June 6, 2015

Don't be afraid of Russia, Putin tells West
Russia is not a threat to the West, President Vladimir Putin insisted in an interview published on Saturday, saying he was still committed to a Ukraine peace deal after a fresh flare-up in the country's east.  

Sessions to Obama: Why Are You Keeping Obamatrade’s New Global Governance Secret?
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, has written a scathing new letter to President Barack Obama pressuring him to explain why Obamatrade has been so secretive. ...The letter hones in on the new global governance, as Sessions calls it, that would be created by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)...  

Violence ahead of Mexico mid-term elections
There has been further violence around Mexico as the country prepares for this weekend's mid-term elections. A radical teachers' union attacked the offices of five political parties in Chiapas state in the south of the country. Meanwhile in Guerrero state, explosive devices were thrown into a conservative party's office.  

Malaysia mountain quake: Eleven dead and eight missing
Eleven people have died and eight others are missing after an earthquake near Malaysia's highest peak, a minister for tourism has said. The bodies were recovered from Mount Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo, after a 6.0 magnitude quake triggered landslides. Some 137 climbers were stranded on the mountain for several hours but have now made it to safety.  

Saudi Arabia says shoots down Scud missile fired by Yemeni rebels
Saudi Arabia shot down a Scud missile fired into the kingdom by Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its army allies on Saturday...in the first use of the missile in over two months of war. The missile was launched early Saturday morning in the direction of Khamees al-Mushait, and was intercepted by a Patriot missile, a statement by the leadership of the Saudi-led joint Arab military coalition said.  

Egyptian court axes ruling to list Hamas as terrorist group, sources say
An Egyptian appeals court on Saturday canceled a ruling to list the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization, judicial sources said. Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood which the authorities have also declared a terrorist group and have repressed since the army ousted one of its leaders, Mohamed Morsi, from the presidency in 2013.  

Egg rationing in America has officially begun
In recent days, an ominous sign has appeared throughout Texas. "Eggs [are] not for commercial sale," read warnings, printed on traditional 8 1/2-by-11-inch pieces of white paper and posted at H-E-B grocery stores across Texas. "The purchase of eggs is limited to 3 cartons of eggs per customer."  

Exclusive–Sessions to Obama: Why Are You Keeping Obamatrade’s New Global Governance Secret?
Sen. Jeff Sessions, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, has written a scathing new letter to President Barack Obama pressuring him to explain why Obamatrade has been so secretive. The letter hones in on the new global governance, as Sessions calls it, that would be created by the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)—which would almost certainly be approved by Congress should the House of Representatives vote in favor of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) to fast track TPP and other trade deals. TPA, which passed the Senate a couple weeks ago, would ensure—barring some unforeseen development—the congressional approval of TPP, and collectively the two have become known as Obamatrade.  

Court ruling could see wider euthanasia
The European Court of Human Rights has allowed France to take a man in a coma off life support, in a case that has torn a family apart and could influence the extent to which euthanasia is endorsed by law across the continent.  

Tsipras tells lenders not to humiliate Greece over debt
Greece's prime minister has warned international creditors not to impose humiliating terms on his country as it seeks urgently needed bailout funds. Alexis Tsipras said negotiations were at a "critical" stage, but that the lenders' proposals were "not realistic".  

31 killed in Nigeria market blast
A bomb exploded in the main market in Nigeria’s northeastern city of Yola killing 31 people, Nigeria’s disaster response agency said on Friday, in an attack blamed on the extremist Boko Haram group. Another 38 victims, some with serious injuries, are being treated, said an official.  

Kansas may furlough 7,000 workers due to revenue shortage
More than 7,000 state employees in Kansas would be furloughed on Monday if state lawmakers cannot agree on a new annual budget by midnight on Saturday, state officials said on Friday.  

Air Force: ISIS selfie leads to headquarters destruction
Islamic State’s presence on social media, especially Twitter, has been linked to its worldwide recruiting success, and the group has been called the most media-savvy terror group in history. Recently, though, a selfie got them into trouble. US Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, explained at an Air Force Association breakfast on Monday how a group of airmen stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida, saw a photo on social media of an Islamic State militant at his command post. Less than a day later, the Air Force claim, they destroyed the Islamic State headquarters building in the photo.  

U.N. council condemns attacks on Syria civilians, barrel bombs
The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned continued indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Syria, including aerial bombardment and barrel bombings that Western powers say only the government is capable of carrying out. Last week the U.N. humanitarian chief painted a harrowing portrait of savagery in Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, and urged the Security Council to take collective action to put an end to the carnage.  

ISIS is turning US Humvees into Iraq's worst nightmare
More than two-thirds of the Humvees the US supplied to Iraq to fight terrorists have ended up in the hands of Islamic State militants. And the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh, has not wasted any time in converting those vehicles into one of its deadliest and most nightmarish tools: suicide car bombs. According to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, ISIS controls about 2,300 armored US Humvees. Most of those vehicles were seized after ISIS overran Mosul in June 2014.  

June 5, 2015

Right to die: Court backs France in Vincent Lambert case
The European Court of Human Rights has upheld the decision of a court in France to allow a paralysed man to be taken off life support. Vincent Lambert, 39, has been in a coma for seven years after a motorcycle accident left him tetraplegic. His family have been split over whether he should be kept alive.  

Australia mass surveillance 'among most aggressive'
Australia conducts one of the world's most aggressive mass surveillance programmes, US journalist Glenn Greenwald has said. Mr Greenwald was one of the reporters who broke the 2013 story on internet surveillance by the UK and US. He told broadcaster ABC that Australia was "probably the country that has got away with things the most" following those revelations.  

Millions of US government workers hit by data breach
Chinese hackers are suspected of carrying out a "massive breach" of the personal data of nearly four million US government workers, officials said. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed that both current and past employees had been affected. The breach could potentially affect every federal agency, officials said.  

China forges ahead on expansion in face of U.S. posturing
The South China Sea, constantly simmering with various maritime boundary disputes, appears to be on the boil yet again. China is busy dredging up the seabed and spraying sand onto shoals and reefs in order to literally build islands – roughly 809 hectares over the past 18 months – in disputed waters that lie within its controversially expansive “nine-dashed line” claim. This enables it to place military installations and airstrips hundreds of kilometres from its southern shoreline, as well as lay claim to mineral riches.  

Netanyahu slams 'miserable' Orange move to cut Israel ties
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday condemned the "miserable" decision of French telecoms giant Orange to withdraw its brand from Israel, urging Paris to distance itself from the company.  

MARC FABER: 'I feel like I'm on the Titanic'
Another Wall Street analyst is making comparisons to the Titanic. This time it's editor and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, Marc Faber. Faber warned that investors should stop bickering over which assets are the best, and start preparing their own escape plan. That is, if they don't want the same fate as Jack Dawson.  

Israelis and Saudis Reveal Secret Talks to Thwart Iran
Since the beginning of 2014, representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. On Thursday, the two countries came out of the closet by revealing this covert diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.  

Why Assad's air force is now a force multiplier for ISIS
The Islamic State terror group is pushing toward Aleppo in Syria. And the jihadists are seemingly aided by air strikes from the regime of dictator Bashar Assad. This might seem counterintuitive since the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh) is a major threat to Assad's regime.  

NOAA Fiddles With Climate Data To Erase 15-Year Global Warming 'Hiatus'...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists have found a solution to the 15-year “pause” in global warming: They “adjusted” the hiatus in warming out of the temperature record.  

After Ebola, world still unprepared for global pandemic: MSF
The global health system is unable to handle another mass epidemic like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Médecins Sans Frontières said, urging wealthy nations to develop coordinated response plans and drugs to fight neglected diseases.

June 4, 2015

China suspected in massive breach of federal personnel data
WASHINGTON -- China-based hackers are suspected of breaking into the computer networks of the U.S. government personnel office and stealing identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers, American officials said Thursday  

US might deploy missiles in Europe to counter Russia
The Obama administration is weighing a range of aggressive responses to Russia's alleged violation of a Cold War-era nuclear treaty, including deploying land-based missiles in Europe that could pre-emptively destroy the Russian weapons.  

Tony Blair Appointed Chairman of European Council on Tolerance
Blair is stepping down as the Quartet's 'peace process" envoy, a position in which he did almost nothing, thank God.  

Isil car bomb factory 'destroyed by US-led air strike'
A US-led air strike in Iraq has completely destroyed one of Islamic State's largest car bomb factories, causing heavy casualties and extensive destruction, officials said. The blast caused by the strike and the destruction of explosive material in the town of Hawijah was heard as far as Kirkuk, a city under Kurdish control that lies 34 miles away.  

Prayers inflame tensions over Jerusalem holy site
After 900 years, Jews are chipping away at Muslims' exclusive control of the site, the third holiest in Islam. The shift, which has provoked violence in the past, threatens to open a dangerous new front in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, adding religious enmity to a political struggle in the very heart of the disputed city.  

Blanca expected to become the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the eastern Pacific
"Blanca is also expected to become the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the eastern Pacific, a record that is currently being held by Hurricane Ava from 1973. Ava reached that threshold on June 6 of that year," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski said.  

The global boycott of Israel is growing silently
European banks are cutting ties with Israeli counterparts, while supermarkets across the world are appeasing violent protesters who attack their Israeli produce.  

Large Hadron Collider starts smashing particles again
The Large Hadron Collider has re-started its scientific investigations after a two-year break for upgrades. For the last two years, physicists have been working on an upgrade to the giant machine, to make it much more powerful.  

North Carolina OKs bill for 72-hour wait period for abortion
North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday that would make the state one of several with 72-hour waiting periods for an abortion, sending the bill to the Republican governor who plans to sign it. ...The House and Senate chambers in the GOP-controlled legislature approved the measure by margins above the threshold for overcoming a veto.  

UK PM warned on German support for EU change
Former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer has warned British PM David Cameron not to be too sure of German support in his bid to reform the EU. It comes a week after German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to try to find a solution to the UK's drive for reform. Mr Fischer, an architect of European foreign policy, told the BBC that the UK was not a priority for Mrs Merkel.  

Israel launches air strikes in Gaza after rocket attack
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) The Israeli air force carried out four strikes on militant targets in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, eyewitnesses said, hours after a cross-border rocket attack on the Jewish state. A rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave struck southern Israel late Tuesday, causing no casualties or damage.  

Palestinians launch rocket attacks against Israel: police
Jerusalem - Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired three rockets at southern Israel late Wednesday, police said, raising the likelihood of an Israeli military response. "A short time ago three rockets were fired in the direction of (the southern city of) Ashkelon," the statement said.  

Why Mike Huckabee's 'shocking' transgender remarks resonate with many Americans
Huckabee continued, “For those who do not think that we are under threat, simply recognize the fact that we are now, in city after city, watching ordinances say that your seven-year-old daughter, if she goes into the restroom, cannot be offended and you can’t be offended if she’s greeted there by a 42-year-old man who feels more like a woman than he does a man."  

American Red Cross squandered aid after Haiti earthquake, report alleges
Despite collecting nearly half a billion dollars for Haiti earthquake relief, the American Red Cross has built only six permanent homes and seemingly squandered millions in the country, according to a new report.  

Japan Earthquake 2015 Today: 5.0 Strikes Kitami
A 5.0 Japan earthquake 2015 today has just hit Kitami. The Japan earthquake today June 3, 2015 began within the half hour. Damage assessment is pending. The quake is one of the largest to strike the country in recent days.  

June 3, 2015

University student maps plasma tubes in the sky
Using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope in the Western Australia desert, a Sydney University student, Cleo Loi, has discovered enormous plasma pipes in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Thought to be responsible for possible radio interference with satellite navigation systems, the presence of these objects has been predicted for over 60 years, but never before seen.  

Jews try to block Christian rite at Jerusalem holy site
The Jewish protestors said the Christian worshippers were desecrating the holy site and violating the Jews' right to pray there, but Vatican representatives denied the claims and referred to the incident as "grave." The protest around the David's Tomb compound was expanded last year in light of different reports that the Israeli government and the Vatican were in talks to hand control of the site over to the Church, reports which were denied by both sides.  

Assad Collapse Deemed Near as Rebels, ISIS Advance
The Syria rebels and the ISIS forces have had a series of accomplishments lately, writes Yaari, and Assad has not been in worse shape since the cruel civil war began four years ago. The forces opposing him have made advances in the north, south and east, his military force is dwindling and his ability to deal with the challenges facing him is “very limited.”  

State Dept. ‘Perplexed’ by Negative NY Times Report on Iran
With only one month left before a deadline to complete a nuclear deal with Iran, international inspectors have reported that Tehran’s stockpile of nuclear fuel increased about 20 percent over the last 18 months of negotiations, partially undercutting the Obama administration’s contention that the Iranian program had been ‘frozen’ during that period.  

Netanyahu: All You Need to Know About BDS Is It Doesn’t Boycott ISIS
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tore into British students Wednesday for joining the Boycott Israel movement, while a British official tried to cover up a government boycott action by promising a “commitment” to trade with Israel.  

OPEC to pump flat-out for months more
With oil prices having stabilized, at around $65 a barrel, some $20 above their January lows, there's little appetite within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to modify production limits.  

Earthquake of 4.7 magnitude shakes western Nepal
A fresh earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale shook western Nepal, early Wednesday. The epicentre of the earthquake was in Humla, about 600 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu, according to the National Seismological Centre  

Chile Earthquake 2015 Today Strikes West of San Antonio
A Chile earthquake today 2015 has struck west of San Antonio. The terremoto en Chile hoy, a 5.3 magnitude temblor, struck just after 3:32 am PST. Damage assessment is pending. The quake is the latest in a series of significant quakes to hit the country in recent days.  

Obama raises possibility of allowing U.N. vote on Palestinian statehood
President Obama took...tougher line with Israel in an interview...raising the possibility that the U.S. will allow a United Nations vote on issues related to the Palestinians... ...Obama noted that his administration ...“up until this point” quashed such efforts at the U.N...he said it is a challenge for the U.S. to keep demanding that the Palestinians negotiate in good faith if no one believes the Israelis are doing the same.  

Congress sends NSA phone-records bill to president
Congress approved sweeping changes Tuesday to surveillance laws enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks, eliminating the National Security Agency's disputed bulk phone-records collection program and replacing it with a more restrictive measure to keep the records in phone companies' hands. ...the Senate's 67-32 vote sent the legislation to President Barack Obama, who signed it Tuesday night.  

Warnings over growing IS cyber-threat
A growing band of hacktivists is helping Islamic State spread its message by attacking media organisations and websites, a security company suggests. Supporters of IS were helping it with opportunistic attacks and more sophisticated operations...  

Drought fears after lower monsoon forecast
Media and experts are fearing a drought after India's metrological department lowered its monsoon rains forecast to 88% this year. Monsoon rains between June to September are crucial for India's farmers and also for the economy. The forecast in April was about 93% of the long-term average.  

UN's Ban calls on Israel, Palestinians to halt unilateral actions undermining peace
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday called on "all parties with influence" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to immediately desist from taking unilateral actions that undermine trust and urged them to resume peace negotiations. Speaking at an UNRWA (Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians...) conference, Ban stressed...past political failure "must not lead to a humanitarian and indeed, moral failure."  

Obama: Netanyahu's Palestine stance erodes Israel's credibility
U.S. President Barack Obama said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's terms for diplomacy that might lead to a Palestinian state meant Israel had lost international credibility as a potential peacemaker.  

Bernanke blames Congress as China flexes economic muscles
Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday rebuked US lawmakers for allowing China to steal a march with a new Asian bank that threatens to upend Washington's oversight of the world economic order.  

Iran's military mastermind promises a 'surprise' in Syria
Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani has vowed that upcoming developments in Syria will soon “surprise” the world, Al-Quds al-Arabi reported. “The world will be surprised by what we and the Syrian military leadership are preparing for the coming days,” the state Islamic Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) quoted him as saying, according to the London-based daily.  

FBI Reveals It's Operating Own Surveillance Air Force Over US Cities
The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology - all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned. The planes' surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge's approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country, an AP review found.  

CERN's Large Hadron Collider to resume smashing particles in hunt for dark matter
Nobody knows quite what the LHC might reveal with its new particle collisions -- mini-versions of the Big Bang primordial blast that brought the universe into being 13.8 billion years ago -- but scientists hope it will produce evidence of what has been dubbed "new physics". This concept includes..."dark matter",  

June 2, 2015

Let God be a 'she', says Church of England women's group
A group within the Church of England is calling for God to be referred to as female following the selection of the first female bishops. The group wants the church to recognise the equal status of women by overhauling official liturgy, which is made up almost exclusively of male language and imagery to describe God.  

Did government conspire with homosexual group to punish Christian bakers?
Allegations of collusion have surfaced in Oregon, where a husband and wife are being punished for their views on natural marriage and homosexuality. The Daily Signal broke the story June 1 that a state government agency that punished Melissa and Aaron Klein is working closely with a homosexual rights group.  

Palestinian TV calls Jews and Israelis ‘evil, filth’
A children’s program broadcast on official Palestinian television has aired statements calling Jews and Israelis “monkeys” as well as “the most evil of creations” and promised a return to the “occupied” cities of Jaffa, Haifa, Nazareth and Acre.  

Share Meningitis epidemic in Niger, 545 dead
The WHO had said that the epidemic was worrying and unprecedented because it was a strain not normally found in Africa and the appropriate vaccine was in short supply. In early May, cases were tripling every two weeks.  

You Get to Watch It Live -- NASA's Flying Saucer Test
This week offers up another opportunity to witness an important milestone in experimental flight tests. NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project will beam back to Earth live imagery from a supersonic, edge-of-atmosphere test of braking technology for Mars.  

A possible Ebola cure is in the works
Texas-based XBiotech is announcing a possible cure for Ebola.  

US Supreme Court Rules on ‘Free Speech’ in Social Media
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today (Monday, June 1) to affirm protection for “free speech” on social media and the internet – even if that speech is threatening or provocative.  

FBI flying surveillance aircraft over US cities, planes traced to fake companies
The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology -- all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned. The planes' surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge's approval...  

Homeland security chief reassigns top TSA official
The moves follow media reports that checkpoint screeners failed to detect mock explosives and weapons in 95 percent of tests carried out by undercover agents.  

State Dept.: No Decision Yet on French UN Initiative
State Department spokeswoman says Washington hasn't yet decided how it would vote on UN resolution for Israel-PA peace.  

Russia Urges US to Act in Lockstep with Syria to Crush ISIS
Russia on Tuesday urged a US-led coalition fighting against the Islamic State group to coordinate their air raids with the Syrian government, warning that jihadists could go "very far" if not stopped.  

UPDATE: 7 Earthquakes Reported Off the Coast of Oregon in the Last 24 Hours
UPDATE: SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Scientists say a cluster of 7 earthquakes ranging in magnitude up to 5.9 have struck off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, but haven't been strong enough to generate tsunamis. The sixth and seventh quakes in the series struck Monday evening. They were the weakest so far, at magnitude 3.9 and 4.2.  

June 1, 2015

‘2,300 Humvees in Mosul alone’: Iraq reveals number of US arms falling into ISIS hands
Iraq has admitted that ISIS jihadists captured huge caches of US-made weapons, including thousands of Humvees seized from Iraqi forces retreating from Mosul last year. The spoils of war have since then been used by ISIS to gain ground in Iraq and Syria.  

Earthquakes, volcanoes give Japan the jitters
Last Saturday's 8.1-magnitude earthquake was the fourth major seismic event to strike Japan in one week, suggesting that a period of relative stability in the tectonic plates beneath the country has come to an end.  

Three earthquakes strike overnight off Oregon coast
A series off three earthquakes struck overnight off the coast of Oregon.  

Lightweight High-Energy Liquid Laser (HELLADS) prepared for live fire tests
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' High-Energy Liquid Laser Defense System (HELLADS) has finished its US Government Acceptance Test Procedure and is on its way to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for live-fire tests.  

MIT physicists build world's first fermion microscope
Researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claim to have created a method to better observe fermions – the sub-atomic building blocks of matter – by constructing a microscope capable of viewing them in groups of a thousand at a time.  

Obama uses 5-year-old to promote same-sex 'marriage'
Obama’s evolution to wholeheartedly support same-sex “marriage” has turned a new leaf, as he used a five-year-old’s letter posted on social media last week to champion his administration’s aggressive homosexual agenda.  

Jeb Bush: Move US Embassy to Jerusalem
Former Florida governor and likely presidential candidate Jeb Bush told supporters Saturday that he believes in Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital, and would like to see the American embassy moved there... “I support that, absolutely,” said Bush, who has yet to announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. “I also support moving the embassy to Jerusalem as well — our embassy.  

Something Else Coming In September: A UN Resolution Establishing A Palestinian State
the UN Security Council is likely to be voting on a UN resolution which will establish a Palestinian state at that time. Right now, France is working on a proposed resolution which would give formal UN Security Council recognition to the Palestinians, would declare that a divided Jerusalem is the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state, and would set the 1967 borders as the baseline for future negotiations which would establish the final borders between the two nations.  

South Korea fights to contain MERS outbreak, considers tough measures
South Korea struggled to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) on Monday as health authorities announced three more cases, bringing the number of infections to 18 in just over 10 days.  

ISIS Leader Pronounces: “Islam Religion of War, Islam is Not Religion of Peace”
The ISIS leader also had a veiled message for the last several U.S. presidents. “O Muslims, Islam was never for a day the religion of peace. Islam is the religion of war,” the voice purporting to be Baghdadi said. He called upon Muslims around the world to either make their way to the Islamic State or “fight in his land, wherever that may be,”  

Erdoðan: 'Liberate Jerusalem' from the Jews
"Conquest is Mecca, conquest is Saladin, it's to hoist the Islamic flag over Jerusalem again; conquest is the heritage of Mehmed II and conquest means forcing Turkey back on its feet," said Erdoðan in a speech on Saturday in Istanbul before millions who appeared to celebrate 562 years since the Turks captured Constantinople from European Christians.  

Administration preps new gun regulations
"It’s clear President Obama is beginning his final assault on our Second Amendment rights by forcing his anti-gun agenda on honest law-abiding citizens through executive force,”  

After FIFA tussle, PM warns of global campaign to ‘blacken Israel’s name’
“We are in the midst of a great struggle being waged against the state of Israel, an international campaign to blacken its name. It is not connected to our actions; it is connected to our very existence. It does not matter what we do; it matters what we symbolize and what we are,” Netanyahu said.  

Japan vigilant for 'Big One' after powerful quake
Seismologists Sunday warned Japan to stay vigilant for the next "Big One" after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the quake-prone nation, injuring a dozen people. Buildings swayed for around a minute in Tokyo and its vicinity Saturday night as the quake struck at a remote spot in the Pacific Ocean 874 kilometers (542 miles) south of the capital, the US Geological Survey said.  

Strong earthquake strikes off Oregon coast
A strong earthquake has rumbled off the Oregon coast but it appeared too distant to cause any problems. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-5.8 temblor struck shortly before 10 p.m. and was centered in the Pacific nearly 300 miles west of Newport.  

GOP attack on water rule part of wider bid to 'rein in' EPA
The Obama administration says a new federal rule regulating small streams and wetlands will protect the drinking water of more than 117 million people in the country. Not so, insist Republicans. They say the rule is a massive government overreach that could even subject puddles and ditches to regulation.  

Fears for Aleppo as Isil seizes nearby Turkey border villages
Islamic State jihadists in Syria have advanced on towns and villages close to the Turkish border, laying siege to one of the last supply routes into the city of Aleppo. In a lightening strike the jihadists have captured up to 25 villages in Aleppo province and closed in on the border town of Azaz, one of the last hubs for aid agencies providing help to tens of thousands of civilians trapped in war-riven Aleppo.  

Administration preps new gun regulations
The Justice Department plans to move forward this year with more than a dozen new gun-related regulations...to enact before the end of the Obama administration. The regulations range from new restrictions on high-powered pistols to gun storage requirements. Chief among them is a renewed effort to keep guns out of the hands of people who are mentally unstable or have been convicted of domestic abuse.  

Russia's Putin shut out from G-7 meeting, but not much else
Russia's Vladimir Putin won't be on the guest list when President Barack Obama and other world leaders assemble in Germany next week, as part of the punishment for alleged Kremlin-supported aggression in Ukraine. Yet the Russian president remains a central player in international affairs, including the U.S.-led nuclear talks with Iran...  

Russian military jets and US destroyer clash in Black Sea 'posing danger to stability'
Russia has scrambled military jets in response to an American navy destroyer which, it has been reported in Russian media, was acting “aggressively” in the Black Sea. The Russian defence minister, speaking at a security summit in Singapore, said US missile ships operating near Moscow’s territorial waters “pose a danger to strategic stability” between the two countries.  

US surveillance powers expire as Senate deal fails
The legal authority for US spy agencies to bulk collect Americans' phone data has expired, after the Senate failed to reach a deal. Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul blocked a Patriot Act extension and it lapsed at midnight (04:00 GMT). However, the Senate did vote to advance the White House-backed Freedom Act so a new form of data collection is likely to be approved in the coming days.  

IS conflict: Petraeus urges Iraq to use politics to win
Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus has told the BBC that Islamic State militants can only be defeated through a dual military and political approach. "Industrial-strength" extremists cannot be dealt with "just with force of arms", he said in a rare interview. During the Iraq war, Mr Petraeus devised the strategy that saw a "surge" in US troop numbers and secured support from Sunni tribesmen against al-Qaeda.  

Narendra Modi to become first Indian PM to visit Israel
Narendra Modi is to become the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, India's foreign minister has said. The dates of Mr Modi's visit are being "worked out", Sushma Swaraj said. Reports say Mr Modi's landmark visit could happen this year after an Indian delegation's visit to Israel in July.  

Ashton Carter: US will play 'pivotal' role in Asia
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said the US will continue to play a "pivotal" role in Asia in the future. Speaking to the BBC while visiting Vietnam, Mr Carter said the US could ensure "peace and prosperity", the only way "everyone gets to rise and win". He spoke amid new tensions over multi-nation claims in the South China Sea.  

Column One: Barack Obama’s anti-Semitism test
last week, Obama went to significant lengths to answer the question about his feelings toward Israel and the Jewish people once and for all. The timing of his charm offensive wasn’t coincidental. Obama clearly believes he has to dispel doubts about his intentions toward Jews and Israel in order to implement the central policy of his second term in office. That policy of course is his nuclear

May 31, 2015

Texas floods: Enough rain to cover entire state with 8 inches of water in May
So much rain has fallen this May on flood-ravaged Texas that it could cover the entire state with 8 inches of water, meteorologists say. Every drop of rain these days is a drop too many in much of Texas, where 22 people have died and President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster.  

12 injured after earthquake shakes Japan
A violent volcanic eruption in Japan that forced the evacuation of an island appears to have come to a halt, the country's weather agency said Saturday. The announcement came a day after Mount Shindake, which sits on the far southern island of Kuchinoerabu, sent plumes of ash up to 9,000 metres (29,500 feet) tall shooting into the sky. Television pictures showed the after-effects of the eruption, as ash and rock cascaded down the mountainside towards one of the island's harbours.  

Japanese volcano calm 'for now': weather agency
A violent volcanic eruption in Japan that forced the evacuation of an island appears to have come to a halt, the country's weather agency said Saturday. The announcement came a day after Mount Shindake, which sits on the far southern island of Kuchinoerabu, sent plumes of ash up to 9,000 metres (29,500 feet) tall shooting into the sky.  

Why one of the world’s most wanted suspected Nazis never faced justice
In 2012, a journalist visited Vladimir Katriuk at his farm about 40 miles outside Montreal. At one point during the encounter, Katriuk, who was in his 90s, grabbed part of a beehive and started talking about a queen bee. “You see?” he told the Canadian Press reporter. “Here they have started to make the royal cell.” The reporter hadn’t asked about the hive, though. His question was about a list from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which had named the Ukrainian-born beekeeper — who died this month — as one of the world’s most wanted suspected Nazi war criminals.  

Activists say Syrian army strikes kill 70 people in Aleppo
Syrian army airstrikes killed at least 70 people, most of them civilians, and wounded scores in attacks Saturday in the northern province of Aleppo that struck civilian areas, including a packed market in a town held by the Islamic State group, activists said.  

‘Tyranny is in America’: Anti-Muslim armed rally organizer says he’s headed into hiding after getting death threats
The ex-Marine who organized an anti-Muslim rally outside the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix Friday evening said he’s going into hiding after receiving several death threats. “This is proof tyranny is in America,” said Jon Ritzheimer, revealing he's come under siege since taking to Facebook to organize the event.  

Nigeria army repels Boko Haram as new president starts term
Nigeria's military on Saturday repelled a Boko Haram attack on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri, hours after President Muhammadu Buhari took office vowing to crush the Islamist group. Related Stories Deadly violence hits northeast as Nigeria president starts term AFP Nigeria's new president signals early move against Boko Haram AFP Nigeria's Maiduguri city hit by deadly bomb, overnight attack Reuters Twin bombs in Nigeria's Borno state kill seven and injure 12 Reuters Boko Haram retakes Nigerian town of Marte in Borno state Reuters The overnight attack on the Borno state capital saw rocket-propelled grenades fired into homes in a bombardment that reportedly lasted several hours.  

Third earthquake in one week hits Japan, no tsunami warning or reports of damage
Another earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.4 and a depth of 13.4 kilometres, has hit off the Izu Islands in Japan this morning...