The following is an open letter written by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the Russian punk rock band “Pussy Riot”:

Beginning Monday, 23 September, I am going on hunger strike. This is an extreme method, but I am convinced that it is my only way out of my current situation. The penal colony administration refuses to hear me. But I, in turn, refuse to back down from my demands. I will not remain silent, resigned to watch as my fellow prisoners collapse under the strain of slavery-like conditions. I demand that the colony administration respect human rights; I demand that the Mordovia camp function in accordance with the law. I demand that we be treated like human beings, not slaves.

About half of the American people disapprove of US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy when it comes to Iran and Syria, a new poll shows. ● The latest New York Times and CBS News poll, which was taken before Obama’s UN speech, indicated that 49 percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s handling of foreign policy -- the highest disapproval Obama has ever received on this measure. The negative rating has increased among all political groups, with disapproval up 8 percentage points among Democrats, 10 points among Republicans and 13 points among independents. According to the poll, 52 percent disapproved of the way the US president was handling the situation in Syria and 82 percent backed the US-Russia agreement to have Syria turn over all of its chemical weapons.

● Weeks of failed efforts to sell the Syrian War to the American public seemingly still aren’t over, as President Obama used the occasion of his speech to the UN General Assembly to demand a UN resolution authorizing military action against Syria if the chemical disarmament process stalls.
● While giving lip-service to the idea of diplomacy, President Obama made it clear repeatedly during the speech that his view of American “exceptionalism” centers entirely around its willingness to fight unwise wars.
● “I believe America is exceptional, in part because we have shown a willingness, through the sacrifice of blood and treasure, to stand up not only for our own narrow self-interest, but for the interests of all,” Obama insisted. This of course segued back into calls for authorization to attack Syria.

Bill Van Auken: Obama at the UN: A defense of unilateral aggression ■ Aside from the self-serving contention that Washington’s unending military interventions—from Somalia to the Balkans, Haiti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Central Africa and elsewhere in the past two decades alone—are in the “interest of all,” this use of the term American exceptionalism betrays a historical ignorance that is unintentionally revealing. [...] Now, America’s “exceptionalism” is invoked not to praise American wealth and democratic institutions, but to justify American militarism—the means by which US imperialism increasingly seeks to offset its relative economic decline. This testifies to the depth of its political crisis, and the revolutionary implications of the sweeping changes in social relations during the past 35 years, which have turned the US into one of the most socially unequal nations on the planet.

Stephen Lendman: Obama's General Assembly Address ■ His address didn't surprise. It was beginning-to-end demagogic boilerplate. It featured imperial mumbo jumbo. He turned truth on its head like he always does. A year ago he claimed intervening in Libya was to "cope with violent conflict, care for the wounded, and craft a vision for the future in which the rights of all Libyans would be respected." "And after the revolution, (he) supported the birth of a new democracy, as Libyans held elections, and built new institutions, and began to move forward after decades of dictatorship." Fact check: Libya was Africa's most developed country. Most Libyans supported Gaddafi. They did so for good reasons. He provided free healthcare, education and much more. His Libya no longer exists. Obama turned it into a charnel house. Now Libya's a failed state. Obama lied claiming otherwise. He bears full responsibility for what happened. He moved on. He's waging war on Syria. He wants another imperial trophy. He'll stop at nothing to get it. Rogue states operate this way.

The U.S. military has been forced to relocate a large fleet of drones from a key counterterrorism base on the Horn of Africa after a string of crashes fanned local fears that the unmanned aircraft were at risk of colliding with passenger planes, according to documents and interviews. Air Force drones ceased flying this month from Camp Lemonnier, a U.S. installation in Djibouti, after local officials expressed alarm about several drone accidents and mishaps in recent years. The Pentagon has temporarily moved the unmanned aircraft from the U.S. base in Djibouti’s capital to a makeshift airstrip in a more remote part of the country.

Balochistan government spokesman Jan Mohammad Buledi Wednesday morning confirmed that 238 265 people have died in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that flattened almost everything in the Awaran district, while 8 persons perished in Turbat of Balochistan, Geo News reported. ● Buledi said that in all six districts of Balochistan were hit by the earthquake, which included Turbat, Awaran, Panjgor, Chagi, Khuzdar and Gawadar, while of them Awaran witnessed widespread devastations, where in Tehsil Mashkay alone 55 persons died. The provincial government has declared emergency. Rescue work is underway and the Frontier Corps and the Army are providing aid to the victims. District Administration and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority are also doing its utmost to provide relief and succour to the suffering people in the area. The scale of the territory involved is daunting. Awaran district has an estimated population of around 300,000, scattered over an area of more than 21,000 square kilometres (8,000 square miles). Officials said the tremors demolished hundreds of mud houses and it was feared that the death toll would increase.

Geo News: بلوچستان: زلزلے سے جاں بحق افراد کی تعداد 265 ہوگئی
BBC: Pakistan earthquake: Hundreds dead in Balochistan - Video

Warsaw has, for a second time in 12 months, rejected a request from the European Court of Human Rights to hand over information involving the alleged existence of secret CIA prisons operating on its territory. ● The Polish government said it could not comply with a new request filed by the European court over the detention of Saudi-born Abu Zubaydah, who was later transferred to Guantanamo Bay prison, Reuters reported Tuesday. The officials said their comments might compromise a Polish criminal investigation. Although Poland has been applauded for being the only Eastern European country to begin its own investigation into claims of clandestine CIA prisons operating in the country, human rights activists have expressed their frustration with the lack of progress in the government’s five-year-old inquiry. Human rights organizations say the secret prisons served for "extraordinary rendition" of suspects who were flown in from around the world without legislative oversight, and were often tortured.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday delivered his first English-language TV message to the American people in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

● "I would like to say to American people: I bring peace and friendship from Iranians to Americans."

Rouhani is in many ways the "it" man of this U.N. General Assembly, where Western leaders are trying to gauge whether his diplomatic overtures will translate into concrete policy changes. He has recently exchanged letters with U.S. President Barack Obama, and there had been suspicion brewing in diplomatic circles that the two leaders would meet face-to-face, informally, at the United Nations in New York. "There were some talks about it," Rouhani told Amanpour through a translator. "And preparation for the work was done a bit as well." "The United States declared its interest in having such a meeting, and in principle Iran could have under certain circumstances allowed for it to happen," he said. "But I believe we didn't have sufficient time to really coordinate the meeting to the full extent that we needed to." Two senior U.S. administration officials told CNN on Tuesday that the encounter was called off because it was considered "too complicated" for Iran back home.

Russia Today: Rouhani acknowledges Holocaust, dismisses nuclear threat accusations

The photo splashed on the cover of a Greek newspaper this weekend shocked a nation: Pavlos Fyssas, a Greek rapper whose music inveighed against far-right groups, lay dying in a pool of his own blood as his girlfriend cradled him in her arms, moments after he was stabbed in the heart. ● The suspect has been linked to Greece’s neo-fascist Golden Dawn party. Almost as chilling are accusations by some witnesses that a squad of police officers stood by as a group of burly, black-clad party members chased Mr. Fyssas down. A police spokesman denied that account, saying officers arrived right after the stabbing, in a gritty Athens suburb last Wednesday, and promptly arrested the suspect. The killing of Mr. Fyssas has spurred the government to begin a risky crackdown on Golden Dawn, opening its first investigation into whether the police forces are infiltrated by sympathizers or members of the group, one of the most violent rightist organizations in Europe.