The United States may be finished dropping bombs on Iraq, but Iraqi bodies will be dealing with the consequences for generations to come in the form of birth defects, mysterious illnesses and skyrocketing cancer rates. - Al Jazeera’s Dahr Jamail reports that contamination from U.S. weapons, particularly Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, has led to an Iraqi health crisis of epic proportions. “[C]hildren being born with two heads, children born with only one eye, multiple tumours, disfiguring facial and body deformities, and complex nervous system problems,” are just some of the congenital birth defects being linked to military-related pollution. In certain Iraqi cities, the health consequences are significantly worse than those seen in the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Japan at the end of WWII.

Dispatches: What You Won’t Hear About the #IraqWar from the Establishment

Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian writer who was one of Africa’s most widely read novelists and one of the continent’s towering men of letters, died on Thursday in Boston. He was 82. - His death was announced by Brown University, where he had been on the faculty since 2009. Besides novels, Mr. Achebe’s works included powerful essays and poignant short stories and poems rooted in the countryside and cities of his native Nigeria, before and after independence from British colonial rule. His most memorable fictional characters were buffeted and bewildered by the conflicting pulls of traditional African culture and invasive Western values. For inspiration, Mr. Achebe drew on his own family history as part of the Ibo nation of southeastern Nigeria, a people victimized by the racism of British colonial administrators and then by the brutality of military dictators from other Nigerian ethnic groups. Mr. Achebe burst onto the world literary scene with the publication in 1958 of his first novel, “Things Fall Apart,” which has sold more than 10 million copies and been translated into 45 different languages.

Nigerian Tribune: BREAKING NEWS! Chinua Achebe is dead
NPR Blog: Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Author Of 'Things Fall Apart,' Dies
AllAfrica: Nigeria: Prof Chinua Achebe is Dead

Just days after the CIA inked a $600-million cloud computing contract with Amazon, chief technology officer Gus Hunt admitted that the agency is trying to amass as much data as it can, hold it indefinitely and use it for analysis in the future. - In a Wednesday speech in New York City to an audience of technology experts assembled for GigaOM’s Structure: Data conference, Hunt admitted the intelligence community has long sought a database to store text messages, tweets, Facebook activity, videos and any other information Americans make available - intentionally or otherwise. Hunt said CIA analysts have been at work on new algorithms that will break down vast amounts of information into easily digestible tools that allow them to closely examine trends in the public. The agency will then be able to base its covert strategies off those results.

NBC News: US plan calls for more scanning of private Web traffic, email

So like is New York the new North Korea now or something? Or maybe it’s reverting back to the old days of Nazi Germany. For over a year now, New Yorkers have been offered $500 rewards to snitch on people who own guns. The Andrew Cuomo mafia has done a real job on dumb New Yorkers. Cuomo makes Eliot Spitzer look like a rookie. He even makes his daddy Mario look ethical!

The Cyprus bailout proposal made by the Eurogroup is both economically and politically absurd. But what if the real reason behind the whole Cyprus crisis is the desire to confiscate the country’s gold? - The European Union, the IMF and the ECB are pushing Cyprus into bankruptcy while risking a contagion effect that could lead to the meltdown of the eurozone. European leaders have already bailed out Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Why is the Cyprus bailout so special? Why do the European leaders prefer to push the country into bankruptcy and raid the Cypriot bank accounts instead of saving it? Russia 24, the Russian state news channel, reports that under the current plan that is being discussed by the Cypriot parliament, the Central Bank of Cyprus will sell its gold reserves in order to cover a part of the 5.86 billion euros demanded by the Eurogroup. Other sources of financing the country’s “contribution” include such outrageous measures as a special levy on bank accounts and the expropriation of the money held by the Cypriot pension system, so everyone’s attention is diverted from the sale of gold.

Zero Hedge: Furious Merkel: "Cyprus’ Decision To Test Europe Is Unacceptable"
Zero Hedge: Europe, Russia Reject Latest Cyprus Bailout Plan Before It Is Even Voted By Parliament
Russia Today: Protests in Cyprus as government postpones crucial legislation debate - PHOTOS)
Mike Adams: Cyprus bank insolvency crisis quickly escalating; may set off EU bankageddon

Russia Today: ‘Euro is a house of cards waiting to topple’- Nigel Farage - RT: Every bailout comes with strings attached. But can Cyprus afford the price the EU has set? Nigel Farage: What is really happening here is we are having a reconcilable split between the North and the South of Europe. In the North of Europe – Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland – there are very strong political voices saying “We do not want to go on bailing out southern European countries.” And bear in mind that Cyprus is now the fifth country out of 17 that has needed to be bailed out. And that is why the Germans extracted the terms that they did. But I must say that even in my direst predictions in this parliament over the years about the way the EU bosses were behaving, never did I think that they would in a completely unprecedented manner resort to stealing money from people’s bank accounts. RT: But is that because Europe can’t afford Cyprus to fail? NF: Well, It can’t afford Cyprus to fail, it can’t afford Greece, Portugal, Spain or Ireland to fail. They know that once one country goes the whole deck of cards will come tumbling down. And countries like Germany will realize absolutely vast losses – possibly as much as one trillion euro. So, they are prepared now to do literally anything to try to keep the Euro afloat. And that is why they have now resorted to what can only be described as theft.

The war in Iraq is not over, not by a long shot. For decades to come we will have to deal with what the United States and its allies have unleashed. [Video]

It’s anyone’s guess if those responsible for this war of aggression will ever be held accountable for their crimes, what we do know however, is that the decision to invade Iraq has transformed the global political landscape (emphasis added):

“Kofi Annan, declared explicitly… that the US-led war on Iraq was illegal. Mr Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in accordance with the UN’s founding charter. In an interview with the BBC World Service… he was asked outright if the war was illegal. He replied: ‘Yes, if you wish.’ “He then added unequivocally: ‘I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal.’… “American officials have defended the war as an act of self-defence, allowed under the UN charter, in view of Saddam Hussein’s supposed plans to build weapons of mass destruction… “Mr Annan issued a stern critique of the notion of pre-emptive self-defence, saying it would lead to a breakdown in international order.”

The People's Voice: A reminder, according to the UN charter, the invasion was illegal
AWIP: James Steele: America's mystery man in Iraq

Former Guantanamo prison official Ret. Col. Morris Davis has discussed with RT how the once 'temporary' facility has become a money pit as repair costs and yearly maintenance bills begin to pile up. - As prison officials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, struggle to explain an inmate hunger strike a new report has revealed that the United States Southern Command has requested funding for construction of a new building, as well as for maintenance on the existing facility. Media outlets have speculated that the new project could cost American taxpayers a sum approaching $200 million, a sum that had some scratching their heads after Southern Command General John F. Kelly testified before Congress Wednesday that the improvements would cost between $150 and $170 million.

Jason Ditz: Instead of Closing, Gitmo to Receive Major Upgrades - Pentagon officials say that a plan being pushed would spend $150 million upgrading the facility, creating a new hospital which is going to be helpful, since so many of the detainees are already in failing health and are seemingly going to stay there until they die of old age.

A suicide bomber has attacked the Iman Mosque in the Syrian capital city of Damascus today, killing 42 people, including senior pro-government Sunni cleric Mohammad al-Buti, the Imam of the Ummayyad Mosque, one of the most significant mosques in all of Islam. 84 other people were also reported wounded. Imam Buti was an outspoken supporter of the Assad government, referring to the rebels as “scum” during weekly television sermons and urging Syrians to join the military to fight them off. So far no group has claimed credit for the attack and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) explicitly disavowed it, saying that their group does not conduct suicide bombings against mosques.

Franklin Lamb: Mr. Hitto solves a few immediate Syria problems for the White House. Or so they are hoping. At minimum Hitto will be an American ‘potted plant’ who can be recognized and around whom NATO can corral an implant some of the desperate factions. He appears willing to take orders and is now involved in as crash-course to learn what he needs to know about Syria and the unfolding game plan. One congressional aide who helped vet Mr. Hitto claims he has “spunk and can be tough. And we think he will play ball.”

Director of Palestinian Prisoners Society Qaddoura Fares confirmed that U.S. President Barack Obama has refused to meet a delegation from families of prisoners in Israeli jails. - Fares pointed out in a press statement that there is a talk about the release of a number of prisoners at Obama's visit to the region, but he denied that the PA has received any formal promises for that. Dozens of Palestinians have organized a march from Manara roundabout in the center of Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank toward the Muqata'a headquarters, after the arrival of the helicopter carrying U.S. President Barack Obama. The demonstrators raised slogans supporting Palestinian prisoners and [correctly] accusing Obama of bias toward Israel.

In their first phone conversation since 2010, the Israeli PM has apologized to Turkish PM Erdogan for deaths in the Gaza flotilla raid, Reuters reports citing a US official. Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to compensation for bereaved families. Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted the apology and agreed with his Israeli counterpart on the need to normalize the relationship that deteriorated after the UN report in 2011 made public the storming of a Turkish aid flotilla. As back then no apology followed from Israel, Ankara expelled its ambassador and froze military cooperation with the country. The news on the telephone call was broken by US President Barack Obama himself.

A pre-Viking woolen tunic found beside a thawing glacier in south Norway shows how global warming is proving something of a boon for archaeology, scientists said on Thursday. - The greenish-brown, loose-fitting outer clothing — suitable for a person up to about 5 feet, 9 inches tall (176 centimeters) — was found 6,560 feet (2,000 meters) above sea level on what may have been a Roman-era trade route in south Norway. Carbon dating showed it was made around the year 300. A Viking mitten dating from the year 800 and an ornate walking stick, a Bronze Age leather shoe, ancient bows, and arrowheads used to hunt reindeer are also among 1,600 artifacts found in Norway's southern mountains since thawing accelerated in 2006. The archaeologists said the tunic showed that Norway's Lendbreen glacier, where it was found, had not been so small since 300. When exposed to air, untreated ancient fabrics can disintegrate in weeks because of insect and bacteria attacks. "The tunic was well-used — it was repaired several times," said Marianne Vedeler, a conservation expert at Norway's Museum of Cultural History. The tunic is made of lamb's wool with a diamond pattern that had darkened with time. Only a handful of similar tunics have survived so long in Europe. The experts in Oslo said one puzzle was why anyone would take off a warm tunic by a glacier. One possibility was that the owner was suffering from cold in a snowstorm and grew confused with hypothermia, which sometimes makes suffers take off clothing because they wrongly feel hot.

The computer hacker attributed with compromising emails linked to George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton is taking credit again for two other high-profile security breaches. Not only is a hacker using the alias “Guccifer” claiming to have now infiltrated the email account of venture capitalist John Doerr, but the computer wiz has released a new trove of images reported to be photographs of oil paintings crafted by former-US President George W. Bush. Before taking credit earlier this week with compromising the email account of former Clinton White House aide Sidney Blumenthal, Guccifer gained access to the accounts of Dorothy Bush Koch and at least five others with close ties to the Bush dynasty. To showcase the hack, he supplied The Smoking Gun last month with a series of paintings purported to have been done by Pres. George W. Bush as well as a series of emails about Bush’s ailing father, who served as forty-first president of the United States. To a separate outlet this week, Guccifer has released a new collection of oil paintings alleged to be done by Bush 43. The website Gawker published on Wednesday a half a dozen new paintings that they say were provided by Guccifer.

Gawker: We Have Six New Amazing Paintings by George W. Bush