Police shooting has down Highmont Dr, small residential
street where a few young guys are milling around. (Photo)

VOX ■ Ferguson Police say Brown robbed a convenience store prior to the shooting. But Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson also clarified that Wilson, who shot and killed Brown, was unaware of the robbery allegations during "the initial contact with Brown." Wilson, instead, initially stopped Brown for jaywalking. (Jackson later told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that, after the initial stop, Wilson realized Brown could be the suspect of the robbery when he spotted the potentially stolen cigars in Brown's hand.) The shooting of Brown, like so many similar incidents between police and unarmed black men, renewed conversations about racism in the American justice system and, more specifically to Ferguson, deep-rooted racial disparities in local government and law enforcement. To the majority-black community in Ferguson, Brown's death was seen as something that could happen to them or their own sons. Darnell Hunt, an expert on race relations and civil unrest, compared the situation to the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012: "Not only was this something that affected people in country, but other people realized that the fate of Trayvon was possibly the fate of their own sons." Brown's death, in other words, brought the long-simmering racial tensions in the community of Ferguson to a boil. And the subsequent clashes between police and residents captivated the nation for several tense days.

Vox: Autopsy: Michael Brown shot at least six times
The one map you need to understand tonight's Ferguson protests
RT.com: Indefinite curfew: Ferguson police deploy tear gas against protesters
CBS/St. Louis: Gov. Nixon Directs National Guard to Ferguson
PressTV: Seven pieces of military equipment the Pentagon is giving to local police
Alex Kane ■ 11 Shocking Facts About America's Militarized Police Forces
Jason Ditz ■ Ferguson Police Fire Gas, Rubber Bullets at Protesters; Several Shot

Wikileaks founder says he will leave Ecuadoran embassy 'soon'. ● 10:02 am The press conference is now being brought to a close, with Assange giving very little detail on his next move. He said he would be leaving the Ecuadorian embassy "soon", but did not say when or give any information on the practical details. Following reports that he requires medical treatment for a heart or chronic lung condition, he confirmed two years of confinement had taken a toll on his health, but did not elaborate.

The Guardian: Julian Assange press conference: as it happened
Evening Standard: Julian Assange: I will be leaving the Ecuadorian embassy 'soon'
Ria Novosti: Assange to Make Statement about Future Plans at Press Conference in London

The New York Times reporter James Risen, who faces jail over his refusal to reveal a source and testify against a former CIA agent accused of leaking secrets, has called President Barack Obama “the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation”. ● Speaking to his colleague Maureen Dowd, Risen accused the president of aggressively pursuing journalists, including himself, who report sensitive stories that reflect poorly on the US government. Risen faces jail over his reporting of a botched intelligence operation that ended up spilling nuclear secrets to Iran. The Justice Department has long been seeking to force him to testify and name the confidential source of the account, which is contained in his 2006 book State of War.

Brief Statement about Igor Ivanovich Strelkov (Original: Summer56 LiveJournal). Note: Apart from the Antiquariat Forum, where Igor Strelkov used to post all his short briefings and commentary, the LiveJournal blog of Summer56 was the first independent platform that Igor Strelkov used for his longer statements, appeals, and fulsome regular briefings. For many of us, this was our first (virtual) encounter with Igor Strelkov. Summer56 is Igor Strelkov's close friend and one of his most faithful allies.

I have already written that everything is fine with Igor Ivanovich, and that he is alive and healthy. But today against there were rumours that he was, after all, heavily wounded and even killed. What is more, these rumours were being spread not by Ukies, but by our own bloggers.

I state, taking full responsibility for my words, that today (August 17, 2014), at approximately 20:30, I personally spoke with Igor Ivanovich over the telephone. To cannot say that I spoke with him at length. In reality, we just exchanged a few phrases. As always, Igor Ivanovich was brief. But he again confirmed that everything is fine with him. Naturally, I did not even ask about his new assignment. I do not need to know this. Nor do you.

Combined Briefings for August 17, 2014. Translated from Russian by Gleb Bazov
Itar-Tass: Thirty miners trapped underground in Donetsk mine after power cutoff
Itar-Tass: Electricity, water cut off in Ukraine’s Luhansk
RIA Novosti: Russia Provides Shelter for 58,000 Ukrainian Refugees
PressTV: Pro-Russians down Ukraine jet near Lugansk
Morris108: Kiev Forces Losing Thousands of Men - Joaquin - VIDEO

The current 5-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is scheduled to expire at midnight local time, and it isn’t clear if a deal will be reached on the Egyptian-backed truce. Both sides are warning of a willingness to resume the war, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making much of his plans for “massive retaliation” if Hamas allows the ceasefire to lapse. A lot of the threats on both sides are simple bargaining tactics, of course, but a lot of the hawks in Israel’s security cabinet are sincere in wanting talks to end entirely, and without a deal.

225 Jewish survivors and descendents of Jewish survivors of the Nazi genocide have signed a letter condemning Israel’s massacre in Gaza and calling for an end to the genocide of the Palestinian people. In the letter, they also speak out against the abuse of their histories to promote the dehumanization of Palestinians. The survivors further condemned "the United States for providing Israel with the funding to carry out the attack, and Western states more generally for using their diplomatic muscle to protect Israel from condemnation." "Genocide begins with the silence of the world," they wrote. The survivors wrote that they were "alarmed" by the dehumanization of Palestinians in the Israeli media, "which has reached a fever-pitch. In Israel, politicians and pundits in The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post have called openly for genocide of Palestinians and right-wing Israelis are adopting Neo-Nazi insignia." ● Finally, the survivors criticized ads placed by Elie Weisel in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and the Guardian, which they allege "abuses" their history, "to promote blatant falsehoods used to justify the unjustifiable: Israel’s wholesale effort to destroy Gaza and the murder of nearly 2,000 Palestinians, including many hundreds of children." ● The full letter and the list of survivors and their descendents who have signed it can be seen here HERE.

How I Became A "Self-hating Jew" - VIDEO

The threatening tweet by the ISIL militant group for the United States could be a creation by Israel’s spy agency of Mossad or the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, an American political commentator says. ● “I don’t know if it’s authentic and I don’t think we have any way of knowing if it’s authentic,” Paul Street said in an interview with Press TV on Sunday. “It conceivably could be a hoax, it could be a prank. It could conceivably be for real. It could conceivably be something put up by Mossad, the Israel’s security force, or by the FBI, or by the Department of Homeland Security, which is inconsistent with the interests of the national security state here in the country and storing out of fear. They love these types of stories because they justify increased surveillance, increased homeland repression, increased investment in the control of the population here,” he added. “If it’s the latter, that’s really terrible. On the other hand, if it’s for real, why would there be any mystery about why it’s for real?” the analyst continued.

RT.com: Secret Service investigating photo of Islamic State flag outside of White House

Pål Steigan ■ World oil giants ready to plunder Ukraine oil and shale gas reserves. || Ukraine has reserves estimated at 1,200 billion cubic meters of gas, the third largest in Europe. American Chevron and European Shell have contracts to exploit these light tight oil and shale deposits. In other European countries there have been public protests against shale gas extraction because of the great environmental damage it causes - such as earthquakes and pollution of drinking water. The Kiev junta is not taking such petty concerns into consideration. But the problem for both the junta and the oil giants is that the largest deposits are located in the Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine. So there is an obvious connection here between western lust for Ukraine's oil & gas reserves and Kiev's ruthless warfare, not only against armed separatists, but also against the civilian population. Over half a million people have fled the fighting, and it would seem that this partly is the purpose behind Porosjenko's warfare against his own people. The eastern areas now are being prepared for extraction of oil and gas. And to be on the safe side, Hunter Biden, the son of America's Vice President, has been handed a top job in Burisma Holdings, a company that is poised to develop the gas fields of Ukraine. Biden now sits on the same board of directors as Poland's former president Aleksander Kwasniewski, who also often was a guest at the Maidan Square. (Also see: Naked Goals of Ukrainian Genocide)

RT.com: US, EU now allowed to buy Ukraine’s gas pipelines
Itar-Tass: Ukrainian army helps installing shale gas production equipment near Slavyansk