Britain, the US and France are pushing for harsher sanctions against Syria’s President al-Assad, who is believed to have ordered the torture and death of protesters. But on the streets there seems to be no real evidence of anti-government sentiment. Even the poorest areas of the Syrian city of Homs – which, as a gathering place for people heading into the …

US officials denied at the time that anything inappropriate had occurred. [Apparently, it's APPROPRIATE to shoot a 5-month-old infant in the head, US tax dollars at work. And, btw: Some US troops really ARE 'baby killers,' aren't they? –LRP] 01 Sep 2011 A cable in the latest tranche of documents released suggests US troops executed 10 Iraqi civilians, including an elderly …

Almost five years have passed since the United Nations Security Council imposed its first round of sanctions against Iran over the allegations that Tehran might be moving toward developing nuclear weapons. Since that time, four rounds of devastative sanctions have been imposed on Iran by the Security Council and several European nations, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and other countries …

The Moors of Sri Lanka hark back to early Arab traders, everyone knows that. But the story is actually much more complex and interesting. Like any historical narrative, tradition or well known fact, the idea that Sri Lankan Moors are somehow descendants from Arab traders becomes multi-faceted when you start zooming in on it with a keen historian’s eye*. Arabs …

  Bank funding costs are rising, liquidity is being choked off, and interbank lending has started to stall. A full-blown crisis can still be averted, but leaders will have to knuckle down and resolve the political issues fast. Otherwise the 17-member monetary union will fracture and the euro will be kaput. Here’s a clip from the Wall Street Journal: Commercial banks …

August 30, 2011 – As former Vice President Dick Cheney publishes his long-awaited memoir, we speak to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. "This is a book written out of fear, fear that one day someone will 'Pinochet' Dick Cheney," says Wilkerson, alluding to the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested …