الحولة بلادي‏ مجزرة الحولة امام المفرزة‏

Now Lebanon: Hundreds of Syrians flee unrest into northern Lebanon
BBC: Syria: EU push for UN condemnation fails
Epoch Times: Syria Sends More Tanks, Troops to Quell Protests in Daraa
The Guardian: UN fails to agree on condemning Syrian violence against protesters after resistance from Russia, China and Lebanon

Iceland is free. And it will remain so, so long as her people wish to remain autonomous of the foreign domination of her would-be masters — in this case, international bankers.

On April 9, the fiercely independent people of island-nation defeated a referendum that would have bailed out the UK and the Netherlands who had covered the deposits of British and Dutch investors who had lost funds in Icesave bank in 2008. At the time of the bank’s failure, Iceland refused to cover the losses. But the UK and Netherlands nonetheless have demanded that Iceland repay them for the “loan” as a condition for admission into the European Union. In response, the Icelandic people have told Europe to go pound sand. The final vote was 103,207 to 69,462, or 58.9 percent to 39.7 percent. “Taxpayers should not be responsible for paying the debts of a private institution,” said Sigriur Andersen, a spokeswoman for the Advice group that opposed the bailout. A similar referendum in 2009 on the issue, although with harsher terms, found 93.2 percent of the Icelandic electorate rejecting a proposal to guarantee the deposits of foreign investors who had funds in the Icelandic bank. The referendum was invoked when President Olafur Ragnur Grimmson vetoed legislation the Althingi, Iceland’s parliament, had passed to pay back the British and Dutch.

In the wake of a massive disclosure of Guantanamo files by WikiLeaks, the FBI yesterday served a Grand Jury subpoena in Boston on a Cambridge resident, compelling his appearance to testify in Alexandria, Virgina. Alexandria is where a Grand Jury has been convened to criminally investigate WikiLeaks and Julian Assange and determine whether an indictment against them is warranted. The individual served has been publicly linked to the WikiLeaks case, and it is highly likely that the Subpoena was issued in connection with that investigation.

Notably, the Subopena explicitly indicates that the Grand Jury is investigating possible violations of the Espionage Act (18 U.S.C. 793), a draconian 1917 law under which no non-government-employee has ever been convicted for disclosing classified information. The most strident anti-WikiLeaks politicians -- such as Dianne Feinstein and Newt Gingrich -- have called for the prosecution of the whistle-blowing group under this law, and it appears that the Obama DOJ is at least strongly considering that possibility.

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period (21 – 27 April 2011)

Shootings: During the reporting period, IOF wounded eight civilians, including a child, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Five of the wounded, including a child and a Spanish human rights defender, were wounded in peaceful protests in the West Bank and a Palestinian worker was wounded in the far southwest of Hebron while trying to have access to Israel for work. In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian farmer was wounded when IOF fired at Palestinian farmers in the northern Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, during the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, six civilians, including a child and a Spanish human rights defender, were wounded. Five of them were wounded in Bil'ein ‘sweekly protest in the west of Ramallah, while the child was wounded in Nabi Saleh’s protest in the northwest of Ramallah. In addition, dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders participating in peaceful protests in the West Bank suffered from tear gas inhalation and bruises as they were beaten by IOF.

A group of armed extremist Israeli settlers hurled, on Wednesday at dawn, Molotov cocktails at several Palestinian stores in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, causing fire in four stores, leading to excessive damage, and massive losses.

The Palestine Information Center reported that the attack was carried out in the Kazazeen Market in the old city of Hebron. The stores belong to residents Mohammad Al Shalloudi, Atta Al Shweiki, Sha’ban Hashlamon and Abdulhamid Al Natsha. Palestinian firefighters rushed to the scene but were blocked by Israeli soldiers who claimed that the area is a closed military zone, the Center said. An owner of one of the torched stores said that the settlers are escalating their attacks against the Palestinian people, their property and land in an attempt to scare them out of their country. The settlers tried to offer large sums to store owners to sell their stores and leave the city, and threatened to use force against them should they elect to stay. “This is our land, our soul and heart”, the resident said, “Even if they kill us, we will not leave, we will remain steadfast in our homeland”.

A panel discussion titled ‘Zionism, Jewishness and Israel’ will take place at The University of Westminster - Cavendish Campus on Tuesday May the 3rd, from 6:30pm - 8:00pm.

As one may imagine, the Zionist operators in Britain are not happy about the meeting at all: 'Green Engage', a Zionist anti-BDS campaign group launched an immediate campaign, soon after the announcement of the panel. Far from being surprising, within hours, they were joined by Tony Greenstein and the so called Jewish ‘anti Zionist’ network. The original panel was supposed to include John Rose, Ghada Karmi, Alan Hart and myself.

The venue as well as the panelists (except myself funnily enough) came under severe pressure that verged on abuse: one of the panelists admitted to the organisers that he had received twelve phone calls from different Jewish ‘anti-Zionist’ activists, who insisted that -- ‘for the sake of Palestine’-- no one should share a stage with Gilad Atzmon. Panel Event: Zionism, Jewishness and Israel (Facebook)

“Obama, like Bush has claimed that the laws don’t apply to him.”

President Obama has turned out to be George W. Bush’s imperial twin, largely identical on “war on terror” policies – as the recently released Wikileaks files on Guantanamo attest. Both presidents rate as hypocrites and liars. “The Obama administration remains committed to continuing the Bush era military tribunals, using hearsay and evidence acquired under torture as evidence.”

Once again, the truly civilized world owes a great debt of thanks to the Wikileaks team. In revealing the extent of mistreatment and torture they have reminded us that once again that the United States may pay lip service to the rule of law, but in fact wants nothing to do with that concept.

President Obama told the world as much in his comments about Bradley Manning, the soldier charged with making documents available to Wikileaks and who has been detained in conditions that can also be described as torture. The president, who is given great kudos for having taught constitutional law, publicly stated that Manning has no presumption of innocence. “We’re a nation of laws. We don’t let individuals make their own decision about how the laws operate. He broke the law.”

“The United States may pay lip service to the rule of law, but in fact wants nothing to do with that concept.”

[LINK] A shocking video has emerged showing an off-duty Atlanta officer punching a woman in the face, an incident that has triggered outrage amid rampant police brutality across the US.

The video, which was shot on Sunday at a restaurant in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood in the US state of Georgia, shows a confrontation between police officers and a group of women, followed by a violent scuffle between two cops and one of the women identified as Cynthia Freeman, the New York Daily News reported.

The woman can be seen placing her hand on the officer and trying to convince him that she did not do anything wrong. Shortly after she began to assault him, the officer punched the woman in the face and then attempted to arrest her.

The cause of the incident is still unknown, but a woman who was in the scuffle with the officer, has told Atlanta's WSBTV television that she and her friends were having coffee when an officer told them to quiet down. Four women were arrested in the violence and Freeman herself has sustained injuries. Atlanta Attorney Bobby Aniekwu says he is representing three of the women in what he considers a case of "excessive force."

Tucked into the recent spending bill that kept the government from shutting down was some $110 billion for the war in Afghanistan. That's more than in any other year since the conflict began, although the Obama administration hopes to start winding it down this year. President Barack Obama plans to begin drawing down his force of 97,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in July, although the size and nature of that drawdown remains unclear. Here are a few facts about the costs of the Afghan war to U.S. taxpayers:

Despite a solid decade of US officials insisting that Osama bin Laden fled from Tora Bora to Pakistan and remains there to this day, new leaked document show that this is not the case. Rather, US officials collected considerable evidence that bin Laden did not flee to Pakistan, but deeper into Afghanistan.

The documents cites information from detainees familiar with the escape, and said bin Laden was escorted out of Tora Bora to the northeast, and wound up in the Kunar Province. He remained there for at least 10 months. There was no indication where he went from there.

Gordon Duff: Years of Deceit: US Openly Accepts bin Laden Long Dead

The Taliban claims responsibility for the attack, in which eight U.S. troops and an American contractor are killed. The gunman dies when NATO forces return fire.

Eight U.S. troops and an American contractor were killed early Wednesday when a veteran Afghan military pilot opened fire on trainers during a meeting in a military compound near Kabul International Airport. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility in what it said was the latest attack by an insurgent infiltrator. The pilot began shooting during a meeting in the operations room of the Afghan National Army Air Corps building about 10 a.m. after having an argument with a foreign colleague, targeting foreign instructors and advisors, according to statements released by NATO and Afghan officials. Afghan security forces heard the shots and surrounded the building, storming inside even as other officers leapt from the building's second floor, according to Col. Bahader, the Afghan army's spokesman at the airport, who goes by one name. None of the Afghan personnel died in the attack, he said. Inside the building, NATO forces returned fire, killing the attacker, Afghan officials said. A NATO soldier and five Afghan Air Force troops were wounded in the gunfight, officials said. A NATO quick-reaction force responded to the scene, and alliance and Afghan officials were still investigating late Wednesday.

Washington (CNN) -- In the most extensive reshaping of the Obama administration's national security team to date, the president will name CIA director Leon Panetta as his nominee to succeed Robert Gates as defense secretary, a senior defense official and another U.S. official said Wednesday.

It took a meeting with President Obama to convince Panetta to accept the job, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. Panetta has been happy serving at the CIA, but "believes strongly in public service and answering the call from the commander-in-chief," the source said. Obama will also name Gen. David Petraeus, now the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, as the replacement for Panetta as CIA director, a senior defense official said. The president will nominate Lt. Gen. John Allen to replace Petraeus, a senior U.S. official said, and will nominate veteran diplomat Ryan Crocker as the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, sources said Wednesday.

The thousands of pages of documents on US prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, released by WikiLeaks Sunday night, demonstrate the lawless character of the US government, both under George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Kidnapping, torture, illegal imprisonment, subornation of perjury, defiance of international law—these are only a few of the crimes of which the top officials of the US government are demonstrably guilty.

Then secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld branded the Guantanamo detainees the “worst of the worst,” telling the American public that the prisoners were all hard-core terrorists, many of them linked to the 9/11 attacks in New York City and Washington. The WikiLeaks documents demonstrate that the statements of Rumsfeld, Cheney and other top Bush aides were deliberate and conscious lies.

The vast majority of the 800 Guantanamo prisoners were innocent men swept up randomly on the battlefield in Afghanistan or seized by allied intelligence agencies, particularly in Pakistan, where anyone of Arab or Afghan descent was a potential cash bonanza for corrupt police officials seeking to collect American bounties. More than 100 suffered from mental illness when they were seized. Others were driven into that state by years of isolation and abuse, without any hope of release or legal recourse.

Stephen Lendman: Lies, Damn Lies, and Reports about Gitmo Detainees
Patrick Martin: Guantanamo documents reveal US brutality and lawlessness

President Barack Obama today finally caved to pressure and revealed his original birth certificate. The White House hoped the move would deliver a final blow to the so-called 'birther' movement - led by flamboyant billionaire Donald Trump - which maintains the President was not born in Hawaii. But within minutes of the document's release, Mr Trump launched an astonishing tirade against Mr Obama in which he told the President to 'get off his basketball court' and questioned his entry into Harvard.

Syria has sent more troops to the southern town of Deraa where activists say a deadly crackdown against pro-democracy protesters has entered a second day. The developments in the volatile city, near the border with Jordan, come despite mounting international pressure on Bashar al-Assad's government to end the violence. Security forces have shot dead 400 civilians since mid-March, Sawasiah, a Syrian human rights organisation, said on Tuesday. Up to 500 people had been arrested in the last two days, it said.

"We've been listening to live ammunition. Some snipers are working as well, but we don't know from where," a resident of Deraa told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. "The snipers are on all the roofs. I'm now on my stomach, on the ground - I am really in a panicked situation. The city is quite in danger."

Who gave coalition forces in Libya the right to eliminate Gaddafi? That's the question Vladimir Putin's been asking, during an official visit to Denmark. The Russian Premier also said NATO's effectively joined one of the warring sides in the conflict. And more responsible action should be taken instead.

PressTV: Putin: Who authorized Gaddafi hit?
Bill Van Auken: US, UK plot Libya war escalation
AWIP: Libya: NATO's Tripoli Attack An Assassination Attempt
AWIP: US senators call for Gaddafi’s assassination
AGI News: FORMER CIA CHIEF PRAISES COL. GADDAFI
AFP: Ex-CIA chief: Kadhafi was good partner

A pipeline carrying gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan has exploded after an attack by an armed gang in the north Sinai area of Egypt.

A tower of flames shot into the air and forced the pipeline to be shut down, Egyptian security officials say. It is the second such attack in a month on the pipeline, south of the town of El-Arish, just 30 miles (50km) from the border with Israel. On that occasion, when gunmen planted explosives, they failed to detonate. "An unknown armed gang attacked the gas pipeline," an unnamed security source told Reuters, adding that the flow of gas to Israel and Jordan had been hit. Neighbouring Jordan depends on Egyptian gas to generate 80% of its electricity while Israel gets 40% of its natural gas from the country. Syria also imports gas from Egypt. Any disruption would force Jordan to rely on more expensive diesel fuel.

Bahrain arresting doctors because they have accurate statistics on injured or killed protestors. Security forces have seized at least eight health workers from two separate medical facilities in Bahrain, sources tell Al Jazeera. The Aali Health Centre in Manama was raided early on Tuesday morning, as shown in an image posted by an activist on Facebook. Medical staff working in the two centres were beaten and an unknown number were arrested. Human rights groups have accused Bahrain of arresting patients and medical staff suspected of taking part in protests, and sacking hundreds of public workers. Bahrain says it targets only those who committed crimes during the unrest in March.

Two civilians have been killed by US-led foreign troops in eastern Afghanistan, amid growing discontent over the rising number of civilian fatalities in the war-ravaged country. The civilians lost their lives on Tuesday in Ghazni province, a Press TV correspondent reported. The two Afghan civilians were killed when the US-led forces opened fire on them as they were on their way on a motorcycle. The incident occurred nearly two months after the death of nine children in northeast of the Asian country during the US-led air strikes. Thousands of Afghan people have so far been killed as a result of military operations by the foreign troops since the 2001 US-led invasion.

A 24-country poll found that most people believe WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is not a criminal and should not be charged by the U.S. government for releasing thousands of secret U.S. documents.

The poll by Ipsos found 79 percent of people were aware of WikiLeaks and two-thirds of those believed Assange should not be charged and three-quarters supported the group's bid to make public secret government or corporate documents. The countries found least likely to support legal action against Assange by the U.S. government were South Africa, Germany, Russia and Argentina, while the highest support was in the United States, South Korea, Britain, India and Indonesia.

U.S. respondents had a far more critical view, with 81 percent aware of WikiLeaks and 69 percent of those believing Assange should be charged and 61 percent opposing WikiLeaks' mission. WikiLeaks obtained more than 250,000 leaked U.S. cables and since late last year has released embarrassing disclosures that exposed U.S. intelligence and views and revealed confidential discussions with foreign governments. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

EuropaPress: La mayoría de las personas cree que Assange no debería ser juzgado
20Minutes: Julian Assange n'est pas considéré comme un criminel, selon un sondage mondial

At a stage where governments around the world have tried to hide away from the embarrassment caused by WikiLeaks expose on black money, founder Julian Assange speaks exclusively to Times Now's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on the Swiss bank data and Indian names features in the same.

Julian Assange, made a stunning disclosure, that there could be Indian names in the data that WikiLeaks would publish. In the course of the interview, Assange appealed to Indians to absolutely not lose hope that the names of those with secret Swiss accounts will come out at one point in the future. Hinting that Wikileaks might work with specialized agencies before releasing the Swiss bank data he pulled up the Indian government for not being aggressive like Germany in going after the list of Indian account holders. In fact he said India should be more aggressive because India seems like it is losing per capita more tax money than Germany. This is the first time Assange has spoken about Indian accounts in these Swiss banks, and comes at a time when the national debate over Swiss Bank accounts has sharpened.

In a newly disclosed file by WikiLeaks that was written in 2005, Abu Sufian Ibrahim Ahmed Hamuda Bin Qumu was identified as a “probable member of Al Qaida and a member of the African Extremist Network”.

The revelation will raise concerns about the range of factions fighting Gadaffi in Libya, some of whom have been associated with Al Qaeda. Qumu was previously a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, but allegedly left the proscribed group in 1998 to join the Taliban. In the report, US investigators classified Qumu as a “medium to high” risk because he was “likely to pose a threat to the US, its interests and allies”. Qumu was imprisoned in Libya for ten years for alleged “murder, physical assault, armed assault and distributing narcotics”, but escaped in 1993 and fled to Afghanistan.

The watch can be found the world over and costs only a few euros. According to secret documents obtained by SPIEGEL through the WikiLeaks whistleblower platform, US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay identified potential terrorists by the watch they wore on their wrist.

They're cheap, easy to buy anywhere in the world and, apparently, are the hallmark of a terrorist: a digital Casio wristwatch -- strictly speaking, the black F-91W model or its silver variant, the A-159W. The United States military considers this watch to be "an indicator of al-Qaida training in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)" and with it the identifying feature of a potential terrorist.

This information is contained in the secret documents about prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay US military prison camp in Cuba, which have just been released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks and SPIEGEL, along with other international media. The " Gitmo Files" comprise the records of 765 former and current Guantanamo prisoners. Thousands of pages labeled "secret" and "Noforn" ("Not releasable to foreign nationals") contain detailed information about the prisoners, their life in the military prison, the conduct of intelligence agencies and their treatment of the prisoners.

WASHINGTON — Anyone surfing the Internet this week is free to read leaked documents about the prisoners held by the American military at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to print them out or e-mail them to friends. Except, that is, for the lawyers who represent the prisoners.

On Monday, hours after WikiLeaks, The New York Times and other news organizations began publishing the documents online, the Justice Department informed Guantánamo defense lawyers that the documents remained legally classified even after they were made public. Because the lawyers have security clearances, they are obligated to treat the readily available files “in accordance with all relevant security precautions and safeguards” — handling them, for example, only in secure government facilities, said the notice from the department’s Court Security Office. It is only the latest absurdist challenge posed by the flood of classified material obtained by WikiLeaks over the past year: field reports from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; State Department cables; and now the military’s risk assessments of 700 past or present Guantánamo prisoners.

This was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. I had the pleasure of visiting El Teide.

Spain´s highest mountain @(3718m) is one of the best places in the world to photograph the stars and is also the location of Teide Observatories, considered to be one of the world´s best observatories.

The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide. I have to say this was one of the most exhausting trips I have done. There was a lot of hiking at high altitudes and probably less than 10 hours of sleep in total for the whole week. Having been here 10-11 times before I had a long list of must-see locations I wanted to capture for this movie, but I am still not 100% used to carrying around so much gear required for time-lapse movies.

A large sandstorm hit the Sahara Desert on the 9th April (bit.ly/​g3tsDW) and at approx 3am in the night the sandstorm hit me, making it nearly impossible to see the sky with my own eyes.

Interestingly enough my camera was set for a 5 hour sequence of the milky way during this time and I was sure my whole scene was ruined. To my surprise, my camera had managed to capture the sandstorm which was backlit by Grand Canary Island making it look like golden clouds. The Milky Way was shining through the clouds, making the stars sparkle in an interesting way. So if you ever wondered how the Milky Way would look through a Sahara sandstorm, look at 00:32.

AWIP: NORWAY: Northern Lights