helped bring to light the criminality of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, is being punished while the alleged perpetrators of the crimes he exposed are not even investigated. Every aspect of this case sets a dangerous precedent for future prosecutions of whistleblowers – who play an essential role in democratic government by telling us the truth about government wrongdoing – and we fear for the future of our country in the wake of this case.
We must channel our outrage and continue building political pressure for Manning’s freedom. President Obama should pardon Bradley Manning, and if he refuses, a presidential pardon must be an election issue in 2016.
Apple Helps Cops Hide Police Brutality
The rapid emergence of smart phones with high definition cameras leads to consequences for law-breaking cops. Recently, law enforcement has throughout the country has been trying to pass laws that would make it illegal to film them while they're on duty. But Apple is coming out with a new technology that would put all the power in a cop's hands. Check out the video by Anna Kasparian and the link for more information
20 Aug 2013
CIA Finally Admits Role in 1953 Iran Coup
Sixty years ago, on August 19, 1953, modern Iranian history took a critical turn when a U.S.- and British-backed coup overthrew the country's prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh.
David Miranda: 'They said I would be put in jail if I didn't co-operate'
David Miranda, the partner of the Guardian journalist who broke stories of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency, has accused Britain of a "total abuse of power" for interrogating him for almost nine hours at Heathrow under the Terrorism Act.
In his first interview since returning to his home in Rio de Janeiro early on Monday, Miranda said the authorities in the UK had pandered to the US in trying to intimidate him and force him to reveal the passwords to his computer and mobile phone. "They were threatening me all the time and saying I would be put in jail if I didn't co-operate," said Miranda. "They treated me like I was a criminal or someone about to attack the UK … It was exhausting and frustrating, but I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong."
Miranda – a Brazilian national who lives with Glenn Greenwald in Rio – was held for the maximum time permitted under schedule seven of the Terrorism Act 2000 which allows officers to stop, search and question individuals at airports, ports and border areas. During that time, he said, he was not allowed to call his partner, who is a qualified lawyer in the US, nor was he given an interpreter, despite being promised one because he felt uncomfortable speaking in a second language.
"I was in a different country with different laws, in a room with seven agents coming and going who kept asking me questions. I thought anything could happen. I thought I might be detained for a very long time," he said. He was on his way back from Berlin, where he was ferrying materials between Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the US film-maker who has also been working on stories related to the NSA files released by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
The Guardian - David Miranda detention: White House was given 'heads-up'
Alan Rusbridger (editor of the Guardian): The mood toughened just over a month ago, when I received a phone call from the centre of government telling me: "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back." There followed further meetings with shadowy Whitehall figures. The demand was the same: hand the Snowden material back or destroy it. I explained that we could not research and report on this subject if we complied with this request. The man from Whitehall looked mystified. "You've had your debate. There's no need to write any more." Full story here
Tito was not a Yugoslav?
Famous Yugoslav communist leader and one of the creators of the Non-Aligned movement, Josip Broz Tito, was not of Yugoslav origin, according to a document on the phonetic analysis of the language he spoke, recently published on the website of the CIA.
The CIA document was recently declassified, and in it is noted that Tito spoke Serbo-Croatian, yet, with a foreign accent. In a comprehensive analysis of possible languages which could have been Tito’s mother language, Russian and Polish are the most possible ones.
Vowel ”I” is pronounced the same after soft and hard consonants in Serbo-Croatian. On the other hand, those who have Russian or Polish as their mother language, would pronounce that vowel as soft ”N”, and that’s the way Tito spoke, which was described as foreign accent in the CIA document.
Authors of the document say that it would be logical to assume that controversial Tito was Russian or Polish, but stressed that his identity can only be assumed, and that he certainly isn’t of “Yugoslav origin.” They also note that only Tito’s non-Yugoslav origin was the key to success in dealing with ethnic problems in multicultural Yugoslavia, and his impartiality and persistence. Therefore, that is the reason why Tito in his ruling was not a Serb, Croat or Slovenian, but a Yugoslav.
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