A militant group fighting against the Syrian government says US-led airstrikes have killed a number of civilians, including children, near the Turkish border. ● Ahrar al-Sham said in a statement on Thursday that overnight raids also destroyed one of its bases near the border. US-led airstrikes also struck the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front for only the second time since the coalition was formed in September. Several militants are said to have been killed in the attacks carried out in the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Aleppo. Since late September, the US and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out airstrikes against ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

Glenn Greenwald ■ How Many Muslim Countries Has the U.S. Bombed Or Occupied Since 1980? || To get a full scope of American violence in the world, it is worth asking a broader question: how many countries in the Islamic world has the U.S. bombed or occupied since 1980? That answer was provided in a recent Washington Post op-ed by the military historian and former U.S. Army Col. Andrew Bacevich: "As America’s efforts to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamic State militants extent into Syria, Iraq War III has seamlessly morphed into Greater Middle East Battlefield XIV. That is, Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And that’s just since 1980. Let’s tick them off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria." -Whew!

The top US Army official says the United States is learning from Israel’s tactics on how to limit civilian casualties in a war [sic], despite the international outcry over the regime’s brutality in Gaza. ● Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that the Pentagon has sent a team to see what lessons could be learned from the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza on "how to limit civilian casualties". Dempsey said the Pentagon had sent the team of senior officials and non-commissioned officers three months ago "to include the measures they took to prevent civilian casualties and what they did with tunneling" in US military operations. He [falsely] claimed the Israeli military went to “extraordinary lengths” to limit civilian casualties in the 50-day Gaza war. The remarks came as the recent war has been widely condemned by the international community over the killing of civilians including women and children. Even, the White House criticized Israel for causing “indefensible and unacceptable” deaths during the war. At least 2,140 Palestinians were killed during the recent Gaza war, mostly civilians. During the operation, Israel even attacked UN-run schools, prompting the Amnesty International to condemn Israel’s “callous indifference” to the carnage caused by attacks on civilian targets. (Photo: america.aljazeera.com)

Yahoo: Israel "tried to limit civilian casualties in Gaza" - U.S. military chief
Common Dreams staff ■ Critics Slam US Military's 'Disturbing' Praise for Israel's Gaza Offensive

Two teenagers have been killed in the shelling of a school in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. ● The city's administration said in a statement on Wednesday that two schoolchildren were killed and three others injured after an artillery shell hit a school sports field, where they were playing soccer. “As a result of a missile strike from the conflict zone two teenagers were killed and a further three were injured on a school sports field,” the statement said. The press service of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s Interior Ministry said the children died of shrapnel wounds. Some reports also said more people were wounded in the shelling. Locals said the incident occurred about 1-1.5 miles (1.6-2.5 kilometers) from the city’s main airport, which has been the scene of clashes between government forces and pro-Russia forces for months. It is not clear whether pro-Russians or government forces launched the attack but in early October, several people were killed and dozens injured in Donetsk after a school and a bus stop came under fire, reportedly from Ukrainian army positions.

RT.com: ‘Kiev planned to abide by ceasefire only for election time’

British spies have been granted the authority to secretly eavesdrop on legally privileged attorney-client communications, according to newly released documents. ● On Thursday, a series of previously classified policies confirmed for the first time that the U.K.’s top surveillance agency Government Communications Headquarters (pictured above) has advised its employees: “You may in principle target the communications of lawyers.” The U.K.’s other major security and intelligence agencies—MI5 and MI6—have adopted similar policies, the documents show. The guidelines also appear to permit surveillance of journalists and others deemed to work in “sensitive professions” handling confidential information.

Violent clashes broke out in Belgium as more than 100,000 protesters marched in Brussels against the government’s austerity measures. Police deployed water cannon as dockworkers, metalworkers and students took to the streets. ● The violence flared up at the end of an otherwise peaceful protest, with tear gas deployed as some radical demonstrators hurled objects at riot police and launched attacks with the barriers against the officials. Some set off colored smoke flares. At least 14 people were taken to hospital following the violence, according to national daily HLN.be. The Belgian government which assumed power just a month ago has caused unrest with promises to raise the retirement age, cancel a wage rise in line with inflation and cut health and social security benefits - moves that undermine the country's welfare state. People supporting the march have said that the austerity cuts only target workers while unfairly letting businesses off the hook. The government is intending, through the cuts, to save some 11 billion euros ($13.8 billion). “The signal is clear. People are angry, livid. This government's policies are totally unbalanced,” ACV union chief Marc Leemans told Reuters.

This young man who calls himself Dynamo is being completely ignored by the American corporate media and pretty much the media of the world outside the UK. Within the UK where he is from, he has received only minor media recognition. What he does is real, and it is for this reason that he is being ignored. Because he is kept hidden from the American People, I have decided to place some of his You Tube videos on the site for the American visitors to see. I thought you might want to see this. - Schuyler Ebbets

The earliest humans to live in Europe managed to survive the last Ice Age, a ferocious change in the climate that covered much of the continent in a thick layer of ice, a study has found. ● Scientists analysing the genetic makeup of the fossilised bones of a man who lived about 37,000 years ago in what is now western Russia found that his DNA is similar to modern-day Europeans suggesting they have a longer, continuous history than previously supposed. The fossilised shinbone was found at a Stone Age site near the village of Kostenki on the River Don, and the successful extraction and sequencing of the man’s DNA means it is now the second oldest complete genome for anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens.