If the West bombs Islamic State militants in Syria without consulting Damascus, the anti-ISIS alliance may use the occasion to launch airstrikes against President Bashar Assad’s forces, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. ● “There are reasons to suspect that air strikes on Syrian territory may target not only areas controlled by Islamic State militants, but the government troops may also be attacked on the quiet to weaken the positions of Bashar Assad’s army,” Lavrov said Tuesday. Such a development would lead to a huge escalation of conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, Lavrov told reporters in Moscow after a meeting with the foreign minister of Mali. Moscow is urging the West to respect international law and undertake such acts only with the approval of the legitimate government of a state, Lavrov said. “Not a single country should have its own plans on such issues. There can be only combined, collective, univocal actions. Only this way can a result be achieved,” he said.

The European Union announced in its Official Journal Friday it was imposing a new round of sanctions on Russia, including those targeting the country’s major defense and energy companies. ● The EU barred three major Russian oil companies (Rosneft, Transneft, GazpromNeft) and three major defense companies (Oboronprom, United Aircraft Corporation and Uralvagonzavod) from seeking finance on European capital markets. The union also banned sales of dual-technology equipment to nine Russian defense companies, including the Kalashnikov Concern, Russia’s largest producer of automatic and sniper combat arms. A total of 24 people, including senior Russian lawmakers and the leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, were added to the list of individuals facing EU travel bans and asset freezes.

RT.com: US extends Russia sanctions, targets biggest lender Sberbank & gas giant Gazprom
Itar-Tass: Rosneft, Transneft, Gazprom Neft on new EU sanctions list
RT.com: Moscow on sanctions: ‘EU unwilling to see Russia’s efforts on Ukraine’

Company releases 1,500 documents from failed suit against NSA over user data requests and cooperation with Prism compliance. ● The US government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day if it refused to hand over user data to the National Security Agency, according to court documents unsealed Thursday. In a blogpost, the company said the 1,500 pages of once-secret documents shine further light on Yahoo’s previously disclosed clash with the NSA over access to its users’ data. The papers outline Yahoo’s secret and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle to resist the government’s demands for the tech firm to cooperate with the NSA’s controversial Prism surveillance program, revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden last year. “The released documents underscore how we had to fight every step of the way to challenge the US government’s surveillance efforts,” said company general counsel Ron Bell in a Tumblr post. The US government amended a key law to demand user information from online services in 2007. When Yahoo was asked to hand over user data the company objected arguing the request was “unconstitutional and overbroad”. Yahoo took its case to the foreign intelligence surveillance court, also known as the Fisa court, which oversees requests for surveillance orders in national security investigations. The secretive Fisa court provides the legal authorities that underpin the US government’s controversial surveillance programs. Yahoo lost its case, and an appeal.

The US State Department demanded an investigation after the American schoolboy's alleged assault was caught on mobile phone. ● An Israeli policeman has been charged with assaulting a 15-year-old American boy who was filmed apparently being beaten by officers in East Jerusalem. Tariq Abu Khadair was attacked as Palestinians protested against the brutal killing of his 16-year-old cousin Mohammed Abu Khadair. The murder, apparently in revenge for the killings of three Israeli teens in June, led to the eight-week war in Gaza. Tariq, who goes to school in Florida, was pictured with severe facial injuries after the assault, which was captured on a mobile phone and released by a human rights group.

Beginning today, the organization Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth has placed a massive, 45-foot video billboard of World Trade Center 7Œs destruction in Times Square which is timed to run for the 13th anniversary of 9/11 and on through October 5th. Against a backdrop of WTC7Œs repeated freefall, the words g5:20 PM on 9/11, WTC7 came down in a classic controlled demolition. The government says fire brought it down, but anyone who watches the video can see otherwiseh will appear. The 15-second spot will air every two minutes for four straight weeks. An estimated 105,000 people a day will see the video. The group ran a similar ad earlier this year in Torontofs subway system. Some 2,250 architects and engineers have now signed a petition (here) that calls for a new investigation into the destruction of all three World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001. Oddly, the buildingfs collapse was never mentioned in the 9/11 commission report.

The First Lady will be making a candid announcement in next month’s issue of ‘OUT’ magazine; The cover of which Mrs. Obama will also adorn. During an interview with NBC, Michelle reluctantly opened up about the piece saying, “I cannot get into specifics, but this will be a giant step for the LGBTQ community. It’s going to transform people’s perspectives around the world, primarily where the rights of transgendered individuals are concerned.” Michelle Obama’s proclamations have left many speculating what the bombshell could be.

Darrell West's U.S. Billionaires Political Power Index is a ranking of the top U.S. billionaires in terms of overall political power. There are a number of existing rankings that rate the net worth of billionaires, but no one has assessed their overall political influence. In his forthcoming Brookings Institution Press book, Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust, Darrell West examines the political use of great wealth, including campaign expenditures, activism through nonprofit organizations and foundations, holding public office, media ownership, policy thought leadership, and behind the scenes influence.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has filed an appeal against the Swedish warrant for his arrest, Swedish media reports. His lawyers are arguing that the prosecutors are acting “in gross breach of Swedish law.” ● Assange's Swedish lawyer, Thomas Olssen, has claimed that the Swedish court is not handling the case correctly. “We argue against the district court's decision and believe they do not properly take account of the situation,” Olssen stated, according to Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet. Assange's lawyers, who argue that Assange should be questioned by Swedish police in London, argue that Sweden's prosecutor “is in gross breach of Swedish law” for not making the journey to London to interview Assange, the Guardian reported.