[Mostly a very crappy comment, but] FDD's Clifford May [does at least] admit that Syria is a proxy war with Iran and Russia, Neo-Cons in bed with Al Qaeda. Human rights merely a pretense.

Video: Clifford May begins by playing the "humanitarian card" but ends admitting the entire conflict is a proxy war with Iran, and by implication, Russia. Amid a myriad of lies directed at Iran, May proposes worldwide occupation is necessary to maintain American "influence in the long run," a notion that sounds suspiciously a lot like Empire.

June 8, 2012 - Foundation for Defense of Democracies' Clifford May in an article titled, "The Battle of Syria: Assad’s survival would be a victory for Iran — and a defeat for the US," openly dispels the commonly held notion among the West's remaining public support, that their meddling in Syria's ongoing strife has anything to do with humanitarian concerns. In fact, May openly states that defeating Syria as a proxy of Iran is far more important than "the dearth of sincere Muslim freedom fighters" or "humanitarian concerns."

U.N. monitors tried on Thursday to reach a village where activists say Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad massacred at least 78 villagers, hours before a divided U.N. Security Council discusses Syria. - If confirmed, the killings at Mazraat al-Qubeir, near Hama, will pile pressure on world powers to act, but they have been paralysed by divisions pitting Western and most Arab states against Assad's defenders in Russia, China and Iran. U.N. monitors based in Hama set out for Mazraat al-Qubeir but activists said an army checkpoint had turned them back. "We have despatched a patrol which is trying to get access there," said Sausan Ghosheh, a spokeswoman for the U.N. observers. Several activists told Reuters that up to 40 women and children were among the dead when the village in central Syria was shelled on Wednesday before fighters moved in and shot and stabbed dozens of people to death. A Syrian official in Hama denied the "completely false" reports from Mazraat al-Qubeir, telling the state news agency residents had asked security forces to intervene after a "terrorist group committed ... a monstrous crime", killing nine women and children. Syrian authorities have also denied responsibility for the Houla killings, blaming foreign-backed Islamist militants.

The 12th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has kicked off in the Chinese capital Beijing to discuss closer security and economic ties among its members.

SCO members -- Russia, China and Central Asian states -- are going to discuss the setting up of a special fund and ways to have a significant role in stabilizing Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US-led troops at the end of 2014. The leaders of the organization's 11 member and observer states including Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are in attendance.

China’s President Hu Jintao opened the summit Thursday by offering a 10-billion-dillar loan to support economic development and cooperation among SCO member states. He did not give details on how the money would be used.

Hu called for "striking the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism." "All the member states should increase communication and consultations to enhance mutual understanding and trust," Hu said at the annual SCO summit. The SCO is an intergovernmental security organization that was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Iran, India, Mongolia, Afghanistan and Pakistan are observer states of the organization.

Russia Adopts Controversial Protest Bill - It hikes the penalty for organisers of illegal protests to 1,000,000 rubles ($32,100), while participants can be fined up to 300,000 rubles ($9,000). 'Human Rights Watch' criticized the bill, saying it "severely undercut the right to peaceful assembly". - An opposition party had earlier deliberately stalled the passing of the bill by calling for votes on hundreds of amendments. It was finally passed at the third reading by 241-147 and was to be sent upstairs to the Federation Council before ratification by President Vladimir Putin. In a highly unusual spectacle in the usually rubber-stamp parliament, A Just Russia party submitted more than 400 amendments to the bill in its crucial second reading and then insisted on reading out each one in detail. The parliament's lower house is dominated by ruling party United Russia, which had enough votes to shoe-in the bill, although numerous members were absent on Tuesday and their colleagues were pushing buttons for them.

Binyamin Netanyahu orders construction of 300 homes to placate anger over demolition of illegal Ulpana outpost. - Israel's prime minister has ordered the construction of 300 new homes in a West Bank settlement in a move to placate anger over the planned demolition of the illegally built Ulpana outpost nearby. Binyamin Netanyahu opposed a supreme court order demanding the demolition but said he would honour the ruling. However, instead of demolishing the buildings, he has authorised them to be removed from their foundations and transferred to the nearby settlement of Beit El, where the 300 new properties will also be built. The decision infuriated Palestinians and risked an international backlash. The decision infuriated the Palestinians and risked drawing an international backlash.

BBC: Israeli PM orders 300 new homes at West Bank settlement

A US college has joined the international campaign of boycotting Israeli products to protest against Tel Aviv’s policy of illegal land seizure and destruction on Palestinian lands. - The Flaming Eggplant, a student-run cafe at the Olympia Evergreen State College in Washington, has announced that students have voted for the boycott of Israeli products from illegal Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian lands to end the complicity of their college in the Israeli violation of Palestinian rights, according to Olympiabds.org. The students say purchasing Israeli goods is in conflict with their mission which ''supports political participation and direct action to create a just and egalitarian society.'' ''We are proud to join this non-violent movement to pressure Israel until it ends its human rights violations against Palestinians,'' they said in a statement.

Indiscriminate use of drones in Middle East causes too many civilian casualties, warns former CIA counterterrorism head. - A former top terrorism official at the CIA has warned that President Barack Obama's controversial drone programme is far too indiscriminate in hitting targets and could lead to such political instability that it creates terrorist safe havens. Obama's increased use of drones to attack suspected 'Islamic militants' in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen has become one of the most controversial aspects of his national security policy. He has launched at least 275 strikes in Pakistan alone; a rate of attack that is far higher than his predecessor George W Bush. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates up to 830 civilians, including many women and children, might have been killed by drone attacks in Pakistan, 138 in Yemen and 57 in Somalia. Hundreds more have been injured.

Russia Today: Women, children among 17 Afghans dead in NATO wedding strike - report - PHOTOS

Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhoea have spread to countries across the world, the United Nations health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors catch and treat cases earlier. - Scientists reported last year finding a "superbug" strain of gonorrhoea in Japan in 2008 that was resistant to all recommended antibiotics and warned then that it could transform a once easily treatable infections into a global health threat. The World Health Organisation (WHO) said those fears are now reality with many more countries, including Australia, France, Norway, Sweden and Britain, reporting cases of the sexually transmitted disease resistant to cephalosporin antibiotics - normally the last option for drugs against gonorrhoea.

The Hoary-throated Spinetail is predicted to lose more than 80% of its habitat in the Amazon, according to the latest survey of the world's birds. Photo: IUCN

Deforestation causing loss of habitat across the region, as vulture numbers decline in Africa and long-tailed ducks disappear from Europe.

Birds in the Amazon are under increasing threat from deforestation, while large populations of duck have disappeared from northern Europe, and vultures are under intensifying attack in Africa, according to the latest survey of the world's birds. The Rio Branco antbird has been singled out for particular concern – it lives in the Amazon, but its relatively long lifespan makes it more vulnerable than some other species to even moderate deforestation. The hoary-throated spinetail is predicted to lose more than 80% of its habitat in the same region, putting it on the "critically endangered" list, meaning the species faces serious risk of extinction. According to BirdLife International's update for 2012 of the IUCN red list of threatened species, close to 100 species of birds across the Amazon region are now at a greatly increased threat of extinction.

Russia Today: Seeds of doubt: Brazilian farmers sue Monsanto