A powerful data-snatching virus targeting computers in Iran, Israel and other Middle Eastern countries has been discovered by Russian experts. The worm has been used for years for what seems to be state-sponsored cyber espionage. - Russian cyber-security company Kaspersky Lab says the malware, codenamed Flame, is the largest and one of the most complex cyber-attacks ever discovered. It reports that the most severely affected computers are in Iran – but Israel, Syria and other countries across the Middle East have also been infected. Kaspersky's first recorded instance of Flame dates back to August 2010, although the firm admits the worm could have been stealing data for years before that. The virus may also have been built on behalf of the same nation or nations that commissioned the Stuxnet virus that affected the Iranian nuclear program in 2010. The Moscow-based company said on Monday that its researchers had yet to determine whether Flame had a specific mission, like Stuxnet or Duqu – another massive cyber-attack that had sought to infiltrate networks and steal data. Flame’s code appears to be twenty times the size of Stuxnet’s. The malware is able to gather data files, remotely change settings on computers, turn on PC microphones or webcams in order to record conversations and video, take screen shots – and eventually send the data back to the attackers.

The new Iranian Parliament has strongly condemned the ruthless massacre of defenseless Syrians in Houla, saying the US is responsible for the attack. - “The barbaric massacre of the innocent people of Houla, in Homs, is reminiscent of the merciless terrorist atrocities in Sabra and Shatila and is a blatant symbol of terrorist acts and mass murder in this juncture of human history,” the 9th Majlis lawmakers said in a statement Monday. On May 25, deadly clashes broke out between Syrian forces and armed groups in Houla, located in the central province of Homs. Head of the UN observer mission in Syria Major General Robert Mood said in a briefing via video from Damascus to an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Sunday that UN observers in Houla estimate 108 people were killed, including 49 children and 34 women.

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Chris Marsden: US threatens military intervention in Syria following Houla massacre
Tony Cartalucci: Atrocities Made to Order: How Wall Street & London Manufacture Tragedy to Sell War & Regime Change

BBC News uses 'Iraq photo to illustrate Syrian massacre' -The BBC is facing criticism after it "accidentally" used a picture taken in Iraq in 2003 to illustrate the senseless massacre of children in Syria.

Photographer Marco di Lauro said he nearly “fell off his chair” when he saw the image being used, and said he was “astonished” at the failure of the corporation to check their sources. The picture, which was actually taken on March 27, 2003, shows a young Iraqi child jumping over dozens of white body bags containing skeletons found in a desert south of Baghdad. It was posted on the BBC news website today under the heading “Syria massacre in Houla condemned as outrage grows”. The caption states the photograph was provided by an activist and cannot be independently verified, but says it is “believed to show the bodies of children in Houla awaiting burial”. A BBC spokesman said the image has now been taken down. Mr di Lauro, who works for Getty Images picture agency and has been published by newspapers across the US and Europe, said:

“I went home at 3am and I opened the BBC page which had a front page story about what happened in Syria and I almost felt off from my chair. “One of my pictures from Iraq was used by the BBC web site as a front page illustration claiming that those were the bodies of yesterday's massacre in Syria and that the picture was sent by an activist. “Instead the picture was taken by me and it's on my web site, on the feature section regarding a story I did In Iraq during the war called Iraq, the aftermath of Saddam.

The Obama administration plans to arm Italy's fleet of Reaper drone aircraft, a move that could open the door for sales of advanced hunter-killer drone technology to other allies, according to lawmakers and others familiar with the matter. - The sale would make Italy the first foreign country besides Britain to fly U.S. drones armed with missiles and laser-guided bombs. U.S. officials said Italy intends initially to deploy the armed drones in Afghanistan. Lawmakers who question the planned deal say the decision to "weaponize" Italy's unarmed surveillance drones could make it harder for the U.S. to deny similar capabilities to other North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, and set back efforts to urge sales limitations on other nations that make sophisticated drones such as Israel.

Child detainees in Israeli jails have accused the prison authorities of implementing a "starvation policy" against them as the number of meals they receive daily has been reduced to two. - After meeting with the minors in Telmond "El-Sharon" Prison, the lawyer for the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Anwar Abu Lafi, said, "The situation of Palestinian minors in Israeli jails is very bad due to the policies and procedures adopted by the management which restricts them deliberately and deprives them of their basic rights." Although the regulations state that prisoners should receive three meals a day, Abu Lafi confirmed that only two are being given to the children Israel is keeping behind bars. According to the lawyer, the children have complained about the lack of any facilities for heating water. They also noted that assaults on prisoners by the Israeli authorities are ongoing. One detainee, Daud Abu Sbeitan, was beaten severely by security forces while being transferred to Jerusalem Central Court last week.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Monday convicted two police officers, Baruch Peretz and Assaf Yakutieli, of negligent homicide for abandoning an injured Palestinian man on the side of the road to die. - Jariban had been seriously injured in a car accident on May 28, 2008 while driving a stolen car and had been in Israel illegally. Judge Haim Liran rejected the arguments made by the police officers, among others, that Jariban, who was found dead, was not the man who the police had left by the road-side. The court rejected this argument based on witnesses' testimony correctly identifying Jariban. The court also rejected all explanations the police made for why they left Abu Jariban, injured at the time, by the road-side on June 12, 2008, where he died of dehydration.

Two foreign soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed during an operation in eastern Afghanistan, said the alliance on Monday. - According to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) statement two of their helicopters crashed in eastern Afghanistan on the same day, but there were no causalities in one of the mishap. However, ISAF did not pinpoint the exact location nor revealed the nationality of the dead soldiers, in line with its policy. “The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash,” said ISAF statement. The aircrew and passengers from the first ill-fated chopper were safely transported to a nearby ISAF’s military base. The two soldiers lost their lives in the second crash.

US reports on world’s human rights but doesn’t include its own. - The US’s Department of State has released its annual report on the state of human rights around the world. A weighty document, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 covers in detail 199 countries, though not the US. Called an ‘invaluable reference point’ by human rights activists, the report painstakingly breaks down each country’s human rights record for that year. The report is not brazen propaganda for America’s allies. [...] In Pakistan up to 659 people died in US done strikes in 2011 according to Bureau research. However in the 2011 report, the US Department of State identifies among the most serious human rights problems in the country were ‘extrajudicial killings’ committed by the government or its agents.

Despite ongoing negotiations with the Pakistani government aimed at reopening the border to Afghanistan, the rate of the US drone strikes against North Waziristan Agency seem to be increasing, not decreasing.

Today, drones followed up the late-night attack on Hasso Khel, which destroyed a house and killed seven unidentified people, with another attack in Datta Khel, which killed five more bringing the toll to 12 in the last 24 hours, and 16 over the weekend. The victims of today’s attack were not clear either, as it attacked a seemingly random vehicle and charred the bodies beyond recognition. Officials have termed all 16 slain, including the four bakery customers killed Saturday, "suspects" based purely on the fact that they got hit with the missiles.

Pakistan’s parliament has repeatedly demanded that the US end its drone campaign, and has summoned US envoys over the failure to do so. President Obama has ruled out ever ending the strikes, insisting that they are vital to his ongoing wars.

Jason Ditz: Pakistan Cancels High-Level CIA Talks

We’re joined at the NATO summit in Chicago by Scott Olsen, who survived two tours in Iraq but almost died when he was hit with a police projectile at an Occupy Oakland protest last year. Olsen returned four of his medals at Sunday’s antiwar march. When asked why he’s joined the Occupy movement and is protesting against the heavily policed NATO summit, Olsen says, "I’m going to make every effort I can to show them that we’re doing the right thing, we’re in the right, and no matter what they do to any of us, we’ve got each other’s backs, and we’re going forward." Click here to see the other parts of our 2012 Memorial Day Special: 1, 2, 4, 5. [VIDEO][includes rush transcript][H/T: The Healing Project]