Iranian general: Our finger on war trigger

With Western pressure growing on Bashar Assad over the latest massacres of defenseless women and children in Syria, Iranian officials again are warning the world against any action against the Middle East dictator.

The pro-Assad “resistance” has its finger on the trigger and the aggressors will not survive the conflict, a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazaeri, told Mashregh, a media outlet run by the Guards. Iranian officials often refer to Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon as the resistance front.

Mashregh reported in March that Iran’s armed forces had formed a joint war room that included officers from Syria, Iran and Hezbollah for a coordinated military response to an attack on Syria.

“A conflict in Syria will engulf the region and its main victims will be the people of Syria themselves,” Jazaeri warned the protesters. “The Zionist regime and the interests of the enemies of Syria are all within range of the resistance fire.”

Citing a conspiracy to weaken the resistance front and that foreign hands were involved in the events in Syria, Jazaeri said, “At the right time, people of the region will retaliate against these actions. The defeat of the enemy at this stage will be a big event and, God willing, we will witness that.”

There have been several reports alluding to the Revolutionary Guards’ involvement in the Syrian suppression. Recently the deputy commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Cmdr. Esmail Ghani, said his forces have been playing a “physical and nonphysical” role in Syria. more

HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN IVORY COAST CONDEMNS ATTACK IN WHICH SEVEN PEACEKEEPERS FROM NIGER WERE KILLED

Free Syrian Army steps up training

Japan restarts two nuclear reactors

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake CENTRAL ALASKA - 8th June 2012

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck CENTRAL ALASKA at a depth of 39.4 km (24.5 miles), the quake hit at 18:27:36 UTC Friday 8th June 2012
The epicenter was 45 km (28 miles) North from Glacier View, Alaska
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

'The private sector's doing fine': Obama's astonishing claim as he blames U.S. economic woes on Europe, Congress and George Bush (but NOT himself)

President Barack Obama, defending his economic record after unemployment rose to 8.2 per cent last month, has told Americans that 'the private sector is doing just fine'.

Speaking at a White House press conference, Obama sought to blame troubles in the European economy, the legacy of President George W. Bush and inaction by Congress for poor economic numbers in the United States.

But then he offered what Republicans immediately seized on as a political gift. 'We've created 4.3 million jobs over the past 27 months,' he said. 'The private sector is doing fine.

'Where we're seeing problems is with state and local government. Often with cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help they're accustomed to from the federal government.

'If Republicans want to be helpful... what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments, how do we help the construction industry.' Read More

They don’t do things by half in China, as lucky drivers escape TWO runaway boulders flattening their cars

It looks like the scene from a deadly earthquake. But miraculously no one was killed, after two rocks weighing a combined 300 tons rolled down a cliff and flattened two parked cars in Chongqing, southwest China.

The rocks smashed a seven-foot wide and three-feet deep pit in the road, and created a huge crack in the paving.

Despite hitting a number of cars, no one was killed, although there were several lucky escapes. One of the vehicles - a delivery truck with 2,500 boxes of beer on it - was hit while moving. Read More

Alex Thompson, Ch 4 News's chief correspondent, said he was driven out into no-man's land was a deliberate move by FREE SYRIAN ARMY to get them Killed

Channel 4 News's chief correspondent Alex Thomson has said he and his crew were 'deliberately set up' by Syrian rebels while covering the ongoing conflict.

He claims that they were led to a trap so that they would be killed by gunfire from government forces which would have played badly for the Assad regime.

He said: 'I’m quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the Syrian Army. Dead journos are bad for Damascus.'

He was with a small group from the Free Syrian Army when the alleged ambush took place in a 'free-fire zone' in 'no-man's land' on the edge of al-Qusayr.

He says UN vehicles then abandoned them and drove away while their car was surrounded by shouting militia.

Eventually they made it out and headed back to Damascus, Mr Thomson writes.

The group was following an escort after asking for help at a checkpoint.

'Suddenly four men in a black car beckon us to follow,' Thomson said: 'We move out behind.

'We are led another route. Led in fact, straight into a free-fire zone. Told by the Free Syrian Army to follow a road that was blocked off in the middle of no-man’s-land.

'At that point there was the crack of a bullet and one of the slower three-point turns I’ve experienced. We screamed off into the nearest side-street for cover.

'Another dead-end. There was no option but to drive back out onto the sniping ground and floor it back to the road we’d been led in on. Read More

Osborne hints at EU referendum as Cameron bats away Merkel's demands for European 'national identity'

Britain and Germany are on a collision course as the row over the future of the eurozone and the UK's EU membership intensified.

Chancellor George Osborne has given the biggest hint yet there may be a referendum, and to her clear anger, David Cameron told Angela Merkel last night Britain will not join her proposed European superstate.

During yesterday's Berlin crisis talks the Prime Minister openly rejected the German chancellor's plan to save the eurozone from oblivion by forming a single Euro-country, calling the idea 'nonsense'.

But in return Mr Cameron was publicly mocked by Mrs Merkel for being 'impatient' and telling her to put German cash behind an ‘immediate’ rescue plan for the euro or start planning for the break-up of the single currency. Read More

Gangs raping and sexually exploiting vulnerable white young girls 'is an Asian problem', top Crown prosecutor admits

Image: Nazir Afzal says it is impossible not to notice 'that the perpetrators were Asian and the victims were not.'

The sexual exploitation and grooming of young vulnerable white girls is a 'particular problem in Asian communities', one of Britain's top prosecutors admitted for the first time today.

In a year when several paedophile gangs were convicted of raping and prostituting victims in north west England, Nazir Afzal says it is impossible not to notice 'that the perpetrators were Asian and the victims were not.'

The Chief Crown Prosecutor for the region added that 'cultural baggage and the status of women among some men in these communities contributes to their disrespect for the rights of women.'

It was claimed last month that fears they would be branded racist meant that police and social services left one group free to rape up to 50 white girls, and Mr Afzal said today he would not 'turn a blind eye.'

It came as the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee announced yesterday a day of evidence next week because its members and chairman Keith Vaz are 'very concerned by the recent cases of child exploitation.'

The Labour MP for Leicester East has previously said: 'I do not think it is a race issue.' Read More

Terrifies Chinese city as residents fear mysterious animal...............(Maybe Someone should tell them it's a Chinese Crested Hairless Dog)

With a mohawk-style plume of hair and pink flesh covered in leopard-esque spots, the mysterious animal terrified locals in Xinxiang, Henan province

Xinxiang is close to several scientific research centres and a local medical school - and locals became convinced the creature was an experiment gone wrong, on the run from a nearby lab.

One witness said: ‘The pink skin makes it look just like pig gone wrong in some sort of genetic experiment.’ Read More

Harvey Nichols under fire for 'disgusting' advert of models wetting themselves

Luxury department store Harvey Nichols has come under fire for their latest advertising campaign, released to promote their summer sale.

The glossy poster depicts a woman who has apparently - and there is no delicate way of putting this - wet her pants with excitement.

But the Knightsbridge store's latest mailshots have angered some more sensitive shoppers who have branded them 'crass' and off-putting. Read More

Clare Sly and Partner Decker Vassall Killed at their home on Laneside Gardens...Son and his girlfriend are held on suspicion of Murder

A 23-year-old man and his girlfriend are being held on suspicion of shooting dead his own mother and her partner in the early hours of this morning, neighbours have claimed.

The victims, named locally as teaching assistant Clare Sly, 38, and her 43-year-old partner Decker Vassall were gunned down at their home after neighbours heard rowing at the property.

Their bodies were discovered at 1.37am at a house on Laneside Gardens, in the Birchills area of Walsall, West Midlands. Paramedics tried to revive the pair but both died at the scene.

Soon after police arrested a 23-year-old man, believed to be Ms Sly's son Anthony Vassell, and a 22-year-old woman, believed to be his girlfriend. Read More

Euro 2012: Polish thugs attack English-speaking fans as Dutch players complain of racist 'monkey chants' at training

Trouble has erupted hours before the start of the Euro 2012 football tournament, with local thugs attacking English-speaking fans and hurling racist abuse at star players.

About 50 hooligans punched and kicked foreign football fans speaking English and Russian as they drank in a pub in the central Polish city of Lodz.

The fighting broke out after Dutch players complained they were subjected to monkey chants while training in another Polish city, where the England team is based.

Fears are growing that the tournament, which starts today, could be ruined by neo-Nazi rioters in host countries Poland and Ukraine. Read More

Flame malware makers send 'suicide' code

The creators of the Flame malware have sent a "suicide" command that removes it from some infected computers.

Security firm Symantec caught the command using booby-trapped computers set up to watch Flame's actions.

Flame came to light after the UN's telecoms body asked for help with identifying a virus found stealing data from many PCs in the Middle East.

New analysis of Flame reveals how sophisticated the program is and gives hints about who created it.

Clean machine Like many other security firms Symantec has kept an eye on Flame using so-called "honeypot" computers that report what happens when they are infected with a malicious program.

Described as a very sophisticated cyber-attack, Flame targeted countries such as Iran and Israel and sought to steal large amounts of sensitive data. Read More

IAEA says no progress in nuclear probe talks with Iran

(Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said it had made no progress in talks with Iran on Friday to finalise a deal on resuming a long-stalled investigation into suspected nuclear weapons research by Tehran and it called the outcome "disappointing".

Herman Nackaerts, global head of inspections for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said after Friday's meeting at IAEA headquarters in Vienna that no date for further talks on the matter had been set.

The United States, European powers and Israel want to curb Iranian atomic activities they suspect are intended to produce nuclear bombs. Tehran says the aims of its nuclear programme are purely civilian. Read More

A9 NEAR RALIA CRASH: TWO PEOPLE HAVE DIED AND FIVE OTHERS TAKEN TO HOSPITAL AFTER BUS AND VAN COLLIDE

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake SOUTHERN IRAN - 8th June 2012

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck SOUTHERN IRAN at a depth of 33.4 km (20.8 miles), the quake hit at 16:15:14 UTC Friday 8th June 2012
The epicenter was 87 km (54 miles) North of Bushehr, Iran
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

4.4 Magnitude Earthquake HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN - 8th June 2012

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake has struck the HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN at a depth of 200 km (124 miles), the quake hit at 13:42:44 UTC Friday 8th June 2012
The epicenter was 46 km (28.5 miles) South of Jurm, Afghanistan
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

General Motors is becoming China Motors

NATO apologises over Afghan CIVILIAN deaths in air strike..... Just 2 Days ago NATO Announced the Reports of Civilian Deaths was not True

KABUL, Afghanistan — The US commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan has apologised over the deaths of civilians in an air strike this week, flying personally to the scene to deliver his condolences.

President Hamid Karzai had expressed outrage over the incident, in which Afghan officials said 18 civilians including women and children were killed, and cut short a visit to Beijing to return home.

NATO commander General John Allen flew to Logar province south of Kabul "to see local leaders and the population to apologise and offer condolences to the families", spokesman Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson told AFP.
This was the first public acknowledgement by NATO that civilians died in the air strike on a home in the province in the early hours of Wednesday. Read More

6th June 2012

NATO DENIES AFGHANS CLAIM THAT AIRSTRIKE KILLED 18 CIVILIANS

Barack Obama: Europe faces tough decisions

European leaders must make difficult decisions to steer the eurozone away from crisis, US President Obama says.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said the US would support Europe as it implemented the hard solutions needed to solve the ongoing debt crisis.

He said a deep new recession in Europe would have an impact on the US economy.

Greece's future in the eurozone was a matter for the Greek people, he said, but "further hardship" must be expected if the country chose to leave the euro.

Outlining a series of "specific steps" Europe needed to take to ensure stability within the eurozone, the president was at pains to say he would not "scold" Europe.

Mr Obama said European leaders needed to stabilise the continent's financial system and inject capital into weak banks "as soon as possible". Read More

Child "bomberitos" on Peru's most dangerous highway

Bomberito means "little fireman" in Spanish. In the Andes Mountains of Peru groups of them use their homemade carretas to help stranded motorists and truckers along the highway. The tips they earn help support their families.

Hevert (left) was a bomberito as a kid, helping rescue stranded motorists and victims of disasters. They get their carretas up the steep highway through the Andes by attaching ropes, or just their hands, to passing transport trucks. (Photos: Romi Burianova)

The photo that started it (below). Filmmaker Quincy Perkins saw this picture of two Bomberitos -- kids on their own in the mountains of Peru who make their way to mountain accidents and disasters. Our Dispatches contributor went with him to the Amazon valley as he made a film about them. more

4.6 Magnitude Earthquake NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU - 8th June 2012

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake has struck NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles), the quake hit at 12:54:27 UTC Friday 8th June 2012
The epicenter was 33 km (20.4 miles) Southeast Nicolás de pierola, Peru
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

Merkel says won't pressure Spain to seek bailout... We Believe you

(Reuters) - Germany will not pressure Spain to apply for an international bailout, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, after reports that Madrid was expected to request European aid for its ailing banks at the weekend.

"It is always clear that those countries that want to (make use of) solidarity make the request themselves," she told a news conference with visiting New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

"It's down to the individual countries to turn to us," said Merkel. "That has not happened so far and therefore will not exert any pressure here or anything."

Merkel said that the euro zone had put in place a "bundle of measures" that could be called upon in such a case -- including its rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, and its permanent successor -- to ensure the stability of the euro zone and increase the bloc's competitiveness.

Merkel said she wanted Greece to remain a member of the euro zone but whichever party wins a June 17 election must stick to a memorandum of understanding agreed with international lenders. Read More

Thaer Halahleh the Palestinian hunger striker released

Spain banking on an EU bailout

US scientists make startling Arctic discovery

Spiral lights seen over Israel, Middle East.....Another out of Control Russian Missile?

Drop Dead Euro

Racist chants & boycotts: Euro 2012 kicks off on scandal wave

Colombia: Police rescue 13-year-old kidnap victim

June 7 - Colombian authorities rescue a 13-year-old Ecuadorian boy, who had been kidnapped with his mother in April.

Markets brace for China data slump

June 8 - Equity markets slide as traders wonder whether China's surprise rate cut means Beijing knows that this weekend's data will bring a deluge of bad news.

Bernanke says Fed to act if Europe crisis deepens

(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday the U.S. central bank was ready to shield the economy if financial troubles mount but offered few hints that further monetary stimulus was imminent.

He told Congress the Fed was closely monitoring "significant risks" to the U.S. recovery from Europe's debt crisis but struck a decidedly different tone from the central bank's No. 2 official, who argued in favor of monetary support on Wednesday.

For investors hungry for clues about the prospect for a third round of large-scale Fed bond buying, Bernanke's testimony disappointed.

"The Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the U.S. economy in the event that financial stresses escalate," Bernanke told the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Stocks pared gains on Bernanke's remarks but remained positive after a steep rally on Wednesday, while the dollar strengthened against the euro. Read More

Global shares, oil, euro fall as Spanish reality dawns

(Reuters) - European shares, the euro and oil fell on Friday as hopes for more global monetary easing dwindled despite the prospect of slower economic growth in Germany and China, and expectations of a bailout for Spanish banks failed to stop the rot.

A credit rating cut for Madrid forced investors to confront the reality of the euro zone crisis after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke damped recent hopes that the central bank would announce new moves to stimulate the U.S. economy later this month.

Top European shares .FTEU3 were down 0.6 percent around midday, the euro had retreated to below $1.25 after a two-week high on Thursday, and Brent crude slid $1.62 to $98.25 a barrel. U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Friday..N

"With the negative news on Spain's rating cut, it's back to reality for the market. The recovery we saw in the last few days was not a sustainable one," said Lutz Karpowitz, currency strategist at Commerzbank, who forecast the euro would be around $1.20 by the end of June. Read More

Pakistani women were Killed for dancing and clapping at a wedding

Crews search for helicopter in Peru

(CNN) -- After nearly a day of searching, rescuers in Peru had not spotted a helicopter that went missing in a region that boasts some of the country's most popular tourist destinations, state media reported Thursday evening.

The helicopter's 12 passengers were officials from a Korean company that was doing work in the jungle, the state-run Andina news agency said, citing Peru's trade and tourism minister. Two crew members were also onboard.

Officials lost contact with the chopper Wednesday in a remote area of the department of Cusco.

A Thursday afternoon flyover of the area where the helicopter went missing revealed no sign of the aircraft, Andina said.

Heavy fog and significant snowfall in the mountainous area where the helicopter went missing forced a rescue helicopter to turn back Thursday afternoon, said Gen. Hector Dulanto, chief of the police rescue operation. Read More

U.S. lawmakers: End 'cascade' of leaks

Washington (CNN) -- Congressional leaders agreed Thursday on the need for a full investigation of what one called a recent "cascade" of leaked classified information but differed on exactly how the inquiry should be conducted.

After meeting with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, the top Democrats and Republicans on the intelligence committees of the House and Senate pledged a bipartisan effort to halt the leaks now and pass legislative changes to prevent future leaks.

However, the chairwoman of the Senate panel, Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California, was reluctant to immediately seek a special prosecutor to investigate the leaks involving a cyberwarfare program against Iran and other intelligence matters. The House panel chairman, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, made clear he believed an outside investigation was necessary. Read More

Saddam Hussein aide executed in Iraq

(CNN) -- Iraq has executed a high-ranking aide to the late ruler Saddam Hussein, a government spokesman said Thursday.

The Justice Ministry carried out the execution of Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, who was Hussein's personal secretary, national security adviser and senior bodyguard, spokesman Ali a-Dabbagh said.

Al-Tikriti was the "ace of diamonds" in the U.S. military's card deck of 55 most-wanted Iraqis. He was No. 4 on the list, behind Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay.

He and members of Hussein's special security forces were captured in a 2003 raid by U.S. Special Operations Forces near the north-central Iraq town of Tikrit. Read More

China urges flexibility in Iran nuke talks

(CNN) -- China's President Hu Jintao urged Iran to take a "flexible and pragmatic" approach as it enters talks on its nuclear program Friday with the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna, China's foreign ministry said.

Hu told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that China believed in serious dialogue and cooperation as the way to ease tensions, as the pair met in Beijing Friday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad said Iran would continue to pursue negotiations and maintain contact with all sides, Xinhua said.

Hu's remarks come a day after he and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly stated that "any attempts to resolve the Iranian issue by force are unacceptable." Read More

4.7 Magnitude Earthquake EASTERN NEW GUINEA REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA - 8th June 2012

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake has struck the EASTERN NEW GUINEA REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA at a depth of 34.8 km (21.6 miles), the quake hit at 11:36:23 UTC Friday 8th June 2012
The epicenter was 134 km (83 miles) SSE from Lae, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA - 8th June 2012

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA at a depth of 17 km (10.6 miles), the quake hit at 11:31:05 UTC Friday 8th June 2012
The epicenter was 278 km (173 miles) NNW from Lake Macquarie, Australia
No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

U.S. puts bounties on Somali terrorists.....Better send the Drones in then

(CNN) -- The United States is offering millions of dollars for the whereabouts of seven key members of the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based terror group behind bombings and attacks in the region.

The announcement posted on the website of the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice program offers $7 million for information on the location of Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed, the founder of al-Shabaab.

In announcing the bounties on Mohamed and his key associates Thursday, the State Department called al-Shabaab "a threat to the stability of East Africa and to the national security interests of the United States."

This year, he and al Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, released a joint video formally announcing a merger between the terror groups. Read More

Euro 2012: Dutch faced 'monkey chants' during Training in Poland

(CNN) -- The captain of the Dutch national team says his players were subjected to racial abuse at a training session in the Polish city of Krakow this week, just days before the Euro 2012 football tournament was due to begin in Poland and Ukraine.

Several hundred people reportedly targeted black members of the squad with "monkey chants" during an open session Wednesday at the Stadion Miejski, the home of Wisla Krakow. Read More

Civil war 'imminent' in Syria, U.N. chief Ban warns

(CNN) -- International envoy Kofi Annan meets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday as frustrated world leaders warned that Syria is engaging in crimes against humanity and drifting closer to a civil war.

"How many more times have we to condemn them and how many ways must we say we are outraged?" U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday after 10 hours of talks on Syria. "The danger of full-scale civil war is imminent and real, with catastrophic consequences for Syria and the region."

Diplomats echoed a sense of urgency to end escalating bloodshed after reports of another massacre that left dozens dead this week.

"Enough is enough," Arab League chief Nabil el-Araby said as he called for "all kinds of pressure" on Damascus. Read More

Europe's oldest woman has died in France aged 114

Chris Rock: 'We Ignore the President's Whiteness, But It's There'

Comedian Chris Rock appeared on NBC’s “Today” show to promote his role in "Madagascar 3."

"Today Show" host Ann Curry asked Rock what animal he could be if he could choose anything. After considering the lion ("king of the jungle and all that") and the snake ("scare people, sssssss!"), Rock decided he'd stick with "Marty the Zebra", joking that it was "in honor of our zebra president, black and white, white and black." Rock added "I love our president, you know, but he's black and white, he appeals to all," Rock said. "That's what I'm going for….We ignore the President’s whiteness, but it’s there, it’s there,” Rock smiled and said. Read More

HALPERIN: DEMS NOW BELIEVE OBAMA COULD LOSE

With five months until Election Day, Barack Obama faces a grim new reality: Republicans now believe Mitt Romney can win, and Democrats believe Obama can lose ...

Last week's anemic job-creation and economic-growth data was sandwiched between two Bill Clinton specials: in one television interview, the 42nd President lauded Romney's business record as "sterling"; in another, he veered from the Obama line on the extension of Bush-era tax cuts ...

The failure to unseat Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker in a recall election was another bad sign for Democrats since it will rev up conservatives nationwide, including the kind of millionaires who gave big bucks to Walker's effort ...

Veteran Democratic strategists from previous presidential bids and on Capitol Hill now wonder if the Obama re-election crew is working with the right message ...

The White House remains on a rough political trajectory, with a potentially adverse Supreme Court decision on the Obama health care law looming, additional bad economic news from Europe coming and more worrisome polling pending ...

Another danger for the President: the media freak show. Stalking that circus' center ring is Matt Drudge, whose caustic website continues to help drive the news cycle with an emphasis on negative, mocking items about Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and their wives. Read More

''The Criminal Banking Cartel's End Game: A 100% Digital Monetary System''

There is no doubt that the elite have always sought to carefully manufacture news and to control the beliefs of the masses through their interests in funding education and in owning media distribution channels for centuries.

There is a wealth of history that chronicles the elite’s desires to control and sway public opinion by manufacturing news versusthe honorable journalism pursuit of reporting news in a fair and accurate manner. For example, in 1917, Congressman Oscar Callaway stated, as documented in the Congressional Record:

"In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interests, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press of the United States.

These 12 men worked the problem out by selecting 170 newspapers, and then began, by an elimination process, to retain only those necessary for the purpose of controlling the general policy of the daily press throughout the country. They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest newspapers. The 25 papers were agreed upon; emissaries were sent to purchase the policy, national and international, of these papers; an agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interest of the purchasers.” Read More

Pak,'' Iran agree to vigorously pursue IP gas pipeline project, supply of electricity''

BEIJING, June 7 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met here Thursday and agreed to vigorously pursue the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project as well as supply of electricity to Pakistan.Both Presidents met here on the sidelines of SCO Summit being held in Beijing.

Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the two leaders also agreed to resolve urgently the issue of credit for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline so as to complete it expeditiously.Relevant ministers and officials from both sides will now meet to further take forward the decisions taken in principle.

While giving details of the meeting, Senator Babar said that host of issues ranging from bilateral relations to the regional security situation and various ways and means to further promote socio-economic development of the region with special reference to enhancing regional connectivity were discussed during the meeting. Source

JAEA signed contracts with nuclear plant makers in preparation for Monju restart, Japan

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) signed contracts with two nuclear power plant makers in late March in preparation for tests at the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju, though the government has yet to decide on the reactor's fate, it has been learned.

The government has not allocated funds from this fiscal year's state budget to resume test operations at the trouble-plagued reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, as it is still reviewing Japan's atomic energy policy following the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

However, JAEA used funds that were allocated last fiscal year to make contracts with Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. for approximately 100 million yen in preparation for possible reactivation of the reactor.

An official of JAEA explained that it needed to make all possible preparations in anticipation of reactivation approval.

"We're working through plans to promptly reactivate the reactor after the government adopts its new atomic energy policy. We did what we could do to prepare for reactivation even before the new policy was adopted," the official said.

Hideyuki Ban, co-leader of the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, condemned JAEA's move. Read More