Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment, notes Jalal Ghazi. Forget about oil, occupation, terrorism or even Al Qaeda. The real hazard for Iraqis these days is cancer. Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq. Thousands of infants are being born with deformities. Doctors say they are struggling to cope with the rise of cancer and birth defects, especially in cities subjected to heavy American and British bombardment. AWIP/Abel Bult-Ito: Nothing depleted about 'depleted uranium'.

At least four people have been killed in another US drone strike at a home in northwestern Pakistan, close to the Afghan border. The residents said the Wednesday attack targeted a house in Tapi Tolkhel village, just five kilometers from the border with the Afghan province of Khost. AFP quoted an unnamed security official as claiming that the attack killed four and injured two "militants".

NATO'S CURRENT offensive in the Afghan town of Marjah is being portrayed as a low casualty mission in the "good war" to get rid of the Taliban. If you were to believe the news broadcasts, it's already a success. Since the assault was always intended to be as much a publicity stunt as serving any military objective, Barack Obama and Gordon Brown will certainly be pleased at how the media has snapped into line and acted as stenographers for Nato press releases. The truth is, most of the few hundred Taliban fighters in Marjah vanished well before the much touted offensive began, not being stupid enough to face up to 15,000 of the most heavily armed troops on the planet. Much of what we've seen on the TV screens looks like random firing into empty space to give the cameras footage for the evening news bulletins. The civilian deaths in Kandahar and Marjah are a brutal reminder of the heavy price many Afghans will pay in the months and years to come to save the face of those responsible for prosecuting a futile and unjustifiable war. Wired: A British commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan insists that the strike that killed a dozen civilians last weekend, in fact, hit its intended target. (Troops allegedly were unaware that there were civilians were inside.) AWIP/Chris Floyd: All Systems Go: No Disfunction in Profitable Afghan Enterprise.

Amid growing Western efforts to impose harsher measures against Iran over its contentious nuclear, Saudi Arabia expressed doubts on Monday about the usefulness of imposing more sanctions. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told a news conference alongside U.S. Secretary in Riyadh that the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions demands a more immediate solution than sanctions. The Saudi minister also said efforts supported by the U.S. to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons must apply to Israel.

A classified assessment relayed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Obama and his senior advisers would incrementally diminish U.S. strategic cooperation with Israel developed over the last 20 years. World Tribune: Obama reverses Biden, warns Netanyahu publicly and privately on Iran. Haaretz: Israel should heed Obama's warning not to strike Iran. + Gadhafi: Obama fears Israel will assassinate him like it did JFK.

British Israelis say have nothing to do with assassination of Hamas official in Dubai. British Israelis whose names have been on passports used by an alleged Mossad assassination team say they had nothing to do with the murder of a Hamas official in Dubai. Melvyn Mildiner told the Jerusalem Post he "went to bed with pneumonia and woke up a murderer." "First, clearly it isn't me. It doesn't look like me," he said. Daily Telegraph: Dubai assassination: Irish citizens not involved, Ireland says. BBC: Dubai names suspects wanted for killing of Hamas commander: Arrest warrants for 11 "Israeli agents with European passports". Haaretz: Yet another plot twist to the Dubai assassination: at least 5 Israelis share names with assassins, but photos don't match, and they still have their passports. CNN: There were signs of five or six electric shocks on his legs, behind his ears, on his genitals and over his heart. TimesOnline: Britons had passport details stolen by ‘Mossad death squad’: The identities used by six members of the 11-strong hit squad were those of real British passport holders living in Israel. AWIP: Mossad assassins used British passports -VIDEO.Al-ManarTV: British MP Demands Israel Explains Role in Hamas Killing.

I've been sentenced for a D.U.I. offense. My 3rd one. When I first came to prison, I had no idea what to expect. Certainly none of this. I'm a tall white male, who unfortunately has a small amount of feminine characteristics. And very shy. These characteristics have got me raped so many times I have no more feelings physically. I have been raped by up to 5 black men and two white men at a time. I've had knifes at my head and throat. I had fought and been beat so hard that I didn't ever think I'd see straight again. One time when I refused to enter a cell, I was brutally attacked by staff and taken to segragation though I had only wanted to prevent the same and worse by not locking up with my cell mate. There is no supervision after lockdown. I was given a conduct report. I explained to the hearing officer what the issue was. He told me that off the record, He suggests I find a man I would/could willingly have sex with to prevent these things from happening. I've requested protective custody only to be denied. It is not available here. He also said there was no where to run to, and it would be best for me to accept things . . . . I probably have AIDS now. I have great difficulty raising food to my mouth from shaking after nightmares or thinking to hard on all this . . . . I've laid down without physical fight to be sodomized. To prevent so much damage in struggles, ripping and tearing. Though in not fighting, it caused my heart and spirit to be raped as well. Something I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself for.

It's possible that Sarah Palin's best quality is that she has none at all. She exists for both her friends and enemies as a fantasy figure. For the left, she is a harbinger of the hard-right government takeover they fear is coming. And for the right, she is the leader -- all instinct and no sophistication -- that they knew would someday lead America out of its current socialist wilderness. The pity for them both is that in reality, not to mention the polls, she sorely disappoints.

Controversial larger ferries will continue between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight despite the High Court ruling they were unlawfully introduced. A campaign group brought the legal challenge after Wightlink introduced three new ships on its Lymington to Yarmouth route in February 2009. A judge declared the move was a breach of the European habitats directive. Wightlink said the breach was not intentional and it had believed that it was acting in accordance with the law.

The vessel, carrying copper and tin ingots used to make weapons and jewellery, sank off the coast near Salcombe in Devon and is thought to date from 900BC. But it was only last year that the South West Maritime Archaeological Group, a team of amateur archaeologists, brought its cargo to the surface. NYT: On Crete, New Evidence of Very Ancient Mariners.

Egypt's most famous pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, was a frail boy who suffered from a cleft palate and club foot. He died of complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria and his parents were most likely brother and sister. Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others are helping to end many of the myths surrounding the boy king. While a comparatively minor ruler, he has captivated the public since the 1922 discovery of his tomb, which was filled with a stunning array of jewels and artefacts, including a golden funeral mask. The study - carried out by the team at the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) - provides the firmest family tree yet for Tutankhamun. The tests pointed to Pharaoh Akhenaten, who tried to revolutionise ancient Egyptian religion to worship one god, as Tutankhamun's father. His mother was one of Akhenaten's sisters, it said. The Independent: Tutankhamun: now we know who the mummy's mummy was. Secrets of Egyptian boy king's lineage and cause of death unearthed. Daily Mail: Unmasked: The real faces of the crippled King Tutankhamun (who walked with a cane) and his incestuous parents.

A Pakistan military chief confirmed today that the Afghan Taliban’s number two leader has been arrested. Major General Athar Abbas’s statement was the first official confirmation that Mullah Baradar is in Pakistani custody. Pakistani and US officials said yesterday that Baradar was arrested this month in the southern city of Karachi in what is being interpreted as a major blow to the militant movement in Afghanistan and a boost to US efforts in the war there. Australia Network News: Pakistan confirms capture of Taliban commander.

Several errors have been recently uncovered in the 4th Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These include problems with Himalayan glaciers, African agriculture, Amazon rainforests, Dutch geography, and attribution of damages from extreme weather events. More seem to turn up daily. Most of these errors stem from the IPCC’s reliance on non-peer reviewed sources.

Newsbusters' Noel Sheppard lets the mainstream media have it for completely ignoring this weekend’s game-changing revelations from Climategate conspirator Phil Jones while jumping all over the ejection of director Kevin Smith from a Southwest Airlines plane for being too fat.

Argentina has taken control of the waters around the Falkland Islands in an escalation of its row with Britain over the disputed territory. The move would effectively grant it the power to blockade the British-ruled archipelago. It comes as relations between the two countries hit a new low earlier this month following the recent discovery of oil reserves buried in the Falklands seabed. TimesOnline: Argentina to blockade Falkland waters in dispute over oil rights.