A U.S.-based research institute will soon publish what it says is “indisputable” evidence that Israel stole weapons-grade uranium for its still-undeclared atomic weapons program from a nuclear reprocessing plant in western Pennsylvania. - The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) will release this month a 300-page report detailing the initial findings of a multi-year research project investigating the disappearance of highly enriched uranium from the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (Numec) in Apollo, Pennsylvania in the 1950s and 1960s. Grant Smith, the director of IRmep, told The Daily Star that the report would include a broad range of newly declassified and un-redacted government documents from various agencies – including the Department of Energy, Atomic Energy Commission, FBI and CIA – that prove that nuclear material was diverted from Numec to Israel. “The story at this point is that there is no one smoking gun; there are many smoking pistols lying all over the place that we’ve painstakingly collected,” Smith told The Daily Star.

United States officials say a drone that crashed inside Iran over the weekend was one of a fleet of stealth aircraft that have spied on Iran for years from a United States air base in Afghanistan.

They say the CIA stealth-version of the RQ-170 unmanned craft was also used to survey Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, before the raid in May in which he was killed.

According to these officials, the US has built up the air base in Shindand, Afghanistan, with an eye to keeping a long-term presence there to launch surveillance missions and even special operations missions into Iran if deemed necessary. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified information. The officials say that while no specific mission into Iran has been authorised, the military has contingency plans for such clandestine missions.

The RQ-170, also known as the Sentinel and dubbed "the Beast of Kandahar" in 2007 when its existence was finally confirmed, is so advanced that the US Air Force has not even distributed a photo of it. It is manufactured by Lockheed Martin and is equipped with stealth technology.

AWIP: Iran recovers secret CIA spy drone

Reports say the US has dumped the remains of nearly 300 American troops killed in action overseas in a landfill in the state of Virginia. - According to the Washington Post, report on Wednesday, the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan had been sent to the King George county landfill in Virginia. The US Air Force is reported to have dumped the cremated partial remains in the landfill between 2004 and 2008. The report was based on database information at the Dover Air Base mortuary, where the remains of most war fatalities return. The actual number is considered to be far more than what the military admitted to, before reportedly halting the practice in 2008. The US military concealed the corpses' dumping from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner. Officials say there are no plans to alert the families of the deceased soldiers.

Washington Post: Remains of hundreds of troops left in landfill

Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted yesterday that the euro could only be saved by changes in the EU treaty to impose legally enforceable budget discipline on countries using the single currency. - Her words, in a landmark speech to the Bundestag, implied exactly the kind of federalist solution, over-riding national sovereignty, which was rejected the day before by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Efforts will be made to resolve the apparent gulf between the two leaders when they meet in Paris on Monday to agree draft treaty changes to place before a critical EU summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. After talks with President Sarkozy in Paris yesterday, David Cameron said that any remodelled EU treaty must "enhance and protect British interests". One option under discussion is that the EU Lisbon Treaty could be amended by a "protocol" on fiscal discipline, bolted on to the existing text. This would avoid risky and time-consuming referendums in some member states. Limited change of this kind might also help Mr Cameron to justify dropping demands for wider treaty changes to satisfy Eurosceptics. How the apparent gulf between Ms Merkel and Mr Sarkozy can be bridged is unclear. Some officials in Paris said the differences between them might be more rhetorical than actual.

The Independent: Merkel and Sarkozy close to agreement on major step towards fiscal unity for eurozone
CNN Money: S&P puts European Union on notice
The American Dream: The Rest Of Europe Is Facing Either German Domination Or Financial Collapse

Extremist Settlers Burn Entrance To Mosque Near Salfit – in pictures. - On Wednesday at dawn, Israeli settlers set fire to the main entrance of the Broqeen Mosque, and a number of Palestinian cars parked nearby, at a village near the West Bank city of Salfit. Local sources reported that several armed Israeli settlers invaded the village and tried to burn down the mosque, but were only able to set its entrance ablaze. The settlers then burnt a number of parked cars within the vicinity. The recent attack is part of a larger “Price Tag” campaign against the Palestinians, their holy sites, and their lands. The settlers blame the Palestinians for any evacuation of illegal settlement outposts in the occupied territories, and they even deface and vandalize homes and vehicles that belong to Israel’s Peace Now Movement, and its activists.

MEET THE ISRAELI SETTLERS!!! Watch them all (7 videos) then try to answer the questions at the end...

Bell Pottinger caught rewriting Wikipedia entries - The extent of lobbying company's internet manipulation to alter its clients' reputations revealed. - The co-founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales has criticised Bell Pottinger's "ethical blindness" as the lobbying company admitted altering details of its clients' reputations online. Bell Pottinger last night said that its digital team used a number of accounts to edit Wikipedia articles, although it stressed it had never done anything illegal. Last night, Mr Wales told The Independent: "I am astonished at the ethical blindness of Bell Pottinger's reaction. That their strongest true response is they didn't break the law tells a lot about their view of the world, I'm afraid. "The company committed the cardinal sin of a PR and lobbying company of having their own bad behaviour bring bad headlines to their clients, [and] did so in a fashion that brought no corresponding benefits.

Belfast Telegraph: PR firm Bell Pottinger caught rewriting its clients' Wikipedia entries
AWIP: The Israeli right's latest weapon: 'Zionist editing' on Wikipedia

The definition of “rape” was expanded this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI)Criminal Justice Advisory Policy Board, following a barrage of emails from feminist activists who demanded change. The old definition was too narrow, many women argued, and needed to be updated. For one thing, it didn’t cover rape by women against women, or men against men, and we’ve all seen just how much of that goes on these days thanks to organizations like Penn State and the Catholic Church. So in October, the FBI’s UCR subcommitteeAdvisory Policy Boardvoted to recommend the definition be expanded. The new definition of rape, which looks set to be “officially” adopted by the FBI in 2012, is as follows:

“Rape” is:…penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

Here’s the kicker in all this: According to this definition of rape, the federal government’s TSA agents areserial rapists.

Black US activist Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of allegedly murdering a police officer in 1982, has his death sentence dropped for fear of endless appeals in favor of his innocence. - Seth Williams, district attorney for Philadelphia, said on Wednesday that Abu-Jamal was now spending his life in prison without parole as the death penalty could lead to 'an unknowable number of years' of appeal requests, The New York Times reported. 58-year-old Abu-Jamal, who was formerly a radio announcer and the president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, maintains that he is innocent and has been basing his appeal requests on judicial bias, police brutality, and an inadequate defense during his arrest and trial 29 years ago. Before his arrest, Abu-Jamal was known for his outspoken political views and commentary on racial injustice and police brutality.

Russia Today: Mumia Abu-Jamal won't get death penalty