Iraq is unstable with a brutal dictatorship and bloody sectarianism. A series of bombings across 10 locations in Iraq has killed up to 83 people and wounded about 300, in a grim reminder of the sectarianism and violence left behind by the U.S. war. - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has tried to purge the government of his political rivals – mainly Sunnis – and consolidate power in a drive to dictatorship, all with U.S. support. He has detained his political opponents, tortured hundreds, cracked down on press freedoms, etc. The Obama administration has kept largely quiet about Maliki’s behavior, aside from about $2 billion in annual aid and tens of billions in military assistance to support this drive to authoritarianism. While this keeps the halls of power in Washington and the oil corporations happy, even the best case scenarios are damning for Iraqi citizens as well as the geopolitics of the region. The enduring effects of the illegal U.S. war in Iraq are still causing havoc and bloodshed throughout the country. Iraq is neither secure, nor is it a democracy as was promised by warmongers in Washington.

Mini-Goebbels Ben Rhodes of Obama White House Runs Colossal Black Propaganda Op to Assist NATO Coup; Massacre of Alawites and Christians Looms; Cass Sunstein Destabilizes Vatican to Muzzle Protest.

Tierry Meyssan: Syrie: l’OTAN préparerait une vaste opération d’intoxication - Des États membres de l’OTAN et du CCG préparent un coup d’État et un génocide sectaire en Syrie. Si vous voulez vous opposer à ces crimes, agissez dès maintenant: faites circuler cet article sur le Net et alertez vos élus.

Michel Chossudovsky: The Real Reason for America's War on Syria

In a wave of door-to-door police searches over the weekend, the Israeli government cemented anti-migrant sentiment into a mass deportation program by rounding up 80 refugees. The arrests come days after a Jerusalem court legalized transferring all of Israel's 1,500 South-Sudanese migrants back to their home country. The roundup is part of a larger policy to deport all of Israel's asylum seekers, drafted by Interior Minister Eli Yishai who said earlier this month that Israel is for "the white man." Speaking to Maariv on June 3, 2012 the minister said: "Muslims that arrive here do not even believe this country belongs to us, to the white man," continuing that he is prepared to use "all the tools to expel the foreigners, until not one infiltrator remains." The program was also endorsed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

How much did the Dalai Lama know about CIA funding of the Tibetan resistance to Chinese occupation of Tibet? The question is not new, but according to this account from Italy’s La Repubblica, German investigative reporters have uncovered a ‘secret dossier’ which confirms that the Dalai Lama was intimately involved with these plans – and that the level of funding for the Tibetan resistance amounted to $180,000 per year – in 1950s dollars. For La Repubblica, correspondent Andrea Tarquini starts out this way:

BERLIN: From the very beginning, the Dalai Lama knew that the CIA, the American Secret Service, backed the armed resistance of the Tibetan people against Chinese occupation. Although he is a world-renowned symbol of non-violence, he apparently approved of this support. It all began after the brutal Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950 with secret meetings between the U.S. and the legitimate Tibetan government – that is, the Dalai Lama himself – from 1951 to 1956. The story, narrated by investigative reporters from Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung, must certainly have provoked leaps of joy at the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. The first contacts date back to the year after Chinese aggression began. Meetings between the Dalai Lama and American agents took place at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and the U.S. Consulate in Calcutta. According to the Sueddeutsche, the Pentagon promised to the Dalai Lama himself supplies of light weaponry and financial support for the resistance movement. In the summer of 1956, the CIA operation in Tibet becomes became a top secret file, labeled “ST Circus”. According to secret documents and testimonies of CIA veterans like John Kenneth Knaus, it was decided that agents would do “everything possible to keep the concept of an autonomous Tibet alive” and “enhance resistance in Tibet against developments driven by communist China.”

The Falkland Islands will hold a referendum on its "political status" in a bid to end the dispute with Argentina over the archipelago's sovereignty. - The islands' government made the announcement ahead of the anniversary marking 30 years since the end of Argentina's 74-day occupation in 1982. It said it wanted to send a firm message to Argentina that islanders want to remain British. The UK prime minister said Britain would support the result of the vote. The referendum will be organised by the Falkland Islands government and will take place in the first half of next year.

Syria has accused the United States of encouraging more massacres in the country and of meddling in its internal affairs, saying Washington supports armed terrorist groups operating in Syria.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the US is covering up terrorist crimes and distorting the facts about what is happening in Syria. "The US administration is pushing forth with its flagrant interference in Syria's internal affairs and its backing of armed terrorist groups," read the statement. It added, "US statements distort the truth and what is happening on the ground while encouraging armed terrorist groups to carry out more massacres… not only in al-Haffeh but throughout the country.” The Syrian government also reaffirmed its commitment to the joint UN-Arab League peace plan, brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan. Annan’s six-point plan, effective from mid-April, calls for the establishment of a cease-fire between the government and the opposition and also says humanitarian groups should be allowed to have access to the population, detainees should be released, and a political dialogue should be started.

Daniel McAdams: Implosion of The Houla Massacre Story — Is Anyone Paying Attention?

People’s deep dissatisfaction with Brussels in our popular crusade to get Britain out of the EU. - Demands for the British people to have a say on our role in Europe got a huge boost yesterday. A new poll showed more than 80 per cent of voters are crying out for a referendum. Nearly half of voters – 49 per cent – want their voices heard straight away, according to the survey. A further third, 33 per cent, believe that there should be a vote “in the next few years”.

The European Commission has been providing legal advice to others who are considering possible scenarios should Greece leave the euro, a European Union spokesman said. - Olivier Bailly said Tuesday that, legally, limits could be imposed on movement of people and money across national borders within the EU if it's necessary to protect public order or public security — but not on economic grounds. "Some people are working on scenarios," he said, but refused to confirm or identify which organizations and people were working on them.

Berlin police have released a photograph of the English-speaking boy known as Ray, nearly a year after he showed up claiming to have no idea who he was and that he had been living in the German woods for five years.

“Nearly a year after he first arrived here, the whole thing is still a mystery,” Thomas Neuendorf from the Berlin police told The Local. “We have conducted all the investigations we know how. We have compared his DNA with international missing persons lists, we’ve made public appeals, we’ve sent his fingerprints around the world to see if he was involved in anything picked up by authorities anywhere but have come up with nothing. “He has now – after intense discussions - finally given us permission to release a photograph of him and we are appealing for information about who he is. “At first he spoke just English, but it would seem this is not his mother tongue, that he had learned it. But the specialists we had in could not say where he was from. “Certain aspects of his DNA indicate he most likely comes from Europe.”

Striking Spanish coal miners protesting against cuts in government subsidies to the mining sector have set up burning barricades and launched home-made rockets at riot police during a demonstration in northern Spain. - On Tuesday, thousands of angry coal mine workers in the northern provinces of Asturias and Leon blocked roads and highways with burning tires to press their demand that the government reverse its decision to cut mining subsidies, the Associated Press reported. As riot police moved in, demonstrators used sling shots and fired home-made rockets at police. Police retaliated with tear gas grenades and baton charges as they tried to bring the situation under control. There have been no reports of injuries so far.

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Country moves up three levels after ending Afghanistan combat mission. - Canada has come in fourth on an annual ranking of world peacefulness, trailing only Iceland, Denmark and New Zealand. The 2012 Global Peace Index released Tuesday — the sixth produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an Australia-U.S. think-tank, with data from the Economist Intelligence Unit — saw Canada move up three spots from the 2011 list. The 2012 index ranks 158 nations using 23 indicators which gauge ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. The 2011 list included 153 countries