[Mondoweiss] It was a shocking event in a twenty-two day assault filled with them: the Israeli military shelled a United Nations compound in Gaza City January 15, where humanitarian aid like fuel and water pumping stations were stationed as well as hundreds of Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment. John Ging, the Gaza Director of Operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) described the scene on Democracy Now!

This morning, there were three rounds of white phosphorus which landed in our compound in Gaza. That set ablaze the main warehouse and the big workshop we have there for vehicles. At the time, there were 700, also, people displaced from the fighting. There were full fuel tankers there. The Israeli army have been given all the coordinates of all our facilities, including this one. They also knew that there were fuel tankers laden with fuel in the compound, and they would have known that there were hundreds of people who had taken refuge.

It was one of a number of incidents during "Operation Cast Lead" where the Israeli military attacked United Nations facilities. But the possibility of an further inquiry that would investigate violations of international law during these attacks was killed following intense U.S. lobbying, according to newly published State Department cables released by WikiLeaks and reported on by Foreign Policy's Colum Lynch. The efforts by the Obama administration to scuttle any investigation is similar to their efforts on the Goldstone report, and shows in detail how the U.S. uses its muscle in international forums to protect Israel.

A report was published in May 2009 on nine incidents where U.N. facilities were attacked by Israel. The full report was never published, although a summary of the U.N. report stated that the "Government of Israel is responsible for the deaths and injuries that occurred within the United Nations premises" in seven of the nine incidents investigated.

Israeli governmental source says that looming international recognition of Palestine would dub Israel a 'coloniser,' which would lead to its expulsion from international organisations and force an economic boycott upon it. A source in the Israeli government warned of disaster dubbed “September’s tsunami” with regards to an expected UN recognition for the Palestinian state. Israel’s Channel Two broadcasted that the sources said with respect to the direct repercussions of recognising Palestine that it would have four detrimental results:

First, he said, the world’s perception of Israel will shift from an occupying state to a colonising state.
Second, countries that vote for a Palestinian state would enforce an economic boycott on Israel and cease trade and commerce with the Israeli state. The boycott will not be limited to the illegal settlements and their products, the source argued.
Third, Israel would be expelled from international trade organisations.
Fourth, the world would pressure Israel into “approving” the construction of the first Palestinian international airport in the West Bank.

At a fundraiser for President Barack Obama at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco, a group of progressive supporters of Bradley Manning paid tens of thousands of dollars to attend and disrupt the event. Oakland activist Naomi Pitcairn personally paid for tickets so people from her group could attend. The group sang a song with lyrics they wrote expressing their disgust with the way the Obama Administration has responded to Manning’s inhumane treatment.

Someone with the group also managed to confront President Obama on Manning. Obama’s handlers may have been preoccupied because in this clip that runs about a minute Obama opens up about what he thinks about what Manning did.

WL Central: Obama spokesman denies Obama said what he said

ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people in northwest Pakistan Saturday started a two-day sit-in against the U.S. drone strikes in the country's tribal regions, blocking main supply route for NATO troops in the neighboring Afghanistan.

Anger runs high in Pakistan against the U.S. drone strikes in the Waziristan tribal area, which CIA considers as the base for al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants for planning attacks across the border into Afghanistan.

The protest forced the authorities to suspend for two days supplies for nearly 150,000 U.S.-led foreign forces. Officials said that nearly 70 percent of NATO supplies are transported through Pakistan, the most risky but shorter supply route. Suspected militants regularly attack NATO trucks in Pakistan, which has also forced the United States to sign agreements with Russia for alternate supply route.

The protesters will continue the sit-in till Sunday and the organizers said they would announce future strategy at the conclusion of the protest. Despite the public resentment and Pakistan's protest, the U.S. administration has rejected any possibility to halt the strikes.

Reuters: US to supply Pakistani puppet government with 85 mini-drones
Black Listed News: Carving Up Pakistan: The Balochistan Gambit

NATO warplanes have dropped bombs on various targets across the Libyan capital, Tripoli, despite criticism that such strikes have failed to protect civilians. Several explosions rocked the Libyan capital late on Saturday as NATO warplanes overflew Tripoli, AFP reported. The fresh strikes come hours after NATO jets struck a target near the compound of embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Government officials say NATO jets hit a car park but other reports suggest the target looked like a bunker. Government sources say three people were killed in the earlier attack. The troubled capital and its surrounding areas have been constantly targeted by NATO jets over the past weeks.

Black Listed News: Libya: Another Neocon War

Two MPs resign amid reported deaths of 15 people as outrage at government's response to pro-democracy protests spreads. Secret police raided homes near Damascus overnight, rights campaigners said , as popular opposition to President Bashar al Assad mounted following the bloodiest attacks on pro-democracy protesters. Security operatives in plain clothes wielding assault rifles broke into homes in the suburb of Harasta just after midnight on Sunday, arresting activists in the area, known as the Ghouta, or the old garden district of the capital.

Security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad killed at least 112 people in the last two days when they fired at protests demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption on Friday and on mass funerals for victims a day later.

Antiwar: 126 Protesters Killed in Two Days of Syria Crackdown

Over one thousand protesters in Hong Kong took to the streets to demand the release of detained Chinese artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei on Saturday, scuffling briefly with police.

The rally -- the largest in a string of protests across the city in recent weeks -- has underscored Hong Kong's growing role as a hotbed of support for Ai with local pro-democracy activists and artists ratcheting up pressure on Beijing over its heavy crackdown on dissidents, human rights lawyers and protesters challenging Communist Party controls and censorship.

Protesters held up banners with the words "Who's afraid of Weiwei" and banged on drums as they snaked their way through busy districts to the harbor-front Cultural Center, where they sang, performed and chanted for Ai's release.

Organizers said 2000 people showed up, marshaled by a heavy police contingent through busy streets. While the event was largely peaceful, brief skirmishes with police broke out as tempers flared.

Graffiti images of Ai have also been appearing across the former British colony which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, in subways, streets and prominent public spaces, spray-painted by an anonymous artist and sparking a police investigation.

AWIP: The Message of Ai Weiwei

A passenger screener at Philadelphia International Airport is facing charges that he distributed more than 100 images of child pornography via Facebook, records show. Federal agents also allege that Transportation Safety Administration Officer Thomas Gordon Jr. of Philadelphia, who routinely searched airline passengers, uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform. Homeland Security agents arrested the TSA officer March 24, and he is being held without bail.

Although the case was unsealed Thursday, neither the indictment nor the news release mentioned Gordon's job searching airline passengers for TSA. The arrest comes as TSA grapples with several other incidents involving screeners, including a YouTube video posted last week by parents angry about the pat-down their 6-year-old daughter received at an airport in New Orleans. TSA officials said the pat-down was proper; the parents said the girl was "groped."

The American soldiers have dies in an operation in southern Iraq, despite the United States claim that it is not involved in combat operations in the country anymore. "Two US service members were killed yesterday (Friday) while conducting operations in southern Iraq," the forces said without giving further details, Xinhua reported. The deaths took to 4,450 the number of the American forces killed ever since 2003, when Washington led the invasion of the violence-wrecked country. Last year alone, militancy in Iraq claimed the lives of 60 US troops.

One of India's most revered spiritual leaders, Sri Satya Sai Baba, has died in hospital. Doctors say the 84-year-old guru, who is thought to have millions of followers around the world, died following a cardiac arrest. He had been admitted to hospital in his hometown of Puttaparthi last month, suffering from respiratory problems and kidney failure.

Many of his supporters consider him a living god and credit him with mystical powers including the ability to conjure objects out of thin air. But his career had also been dogged by controversy. He had been accused of faking some of the so-called miracles attributed to him. And some former followers have levelled accusations of sexual abuse against him and other members of his ashram - allegations that he has denied.

The Hindu: Sai Baba’s influence had no barriers