WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Monday called for diplomatic guarantees he will not be pursued by the United States for publishing secret documents if he goes to Sweden to face criminal allegations. - The Australian, 40, said he is prepared to go to Sweden to face questioning over sex assault claims, but fears Stockholm will turn him over to the US where he could face espionage and conspiracy charges over revelations by WikiLeaks. "Ultimately it may be a matter of what guarantees the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden are willing to provide," he told the Sydney Morning Herald from the Ecuador embassy in London, where he is seeking asylum. Assange [correctly] believes Washington will pursue him after WikiLeaks published a cache of sensitive documents, including about the Afghan and Iraq wars, and thousands of diplomatic cables which have embarrassed governments worldwide.

The Mail on Sunday can today reveal devastating new claims of abuse by British soldiers carried out at a secret network of illegal prisons in the Iraqi desert.

One innocent civilian victim is said to have died after being assaulted aboard an RAF helicopter, while others were hooded, stripped and beaten at a camp set up at a remote phosphate mine deep in the desert. The whereabouts of a separate group of 64 Iraqi men who were spirited away on two RAF Chinooks to a ‘black site’ prison, located at an oil pipeline pumping station, remain unknown. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of these alleged abuses, which appear to have been flagrant breaches of international law, is that this secret network is claimed to have been sanctioned by senior Ministry of Defence lawyers. Yet the top British Army lawyer on the ground in Iraq – who was supposed to be responsible for all aspects of prisoner detention – remained completely unaware of it. Meanwhile, the Government last week introduced its new secrecy law in Parliament, which, if enacted, would mean details of the emerging scandal would be hidden for ever. The role of both the soldiers and the lawyers in the alleged prisoner abuse will come under the spotlight tomorrow, when the first stage of a legal action on behalf of some of the victims is launched. If the Justice and Security Bill becomes law, Ministers will be able to demand secret hearings, and to prevent the victims from ever seeing evidence about their claims. [More about British & American torture here.]

Daily Mail: Controversial secret justice plans 'are a charter for cover-ups' says former Army legal chief

Maya Gorkin still can't believe the extent of police violence at a rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, even though she was subjected to it herself. - A 24-year-old woman from Tel Aviv who was videotaped being violently shoved by a police officer during Saturday night's protest for social justice said the attack took place while she was trying to reach her boyfriend through a wall of five or six police officers who she claims were beating him. Maya Gorkin said she still can't believe the extent of the police violence at the Tel Aviv rally, even though she was subjected to it herself.

"I'm in shock," she said. "I admit that I didn't believe something like this could happen."

Gorkin was standing with her boyfriend on the sidelines of the rally when she saw police arrest a man she knew and bring him into the municipality building, which was being used as a temporary holding cell.

A United Nations Group of Experts has uncovered information revealing Rwanda’s support for a Congolese rebel leader who is wanted internationally for using child soldiers. But the UN report, completed earlier this month, has not been released because of the section about the Rwandan involvement. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has been accused of applying pressure at the Security Council in order to protect the United States’ Rwandan ally, President Paul Kagame. Kagame was reelected president in 2010 with 93% of the vote. At the center of the controversy is Bosco Ntaganda (aka “Terminator”), a former general fighting the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government. Wanted by the International Criminal Court since 2006 on charges of forcibly recruiting children as soldiers, Ntaganda and his forces have been aided by the Rwandan military, which has provided safe haven, as well military supplies, to the rebel army. The assistance by Rwanda represents a violation of UN sanctions imposed against the providing arms to rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Rwandan government denies the charges.

The MV Alaed, which is carrying helicopter gunships and air defence systems on board, will put to sea within days, military officials in Moscow were quoted as saying. - The vessel, sailing under the flag of the Caribbean island of Curacao, returned to Murmansk after its insurance cover was withdrawn at the behest of the [British] government. Russia said it feared that British forces would attempt to storm the ship, a step David Cameron is said to have contemplated. Throwing down an unmistakable challenge to the Prime Minister, Moscow said the Alaed would sail again, this time under a Russian flag - meaning that any attempt to board it could trigger an international incident.

April 12, 2012: Earlier this week, Syrian government forces [allegedly] fired their weapons across the Lebanese and Turkish borders, killing a television journalist and at least two people in a refugee camp in Turkey. In response, the Turkish government summoned the Syrian ambassador to protest what was the first attack from Syria since Turkey began hosting refugees. Yesterday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised the possibility of invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and calling on NATO to protect Turkey’s border:

“We have many options. A country has rights born out of international law against border violations,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by Hürriyet daily and other newspapers. “Also, NATO has responsibilities to do with Turkey’s borders, according to Article 5,” added Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member.

Russia Today: Turkish jet clearly violated Syria's sovereignty – Damascus

Peter Eyre: UK media, NATO, UN hype up emotions on Turkish incident [Jun 22, 2012] - Clearly the scene is almost set for action against Syria that believe it or not was planned almost 20 years ago and has nothing to do with the current situation and clearly shows that the UK, US, France and Germany are hell bent into forcing yet another Libya style regime change all in the name of misinformation and whom are clearly arming, funding and assisting the rebel army in Syria.

Stephen Lendman: Syria: Gulf of Tonkin Redux? - Big lies launch wars. Manufactured pretexts initiate them. On June 22, Turkey provocatively flew two warplanes at low altitude over Syrian airspace. It wanted a response and got it.

[Editor's Comment:] Lest anyone has forgotten about another relevant incident: On May 31 2010, nine Turkish civilians were killed in a vicious Israeli attack on the 'Mavi Marmara' in international waters. This attack flagrantly violated international law but did not however bring about any reaction from NATO. As for the recent incident involving the Turkish plane shot down by Syria, this was a military aircraft shot down in Syria's airspace, in accordance with the Chicago Convention. Two military servicemen were killed. In the latter case, the US & NATO now are raising hell. Something in this picture is very, very wrong. - It's a dirty game, isn't it?

Niall Green: US escalates war threats against Syria in response to downed plane - The Syrian government has said that the Turkish warplane had violated its airspace, with the SANA news agency releasing a chart of the plane’s fight path over Syrian waters and the coastal city of Latakia. A Syrian foreign military spokesman has said that the incident was “not an attack.” The statement read, “An unidentified object entered our airspace and unfortunately was brought down. It was understood only later that it was a Turkish plane. There was no hostile act against Turkey whatsoever. It was just an act of defense of our sovereignty.”

The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt's first free presidential election Sunday, and he proclaimed himself a leader "for all Egyptians," although he faces a struggle for power with the country's still-dominant military rulers. - The announcement by election officials touched off a joyous celebration of chanting and dancing in the sweltering heat by tens of thousands of Morsi's supporters jamming Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak 16 months ago. It also capped a week of growing political tension in the streets after authorities delayed announcing the results of the June 16-17 runoff election between Morsi and Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq. Tanks and other signs of heavy security had been deployed around the country, especially outside state institutions, in anticipation of possible violence reminiscent of the first days of last year's revolution.

Barry Grey: Egyptian junta installs Islamist Mursi as figurehead president

A growing number of rootworms are now able to devour genetically modified corn specifically designed by Monsanto to kill those same pests. A new study shows that while the biotech giant may triumph in Congress, it will never be able to outsmart nature. - Western corn rootworms have been able to harmlessly consume the genetically modified maize, a research paper published in the latest issue of the journal GM Crops & Food reveals. A 2010 sample of the rootworm population had an elevenfold survival rate on the genetically modified corn compared to a control population. That’s eight times more than the year before, when the resistant population was first identified. Experts are also noting that this year’s resistant rootworm populations are maturing earlier than expected. In fact, the time the bug’s larvae hatched was the earliest in decades.

Google has set out to save the world's dying languages. In an alliance with scholars and linguists, the Internet powerhouse on Wednesday introduced an Endangered Languages Project website where people can find, share, and store information about dialects in danger of disappearing. - The website at endangeredlanguages.com is designed to let users upload video, audio, or text files and encourages them to memorialize recordings of rare dialects. Only half of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken today are expected to survive past the end of this century, according to an Endangered Languages video posted at Google-owned video-sharing venue YouTube. "Documenting...languages that are on the verge of extinction is an important step in preserving cultural diversity, honoring the knowledge of our elders and empowering our youth," Rodriguez and Rissman said. "Technology can strengthen these efforts, by helping people create high-quality recordings of their elders (often the last speakers of a language), connecting Diaspora communities through social media and facilitating language learning." Google's philanthropic arm seeded the project, leadership of which will be ceded in coming months to the First People's Cultural Council and the Institute for Language Information and Technology at Eastern Michigan University. The Endangered Languages Catalog (ELCat), sponsored by the University of Hawaii, will also be contributing to the project.