Several dozen trucks in the Russian humanitarian convoy have crossed the Ukrainian border and started moving in the direction of Lugansk, after Moscow ordered the convoy to proceed, without waiting for further permission from Kiev. ● Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately holding up the delivery of Russian humanitarian aid to the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, according to a new statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry. “Our convoy with humanitarian aid is starting to move in the direction of Lugansk,” the Foreign Ministry's statement reads. “We are of course ready for it to be accompanied by Red Cross representatives and for their participation in the aid’s distribution.” A third of the Russian humanitarian convoy, which is around 90 trucks, has now reportedly crossed the border with Ukraine. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is not escorting the convoy. “That’s because of the problems with security,” Galina Balzamova of the ICRC told RT. “Lugansk was shelled all night long. We believe we did not get sufficient guarantees of safety from all the parties to the conflict to start escorting the convoy.” The head of the Russian Red Cross, Raisa Lukutsova, has said the organization supported the decision to get the humanitarian convoy moving.

Stephen Lendman ■ Russian Humanitarian Aid Reaches Lugansk || Kiev putschists blocked vitally needed humanitarian aid for days. They did so for spurious reasons. They did it to impose greater hardships on desperate Southeastern Ukrainians. They did it to deprive them of essentials to life. They did it to facilitate their genocidal aggression. They did it with full support and encouragement from Washington. Enough is enough. On August 22, Itar Tass headlined "Russia's 70 trucks with humanitarian cargo proceed toward toward Ukraine's Luhansk," saying: They cleared customs. They entered Ukrainian territory. They headed for Lugansk. They did so on a mission of mercy. They carried food, water, medical supplies and other vitally needed aid. Kiev claims about a Trojan Horse convoy of weapons were spurious on their face. It used this and other fabricated reasons to block aid as long as possible. It's response on the ground is unclear. It bears watching to see what follows.

Itar-Tass: Russian convoy starts, ignores existing accords — Ukrainian borderguards
RIA Novosti: Putin Aware of Humanitarian Convoy’s Move Toward Luhansk
Mahdi D. Nazemroaya: Western Media Reports Shockingly Dishonest on Russia’s Part in Ukraine Events

This list is constantly updated due to the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza since July 8th. The following 1545 names have been confirmed - the actual death is at least at 2069. We realize the number of slain Palestinians is higher than this. The Ministry of Health has stated that a total of 2069, been killed. We are still awaiting confirmation of some names. The number includes 553 children, 253 women, and 96 elderly, since July 8, while more than 10310, including 3106 children, 1970 women and 368 elderly, have been injured. We are still awaiting confirmation of some names. At least 8000 Palestinians have been injured. The site, 'Beyond Numbers', has pictures of many of these victims.

Killed Friday, August 22
1. Mahmoud Nasser Qashlan, 24, Nusseirat – Central Gaza.
2. Yassin Hamed Abu Hamad, 22, , Nusseirat – Central Gaza.

Killed Thursday, August 21
1. Mohammad Abu Shammala, commander of Al-Qassam in southern Gaza region.
2. Raed al-‘Attar, commander of Al-Qassam in Rafah.
3. Mohammad Barhoum, a senior leader of al-Qassam.
4. Hasan Hussein Younis, 75.
5. Amal Ibrahim Younis, (his wife).
6. Ahmad Nasser Kallab, 17.
7. Natheera Kallab.
8. Aisha Atiyya.
9. Jom’a Matar, 27.
10. Omar Abu Naddi, 22.
11. Abdullah Tareq ar-Reefy, (Child) Gaza.
12. Omar Nasr ar-Reefy, (Child) Gaza.
13. Mohammad Ziad ar-Reefy, (Child) Gaza.
14. Nassr Ziad ar-Reefy, 35, Gaza.
15. Srour Tamboura, 36. Beit Lahia.
16. Hasan Tamboura, 13, Beit Lahia.
17. Mohammad Talal Abu Nahl, Gaza.
18. Rami Abu Nahl, Gaza.
19. Haitham Tafesh, Gaza.
20. Abed Talal Shweikh, Gaza.
21. Hamdan Salem Abu Jadayed, 40, Khan Younis.
22. Mohammad Ahmad Abbas, 45, Gaza City.
23. Issam Mohammad al-Hosni, 26, Gaza City.
24. Mohammad Ahmad Abbas 45, Gaza City.
25. Essam Muhammad al-Hasnah, 26, Gaza City.
26. Marwan Mohammad Abu Shallouf, 29, Rafah.
27. Ibrahim Essam Hammad, 22, Rafah.
28. Abdul Rahman Saad Abu Shallouf, 31, Rafah.
29. Mahmoud Talaat Shreiteh, 14, central Gaza.
30. Bashir Ahmed Shreiteh, 35, central Gaza.

Killed Wednesday, August 20
1. Ahmad Rabah ad-Dalo, 20, Gaza City.
2. Mohammad al-Louh, 21, Central Gaza.
3. Nabila Eid al-Louh (Ahmad’s Wife - Pregnant, Fetus Died), 35, Central Gaza.
4. Their unborn child, Central Gaza.
5. Farah Ra’fat al-Louh, Central Gaza.
6. Maisara Ra’fat al-Louh, Central Gaza.
7. Mustafa Ra’fat al-Louh, Central Gaza.
8. Ra’fat Moustafa al-Louh, 32, Central Gaza.
9. Mohammad Mustafa al-Louh, 21, Central Gaza.
10. Sami Hasan Ayyad, Zeitoun - Gaza City.
11. Zaki Suleiman ar-Ra’ey, 54, Gaza City.
12. Nour Mohammad Abu Haseera, 2, Gaza City.
13. Sufian Abu Mheisin, 49, Northern Gaza.
14. Mustafa Sufian Mheisin, 31, Northern Gaza.
15. Darwish Mheisin, 52, Northern Gaza.
16. Mustafa Rabah ad-Dalo, 14, Gaza City.
17. Wafa’ Hussein ad-Dalo, 48, Gaza City.
18. Ahmad Mustafa al-Louh, 21, Gaza
19. Widad Deif, Jabalia.
20. Ali Deif (Child, Widad's Son)
21. Mohammad Imad al-'Abeet, 16, Central District.
22. Saher al-'Abeet, 11, Central District.
23. Haitham Ramadan al-‘Awour, 20, Northern Gaza.
24. Abdullah Salah Safy, 33, Northern Gaza.

Killed Tuesday, August 19
1. Omar Mohammad Jarghoun, Khan Younis (Died of Wounds Suffered Two Weeks Ago)
2. Abdullah Abed-Rabbo, 20, Gaza (Died In Turkish Hospital Of Earlier Wounds)

Killed Wednesday, August 13
1. Camille Simon, Italian Journalist, 37.
2. Bilal Mohammad Sultan, 27. (Lieutenant)
3. Taiseer Ali al-Houm, 40. (Engineering Corps)
4. Hazem Abu Morad, 38. (Deputy Head Of The Engineering Corps)
5. Ali Shihda Abu Afsh (Reporter).
6. Deema Klob, Gaza.
7. Kamal ad-Daly, 26, Khan Younis.

Killed Monday, August 11
[1. Maida' Mohammad Aslan, 45 Days, Central Gaza (Died of earlier injuries suffered after the army bombarded her family home).]
2. Mohammad ar-Roumy, Rafah (died at an Egyptian Hospital)

PressTV: Fresh Israeli attacks kill four in Gaza Strip
RT.com: 469 Gaza children killed, over 370,000 need ‘psychosocial aid’ – UNICEF

Thanks to the superb work of the Russian Team, it is my huge pleasure to present you with one of the most interesting interviews about the war in the Ukraine and the global struggle for the future of the planet and the views of one of the best informed men in Russia: Sergei Glaziev.
Glaziev is an advisor to President Putin and a close friend. I personally believe that the western media is either wrong or deliberately lying when then say that Dugin is Putin's ideological mentor. I am not sure that Putin has - or needs - any kind of mentor, but over the years I have found that Glaziev seems to say out loud what Putin does not, but seems to be acting on. Glaziev, who was born in the Ukraine and who is an economic himself, has a superb understanding of the behind-the-scenes power plays in the Ukraine and in Russia. This man really knows what is going on. Furthermore, he is one of the leading "Eurasian Sovereignists" and he is therefore absolutely hated by the pro-US circles in Russia. He is equally hated in the USA who put him on their recent sanctions list for no other reason then the fact that they don't like what he has to say. I urge everybody to listen to this 15min interview which is one of the most interesting ones I have ever had the pleasure to post here. Enjoy! - The Saker

A Donetsk resident has uploaded footage of a massive blast next to an apartment block in the heart of the city. The eastern Ukrainian city, which has been under rebel control since the start of the armed conflict, has been encircled by government forces. ● The video, shot from the window of an apartment block across a courtyard, captures a momentary fireball next to a multistory development housing thousands of people. It is unclear from the footage whether the explosion is the result of an artillery shell explosion or a flash of gunfire. City authorities say that two people have been injured, and several apartments, gas pipes and cars have been destroyed by the government barrage, saying that residents of almost all areas in the city are within earshot of artillery fire. Authorities say that a nine-story residential block in the center city has been hit, though it is unclear if this refers to the incident witnessed in the video. "There is constant thumping that hasn't stopped throughout the day," reports RT's Paula Slier from Donetsk. "It is difficult to tell who is doing the firing. On the one hand you have the Ukrainian army vowing to take back the city, but these anti-government fighters are also very active and are saying that they won't let the city surrender." The Ukrainian Army has said that it plans to recapture the militant stronghold by the end of the week.

Eric Zuesse ■ Ukraine Atrocities: The Illegal Use of White Phosphorous Fire Bombs Against Donetsk Civilians

Ukraine Crisis: Donbass. Chronicle of Genocide || Extensive war crimes in Donbass committed by Poroshenko and his army of murderers from July 27 to August 14, 2014.

Kiev's warmongers/Zionists continue genocide of civilian population of Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

Most of the footage and interviews you will see in this documentary film have never been shown on mainstream media of any country including Russia and Ukraine. [The Saker]


Pogromen i Korsun || Natta mellom 20. og 21. februar 2014 stoppet aktivister fra Euromaidan flere busser nær byen Korsun-Schewtschenkowskiy. Bussene hadde med seg flere hundre motstandere av Euromaidan som var på vei tilbake fra Kiev til Krim.

De bevæpnede mennene tok over bussene og brente dem ned. Alle passasjerene, omlag 350 folk, inkludert kvinner og ungdommer, ble utsatt for brutal behandling med slag og trakassering.

Filmen «Forbrytelsene til nazistene fra det ukrainske Euromaidan: Pogromen i Korsun» dokumenterer disse forbrytelsene der flere titalls mennesker ble drept. Dokumentaren ble lagd av den ukrainske menneskerettsgruppa IGCP. [More videos]

● What matters in Ferguson, Mo., is that a young man is dead, police conduct is under scrutiny, and a community is in heart-rending pain. Reporters are not supposed to be part of the news they cover. And given any choice in the matter, I wouldn’t be.
● But last night, before removing the last demonstrators from Ferguson, police insisted all media leave first. Now, when a town fears brutality by law enforcement, and police suddenly want to do their work unseen by media observers, it’s not just a fair question but a necessary one to ask why. It’s a question we tried to ask of the man who is the public face of law enforcement on the streets of Ferguson: Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson.
● And that’s when I became part of the story - a small one. Just one among the many arrested. The vast majority, like me, released hours later without being charged with anything. If Capt. Johnson had been taking questions, I would also have asked whether it is appropriate for police to make arrests they have no intention of prosecuting, or whether that’s using the power of arrest merely as convenience to suppress protest or to disperse a crowd. It is not really the question that matters, of course, and certainly not the questioner. But answers do matter, in a place where a young man is dead, police conduct is under scrutiny, and a community is in heart-rending pain.

Ferguson Cop Points Gun At Protesters And Press, Screams "I Will F***ing Kill You" - VIDEO
Zero Hedge: It's Official: "We Are All Terrorists Now" (The Terrorist Test...)

Video released by the St. Louis Police of the August 19 shooting of 25-year-old Kajieme Powell, just miles away from the protests ðD in Ferguson, raises questions about whether events transpired as police initially claimed. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson had told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Powell "pulled out a knife and came at the officers, gripping and holding it high," yelling "Shoot me now, kill me now." Police said he was shot when he was "two or three feet" away from the officers. The newly released video begins before police arrive on the scene. A bystander has followed Powell after he took energy drinks and muffins from a market without paying for them, and can be heard chuckling over Powell's erratic behavior. Powell is seen slowly pacing around the scene of the eventual shooting before police arrive. When the officers enter and draw their guns, Powell ignores warnings to put down his knife, and advances on them. He then repeatedly yells, "Shoot me!"

Ezra Klein ■ Did the St. Louis police have to shoot Kajieme Powell?

The National Guard expanded its presence in Ferguson, Missouri Wednesday, as police killed a 23-year old man in St. Louis only a few miles away. In this video, Ferguson and St. Louis residents voice their anger at police violence and repression.

Barry Grey ■ Residents have been stripped of the constitutionally guaranteed right to assemble, reporters have been arrested or banished in violation of freedom of the press, police checkpoints have been set up at major intersections. A massive force of military vehicles, helicopters, sound cannon, flash grenades, tear gas, SWAT teams wielding assault weapons and local cops backed by National Guard troops has been deployed to intimidate, terrorize and crush social protest. On Monday night, the crackdown on overwhelmingly peaceful protesters demanding justice in the killing of Brown was stepped up. Seventy-eight people were arrested ostensibly for failing to obey a police order, for which there is no legal or constitutional basis, to disperse. The scale of the repression is vastly disproportionate to the supposed threat from what the authorities are calling “criminal elements.”

Justin Raimondo ■ How the tactics of occupation came home || To the ruling class, we are all foreigners, outsiders in our own country. Geographically and culturally, they live in a world apart, in the protected enclaves of the Washington-New York corridor, and the details of their lives have as much in common with the ordinary American’s than ours do with the daily routine of an Eskimo. Truly transnational “citizens of the world,” the Washington elites have more regard for the delicate sensibilities of some Ukrainian oligarch than they do for the average American businessman – because the former suits their purposes, while the latter is only a cash cow. The dogma of universalism, which is the official ideology of the Empire, dictates that all shall be treated equally – and so why shouldn’t our police force present themselves to Americans as our occupying forces confront the peoples we have conquered? ■ Ferguson is a conquered province, no different in principle from Fallujah after the "surge" or occupied Gaza. The "crime" of the Fergusonians – like the Iraqis and the Gazans – is that they are fighting back. In their inchoate, doomed, and heroic way, these much put-upon people, members of a color-caste that once wore actual chains in this country, are getting up off their knees and defying the mightiest military machine the world has ever been cursed to know. For ten days – and counting – they have been putting up a heroic resistance that every person who loves liberty must stand and salute.

RT.com: 'Less-than-lethal' ammunition makers profiting off unrest from Ferguson to Israel
PressTV: US police shoot dead another African-American man in St. Louis area
Le Monde: A Ferguson, une nuit calme et une tentative de «dialogue»
Pål Steigan ■ Ferguson og den kommende klassekrigen i USA
Niles Williamson ■ Another police killing in St. Louis, Missouri as assault on protestors continues

1) Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed teenager Michael Brown on Saturday, August 9
2) Ferguson is a majority-black city with an overwhelmingly white police force and city government
3) Police and eyewitnesses gave contradictory accounts of the shooting
4) Several different law enforcement agencies are involved in the response to the shooting and the protests
5) The police have refused to release the autopsy report or any information about their investigation of what happened during the shooting
6) Protests began immediately after Brown's death, and continued throughout the week
7) The protests were met with an aggressive police response
8) The police released information suggesting Brown had stolen from a convenience store, but that wasn't the reason Wilson stopped him
9) The federal government is also investigating Brown's death

xymphora ■ Bibi has a simple problem. He started a slaughter and he didn't achieve anything from it. Jews around the world are positively ecstatic at the mass murder and destruction, but Bibi's failure will hit home if negotiations give any benefits to Hamas or the people of Gaza. Any agreement that Hamas would accept won't be acceptable to either Bibi's cabinet - from whom Bibi attempted to hide the extent of the concessions! - or the Israeli Jews. The end of the truce was blamed on Hamas by Israel, citing a resumption of rocket attacks. Suspicious. Israel always breaks any truce first, Hamas denies breaking the truce (and what motive would it have?), and the usual siren procedure to warn of rockets in Israel seems to have been manipulated: "As the terrorists renewed their attacks, a troubling pattern was observed in the rocket warning sirens. In the first round of three rockets on Be'er Sheva no sirens were sounded ahead of the strikes. Shortly afterwards sirens were sounded in the Eshkol Regional Council area, only for the IDF to clarify that the sirens were a false alarm." So what was Bibi's peace plan? Get a big 'win' he could bring back to his cabinet and the Israeli people. Once he had his 'win', he could proclaim the entire operation a success, and get an agreement with Hamas. The 'win' out of the latest round of Israeli mass murder was to be the targeted assassination of Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, but the Jews just managed to slaughter his wife and daughter. Does Bibi have a Plan B?

Israeli-Palestinian rocket fire resumed on Tuesday after Gaza truce talks broke down. A 5-year-old girl and a woman became the first victims of renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Hamas launched around 50 rockets at Israel, hitting as far as Tel Aviv. ● Israel launched at least 35 airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. One of the strikes hit a house in Gaza City, killing a woman and a 5-year-old child, according to Palestinian Health Ministry. Reportedly, one of Israel’s targets was Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, Israeli Channel 10 said. The three people killed during the Israeli airstrikes included a wife and a child of the Hamas military wing's leader Mohammed Deif, AP cited senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk as saying.

PressTV: Israel kills several in new strikes on Gaza
Le Monde: A Gaza, les attaques reprennent après la fin de la trêve
Noura Erakat ■ No, Israel Does Not Have the Right to Self-Defense Against Occupied Palestinian Territory

CIA/Mossad's "Islamic State" militants have released a graphic video allegedly depicting the beheading of American photojournalist James Wright Foley, who has been missing since 2012 after being kidnapped in Syria.
Foley went missing almost two years ago while covering the conflict in Syria as a freelance photographer. The 39-year-old reporter was working for Agence France-Presse when he disappeared, and his whereabouts were essentially unknown until this recording surfaced. His November 22nd disappearance was classified as a kidnapping by the FBI, which stated he “was taken by an organized gang after departing from an internet café in Binesh, Syria.” The Islamist group also threatened to kill another American journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff of World Affairs and Time, stating his fate is in the hands of President Barack Obama.

Max Fisher ■ On James Foley || For the 44 days I spent thinking about James Foley, he had no idea who I was. It was early 2011 and Jim, then a correspondent for the Global Post, had been kidnapped in Libya, where he was reporting on the civil war. Kidnapped with him were three other journalists, including a freelance reporter named Clare Morgana Gillis, who had filed stories for USA Today and the Atlantic, where I had been her editor. Back in the US, a group of about ten of us at the Atlantic, USA Today, and Global Post spent the month and a half that Jim and company were in captivity agitating for their release. I'm certain most or all of it was useless, but it made us feel a little less helpless: harassing State Department officials, fumbling for useful contacts in the region, organizing media coverage. The one useful thing we did was meet with the families. While we intended to help them, it usually became the opposite. They had Jim and Clare's courage and dedication and that kept us going. By the time the journalists were freed and returned home, they were just meeting me for the first time, but I felt like I'd known them for years. A year later, Jim disappeared near Aleppo while reporting on Syria's civil war, presumed kidnapped by people even more monstrous than Moammar Qaddafi's regime. On Tuesday, after over a year of silence, the jihadist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) posted a video of his death, and the death of his family's hope that Jim would ever come home.

Whatupic: ISIL Claims to have Beheaded US Journalist, Holds another [Video]
IBT: ISIS Threatens Journalist Steven Sotloff After Apparent Beheading Of James Foley
PressTV: ISIL funded by US to break up region: Analyst

Police fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters in Ferguson, Missouri on Monday, after days of unrest sparked by the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white policeman. ● The police action came after hours of street protests that had been tense but mostly peaceful, Reuters witnesses said, adding that a projectile hurled from a crowd of protesters shattered on the ground and erupted into flames. Protesters threw small projectiles, possibly rocks, at police clad in riot gear and flanked by armored vehicles. Police arrested at least four people. One police officer was overheard on a CNN broadcast saying there was a "gunshot victim" as he ordered news media to clear the scene. Missouri's governor had lifted a curfew for the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson on Monday as National Guard troops were called out. The National Guard deployment was the latest step by authorities [allegedly] to end the looting and burning of stores that have punctuated protests and stirred questions about race relations in the United States since the shooting death of Michael Brown, 18, on Aug. 9. [Image: @keithboykin]

RT.com: Journalist arrested, assembly rights restricted amid Ferguson protests
The Guardian: Police in Ferguson arrest Getty photographer Scott Olson
The Intercept: Intercept Reporter Shot With Beanbags and Arrested While Covering Ferguson Protests
WaPo: Man arrested at gunpoint for smoking cigarette in driveway during Ferguson curfew
Antiwar.com: No Curfew, But Police Escalate Ferguson Crackdown
Zero Hedge: Ferguson Tonight: Nelly, The Negro Spring - Live Feed
Vox: Iraq or Missouri? - Images of the military-style crackdown in Ferguson
Eric London & Patrick Martin ■ National Guard, police tighten grip on Ferguson, Missouri

Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ahmet Uzumcu on Tuesday confirmed the neutralization of chemical arms onboard the US ship Cape Ray. ● Uzumcu said all the 600 metric tons of most dangerous substances had been destroyed. "This ends a crucial stage in the complex international maritime operation to remove and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile," he said. Five hundred and eighty-one tons of precursor chemical for sarin gas and 19 tons of mustard gas were neutralized with two Field Deployable Hydrolysis Systems (FDHS) installed on the Cape Ray. The chemicals were mixed in the FDHS units with fresh water and reagents, and then the mixture was heated to reduce the chemicals' toxicity by at least 99.9%, according to the director general.

Over the past month ISIS has been getting angrier (""God Willing, We Will Raise The Flag Of Allah In The White House" - A Deeper Look Inside ISIS") and angrier ("ISIS Issues Threat To White House; Secret Service Taking "Appropriate Steps") until today it released a video in which it warned the United States it will attack Americans "in any place" if continuing US raids hit its militants. The video, released by Reuters, which shows a photograph of an American who was beheaded during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, featured a statement which said in English "we will drown all of you in blood".

But while we get the anger of the Islamic State, be it real or staged, now that the US has allegedly retaken the Mosul dam, one wonders how a terrorist organization with over half a billion dollars in funding, a state of the art "made in the US" weapons arsenal, and glossy year-end profit & loss reports, can't afford to spend a few dollars on the production quality of its propaganda videos, especially if as the rumors suggest not one but several key "developed world" intelligence outlets are pulling the ISIS strings.

PressTV: ISIL tweet for US could be Mossad, FBI creation: Paul Street
RT.com: Islamic State threatens to ‘drown’ American targets in blood in new video

Thierry Meyssan ■ Everyone has noticed the contradiction of those who recently characterized the Islamic Emirate as "freedom fighters" in Syria and who are indignant today faced with its abuses in Iraq. But if that speech is incoherent in itself, it makes perfect sense in the strategic plan: the same individuals were to be presented as allies yesterday and must be as enemies today, even if they are still on orders from Washington. Thierry Meyssan reveals below US policy through the particular case of Senator John McCain, conductor of the "Arab Spring" and longtime partner of Caliph Ibrahim.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not leave the Ecuador embassy in London until it is guaranteed he will avoid extradition to the United States, his lawyer said Tuesday. ● The Australian, who has been holed up in the building for two years, indicated on Monday he would leave the compound "soon" amid reports that he was suffering from a heart condition and other ailments. "(He will leave) as soon as conditions can be negotiated that allow Julian to leave the embassy while his political asylum, to protect him from the risk of extradition to the US, is respected," His lawyer Jennifer Robinson said. "And we haven't seen that happen yet."

Darkmoon ■ More than 90% of Israeli Jews gave unstinting support to the ongoing blood bath, knowing, indeed cheering daily from grandstands erected on hills overlooking Gaza, the criminal consequences of their support – they also are an essential part of this criminal enterprise. Jews who were deeply shocked by this “anti-Semitic” cartoon [left] showed not the slightest concern at the wanton murder and maiming of Palestinian children — like THIS child, her head half blown off by an Israeli sniper. No Israeli can absolve himself by claiming ignorance of the nature of the crimes committed in their name – nor do they want to claim ignorance! The majority of informed Israeli Jews demanded this war from the beginning, many joining racist marches with banners and chants demanding ‘Death to Arabs’! They wear their endorsement of the Gaza holocaust as a badge of honor. Ninety percent of the Jewish citizens in Israel rejected any humanitarian ceasefire: newspaper columnists and the vast majority of letter writers in the daily press argued openly for extermination! Self-declared war criminals are feted as Israeli heroes by their overseas brethren who hasten to endorse or even join the slaughter. Any serious researcher, who has looked at American domestic politics, knows that the Presidents of the 52 Major American (sic) Jewish Organizations are complicit in Israel’s terror bombings of Gaza. And polls show that a majority of young Americans sympathize with the rights of the Palestinians.

Amira Hass ■ Israel bars Amnesty, Human Rights Watch workers from Gaza
RT.com: Israel bars Amnesty & HRW from entering Gaza, hinders investigations – report
PressTV: Damage in Gaza unprecedented: UN official - Video
PressTV: Israel must be prosecuted on multiple levels: Analyst

Annihilate Gaza: Israeli official
Israeli MP: Mothers of all Palestinians must be killed
Rationales Justifying Collective Punishment of Amalek

Phyllis Bennis says the calls in Israeli for genocide against Gaza are not only coming from fringe elements in the political establishment. "This is the reflction of the actual public opinion, widespread throughout Israel. Recent polls have indicated 91 % support." - VIDEO

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
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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