NEWS (Last Updated: Sat. Sep. 05, 2009)

Israeli Apartheid (Last Updated Sat. Sep. 05)

EU, US condemn Israel’s settlement approval
Sat. Sep. 05 – The US condemns an Israeli plan to endorse the construction of hundreds of housing units as part of Tel Aviv’s settlement expansion in the West Bank.

Israel OK for new settler homes outrages Palestinians
Sat. Sep. 05 – JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel will approve construction of West Bank settlement homes before it considers a freeze sought by Washington, a top government official said on Friday, sparking Palestinian outrage.

In August, 63 Palestinians kidnapped by Israel
Fri. Sep. 04 – The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) says that in August, a total number of 63 Palestinians have been kidnapped from the West Bank by Israeli soldiers.

Israeli fighter jets bomb Gaza Strip
Fri. Sep. 04 – Israeli warplanes have launched an attack on the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli officials say.

Israeli tanks invade Gaza, meet resistance
Fri. Sep. 04 – Israeli tanks and bulldozers have invaded the eastern border areas of the Gaza Strip, destroying cultivated agricultural Palestinian land.

Israel to build new houses in settlements
Fri. Sep. 04 – JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will approve hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements before slowing settlement construction, two of his aides said Friday, in an apparent snub of Washington’s public demand for a total settlement freeze.

Palestinian Children Murdered by IDF Snipers
Thu. Sep. 03 – Mohammad Riyad Nayef funiral, age of 14, he was murdered on Saturday in Al-Jalazun refugee camp.

East Jerusalem Shuts Out Thousands of Palestinians on Holy Day
Wed. Sep. 02 – Thousands of Palestinians were turned away at West Bank checkpoints leading into Jerusalem by Israeli security forces as they tried to attend Friday Ramadan prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque.

No halt to settlement policy: Israeli minister
Wed. Sep. 02 – An Israeli cabinet minister has categorically confirmed that construction and expansion of illegal Jewish settlements in and around Jerusalem (al-Quds) will continue.

Palestinian woman speaks of jailhouse abuse
Wed. Sep. 02 – A female Palestinian detainee has recounted how she was under continuous interrogation, intimidation, and abuse for 14 days by Israeli soldiers and interrogators.

Israel using arrests to silence Palestinian journalists
Wed. Sep. 02 – The PMC condemned the Zionist action after Israeli soldiers kidnapped journalist Seri Sammour on August 31 in a raid on his house in Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian in West Bank
Tue. Sep. 01 – RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – A Palestinian died overnight in an Israeli hospital after being shot by Israeli soldiers, Palestinian medical workers said on Tuesday.

Palestinain girl complains to ICC over Gaza war
Tue. Sep. 01 – A 15-year-old Palestinian girl has demanded the International Criminal Court to probe into the Israeli three-week war on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Despite mounting pressure, Israel ups settlements
Mon. Aug. 31 – Despite mounting international pressure on Tel Aviv, Israel has accelerated settlement activity in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) in the first half of 2009.

Israeli warships bombard Gaza fishing boat
Mon. Aug. 31 – Gaza – Ma’an – Israeli warships bombarded Palestinian boats off the Sudaniyya shore north of Gaza City on Monday morning, according to Nizar Ayyash, head of the Fishermen’s Union.

Israel built 150 housing units in eastern Jerusalem in six months
Sun. Aug. 30 – OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– An Israeli organization monitoring the Israeli settlement drive in eastern Jerusalem has revealed that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had built at least 150 housing units in occupied Jerusalem, particularly in the Old City.

Israeli aircraft bomb building in Gaza Strip
Sun. Aug. 30 – Israeli aircraft have bombed a building in the Gaza Strip, the latest in a series of attacks which killed four Palestinian and injured several others in the past week.

Egypt calls for settlement freeze in Jerusalem
Sat. Aug. 29 – Egypt has called on Israel to freeze settlement activities in occupied East Jerusalem (al-Quds) before the resumption of any peace talks with the Palestinians.

U.S. drops demand for Israel building freeze in East Jerusalem
Fri. Aug. 28 – According to both Israeli officials and Western diplomats, U.S. envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell has recognized the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot announce a settlement freeze in East Jerusalem. The officials said the U.S. will not endorse new construction there, but would not demand Jerusalem publicly announce a freeze.

Merkel: Israeli settlements, obstacle to peace
Fri. Aug. 28 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Israeli settlement building in Palestinian territories must stop before peace can be established in the Middle East.

Israel planning to build 150 homes for Jewish settlers in Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem
Fri. Aug. 28 – 750 settlers are expected to move into the new houses, joining the existing 2000 settlers living in Arab-Palestinian neighborhoods.

The Israeli military kidnaps 13 Palestinian civilians from the West Bank
Fri. Aug. 28 – Israeli troops kidnapped 13 Palestinian civilians on Thursday during pre dawn invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities.

 

Obama’s Wars (Last Updated Sat. Sep. 05)

French soldier killed in Afghan bomb explosion
Sat. Sep. 05 – One French soldier from the NATO-led coalition forces has lost his life and nine others have sustained serious injuries after an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle in Afghanistan.

Afghans mourn dead under outcry of NATO bombing
Sat. Sep. 05 – KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (AFP) – Afghans on Saturday mourned the dead from a NATO bombing that killed scores of people and renewed an outcry over civilian casualties at the hands of Western troops in an eight-year war.

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,339
Sat. Sep. 05 – As of Friday, Sept. 4, 2009, at least 4,339 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Another British soldier falls in Afghanistan
Fri. Sep. 04 – A roadside bomb explosion has killed a British soldier in the troubled southern Afghanistan, bringing to 211 the overall British fatalities in the war-ravaged country.

Bomb attacks claim 7, injure 100 in Iraq
Fri. Sep. 04 – At least seven people have been killed and nearly one hundred others injured following a series of bomb attacks across war-torn Iraq on Thursday.

Body handed over in Iraq confirmed as British hostage
Fri. Sep. 04 – LONDON (Reuters) – British experts have identified a body handed over in Baghdad as security guard Alec MacLachlan, one of five British hostages seized in 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.

Officials: US to Add 14,000 Combat Troops in Afghanistan
Thu. Sep. 03 – In what seems to be just the latest move in the ongoing US escalation in Afghanistan, Pentagon officials have indicated that they intend to swap out 14,000 support troops in favor of another 14,000 combat troops, which they called “trigger pullers.”

Contractors Outnumber U.S. Troops in Afghanistan
Thu. Sep. 03 – Civilian contractors working for the Pentagon in Afghanistan not only outnumber the uniformed troops, according to a report by a Congressional research group, but also form the highest ratio of contractors to military personnel recorded in any war in the history of the United States.

More militants killed in NW Pakistan
Thu. Sep. 03 – Pakistani security forces have killed 16 more militants and arrested 35 others on the second day of an encounter in the Khyber region of north western tribal belt.

CIA refuses to release torture documents
Thu. Sep. 03 – The CIA has refused to release further documents related to its controversial rendition, detention and interrogation of terror suspects

IRAQ: Monthly death toll highest in over a year
Wed. Sep. 02 – Violence in Iraq produced the highest death toll in 13 months as August was marred by a series of suicide bombings in northern Iraq and a high-profile attack on two government ministries in Baghdad that stoked concerns that security was deteriorating with the removal of most U.S. forces from Iraqi cities and the approach of national elections in January.
A total of 456 people were killed in attacks in August, including 393 civilians, a number far lower than the figures at the height of Iraq’s civil war in 2006 and 2007 when Iraq’s monthly death toll sometimes soared past 2,000.

US support for Afghan war at all-time low
Wed. Sep. 02 – The support of Americans for the war in Afghanistan has fallen to its lowest level since the US-led invasion eight years ago, a new poll has found.

Two UK soldiers killed in Helmand
Tue. Sep. 01 – Two British soldiers are killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 210 the total number of UK troop fatalities since the operations began in 2001.

Afghan bombs kill two US soldiers
Mon. Aug. 31 – Kabul , (AFP) – Bomb attacks in Afghanistan killed two US soldiers today as the commander of 100,000 Western troops in the country called for a revised strategy to defeat Taliban insurgents, the military said.
The soldiers from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force were killed in separate improvised-explosive device attacks in southern Afghanistan, the military said in a statement.

US military still holding 9,000 Iraqi prisoners
Mon. Aug. 31 – The US military still holds about 9,000 Iraqi detainees, despite the fact that it is obliged to release or hand over the custody of all Iraqi prisoners under a Washington-Baghdad interim security pact.

Bomb blast sets NATO trucks ablaze in Pakistan
Mon. Aug. 31 – With insurgency at its peak in Pakistan, a powerful bomb blast in the country has set ablaze several trucks loaded with supplies for US forces in Afghanistan.

Blast kills 14 police recruits in Pakistan’s Swat
Sun. Aug. 30 – MINGORA, Pakistan – A suicide bomber killed at least 14 police recruits Sunday in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in the deadliest attack since the army regained control over the northwestern valley from the Taliban, an official said.

Attack on American patrol kills 2 Afghans
Sat. Aug. 29 – KABUL – Officials say two Afghan civilians were killed and 21 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a group of American troops.

Truck bombs kill 16 people in Iraq
Sat. Aug. 29 – BAGHDAD – Two truck bombs struck separate communities north of Iraq’s capital on Saturday, killing at least 16 people in the latest attacks that indicate insurgents are targeting relatively unprotected areas as security forces focus on defending the cities.

NATO chief: mission to last ‘as long as it takes’
Fri. Aug. 28 – ANKARA, Turkey – NATO’s mission in Afghanistan will last “as long as it takes” to ensure that the country is secure, the alliance’s new leader said Friday during a visit to the Turkish capital.

August deadliest month for US in Afghanistan
Fri. Aug. 28 – KABUL – An American service member died in a bomb blast in Afghanistan on Friday, making August the deadliest month of the eight-year war for U.S. forces.

US Copter Opens Fire on Afghan Medical Clinic
Fri. Aug. 28 – US and Afghan forces, backed by a US Apache helicopter attacked a medical clinic in the Paktika Province of Afghanistan yesterday after receiving reports that a wounded Taliban commander had “sought treatment” at the facility.

2 American soldiers killed in Baghdad bombing
Fri. Aug. 28 – BAGHDAD – The U.S. military says two American soldiers have died of wounds sustained during a roadside bomb attack in the Iraqi capital.

 

Swine Flu Hoax (Last Updated Thu. Sep. 03)

Obama to spend another $2.7 bln to fight H1N1
Thu. Sep. 03 – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration will spend an additional $2.7 billion to buy swine flu drugs and vaccines, just days after White House science advisers called the pandemic “a serious threat to our nation.”

CDC Warns Neurologists To Watch For Nerve Disease Following Swine Flu Shots
Thu. Sep. 03 – The CDC has followed in the footsteps of British health authorities by warning neurologists to look out for cases of the nerve disease Guillain-Barre syndrome caused by the swine flu vaccine.

Fox News Poll: Majority Think Swine Flu Vaccine Deadlier Than Virus
Sat. Aug. 29 – According to a Fox News poll, the majority of respondents think that the swine flu vaccine is deadlier than the actual virus itself, emphasizing the growing momentum in the revolt against government plans to institute mass H1N1 vaccination programs.

 

More News (Last Updated Sat. Sep. 05)

27 Iranians in world’s top scientists list
Sat. Sep. 05 – Twenty seven Iranian scientists have been named among the 100-member-list of the most prominent scientists in the world, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has announced.

Iran says US nuke documents ‘forged’
Sat. Sep. 05 – VIENNA – Iran accused the U.S. on Friday of using “forged documents” and relying on subterfuge to make its case that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, according to a confidential letter obtained by The Associated Press.

U.S. Lost 335,000 Jobs in August and 5.9 Million Jobs in Past Year
Thu. Sep. 03 – TrimTabs Investment Research estimates that the U.S. economy lost 335,000 jobs in August, which is nearly 50% more than the current consensus estimate of 225,000 jobs lost. In the past twelve months, the U.S. economy has lost 5.9 million jobs, the largest annual job loss in records dating back to 1970.

Amnesty Intl. urges Obama to lift embargo on Cuba
Wed. Sep. 02 – Amnesty International has called on President Barack Obama to lift the 47-year-old embargo on Cuba In order to redefine US relations with Latin America.

Iran, Pakistan to complete gas pipeline by 2013
Tue. Sep. 01 – Iranian and Pakistani officials have agreed in principle to complete a long awaited multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project by 2013.

Russian Professor: US collapse likely in 2010
Tue. Sep. 01 – A Russian academician says the demise of the US is imminent, arguing that the likelihood for the US collapse by July 2010 is more than 50 percent.

Blackwater trains mercenaries in Philippines
Mon. Aug. 31 – The notorious US private security contractor, formerly known as Blackwater, uses a Philippines location to train mercenaries for Iraq and Afghanistan operations.

Cheney wants skeleton kept in closet
Mon. Aug. 31 – Former US vice president Dick Cheney has branded an inquiry into suspected CIA prisoner abuses as ‘political’, saying he might refuse to speak with a prosecutor investigating the case.

Serious fraud complaints double in Afghan vote
Mon. Aug. 31 – KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s election fraud watchdog said on Sunday it is probing 567 allegations of abuse it considers serious enough to affect the outcome of the Aug 20 vote, more than double the number announced two days ago.

Obama Administration Seeks “Emergency Control” of the Internet
Mon. Aug. 31 – As the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (S.773) wends its way through Congress, civil liberties’ advocates are decrying provisions that would hand the President unlimited power to disconnect private-sector computers from the internet.

Iran ’scores points’ on IAEA report despite US pressure
Sat. Aug. 29 – “As he (IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei) says in paragraph 26, Iran has cooperated with the agency, improving the safeguard measures in Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz,” Tehran’s IAEA ambassador, Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, told Press TV.

S. America calls for expulsion of US troops
Sat. Aug. 29 – The leaders joined voices in expressing concerns about the presence of foreign forces in the region that might pose threats to the sovereignty of the bloc’s Member States – a reference to a recent military pact between the United States and Colombia.

US denies giving up missile shield plan
Fri. Aug. 28 – Washington has denied reports that it was abandoning a plan to deploy defense missile shield bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Castro: US aims to overthrow Chavez’s government
Fri. Aug. 28 – Fidel Castro has accused the US of seeking to overthrow Venezuela’s government and to establish power through its future military bases in Colombia.

After 7 months, Obama’s approval rating 50%
Fri. Aug. 28 – After seven months in power, US President Barack Obama’s approval rating has plunged to its lowest level, according to a new poll.

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