While ‘The Artist’ and ‘Hugo’ stole the show with 5 awards each, the Oscars ignored a lot of good work. Here is our list of films that deserved a nomination.
The Academy has always rigidly awarded a certain type. A type that confirms to the jury’s checklist. Moving-tick, social message-tick, racially democratic-tick etc. But every year (including this one), there are some cinematic gems that offer something more and beyond, even if it doesn’t score with the ticks. So, here we attempt to draw up a list of such films that deserve a mention, regardless of whom the Academy decides to crown.
Kill List 17 Girls Sleeping Beauty Sunny (Korean) Drive Miss Bala (Mexican) The Greatest Movie Ever Sold(Documentary) We need to talk about Kevin Phone call to the bar (Japanese) Wake Wood
Army confirms 17 jawans dead in two deadly avalanches in Kashmir
Mon 27 Feb, 2012
Just days after the deadly avalanche in Gurez and Sonamarg that killed 17 people including nine Army personnel last week, dramatic footage have surfaced of the moments just before the avalanche in Gurez.
The US space agency NASA recently announced that half of the moon rocks brought back to Earth from two Apollo space missions have gone missing. They were given as gifts to the nations of the world.
Moon rock collected during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 was also distributed to the same nations and US states.
There were 370 pieces gathered from the two missions. Two hundred and seventy were given to nations of the world and 100 to the 50 US states.
But 184 of these are lost, stolen or unaccounted for - 160 around the world and 24 in the US.
The rocks were distributed to countries ranging from Afghanistan to Trinidad and Tobago. "Gaddafi's government was given two moon rocks - they're missing. Romania is missing its Apollo 17 goodwill moon rock," says Joseph Gutheinz Jr, the Texas-based lawyer and former NASA agent, who has become known as the "moon rock hunter".
His obsession began in 1998 when - still at NASA - he set up an undercover sting operation called Operation Lunar Eclipse.
He placed an advert entitled "Moon Rocks Wanted" in USA Today, to entice con-artists selling bogus moon rocks to approach him.
The rock - which weighed 1.142 grams - was offered to Gutheinz for $5m (£3.1m).
An anonymous private collector bought 0.2 grams of lunar dust for $442,500 (£280,800).
With potential prices in this range, it is no surprise there is a lucrative black market in moon rocks, both real and fake."Moon rocks could be seen as artworks - relating in particular to the Chinese tradition of the Philosopher Stones as naturally occurring artworks reflecting the universe in microcosmic form"
SCIENTISTS have created a robot made from DNA that can be instructed to find diseased cells in the body and deliver a payload to kill or reprogram them, according to a study from Harvard University.
The robot was made by folding DNA strands into a shape roughly like a clamshell. The researchers programmed the nano-sized device to open in the presence of leukaemia and lymphoma cells in a laboratory dish, where they delivered immune system antibodies that caused the cells to self-destruct, according to a report in the journal Science.
The next step will be to test the system in animals, tweaking the robot so it can circulate longer to locate all cancer cells. The technology isn't ready for commercial use, said Shawn Douglas, an author of the study.
The idea is based on the behavior of the body's immune cells, which recognize viruses or other invaders and attack them. The DNA nano-robots, with similar capabilities, may potentially lead to the development of new types of targeted cancer treatments that kill only abnormal cells.The robots don't reproduce. They have to be built in a process that has gained traction since the idea of DNA nanotechnology was first suggested in 1982.
DNA is a material, shaped in the form of a revolving ladder, that carries the genetic information in our cells. The double-sided strands have so-called sticky ends that allow them to be joined with other DNA. Scientists, led by Nadrian Seeman, now head of the department of chemistry at New York University, have used those sticky ends to form DNA into lattices that can be shaped.
South Africa tops the list of most people infected with HIV/AIDS, with 5.3 million. But the highest percentage of people in any one country with HIV/AIDS is Swaziland, with 26.1 percent.
2.India/Botswana
India has the second-highest population with HIV/AIDS, numbering 5.1 million people, with the second highest-percentage of infection in Botswana, at 23.9 percent. 3.Nigeria/Lesotho
Third place in population is Nigeria with 3.6 million people; in percentage, it is the African country of Lesotho, with 23.2 percent. Placements of four through 10 will show the population ranking first, then percentage rank. 4.Zimbabwe/South Africa Zimbabwe at 1.8 million people, South Africa at 18.1 percent. 5.Tanzania/Namibia Tanzania at 1.6 million people, Namibia at 15.3 percent. 6.Ethiopia/Zimbabwe Ethiopia at 1.5 million people, Zimbabwe at 15.3 percent (only slightly behind Namibia). 7.Mozambique/Zambia Mozambique at 1.3 million people, Zambia at 15.2 percent. 8.Kenya/Mozambique Kenya at 1.2 million, Mozambique at 12.5 percent. 9.Democratic Republic of the Congo/Malawi Democratic Republic of the Congo at 1.1 million people, Malawi at 11.9 percent. 10.United States/Central African Republic United States at 950,000 people, Central African Republic at 6.3 percent.
The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city. Its members call themselves "men of honor", although the public often refers to them as "mafiosi".
Arrivals..
On June 11th 1900, Giuseppe Morello was arrested along with Colagero Meggiore. They were accused of selling counterfeit money and held on $5000 bail. The arrests had grown out of a Secret Service investigation that began when $5 bills were being passed in Brooklyn and North Beach. Morello and Meggiore were believed to be the suppliers of the money, which was described as ‘being printed on very poor paper with crude workmanship’. However, Morello later walked free from court.
First Mafia War
The First Mafia War was the first high-profile conflict between Mafia clans in post-war Italy (the Sicilian Mafia has a long history of violent rivalries)
Second Mafia War
In the early 1970s, Luciano Leggio, boss of the Corleon clan and member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission, forged a coalition of mafia clans known as the Corleonesi, with himself as its leader. He initiated a campaign to dominate Cosa Nostra and its narcotics trade. Because Leggio was imprisoned in 1974, he acted through his deputy, Salvatore Riina, to whom he would eventually hand over control. The Corleonesi bribed cash-strapped Palermo clans into the fold, subverted members of other clans and secretly recruited new members.In 1977, the Corleonesi had Gaetano Badalamenti expelled from the Commission on trumped-up charges of hiding drug revenues.In April 1981, the Corleonesi murdered another rival member of the Commission, Stefano Bontade, and the Second Mafia War began in earnest.Hundreds of enemy mafiosi and their relatives were murdered,sometimes by traitors in their own clans. By manipulating the Mafia's rules and eliminating rivals, the Corleonesi came to completely dominate the Commission. Riina used his power over the Commission to replace the bosses of certain clans with hand-picked regents.In the end, the Corleonesi faction won and Riina effectively became the "boss of bosses" of the Sicilian Mafia.
Pasquarella (or Mosoni) Spinelli lived at 239 E109th Street, the nespapers nicknamed her ’ The Hetty Green of Harlem’ due to her supposed wealth. She owned a large stable located at 334 E108th Street, and had interests in several other businesses, including leasing tenements in Harlem and the management of a picture theatre in 2nd Avenue. The stable was described in the press as ‘a rambling one storey structure, built partially of sheet iron, packing boxes, discarded odds and ends of house wreckage — doors for instance with hinges still on them yet. It is a rabbit warren which shelters two or three junk shops, a wheelwrights, a blacksmiths, a boarding stable and a hay and grain store’. The building later to become known as the ‘Murder Stables’, due to the large number of killings in it’s vicinity.Mr.Meyer Suchowljanski was one of most famous Gangster.
Smuggling
Mafiosi provide protection and invest capital in smuggling gangs.In 1950s and 1960s were difficult times for mafiosi, but in the 1970s their rackets grew considerably more lucrative, particularly smuggling. Smuggling operations require large investments (goods, boats, crews, etc.) but few people would trust their money to criminal gangs. It is mafiosi who raise the necessary money from investors and ensure all parties act in good faith. They also ensure that the smugglers operate in safety.
Murder
Murders are almost always carried out by members. It is very rare for the Mafia to recruit an outsider for a single job, and such people are liable to be eliminated soon afterwards because they become expendable liabilities.
The technologies are emerging, but what’s needed is a program to pull them together.
Within the next few years,we will begin work on the sixth generation [fighter] capabilities necessary for future air dominance.The Air Force may have to move a little faster to develop that next generation fighter.
The possibilities for a sixth generation fighter seem almost the stuff of science fiction.
It would likely be far stealthier than even the fifth generation aircraft. It may be able to change its shape in flight, “morphing” to optimize for either speed or persistence, and its engines will likely be retunable in-flight for efficient supersonic cruise or subsonic loitering.
The sixth generation fighter will likely have directed energy weapons—high-powered microwaves and lasers for defense against incoming missiles or as offensive weapons themselves. Munitions would likely be of the “dial an effect” type, able to cause anything from impairment to destruction of an air or ground target.
Embedded sensors and microelectronics will also make possible sensor arrays in “locations that previously weren’t available because of either heat or the curvature of the surface,” providing more powerful and comprehensive views of the battlefield, Meyer noted. Although the aircraft probably won’t be autonomous, he said, it will be able to “learn” and advise the pilot as to what actions to take—specifically, whether a target should be incapacitated temporarily, damaged, or destroyed.
Fighter Generations
The definition of fighter generations has long been subject to debate. However, most agree that the generations break down along these broad lines:
Generation 1: Jet propulsion (F-80, German Me 262).
Generation 3: Supersonic speed; pulse radar; able to shoot at targets beyond visual range (“Century Series” fighters such as F-105; F-4; MiG-17; MiG-21).
Generation 4+: High agility; sensor fusion; reduced signatures (Eurofighter Typhoon, Su-30, advanced versions of F-16 and F/A-18, Rafale).
Generation 4++: Active electronically scanned arrays; continued reduced signatures or some “active” (waveform canceling) stealth; some supercruise (Su-35, F-15SE).
Generation 5: All-aspect stealth with internal weapons, extreme agility, full-sensor fusion, integrated avionics, some or full supercruise (F-22, F-35).
Potential Generation 6: extreme stealth; efficient in all flight regimes (subsonic to multi-Mach); possible “morphing” capability; smart skins; highly networked; extremely sensitive sensors; optionally manned; directed energy weapons.
Technology Readiness Levels
Pentagon leaders now seek to reduce weapon risks and costs by deferring production until technologies are mature. Pentagon technology readiness levels—TRLs—are defined as follows:
TRL 1: Basic principles observed and reported. Earliest transition from basic scientific research to applied research and development. Paper studies of a technology’s basic properties.
TRL 2: Invention begins; practical applications developed. No proof or detailed analysis yet.
TRL 3: Active R&D begins. Analytical and lab studies to validate predictions. Components not yet integrated.
TRL 4: Basic elements are shown to work together in a “breadboard,” or lab setting.
TRL 5: Fidelity of demonstrations rises. Basic pieces are integrated in a somewhat realistic way. Can be tested in a simulated environment.
TRL 6: Representative model or prototype. A major step up in readiness for use. Possible field tests.
TRL 7: Prototype of system in operational environment is demonstrated—test bed aircraft, for example.
TRL 8: Final form of the technology is proved to work. Usually the end of system development. Weapon is tested in its final form.
TRL 9: Field use of the technology in its final form, under realistic conditions.
Intelligence Agency is an effective instrument of a national power. Aggressive intelligence is its primary weapon to destabilize the target. Indeed, no one knows what the intelligence agencies actually do so figuring out who the best intelligence service is can be difficult. The very nature of intelligence often means that the successes will not be public knowledge for years, whereas failures or controversial operations will be taken to the press.
10. ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) – Australia
9. RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) – India
8. DGSE (Directorate General for External Security) – France
7. FSB (Federal Security Service of Russian Federation) – Russia
Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI), is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan. The ISI headquarters are in Islamabad. The complex consists of various adobe building separated by lawns and fountains. The entrance to the complex is next to a private hospital.
Pakistan's military intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has long faced accusations of meddling in the affairs of its neighbors. A range of officials inside and outside Pakistan have stepped up suggestions of links between the ISI and terrorist groups in recent years.In June 2008, Afghan officials accused Pakistan's intelligence service of plotting a failed assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai; shortly thereafter, they implied the ISI's involvement in a July 2008 attack on the Indian embassy.Indian officials also blamed the ISI for the bombing of the Indian embassy. Pakistani officials have denied such a connection.
In a May 2009 interview with CNN, he remarked all intelligence agencies have their sources in militant organizations but that does not translate to support. "Does that mean CIA has direct links with al-Qaeda? No, they have their sources. We have our sources. Everybody has sources." Indian officials implicated the ISI for the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed nearly two hundred people. India's foreign ministry said the ISI had links (Reuters) to the planners of the attacks, the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which New Delhi blames for the assault. Islamabad denies allegations of any official involvement, but acknowledged in February 2009 that the attack was launched and partly planned (AP) from Pakistan. The Pakistani government has also detained several Islamist leaders, some of them named by India as planners of the Mumbai assault.Gannon says this is an unusual step by Pakistan, which never got enough credit in India because the country was in the middle of a national election. "I don't see any evidence" to believe that the ISI was behind the Mumbai attack, she says. However, she doubts the agency has severed all its ties with groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba which it supported to fight in Indian-administered Kashmir.Indian officials also claim to have evidence that the ISI planned the July 2006 bombing of the Mumbai commuter trains, but these charges seem unlikely to some observers of the long, difficult India-Pakistan relationship. The two nations have a history of finger-pointing, and while some of the allegations hold water, there is a tendency to exaggerate.
Following the release of the British report regarding its July 7, 2005, bombings of London's mass transit system--which London insists is not a statement of policy--Weinbaum said it makes "too broad a statement." Though Pakistan does offer safe haven to Kashmiri groups, and perhaps some Taliban fighters, the suggestion that the ISI is responsible for the 7/7 bombings is "a real stretch," Gannon says.
A Pakistani doctor accused of running a vaccination programme for the CIA to help track down Osama Bin Laden should be put on trial for high treason, a government commission in Pakistan has said. Such a charge carries the death penalty and is likely to infuriate U.S. officials, who are pushing for Dr Shakil Afridi's release. He has been in the custody of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency since soon after the May 2 American raid that killed bin Laden.
Dr Afridi's fate is a complicating issue in relations between the CIA and the ISI that were strained to the breaking point by the Bin Laden raid. U.S. and Pakistani officials have said Dr Arifdi ran a vaccination programme in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad where the Al Qaeda leader hid in an effort to obtain a DNA sample from him. Dr Afridi was detained in the days after the U.S. operation. He has no lawyer.
Pakistani government commission investigating the raid on bin Laden said in a statement that it was of the view that: 'a case of conspiracy against the state of Pakistan and high treason' should be registered against Dr Afridi on the basis of the evidence it had gathered.The commission, which interviewed Dr Afridi and the head of the ISI, Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha this week, has been tasked with investigating how bin Laden managed to hide in the army town of Abbottabad for up to five years, and the circumstances surrounding the U.S. operation. India also gave citizenship to Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab...
Atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date. Following a firebombing campaign that destroyed many Japanese cities.
two nuclear weapons developed by the Manhattan Project were deployed. Little Boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, followed by the Fat Man over Nagasaki on 9 August. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000–80,000 in Nagasaki, with roughly half of the deaths in each city occurring on the first day. The Hiroshima prefecture health department estimated that, of the people who died on the day of the explosion, 60% died from flash or flame burns, 30% from falling debris and 10% from other causes. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness.
At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of both industrial and military significance. A number of military camps were located nearby, including the headquarters of Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's 2nd General Army Headquarters, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan.About an hour before the bombing, Japanese early warning radar detected the approach of some American aircraft headed for the southern part of Japan. An alert was given and radio broadcasting stopped in many cities, among them Hiroshima. At nearly 08:00, the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming in was very small—probably not more than three—and the air raid alert was lifted. To conserve fuel and aircraft, the Japanese had decided not to intercept small formations. The normal radio broadcast warning was given to the people that it might be advisable to go to air-raid shelters if B-29s were actually sighted. However a reconnaissance mission was assumed because at 07:31 the first B29 to fly over Hiroshima at 32,000 feet (9,800 m) had been the weather observation aircraft Straight Flush that sent a morse code message to the Enola Gay indicating that the weather was good over the primary target.
The city of Nagasaki had been one of the largest sea ports in southern Japan and was of great wartime importance because of its wide-ranging industrial activity, including the production of ordnance, ships, military equipment, and other war materials.
In contrast to many modern aspects of Hiroshima, almost all of the buildings were of old-fashioned Japanese construction, consisting of wood or wood-frame buildings with wood walls (with or without plaster) and tile roofs. Many of the smaller industries and business establishments were also situated in buildings of wood or other materials not designed to withstand explosions. Nagasaki had been permitted to grow for many years without conforming to any definite city zoning plan; residences were erected adjacent to factory buildings and to each other almost as closely as possible throughout the entire industrial valley.
Is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels reportedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
The boundaries of the triangle cover the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas and the entire Caribbean island area and the Atlantic east to the Azores. The more familiar triangular boundary in most written works has as its points somewhere on the Atlantic coast of Miami; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.
List of Triangle incidents: Missing Aircrafts..
The aircraft below are listed for purposes of assisting in identification. I do not necessarily believe every one is the result of unexplainable mystery.
1. 1945, December 5: The entire training flight of five Navy
TBM Avengers. Plane #s FT-28, FT-36, FT-117,
FT-3, FT-81. Crew: 14
2. 1945, December 5: PBM Martin Mariner. Off Banana
River, Florida at 28o 59’ NL 80o 25 WL. Crew:13
3. 1947, July 3: a C-54 Douglas en route from Bermuda to
Miami in cargo service. Crew: 7.
4. 1999. May 12, Aero Commander N6138X; near Nassau
only pilot aboard.
5. 2001, October 27, Cessna 172, after leaving
Winterhaven, Florida; only pilot aboard.
6. 2002, September 6, Piper Pawnee, southeast of
Nassua, Bahamas; only pilot on board. N59684
7. 2003, November 13, a Piper PA-32-300, N8224C
went missing after leaving Staniel Cay, Exumas.
Only pilot on board
8. 2005, June 20: Piper PA-23 N6886Y, Between Treasure Cay, BI, to
Fort Pierce, FL. 3 persons aboard
9. 2007, April 10: Piper PA-46-310P N444JH, near Berry Islands.
Only pilot aboard.
10. 2008, December 15: A Britten-Norman Islander. Windward Islands.
11 persons aboard. N650LP.
Totally 129 aircrafts missing.
Missing Ships....
The earliest registers list United States warships:
In 1780, the General Gates went missing. No British warship laid claim to sinking her.
1918, after March 6th– U.S.S. collier Cyclops, after leaving Barbados
for Baltimore; 309 crew and passengers under Lt. Comm. George
Worley.
1925, December 1: tramp steamer Cotopaxi; 32 crew under Captain Meyers; left Charleston, SC, for Havana, Cuba.
1955, January 13: yacht Home Sweet Home, Bermuda to St. Thomas
1955, September 26: yacht Connemara IV found derelict 150 miles southeast of Bermuda.
1956, July: schooner Bounty disappears between Bimini and Miami.
1958, January 1: 44-foot yawl Revonoc vanished between Key West and Miami; 4 crew.
1960, April 16, yacht Ethel C., missing off Virginia
2008, April 17, the 27-foot Don Chepo is reported missing en route from St. Johns, Virgin Islands for Vieques, Puerto Rico. Owner had 2 cell phones aboard, a VHF radio, 3 life jackets, and 3 flares. Boat was powered by 2 200 horsepower Evinrude outboard engines.
2008, May 24, Holo Ki Ki, a 36-foot sailboat is found derelict 20 miles north of West End, Grand Bahama. The sailing master, Peter Steenberg, was missing. He had been hired to sail the boat to the Netherlands from Fort Lauderdale.
2008, June 17: Marcos Aeguelles disappears from his 22-foot pleasure craft near Solider key, Florida.
2008, September 5: a 25 foot sailboat is found abandoned in the Caloosahatchee River at Fort Meyers. The sail was at half mast. The owner, 60 year old Stephen Nelson, was not found.
2009, March, 40-foot gaff Ketch Lili-oh-La-La headed to Bahamas from South Carolina is reported on the overdue list.
2009, June 22, Coast suspends search for 3 missing fishermen off Pinones, Puerto Rico. They had departed in a 22 foot beige Grady White fishing boat.
2009, August 17, the 22 foot boat of Mark Portus is found beached on the north end of Anclote Key. He left that morning for a day of fishing. A body found on the 21st was believed to be his. This is only one of several derelicts found near Anclote Key where a body later turned up near Hudson Beach.
2009, September 20, a small 16 foot vessel is found abandoned near Anclote Key. The pet dog remains aboard. The vessel keys were aboard as well as a town. The operator, Paula Migliorini, had vanished. Body later found off Hudson Beach.
2009, December 13, two men vanish in a 17 foot Largo pleasure craft en route to Bimini.
Do you know that Shah jahan wanted to make another Taj Mahal in Black Marble ?
It was planned just opposite the bank of river Yamuna. This was to act as his burial place, as his own mausoleum. Shah jahan had planned to connect the two Taj Mahal white and black with a beautifully decorated bridge. People who would have come to see Taj Mahal would have felt the love and pangs of separation (signified by the separate burial of their bodies and still connected by a bridge) even many centuries after their death.
What a sight it would have been had Shah jahan completed the Black Taj Mahal!
Unfortunately he couldn't complete due to the war of succession with his son Aurangzeb.
He spend the remaining eight years of his life under imprisonment looking at the Taj Mahal and brooding over his incomplete dream.
Ultimately he was buried besides his wife Mumtaj Mahal in the Taj Mahal itself .
The Black Taj Mahal existed as a soul without body...
The Project
The Black Taj Mahal Project aims to complete the Black Taj Mahal Project. A smaller version of how the original one would have looked! It is in perfect scale, down to the minutest details of the inlay work, relief carving, filigree work and intricate calligraphy.
According to the Black Taj myth, Shah Jahan had planned to build mirror image of the Taj Mahal he built for Mumtaz, albeit in black, on the other side of the river and connect the two by a bridge. This Black Taj was to be dedicated to Shah Jahan himself.
A European traveler by the name of Jean Baptiste Tavernier who visited Agra in 1665 first mentioned the idea of Black Taj in his fanciful writings.
The writings of Tavernier mention that Shah Jahan began to build his own tomb on the other side of the river but could not complete it as he was deposed by his own son Aurangzeb. Fuel to the fire is further added as some scholar suggests that the blackened marbles in Mehtab Bagh that lie on the other side of the river are actually grim remains and foundations of an abandoned plan. On the other hand, other section of scholars totally dismiss the theory of Black Taj as it was discovered that the black marble remains in the Mehtab Bagh are not natural black but have become black over the course of time due to staining and wear and tear. Also, Mehtab Bagh was built by the first Mughal Emperor Babur, years before construction of Taj Mahal even started. The theory is once again dismissed by some scholars who believe that if Shah Jahan wanted to build a Black Taj Mahal, he would have started working on it immediately after completion of the first Taj Mahal in 1653, after which he had 5 years before he got arrested. While historians continue to argue over it, the idea of a Black Taj standing in front of the White Taj certainly keeps the anticipations and imaginations on a high.→....
Petrodollar pumping US policy on Iran, backfire looms:
As tensions between the US and Iran heat up, author Michael T. Winter believes the main reason behind America’s harsh stance is Tehran’s move to seek an alternative to the dollar as an oil currency.
Assange makes last-ditch attempt to remain in UK:
The founder of WikiLeaks has appealed his extradition to Sweden at Britain’s Supreme Court. Julian Assange is accused of committing sex crimes against two women in 2010, though he insists the charges against him are politically motivated.
Assange is presenting his case in front of seven judges who will be looking at a number of key questions. First is whether the European arrest warrant that was issued for him by the Swedish prosecutor is valid. Julian Assange's defense is attempting to argue that the warrant is invalid because it was issued by a prosecutor rather than a neutral judge. The Swedish prosecutor is a party in the case, so she cannot be a judicial authority, Dinah Rose, speaking for Assange, has argued.
Calls to stop Syria 'killing machine' at UN as Russia, China slam sanctions:
A major diplomatic battle over the fate of Syria has begun at the United Nations, with Russia and China the only permanent Security Council members challenging the UN's right to ‘meddle’ in sovereign states’ internal problems.
Syrian regime of unconscionable violence, with the Qatari PM emphasizing that if the Syrian 'killing machine' is not stopped, it may come to commit 'crimes against humanity.'
UN resolutions 'pour fuel onto the fire'
Jacob Hornberger, the founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, told RT that the only thing UN resolutions can do is “pour fuel onto the fire.” “That is the whole idea of these resolutions,” he explained. The real thrust of any resolution on Syria would be regime change, he added: “It begins with sanctions. It goes into embargoes, blockades. But ultimately, the quest is to remove a dictatorship, and install a US regime even if it happens to be a dictatorship.”.................
