At least 29 people were slain and an unknown number of others wounded today in a pair of US drone strikes against South Waziristan Agency, Pakistan. The first strike targeted a vehicle, killing eight people in Shawwal. - The second strike hit a home full of tribesmen in Mandoi, killing the 21 people inside and wounding a number of people surrounding the area. The toll in Mandoi is expected to continue to rise through the evening, as people were continuing to be pulled from the rubble. The attacks were the latest in a flurry of escalating attacks launched by the US since early May. In June alone the death toll is now nearly 100 killed, with all termed “suspects” but none conclusively identified as an actual militant, including one “confirmed” kill that was later retracted. Pakistan’s government has repeatedly demanded that the US halt all drone strikes against the tribal areas.

Workers across Greece walked off the job on Tuesday, kicking off a crippling 48-hour strike with a mass protest in the capital, Athens, as parliament debated a new austerity plan. Police fired tear gas in clashes with protesters. - Greece ground to a halt Tuesday as angry workers launched a 48-hour general strike against an austerity drive ordered by its bankruptcy-threatened government in exchange for a European bailout. Crowds converged early on Syntagma Square, where parliament will vote on sweeping spending cuts as planes, ships and most public transport came to a halt. Europe's economic tsar Olli Rehn in Brussels warned that Greece faced "a critical juncture" and the austerity programme was the "only way to avoid immediate default."

But that view was not shared by protestors, determined to block passage of the package.

"We don't want your money Europe," Iamando, 36, told AFP on the square where police were already out in force at 11:00 am (0800 GMT). "Leave us alone -- please, please, please."

You Tube: New round of clashes in Greece
BusinessInsider: Greek Police Using Teargas On Protesters And Riots Are Breaking Out

Stephen Lendman: Banker Occupation of Greece
Dan O'Brien: Greece: a borderline failed state
Alex Andreou: Democracy vs Mythology – The Battle in Syntagma Square

If the Fed stops QE, confidence in the US dollar would rise. Money would flow into US investments, both supporting the US stock market and helping to finance the large US budget deficit. Gold and silver prices would decline. Negative dollar expectations would be squeezed out of oil and grain prices, although drought, flood, and supply factors would continue to impact grain prices and the Obama Administration’s wars can impact oil prices. If a halt to QE coincided with more European sovereign debt problems, the dollar might regain a lot of the ground that it has lost. Looked at from this perspective, the Fed should halt its bond purchases, and people should bail out of their bullion investments and commodity speculations. But there are other factors in play

A raging wildfire in Los Alamos on Monday briefly entered the property of the nation's preeminent nuclear facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory, a vast complex that houses research laboratories and a plutonium facility.

A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for the town of Los Alamos, which has a population of about 12,000. Firefighters were able to douse the flames on the one-acre "spot fire" just inside the southwestern boundary of the lab site, about 25 miles outside Santa Fe, authorities said. Buildings still have not been touched by flames, and authorities said there was little threat to sensitive areas of the 28,000-acre complex. The laboratory's plutonium facility is on the northeast side of the complex, while the fire seems to be moving south and east, said another lab spokesman, Kevin Roark.

The Las Conchas fire grew from a couple thousand acres on Sunday to 44,000 acres overnight, destroying 30 structures in the Cochiti Mesa and Tent Rock areas. Evacuations for nearby White Rock are still voluntary, but residents have been advised that could change, and Los Alamos evacuees have been told not to go there for shelter. The laboratory, which ensures the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, is a national security research facility located in the Jemez mountains of northern New Mexico. It was set up in 1943 as part of the Manhattan project to create the first atomic bomb and still maintains the nation's largest nuclear weapons arsenal.

CBC News: New Mexico blaze threatens nuclear lab

Israel has declared that the Freedom Flotilla 2 will not be allowed to enter into the besieged Gaza Strip by sea. Israeli and Egyptian officials have agreed that the Flotilla will be allowed to unload its cargo at the Egyptian port El-Arish, where the humanitarian goods will be transferred by land into Gaza after being checked by Israeli officials.

The Free Gaza Movement: Gaza, we are coming
Google/AP: Gaza activists say ship sabotaged in Greece

You Tube: Irish Ship Responds to "Terrorism" Accusation - It was predictable that Israel would come out with the "terrorist" line in relation to Freedom Flotilla 2. Meet some of the Irish members and make your own mind as to who the terrorists are. Ireland and the wider world is starting to see through the spin and excuses for violence and oppression perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people.

This week the second international Freedom Flotilla will embark to Gaza from several ports in Europe. The flotilla represents an act of non-violent civil disobedience aimed at ending Israel's four-year-long illegal blockade of the tiny strip of land populated by 1.6 million Palestinians. - At least ten ships carrying dignitaries, doctors, professors, artists, journalists, and activists as well as construction supplies and humanitarian aid are expected to sail. The New York Times and CNN are among several outlets sending journalists to cover the event. Critics of the flotilla contend that it is an unnecessary provocation — more of a political statement than a relief mission — because Israel has lately been allowing more goods into Gaza and Egypt has, since the revolution, intermittently opened its side of the border. Even if that is true — even if the need is somewhat less urgent — the blockading of Gaza should be protested as illegal, as are all forms of collective punishment. Take a look at these tweets from Joshua Treviño, who was formerly a speechwriter in the Bush administration. He condemns Palestinians as morally depraved and deserving of any evil that befalls them. However, Treviño, a veteran and a former aide to Bush's HHS secretary, goes much farther than that. He openly calls for the Israelis to kill any of his fellow Americans who get in their way. "Dear IDF: If you end up shooting any Americans on the new Gaza flotilla -- well, most Americans are cool with that. Including me."

Amnesty International (AI) has criticized the US for its handling of prisoners, calling for an immediate end to decades-long solitary confinement of two inmates. - AI has called for an immediate end to the isolation of two US prisoners held in solitary confinement for about 40 years in Louisiana. Albert Woodfox, 64, and Herman Wallace, 69, have been held in solitary at Louisiana State Penitentiary ever since they were convicted of murdering a prison guard in 1972, according to the London-based human rights group. The men were held in cells measuring two meters (6.5 feet) by three meters for 23 hours a day, and have never been allowed to work or have access to education, it explained. They are allowed to exercise in an outdoor cage three times a week, for an hour, if weather permits.

AWIP: Four Decades of Cruelty and Inhumanity to U.S. Political Prisoners

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive a lawsuit that accused two military contractors of abusing inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, turning away an appeal by 26 onetime prisoners.

The inmates sought to sue CACI International Inc. (CACI), which helped interrogate prisoners at the facility, and Titan Corp., which provided translation services. Titan has since been renamed and is now part of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL)

The inmates, who were civilian detainees, said they were subjected to abuses by CACI and Titan employees including beatings, sexual humiliation, exposure to extreme temperatures and rape. In court papers, the inmates said some prisoners were tortured into unconsciousness and several were murdered.

Abu Ghraib became an international embarrassment for the U.S. in 2004, when photographs surfaced showing guards mistreating inmates.

Thousands of residents in Minot, North Dakota have been forced to double up with friends and relatives or sleep on cots at Red Cross shelters as floodwaters from the Souris River hit record levels Sunday. More than 4,000 homes and 300 businesses have been inundated, displacing nearly a third of the city’s 41,000 residents. - Many homes were under nearly a dozen feet of water Monday with flood levels receding only five inches. A mile-long levee protecting thousands of other homes remains in danger of being overrun and health officials have issued order to boil water because of contamination dangers in the water and sewerage system. The National Weather Service said water levels would drop just two feet by midweek and areas could remain flooded until mid to late July.

It's time for your daily Syntagma (not to be confused with Stigmata...yet) square live video feed, where things already are starting to have a far more violent tone compared to the primarily peaceful protests so far this year, courtesy of a substantially larger police presence as over 5,000 cops are expected to join the festivities. The protest marks the first day of the previously reported 48 hour general strike which will culminate with tomorrow's decision on the 5 year mid-term austerity plan.

Michele Bachmann, the House member from Minnesota and a tea party favorite, is winning positive reviews for her performance at Monday night's debate among Republican candidates for president. We've been fact-checking Bachmann since 2009. We've rated 23 statements on the Truth-O-Meter. Here's how the tally breaks down:

True 1
Mostly True 0
Half True 2
Barely True 4
False 9
Pants on Fire 7

Bachmann earned her first True for a statement she made Monday night about President Barack Obama's position on the debt ceiling. She said that when Obama was a U.S. senator, he "refused to raise the debt ceiling because he said President Bush had failed in leadership." Obama's voting record and remarks in the Congressional record showed that to be the case.

PolitiFact: Michele Bachmann says Barack Obama has "released all of the oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve"
PolitiFact: Schieffer asks Bachmann about her record for accuracy

A small town Canada is facing the consequences of being the first to witness the impact of the Tar Sands project, which may be the tipping point for oil development in Canada. Filmmaker Tom Radford describes witnessing a David and Goliath struggle.

The Center for Prisoners’ Studies in Gaza has revealed that Israel security forces has developed more than a hundred mental and physical torture methods designed to elicit confessions from Palestinians during interrogations. - Israel uses torture against the prisoners from the moment they are arrested until when they are let free, said CPS director Raafat Hamdouna, condemning Israel’s democracy and human rights claims, and calling on the world community to monitor what is happening and issue indictments against security officers involved in torturing prisoners.

Hamdouna said that everyone who has ever entered Israeli prisons has been subjected to multiple forms of torture. It begins from the time of arrest, when brutality is used to instill fear in the arrestee’s family. The residents of the targeted houses are then usually degraded and assaulted before the subject is taken as prisoner from his home, Hamdouna added. “That is followed by threats of murder, assassination, home demolition, rape or the arrest of wife, then the covering of the head with a dirty sack, sleep deprivation, the use of injuries during interrogation, placing the prisoner inside a refrigerator and standing for long periods,” Hamdouna said, listing many more torture methods.

Addameer: Torture in Israeli Prisons
Stephen Lendman: Israeli Use of Painful Shackling As A Form of Torture
Stephen Lendman: Israeli Unaccountability and Denial: Suppressing the Practice of Torture

A recent survey report, prepared by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, on the issue of Islamophobia or the everyday incidents of anti-Muslim actions across the United States of America, has noted that 45 per cent of the poll respondents believed Islam to be a religion contrary to the American values. - According to The News International, the contents of this report, compiled by the Washington DC-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is America’s largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy group having 33 chapters across the US and Canada, have been unveiled by a leading UAE newspaper ‘Gulf News’ in its June 24, 2011, edition. Quoting the Council’s survey findings, the ‘Gulf News’ stated Friday:

“The study says that Islamophobia has actually increased since the election of President Barack Obama, with right-wing Republicans feeding on anti-Muslim sentiments and fears over Sharia law. According to the report, some 45 per cent of respondents said they believe Islam is contrary to American values.”

Nahida Izzat: Demonizing Islam, Cui Bono?

More than ever, the United States is quick to charge other nations with abuse of political prisoners, and to urge indictment of heads of state for doing harm to their own citizens. Yet, the nation with the world’s highest incarceration rate and a justice system saturated with racism claims to have no political prisoners. In fact, scores have been held under cruel and unusual conditions for three and four decades.

For almost 40 years, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace have been in solitary confinement at Louisiana’s infamous Angola State Prison, in what is thought to be the longest period of enforced solitude in America’s vast prison gulag. Amnesty International says their treatment is “cruel and inhumane and a violation of the US’s obligations under international law.” Woodfox is now 64 years old, and Wallace is 69. They are two of the original Angola 3, convicted of the murder of a prison guard in 1972. The other member of the trio, Robert King, was released after 29 years in solitary confinement after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.

Under the conditions of solitary confinement, Woodfox and Wallace are restricted to their tiny cells for 23 hours a day. Three times a week, for an hour, they are allowed to exercise in an outdoor cage, if weather permits. For 40 years, they have not been allowed access to work or to education. And there has been no legitimate review of their cases in all that time.

PressTV: US prisoners in solitary confinement for 40 years

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi on charges of committing crimes against humanity. - The ICC also issued warrants for Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi for committing crimes against Libyan revolutionaries since the Libyan revolution in began in mid-February, AFP reported. The warrants are a response to ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's call on the court to issue arrest warrants for the three influential Libyan figures. NATO is conducting airstrikes in Libya to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1973, and says that its air campaign aims at protecting civilians. However, Libyan officials say hundreds of civilians have been killed as a result of the attacks. Experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves of the North African country.

Sydney Morning Herald: Court issues arrest warrants for Gaddafi and son
Christian Science Monitor: ICC issues Qaddafi warrant: Key prosecutions of world leaders

Israel backtracked on Monday on a threat to bar foreign journalists from entering the country for 10 years if they board a new international aid flotilla that plans to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an official statement said, instructed authorities to exempt foreign reporters from "the usual policy applied to infiltrators and those who enter illegally." In an email to foreign news organisations on Sunday, the Government Press Office (GPO) said journalists' participation in the flotilla would be "an intentional violation" of Israeli law that could result in a 10-year entry ban to Israel and confiscation of their equipment.

On June 22nd, thousands of mourners gathered near the town of Surman, northwest of Libya, to bury 15 victims of the latest NATO air strikes which took place on June 20th. - On the same day, Danish Foreign Minister, Lene Espersen, announced that Denmark, a member of NATO, has acknowledged the National Transitional Council as the only legitimate body to represent Libyans. The Libyan government, on the other hand, are criticizing NATO’s mission, that the air raids are targeting civilians. Officials estimate that 700 have been killed, an amount which NATO denies. Countless lives have been claimed since the uprising began mid-February, and funerals have become a common event. Clashes between rebel forces and troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi are ongoing. However, Libyans are debating whether all of the deceased should be labeled as martyrs. Earlier this month, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Qaddafi, accusing him for killing protesters.

Israeli diplomats are once again pushing vigorously today following the news that the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), frustrated by the lack of peace talks, will go to the United Nations in September seeking recognition as a member state. - Israeli officials have been railing against the notion of statehood for years, insisting it poses a grave threat to Israel and that the Palestinians are “not ready” to be independent of the military occupation. In recent months they have insisted Palestinian statehood would end all peace talks. Which is an increasingly meaningless threat, given the peace talks have been stalled for nearly a year and Israeli officials have repeatedly ruled out returning to talks over various other perceived slights in the meantime. Palestinian officials, rather, say they believe statehood would make talks easier, as the two sides would go into the matter on a more equal footing. This assumes, of course, that statehood is even possible.

Kabul - Four NATO soldiers have been killed in separate attacks by Afghan insurgents over the weekend, the military alliance said Sunday. - Two International Security Assistance Forces soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack in the west of the country, while another member died as result of a similar attack in the south, coalition forces said in a statement. Both incidents took place on Sunday. The military did not reveal the nationalities of the deceased nor the exact location of the attacks. On Saturday, another ISAF soldier was killed in an insurgent attack in the south. More than 50 United States and NATO soldiers have been killed so far this month in Afghanistan, according to iCausalities.org, an independent website that tracks military fatalities in Afghanistan.

PressTV: Taliban shoot down US drone

VIENNA (Reuters) - Billionaire investor George Soros thinks a country will eventually exit the euro zone and urged policymakers on Sunday to come up with a "plan B" that could rescue the European Union from looming economic collapse. - Soros, famous for making $1 billion by betting against the British pound in 1992, did not name any country he thought might exit the currency, but speculation is mounting about the fate of Greece as its politicians struggle to agree more austerity measures demanded by international lenders as the price for staving off bankruptcy. Soros reiterated his view in a panel discussion in Vienna that the euro had a basic flaw from the start in that the currency was not backed by political union or a joint treasury. "The euro had no provision for correction. There was no arrangement for any country leaving the euro, which in the current circumstances is probably inevitable," he said.

This video could show you an example of what is happening in Syria everyday....these are peaceful protesters getting bitted brutally bye the Syrian Security forces and armed militias....and that is nothing compared to what happens to those people after they get to the dark rooms where the regime keeps them for days and nights of brutal torture....some of them would come back alive with signs of torture covering their bodies...to set an example for others so they would think again about protesting against the regime...others will be brought back to their families but as dead bodies put in bags....covered with signs of monsters torture.....!!!

The United States spends $20.2 billion annually on air conditioning for troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan — more than NASA's entire budget, NPR reported. - In fact, the same amount of money that keeps soldiers cool is the amount the G-8 has committed to helping the fledgling democracies in Tunisia and Egypt. The necessary cooling costs so much because of the remote locations and danger involved in delivery equipment and fuel, Steven Anderson, a retired logistician who served under Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq.

"When you consider the cost to deliver the fuel to some of the most isolated places in the world — escorting, command and control, medevac support — when you throw all that infrastructure in, we're talking over $20 billion," Anderson told NPR. "You've got risks that are associated with moving the fuel almost every mile of the way."

And it's a long way to move the fuel: 800 miles of "improved goat trails" separate Karachi, where the fuel is shipped in, to Afghanistan. The transport takes 18 days.

Floodwater from Missouri River has breached a berm at the Nebraska nuclear power, Fort Calhoun, allowing water to reach containment buildings and transformers. - The plant's officials were forced to shut down electrical power when water surrounded the main electrical transformers, but the flooding had no impact on reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Sunday. The NRC added that the Fort Calhoun Station shut down in early April for refueling, and there is no water inside the plant, Huffington Post reported. Head of NRC Gregory Jaczko visited the Fort Calhoun plant on Monday.

In a similar incident in Japan, Fukushima power plant was damaged when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the country's northeastern coasts on March 11. As a result of the flooding, partial meltdowns occurred at the nuclear power plant when the cooling systems for three reactors failed. Thousands of Japanese people living within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant were evacuated and the government has declared a state of nuclear emergency for the five reactors. The Japanese government initially attempted to play down the incident by not releasing accurate radiation data.

The People's Voice: Midwest Floods: Both Nebraska Nuke Stations Threatened

Talks on slashing trillions in domestic social spending are set to resume Monday at the White House, with President Obama meeting separately with the top Democrat and Republican in the US Senate, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell. The White House announced Friday that Obama would intervene personally in the budget talks, after negotiations headed by Vice President Joseph Biden broke down Thursday. The two Republican negotiators, Congressman Eric Cantor and Senator Jon Kyl, walked out of the talks, demanding that the Democrats drop all proposals for tax increases on the wealthy.

Such is the anti-democratic and unrepresentative state of the US political structure that even such slight impositions on the wealthy are considered completely unrealistic, while the two parties debate whether Medicare and Medicaid, which underwrite healthcare services for 100 million people, should be abolished, or “merely” cut by half a trillion dollars.