Tony Cartalucci: [Like] the sinking of the Cheonan, America once again renewed the rhetorical lease on its presence in Asia Pacific. Fast forward to today, 2013, and the openly declared US policy entitled, the "pivot toward Asia." Built upon the ultimate goal of encircling and containing China, it hinges on special interests cobbling Southeast Asia into a regional European Union-style bloc to then be used economically, politically, and militarily against China. In fact, in recent island disputes, this ASEAN bloc is already being tested out as a collective proxy to maintain US hegemony in Asia Pacific. While the "pivot" appears to be "new" US foreign policy, it is deeply rooted in long-conspired hegemonic ambitions. As far back as 1997, America corporate-financier think-tanks had been documenting their intentions to pursue just such a containment policy with the expressed goal of maintaining American dominance across Asia Pacific.

Alex Lantier: Kerry issues war threat over Korea
Jason Ditz: Kerry: US Will Never Accept North Korea as a ‘Nuclear Power’

The UK Ministry of Defense has claimed that chemical weapons were used in the Syrian conflict. Forensic evidence was collected after scientists analyzed soil smuggled out of the country in a secret British operation, the Times reported. - The sample was reportedly extracted from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Damascus, and was later handed over to UK Ministry of Defense’s chemical and biological research department. Military scientists said the soil contained traces of “some kind of chemical weapon,” though they could not positively identify the type of weaponized chemical.

Tony Cartalucci: WARNING: "Final" Psy-Op Vs. Syria Begins

Al-Manar News: Chemical Warfare Suffocates Civilians in Syria - Armed opposition groups in Syria fired on Tuesday a chemical rocket at Khan Al-Assal town, North of Syria, killing 25 civilians and wounding 86 others, most are in a critical condition. Syrian Information Minister Omran Al-Zoabi held the opposition forces the accountability of the crime, dubbing the attack a “serious escalation”.

Nearly 600 Europeans have gone to Syria since early 2011, representing 7-11% of the foreign fighters there in total.

A day after G8 confirmed that Syria had become the hotbed for foreign terrorists, the international centre for the study of radicalization has pinpointed the exact numbers. The centre, which is part of King's College, London has found more than 450 martyrdom notices that have been posted in jihadist online forums around Syria.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in early 2011, the centre estimates that about 5,500-odd foreign fighters have gone to Syria to fight with opposition forces. From Europe, Britain may have exported 134 fighters, Netherlands 107, France 92, Belgium 85, Denmark 78, Germany 40, Ireland 26, Finland 13, Spain 6 and Sweden 5. European countries like Albania, Austria, Bulgaria and Kosovo have exported one fighter each to Syria.

PressTV: Israel, US arm al-Qaeda to break Syria into pieces: Analyst
PressTV: Russia will vote against new UN resolution on Syria: Foreign Ministry

Venezuela is the top target for US media, not to mention the State Department, legendary director Oliver Stone said at a special screening of his film on Hugo Chavez. Sunday's vote is a choice between two very different futures for Venezuela, he said. - American filmmaker Oliver Stone, whose 2009 film “South of the Border” attempted to help Chavez’s image in the US, bemoaned the western media’s portrayal of Chavez as a clownish thorn-in-the-side of democracy. When asked about the perception that US President Barack Obama betrayed the country, Stone reminded the audience that the people of Venezuela will ultimately be responsible for their own success on the global stage.

Bail-in and the Confiscation of Bank Deposits: The Birth of the New Financial Order. - [James Corbett and Prof Michel Chossudovsky] The recent bail-in in Cyprus has given the world a glimpse at the future of the banking landscape. Now, as Canada gets set to hardwire the bail-in process into law, analysts like Michel Chossudovsky are warning how the big banks can use this template to further consolidate their monopoly of economic control. This is the GRTV Backgrounder on Global Research TV.

Michael Snyder: 11 Economic Crashes That Are Happening RIGHT NOW

Today a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury told King World News that the smash in gold and silver today was entirely orchestrated by the Federal Reserve. Former Assistant of the US Treasury, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, also warned KWN that stocks of available physical gold are “rapidly declining.” Below is what Dr. Roberts had to say in this extraordinary and exclusive interview.

King World News: Over 500 Tons Of Paper Gold Sold In Takedown

The BBC grappled with a dilemma after opponents of late British leader Margaret Thatcher pushed the song Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead to the top of the charts. - An online campaign to drive the Wizard of Oz ditty to the No. 1 spot on the U.K. singles chart was launched by Thatcher critics shortly after the former prime minister died of a stroke on Monday. She was 87. Normally, a top position on the charts guarantees a song airtime on the BBC, but some called on the broadcaster not to play the song.

Naharnet: London Braces for Mass 'Party' for Thatcher's Death

Pallbearers will be from units associated with Falklands war, Downing Street announces. - More than 700 armed forces personnel drawn from all three services will take part in the funeral of Lady Thatcher, Downing Street has said. Thatcher's coffin will be carried into St Paul's Cathedral by bearers from units particularly associated with the Falklands war. David Cameron's official spokesman confirmed that details of the cost to the public purse would be published after next Wednesday's service had taken place. Asked about reports that it could cost £8m or £10m, the spokesman said he had not seen figures along those lines. He said the Thatcher family would make a "contribution" to the cost of the funeral, but it would be up to them whether they chose to reveal how much they paid.

Who would have thought a major oil corporation would have such thin skin? - In the wake of a major pipeline spill in Mayflower, Arkansas, Exxon has launched a dirty tricks campaign to prevent Little Rock television stations from running a political ad titled, “Exxon Hates Your Children.” The ad, which can be viewed at exxonhatesyourchildren.com, makes an obviously over-the-top assertion about the company’s views about children, in order to call attention to the creators' serious concerns about the company’s policies. To try to keep it off the air, Exxon is circulating a memo to television stations claiming that the commercial is “defamatory toward each of ExxonMobil’s 80,000 employees and their families.” Exxon goes on to describe good things the company does for children and the environment. The ads, which were paid for through crowdfunding, were scheduled to run on local ABC, NBC, and Fox stations this week, but were taken off the schedule when the stations got the memo. In February, Exxon pulled the same stunt when Comcast was set to air the ad during the president's State of the Union address. With help from EFF, the activists behind the ad, Oil Change International, are fighting back.

Everyone's talking about Homeland Security but no one has the guts to say who’s really running it. - No, it’s not “Big Sis,” alleged lesbian Janet Napolitano, as Alex Jones would have us believe. Nor is it “power elites” that those fearless ‘truthers’ like Gerald Celente at infowars are telling us. JEWS, not lesbians and fascists, are pulling the strings at Homeland Security. And besides, with Napolitano being honored by Abe Foxman of the ADL for fighting “extremism” (shortage of “terrorists” means the Jew-controlled DHS has to go after us) is proof enough that she’s a pawn of the Jews. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a Jew-intensive “special watchdog” for the DHS, has compiled an extensive list of ‘extremists’ INCLUDING many Christian organizations now in the crosshairs of the Christ-Hating Jews who run Homeland Security.