UN Climate Official: Communism Most Effective Form of Government to Fight Global Warming

Once upon a time, if you were suspicious of climate change alarmism on the grounds that it was some sort of international plot to undermine representative government and economically cripple developing nations, you would've been written off as some sort of fringe black-helicopter conspiracy theorist. 'What do you mean global warming is simply a tactic to scare free societies into allowing unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats to control an increasing number of aspects of their daily lives? That's just right-wing climate-denier crazy talk!'

However, nowadays it seems as though some of the adherents to the cult of global warming are confident enough to be more straightforward on their endgame.

Enter UN Climate Chief Christina Figueres, who openly declared earlier this week that Communist governments were the best means to combat global warming. In her prepared statements, she favorably cited Beijing for making improvements in China's environmental policy, whereas 'climate change' legislation has mostly died in the United States Congress [although the White House has been using regulatory fiat through the EPA to circumvent lawmakers- NANESB!].

China may be the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide and struggling with major pollution problems of their own, but the country is “doing it right” when it comes to fighting global warming says Figueres.

“They actually want to breathe air that they don’t have to look at,” she said. “They’re not doing this because they want to save the planet. They’re doing it because it’s in their national interest.”

Figueres added that the deep partisan divide in the U.S. Congress is “very detrimental” to passing any sort of legislation to fight global warming. The Chinese Communist Party, on the other hand, can push key policies and reforms all on its own. The country’s national legislature largely enforces the decisions made by the party’s Central Committee and other executive offices.

Environmentalists often hail China as a model for fighting global warming, since they are a “leader” in renewable energy. The country set a goal of getting 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020. In 2012, China got 9 percent of its power from renewables — the U.S. by contrast got 11 percent in 2012.

However, the country still gets 90 percent of its power from fossil fuels, mostly from coal. In fact, Chinese coal demand is expected to explode as the country continues to develop. China has approved 100 million metric tons of new coal production capacity in 2013 as part of the government’s plan to bring 860 million metric tons of coal production online by 2015.

China has publicly made big efforts to clean up its environment. The country’s booming industrial apparatus has caused so much pollution that the skies have been darkened over major cities and the air quality has heavily deteriorated.

The Wall Street Journal notes that China’s air quality was so bad that about “1.2 million people died prematurely in China in 2010 as a result of air pollution” and Chinese government figures show that “lung cancer is now the leading cause of death from malignant tumors. Many of those dying are nonsmokers.”

The Soviet bloc’s environmental track record was similarly dismal.

The Communist Party’s National Action Plan spent $275 billion to combat rampant pollution through 2017, including reducing particulate matter 2.5 levels in the Beijing region by 25 percent.

Beijing's long-standing air pollution problems became an international issue when the city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, leaving athletes to wonder if they'd be competing for medals amid a thick blanket of smog. China's Communist government was able to partially alleviate that problem in the weeks and months leading up to the Olympiad by severely restricting vehicle traffic in Beijing and relocating factories and power plants to provinces outside the capital- however, after the closing ceremonies in August 2008 the pollution returned and has only worsened since then.

The problems aren't limited to Beijing, however. Pollution in major waterways like the Yangtze River are killing off fish and making the water unfit for human consumption. China has also suffered widespread deforestation over the past few decades with dozens of square kilometers being clear-cut simultaneously. To the east and across the Yalu River in North Korea, deforestation is thought to have contributed to the massive drought and famine in the 1990s.

Figueres' claim that communism is somehow better for the environment than a free market and democratic system is also laid to waste by just a cursory look at the former Soviet Union. Perhaps the most stark example of communist stewardship of the environment would be the irradiated and uninhabitable territory around the former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. An April 1986 meltdown and explosion at the facility just outside the city of Pripyat sent plumes of highly radioactive materiel into the skies over the western USSR as well as Scandinavia and western Europe. Unlike the devastation wrought at Japan's Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic 2011 Sendai quake and tsunami, Chernobyl happened due to a simple test. To this day, an 'exclusion zone' of nearly 2600 km stretches through what is now the Ukraine and Belarus with Chernobyl and the ghost city of Pripyat at the epicenter.

But ecological catastrophe in the former communist Eastern bloc isn't just limited to Chernobyl. Factories in Russia and the former Soviet satellite states are still home to factories that spew pollutants into the air and water unchecked- with some cities competing for the dubious 'honor' of being the most polluted spot on earth.

The Aral Sea- at one time one of the largest lakes in the world- has been shrinking at an exponential rate since a massive Soviet public works project in the 1960s diverted water from two of the rivers that fed the Aral sea to irrigate cotton fields. By the 1991 breakup of the USSR, the central Asian former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan inherited two polluted, shrunken and depleted lakes where there used to be one Aral Sea. Considered one of the biggest environmental catastrophes on the planet, between 1960 and 1998 the total area of the Aral Sea shrunk by more than 60%. Although Kazakhstan has been able to partially restore the northern portion of the Aral Sea in recent years, the southern half continues to recede leading to sights such as a pier stretching out over nothing but grey desert or camels standing near the hulks of abandoned ships, miles away from the nearest navigable body of water.

Even more problematic is a former Soviet bioweapons facility that was once housed on Vozrozhdeniya Island in the Aral Sea- the facility was once on an island and Red Army scientists experimented with weaponized strains of botulism, smallpox and anthrax. In 1971 a weaponized strain of smallpox was released and infected a passing research vessel. An infected crewmember disembarked at the port of Aralsk and infected their family. The disease spread and Soviet officials quarantined the city and vaccinating some 50,000 residents- although this incident wasn't generally known to the public until 2002. Since the outbreak, Vozrozhdeniya became a peninsula and then part of the mainland as the Aral Sea shrunk. The facility itself was hastily abandoned in 1992 shortly after the collapse of the USSR and weaponized strains of anthrax and bubonic plague were improperly stored in containers that continue to deteriorate over time.

Lake Baikal- the world's largest freshwater lake and dubbed 'The Pearl of Siberia'- also suffered considerably in Soviet times. The 25 million year old lake is home to several species not found elsewhere such as the Baikal seal or golomyanka fish. In the 1960s, the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill was constructed along the lake's southern shore and discharged waste directly into the lake. Ironically, even though the plant continued operation well into post Soviet times, it was ultimately killed by capitalism when it was shut down in 2009 due to unprofitability.

Perhaps the most galling thing about Figueres' statement is that she likely knows EXACTLY how poor a steward of the environment communism has been but has decided to praise the same system that drained the Aral Sea and gave us Chernobyl and countless polluted rivers and lakes throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia. More likely, the people pushing for unilateral government action on 'global warming' are doing so under the premise that they'll be exempt or they can purchase some sort of exemption through carbon offsets or a cap and trade system. I suspect even if they get their way, the carbon footprint of aircraft, ships, trains and automobiles won't bother them so long as those methods of transportation are providing them with conveyance or goods and services.

Hundreds of Civilians Reported Dead After Chemical Attack in Suburban Damascus

An international aid group operating in Syria reports that at least 355 people were killed and more than 3000 critically injured after purported nerve gas attacks on civilian neighborhoods in the Damascus area this week.

Doctors Without Borders said three hospitals it supports in the eastern Damascus region reported receiving roughly 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms" over less than three hours on Wednesday morning, when the attack in the eastern Ghouta area took place. Of those, 355 died, said the Paris-based group.

The report provides some of the clearest evidence yet by an independent organization that chemical weapons have been used in the conflict between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebels fighting to oust him.

Although Doctors Without Borders said in its statement that it could not definitively confirm that chemical weapons were used, and if so, by whom, its report raises the pressure on the international community to respond.

The patients in the three hospitals the organization supports near the reported attack were given atropine that it had supplied. Atropine is a drug used to treat neurotoxic symptoms, including exposure to chemical weapons. Doctors Without Borders said it is now trying to replenish the facilities' stocks of atropine.

"The reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events—characterized by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first-aid workers—strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent," the organization said.

The attack came nearly a year to the day after the White House warned the Assad regime that the use of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction would constitute a 'red line' that would change its outlook on directly intervening in the 36-month civil war.

However, it remains unclear who actually launched the attack with Syria's military accusing Al Qaeda affiliated rebels and western governments convinced the Al-Assad regime carried out the attack. Both sides have been accused of using chemical weapons and nerve agent on each other earlier this year. The rebels, which include defectors from the Syrian Army and the Al Qaeda-linked Al Nursa Front reportedly seized a Saudi-owned chemical plant outside of Aleppo towards the end of 2012. In June, Iraqi officials raided an alleged Al Qaeda workshop that was manufacturing sarin and mustard gas outside of Baghdad. Although Syria officially denies that it has a WMD program, it's also a possibility that the rebels could have captured chemical weapons or precursors from a Syrian installation.

If this attack was indeed launched by the Assad regime, it not only comes nearly a year to the day from President Obama's 'red line' warning, but also just days before the arrival of UN weapons inspectors as Syrian ground forces makes considerable gains against the rebels. In short, while I wouldn't put it past Al-Assad to gas his own citizens, to do so soon just miles outside of his capital before a visit from UN weapons inspectors would benefit his regime very little.

Of course, if the Assad regime isn't to blame then this raises the even more disturbing possibility that Al Qaeda-linked Islamists now have access to chemical weapons and could be using Syrian neighborhoods as a proving ground as a test-run for future attacks.

Panama Seizes North Korean Vessel Carrying Heavy Weaponry and Components

Panamanian Troops stand guard aboard the seized North Korean vessel Chong Chon Gang as police cadets prepare to search the ship's cargo hold for additional weapons and military hardware. Carlos Jasso photo

Authorities in Panama discovered a cache of Cold War era weaponry after seizing and boarding a North Korean cargo vessel that was approaching the Panama Canal. Panamanian authorities became suspicious when the vessel approached the canal with its maritime transponder shut off and believed the vessel was carrying drugs.

The captain of the North Korean-flagged dry-bulk freighter Chong Chon Gang reportedly had a heart attack and attempted to kill himself as Panamanian soldiers boarded the vessel while the crew resisted arrest before the vessel was redirected to the Caribbean port of Colon. A search of one of the cargo holds turned up Soviet-era surface to air missiles and guidance system components buried among tons of sugar. The ship's crew and captain were detained by Panamanian troops on charges of violating national security and transporting undeclared weapons.

The freighter was returning from Cuba and the government of Raul Castro claimed that the weapons found were Cuban and being sent to North Korea for refurbishment, despite an international arms embargo against the secretive Marxist regime. A further search of the Chong Chon Gang's cargo hold has also turned up two MiG 21 fighter jets in addition to 15 engines- also concealed among two tons of sugar. Officials estimate there are a total of 27 container under the sugar in the Chong Chon Gang's cargo hold and are awaiting the arrival of a team of UN inspectors to further examine the ship next week.

Under current sanctions, all U.N. member states are prohibited from directly or indirectly supplying, selling or transferring arms, missiles or missile systems and the equipment and technology to make them to North Korea, with the exception of small arms and light weapons.

It also lets countries inspect cargo destined for North Korea if a state has credible information the cargo could violate Security Council resolutions.

The discovery aboard the freighter Chong Chon Gang was expected to trigger an investigation by the U.N. Security Council committee that monitors the sanctions against North Korea.

If Cuba wanted to send the weapons for repairs and have them returned, it would have needed to get a waiver from the Security Council committee monitoring the North Korea sanctions.

According to maritime blogger Convenient Flags, North Korean merchant ships appearing in Panamanian waters is relatively rare, with a grand total of five traversing the Panama Canal since 2010. The Chong Chon Gang passed through the Panama Canal on its way to Cuba earlier with a load of sheet metal- Panamanian authorities inspected the vessel then. The seized freighter's route and ports of call were similar to that of the 2012 voyage another North Korean vessel made in 2012- only the O Un Chong Nyon Ho's voyage didn't attract as much attention at the time.

Cuba had told Panamanian officials that the outbound cargo on board the Chong Chon Gang was a 'donation' of sugar to North Korea and both North Korea and Cuba have called for the ship's release. Former Colombian president Alviro Uribe also speculated that the arms on board could be destined for a third party if they were on their way to being refurbished by North Korea- Uribe says he believes Ecuador or one of the nations that was part of Hugo Chavez's Bolivar Axis was a likely destination.

[I maintain that the ship's final destination was actually Mike Bloomberg's New York, and the contraband sugar would've been smuggled in by hiding them among the MiG jets and surface to air missiles- NANESB!]

North Korea Threatens Nuclear Strike on South Korea, US Military Bases

Female North Korean soldiers in high heels on patrol along the Yalu River along the border with China. Reuters photo/Jacky Chen

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been ratcheted up in recent weeks as North Korea has threatened to attack South Korea and the United States after the United Nations approved a fresh round of sanctions for the secretive Stalinist nation, up to and including scrapping the 1953 armistice that led to a ceasefire in the Korean War.

A North Korean general said on Tuesday that Pyongyang was scrapping the armistice. But the two sides remain technically at war as the civil war did not end with a treaty.

North Korea threatens the United States and its "puppet," South Korea, on an almost daily basis.

"Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on February 12, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and declared it had achieved progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal. It is widely believed that the North does not have the capacity for a nuclear strike against the mainland of the United States.

With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to expand its sanctions on North Korea. The new sanctions were agreed after three weeks of negotiations between the United States and China, which has a history of resisting tough measures against its ally and neighbor.

The resolution specifies some luxury items North Korea's elite is not allowed to import, such as yachts, racing cars, luxury automobiles and certain types of jewelry. This is intended to close a loophole that had allowed countries to decide for themselves what constitutes a luxury good.

"These sanctions will bite and bite hard," said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

The export of luxury goods to North Korea has been prohibited since 2006, though diplomats and analysts said the enforcement of U.N. sanctions has been uneven.

Shortly after North Korea issued their threats and said they would no longer abide by the armistice the United States deployed stealth bombers for joint excercises with South Korea at the end of March. In response, the North has positioned mobile missile launchers on the country's east coast and blocked South Korean workers from entering a joint manufacturing facility at the border in Kaesong in advance of threatened missile tests.

David Guttenfelder/AP Photo

There has also been a noticeable buildup of troops along China's border with North Korea in recent weeks. China remains North Korea's primary ally in the region, although public sentiment in China seems to have turned against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for his ill advised nuclear brinksmanship as much of North Korea's population is starving.

China still holds significant leverage with North Korea, but the current situation on the Korean peninsula benefits Beijing by diverting resources from Japan's Self Defense Forces. Since late 2012, Chinese aircraft and vessels have repeatedly made incursions into the disputed Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both Japan and China.

Benghazi Update: As Obama Addresses UN, White House And State Department Change Stories on Benghazi Attacks; Brazilian Court Orders Anti-Islam Video Removed From You Tube

One day after President Obama delivered a harsh rebuke of those who would insult Islam while offering a tepid- if nonexistent- defense of free speech, The Daily Beast published an in-depth article detailing how within a day of the September 11th, 2012 attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed the Ambassador and three diplomatic and security staff, US intelligence officials knew that Al Qaeda affiliated operatives in Eastern Libya were behind the attacks.

The intelligence officials who spoke to The Daily Beast did so anonymously because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press. They said U.S. intelligence agencies developed leads on four of the participants of the attacks within 24 hours of the fire fight that took place mainly at an annex near the Benghazi consulate. For one of those individuals, the U.S. agencies were able to find his location after his use of social media. “We had two kinds of intelligence on one guy,” this official said. “We believe we had enough to target him.”

Another U.S. intelligence official said, “There was very good information on this in the first 24 hours. These guys have a return address. There are camps of people and a wide variety of things we could do.”

A spokesman for the National Security Council declined to comment for the story. But another U.S. intelligence official said, “I can’t get into specific numbers but soon after the attack we had a pretty good bead on some individuals involved in the attack.”

It’s unclear whether any of these suspected attackers have been targeted or arrested, and intelligence experts caution that these are still early days in a complex investigation.

The Daily Beast article was published days after an unnamed Libyan source claimed that there was no protest in front of the US Consulate just prior to the bloody assault.

An intelligence source on the ground in Libya told Fox News that there was no demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi prior to last week's attack -- challenging the Obama administration's claims that the assault grew out of a "spontaneous" protest against an anti-Islam film.

"There was no protest and the attacks were not spontaneous," the source said, adding the attack "was planned and had nothing to do with the movie."

The source said the assault came with no warning at about 9:35 p.m. local time, and included fire from more than two locations. The assault included RPG's and mortar fire, the source said, and consisted of two waves.

The account that the attack started suddenly backs up claims by a purported Libyan security guard who told McClatchy Newspapers late last week that the area was quiet before the attack.

"There wasn't a single ant outside," the unnamed guard, who was being treated in a hospital, said in the interview.

A spokesman for Libya's nascent post-Ghdaffi government said local eyewitnesses claimed that the attack came in two waves- RPG and machine gun fire directed at the consulate followed by mortar fire directed at one of the safehouses. The eyewitness accounts directly contradict statements from the Obama Administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the consulate was torched as a result of a spontaneous protest or heavily-armed Al Qaeda operatives blending in among a massive demonstration in front of the US consulate.

US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice had made the Sunday morning talk-show circuit repeating the White House claim that there was a spontaneous demonstration- directly contradicting a number of reports to the contrary.

Despite sending FBI agents and forensic teams to Libya to examine the crime scene and interview local witnesses, the FBI agents still hadn't reached the city of Benghazi more than 2 weeks after the consulate attacks took place- meaning that the scene of the assault has been compromised and even if forensic teams were arrived today, there would be little evidence of value remaining. In fact, a stringer for CNN reportedly discovered Ambassador Stevens' diary in a charred hallway in the Benghazi consulate- CNN subsequently came under harsh criticism for not mentioning their find earlier and using the journal as a source without notifying the ambassador's family or the State Department, although they eventually returned the diary to the Stevens family after transcribing information they thought was pertinent.



Since June of this year, there had been at least four previous attacks targeting foreign diplomats or NGOs in Benghzai, including an IED targetting the US Consulate and an RPG fired at a British diplomatic convoy. Ambassador Stevens reportedly expressed a growing concern in his journal about the deteriorating security situation in the eastern part of Libya.

Another indicator that the attack in Libya required a considerable amount of advanced planning was the fact that CIA documents regarding post-Ghdaffi contacts in Libya and detailed dossiers on Islamist militias were missing from the consulate after the attack. As one analyst put it "We got our eyes poked out".

The missing intelligence along with the timing of the attack and use of heavy weapons- as well as reports from local eyewitnesses that there were no massive protests leading up to the attack- would give even the most casual observer every indication that the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans were the result of a calculated, well planned raid- not a random gaggle of Muslims irate over a YouTube clip who just happened to have heavy weapons on them when they decided to lash out at the USA.

ELSEWHERE- The Obama Administration's insistence that a YouTube trailer somehow provoked the violence that led to Ambassador Steven's has spread to Brazil, apparently. Not only that, it reportedly has the weight of a Brazilian court ruling behind it.

Sao Paulo-based judge Gilson Delgado Miranda gave the site 10 days to remove video clips from "Innocence of Muslims," which has angered many Muslims around the world by its depiction of the Prophet Mohammed and his followers as thugs. After the 10-day window, Google will face fines of $5,000 a day for every day the clips remain accessible in Brazil, according to the statement on the court's website.

The company did not respond to requests Wednesday for comment about the case.

The "Innocence of Muslims" ruling resulted from a lawsuit by a group representing Brazil's Muslim community, the National Union of Islamic Entities, which claimed the film violates the country's constitutional guarantee of religious freedom for all faiths.

In a statement on the group's website, Mohamad al Bukai, the head of religious matters for the Sao Paulo-based organization, hailed the ruling.

"Freedom of expression must not be confused with giving disproportionate and irresponsible offence, which can provoke serious consequences for society," al Bukai said.

Attempts by courts and officials in several countries to remove the clips have revived the debate over freedom of expression.

The judge in the Brazilian case acknowledged that banning content from sites like YouTube is a thorny issue, according to excerpts of the ruling cited in the National Union of Islamic Entities' statement.

"This type of jurisprudence cannot be confused with censorship," Miranda is quoted as writing. In the excerpts, the judge defines censorship as "the undue restriction of the civic consciousness."

YouTube routinely blocks video in specific countries if it violates laws there. It also removes video deemed to infringe copyrights, show pornography, contain hate speech or violate other guidelines. However, none of those restrictions had been applied in Brazil to the "Innocence of Muslims."

Google is now selectively blocking the video clips in countries that include Libya and Egypt. Google has said it made the decision to block the video in such places due to "the sensitive situations" there.

Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation questioned whether a ban was really necessary in Brazil, which has seen no protests or rioting that have swept the Muslim world in recent weeks.

"The notion that there's a need to take it down to prevent violence is ludicrous," she said.

Miranda's ruling came on the same day that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff addressed the United Nations and urged an end to prejudice against Muslims.

In a separate ruling, a top official for Google Brazil was ordered detained and fined due to a breach of Brazilian electoral law. The arrest of Fabio Jose Silva Coehlo by federal police in Brazil was initially reported as stemming from the Innocence of Muslims short film.

Earlier this month, the White House had requested Google remove the movie.

Syrian Diplomats Expelled From Western Nations After 108 Civilians Massacred in Village of Houla

In a clear indicator of the escalating violence in Syria, 108 people were massacred in a pair of opposition-controlled villages in the Houla region of Central Syria on Friday. Although there were signs that heavy artillery and armour were used- equipment only available to Bashr Al-Assad's army- the United Nations Human Rights Office said there were indications that many of the dead- which include nearly 50 children- were summarily executed.

According to local eyewitness accounts and the opposition Free Syrian Army, the Syrian army and militias loyal to president Bashr Al-Assad began their assault during Friday prayers.

Shelling of the town began at about 12.30pm after prayers and lasted about two hours.

Then, from around 3pm, groups of armed civilian militias — known as the Shabiha — began moving house to house and the killings, using knives and firearms, began.

According to both sources speaking independently, it went on for hours, family by family. Both groups say the killings continued until about 2am on Saturday.

In a UN report finished just days before the Houla killings, Brazilian diplomat and legal scholar Paulo Sergio Pinhiero accused Assad's regime of sending the Army to towns with a list of wanted opponents and executing their entire families. The Syrian regime has denied any involvement with the Houla massacre, claiming that the rebel Free Syrian Army and foreign mercenaries were responsible for the bloodbath.

Human rights groups accuse the Syrian Army and Shabiha [or 'ghost militia'- NANESB!] of handcuffing some of the children in Houla before killing them as well as setting fires to homes and businesses before using snipers to pick off residents as they flee the burning structures.

In response to Friday's killings and the Assad regime's rejection of any ceasefire agreement with opposition forces the USA, Canada, Australia, UK and many European Union nations have expelled Syrian diplomatic personnel on Monday.

Proving that Democrats have never met a mass murdering dictator they didn't want to coddle, Nancy Pelosi is seen meeting Bashr al Assad in Damascus in 2007.

The massacre even prompted a rebuke from Russia- Assad's most powerful international ally and arms supplier. However, Russia is still considered unlikely to distance themselves from the Assad regime despite diplomatic efforts from the West.

Syrian Forces Open Fire on Refugee Camp Across Turkish Border; Suspected Iranian Arms Shipment Diverted to Turkey

Gunmen fired from Syria into a refugee camp across the Turkish border a few days prior to a UN-brokered ceasefire between the forces loyal to Syria's Assad regime and rebel soldiers and defectors from the Syrian army.

Syrian activists claim that Syrian forces were responsible for a fusillade of gunfire that raked a refugee encampment near the south central Turkish city of Tilis earlier this month.

At least 15 other people were wounded outside the facility as they were fleeing Syria into Turkey, the activists said.

Clashes between Syrian forces and Free Syrian Army rebels are taking place regularly during the night along the Turkish-Syrian border, activists told The Times. However, this reportedly was the first known incident of direct fire at a refugee camp.

"There were clashes in the border area between FSA and the regular army," said an activist at the camp who requested to be identified only as Tariq. "It started around 3 a.m. We hear gunfire every night. But it is the first time they directly fire at the camp.”


The camp is 400 to 500 yards from the border and hosts about 8,000 refugees, though it has a capacity of 12,000, he said.

"The regular army fired at the camp around noon," he said. "There are four wounded, including a Turkish nurse, and two Syrian refugees who were killed. They were both standing next to me on a higher ground, watching the clashes; I was filming when they were killed."

The incident could be construed as an attack on Turkey by Syria, which could trigger a mutual defense agreement Turkey retains with the rest of NATO.

On Wednesday, Turkish police and customs officials boarded a German cargo ship in the Mediterranean after a Der Spegiel magazine investigative report claimed the Atlantic Cruiser was carrying Iranian weapons destined for Syria.

Turkish Foreign Ministry and port officials said the ship was being towed into the port which is located on Turkey's eastern Mediterranean coast just over 100 km (60 miles) north of Syria, on suspicion it was carrying weapons.

The officials could not confirm if there were weapons aboard but said they were planning to inspect all the ship's cargo once it had been offloaded. The ship had been due to offload some of its cargo in Turkey as part of its route, they said.

A Reuters reporter in Iskenderun said he could see Turkish police from the customs and smuggling department on board the ship. Port officials said they had already inspected parts of the ship and would allow photographers aboard once the ship was docked.

German shipping company W. Bockstiegel, which owns the Atlantic Cruiser, ordered the vessel on Monday to turn its transponder back on after the ship switched off the tracking system because its crew feared attack.

The company has said it has no information about any weapons on board the ship which was originally destined for Syria.

White Whale Shipping, the Ukrainian company that chartered the Atlantic Cruiser has denied there were arms on board and said its cargo was civilian goods. Sending weapons to Syria would be in violation of a European Union arms embargo.

A website which tracks maritime shipping reported that the vessel was flying an Antigua Barbuda flag while Turkey's Dogan news agency had reported that the ship was displaying the Bahamas flag when it was intercepted.

Syrian Armor Masses Outside of Opposition Stronghold of Homs After Hundreds Reported Killed in Shelling

Syrian forces continued their bombardment of rebel and Free Syrian Army positions in the western city of Homs Thursday and overnight into Friday. Opponents of the al-Assad regime in Damascus fear that this would be a final push by Damascus to crush organized opposition to the regime.


Recently bolstered by the late-January arrival of a substantial arms shipment from Russia and a Russian and Chinese veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the al-Assad regime for the violent crackdown of anti-regime demonstrations that have been taking place since late 2011, Syrian forces are said to have killed at least 200 rebel fighters and civilians in Homs this week. The al-Assad regime initially denied the artillery and rocket barrage even took place before claiming that the Syrian army was deployed to Homs at the urging of local residents earlier this week. While Syrian forces were shelling neighborhoods in Homs, Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and Russia's head of foreign intelligence met with president Bashar al-Assad in Damascus for three hours on Tuesday.

While Syrian tanks and APCs probed the rebel defenses in Homs- Syria's 3rd largest city- civilians and wounded fighters were evacuating the city of Homs to the Wadi Khaled area some 50 miles southwest of the city, others have sought refuge across the border in northern Lebanon.

Also on Friday, two explosions rocked the northern city of Aleppo (Syria's largest city). State run TV said the explosions targeted two security compounds in the city and would not specify the number of casualties.

Shortly after this weeks UN Security Council vote, the State Department closed down the US Embassy in Damascus and evacuated all diplomatic personnel.

Canada Announces Withdrawl From Kyoto Climate Change Treaty

In a continuing trend of showing better judgement than their American counterparts, the Conservative government of Canadian PM Stephen Harper announced this week at a United Nations climate conference announced that they were invoking their right to no longer participate in the 1997 Kyoto protocols which were purportedly designed to reduce greenhouse emissions among industrialized nations.

The previous ruling government had initially signed onto the treaty, but Harper's Environment minister Peter Kent said that the Kyoto treaty as it's structured did nothing to address pollution from growing economies such as Brazil and China while putting an onerous economic burden on Canada if it were to comply with Kyoto.

Kent's announcement comes a day after marathon climate talks wrapped up in the South African port city of Durban.

Canada faced international criticism at the recent climate talks in South Africa amid reports it would pull out of Kyoto.

Harper's Conservative government is reluctant to hurt Canada's booming oil sands sector, which is the country's fastest growing source of greenhouse gases and a reason it has reneged on its Kyoto commitments.

Canada has the world's third largest oil reserves, more than 170 billion barrels. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million in 2025. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have more reserves. But critics say the enormous amount of energy and water needed in the extraction process increases greenhouse gas emissions.

Among the proposals floated around the Durban conference was a punitive 'climate tax' on American goods exported and the establishment of an international 'climate court' designed to redistribute wealth from industrialized nations to developing countries.

Syrian Army Defectors Attack Assad's Ruling Party Headquarters and Air Force Base

Syrian Military withdrawing from Hama over the summer- AFP Photo

In what has been the most high-profile attack against Basar Al-Assad's regime since widespread antigovernment demonstrations began earlier this year, defectors from the Syrian military attacked a military compound and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the Damascus headquarters of the ruling Ba'ath party this week.

On Wednesday, there were reports of explosions and gunfire in the Damascus suburb of Harasta as the Free Syrian Army claimed to have attacked and heavily damaged an Air Force Intelligence compound. Despite the name, Syria's Air Force Intelligence Directorate deals with matters unrelated to the air force, including harassing, intimidating and torturing political opponents at home and abroad.

Although there were no reported casualties in Wednesday's attack, the group of defectors from Syria's military calling themselves the Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed they chose the Air Force Intelligence compound against the intelligence arm of Assad's ruling Ba'ath party as a symbolic target.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, rocket propelled grenades slammed into the headquarters of Assad's ruling Ba'ath party in Damascus.

Witnesses reported hearing two explosions before seeing smoke rising and fire trucks rushing to the scene early this morning.

It is thought the attack was carried out just before dawn when the building was mostly empty. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Thabet Salem, a journalist who lives close the party building, told Al Jazeera: "This is a clear-cut escalation of what's going on ... It will bring us into a dangerous phase."

Besides pressure from the West, Syria faces additional pressure from the 22-nation Arab League as a deadline to either end the military crackdown or allow international monitors into the country passed over the weekend. Syria's membership in the Arab League was suspended earlier this month and Assad's regime may now face additional diplomatic and economic sanctions from once-allied nations in the region.

The Assad regime's ongoing crackdown, however, did not deter them from being accepted by the UN on the UNESCO organization, which oversees issues relating to human rights.

Libya Update- Rebel Fighters Rounding Up, Detaining Black Migrants; China Circumvents Arms Embargo on Ghdaffi Regime?

Migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa found themselves unable to leave Libya during the 6 month old uprising are now finding themselves in dire straits as the rebel-led interim government takes over.

Rebels who took up arms against Libya's Mummar Ghdaffi have begun arbitrarily rounding up and detaining black migrants from sub-Saharan Africa after taking control of Tripoli from the fugitive dictator. As cities like Benghazi and Ras Lanuf fell to rebels, armed civilians began rounding up black residents- in some cases, beating and robbing then before turning them over as rebel fighters began taking over local government offices.

At the start of the uprising, rumors were circulating that the Ghdaffi regime was hiring mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa to aid the regime's security forces in dealing with protesters and rebels. However, many more Africans from countries like Sudan, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and neighboring Niger have also worked in civilian jobs throughout much of the Ghdafi regime.

Aladdin Mabrouk, a spokesman for Tripoli's military council, said no one knows how many people have been detained in the city, but he guessed more than 5,000. While no central registry exists, he said neighborhood councils he knows have between 200 and 300 prisoners each.

In February, witnesses reported African fighters shooting at protesters or being captured by anti-Gadhafi forces. Witnesses have described scores of mercenaries being flown in to put down the rebellion, although many of the fighters already were in Libya.

As a result, people with roots in sub-Saharan Africa and black Libyan citizens have been targeted by rebel forces in the messy and confusing fight for control of the country.

In the Khallat al-Firjan neighborhood in south Tripoli, Associated Press reporters saw rebel forces punching a dozen black men before determining they were innocent migrant workers and releasing them.

The Gate of the Sea club near Tripoli's fishing port became a lockup Monday night, when residents rounded up people in the surrounding area.

Guards at the club said they looked for unfamiliar faces, then asked for IDs. Those without papers or whose legal residences were distant cities were marched to the club.

This week, an armed guard stood by a short hallway that led through two metal gates onto a soccer field surrounded by high walls. There was no roof, so the detainees clustered against the wall to get out of the heat.

Even prior to the uprising, Ghdaffi was known to recruit foreign fighters from sub-Saharan Africa

ELSEWHERE: According to recently unearthed documents, Chinese arms companies attempted to circumvent the UN sanctions and sell an estimated $200 million in arms to the waning Ghdaffi regime.

The documents suggest that Beijing and other governments may have played a double game in the Libyan war, claiming neutrality but covertly helping the dictator. The papers do not confirm whether any military assistance was delivered, but senior leaders of the new transitional government in Tripoli say the documents reinforce their suspicions about the recent actions of China, Algeria and South Africa. Those countries may now suffer a disadvantage as Libya’s new rulers divide the spoils from their vast energy resources, and select foreign firms for the country’s reconstruction.

Senior rebel officials confirmed the authenticity of the four-page memo, written in formal style on the green eagle letterhead used by a government department known as the Supply Authority, which deals with procurement. The Globe and Mail found identical letterhead in the Tripoli offices of that department. The memo was discovered in a pile of trash sitting at the curb in a neighbourhood known as Bab Akkarah, where several of Col. Gadhafi’s most loyal supporters had lavish homes.

The document reports in detail about a trip by Col. Gadhafi’s security officials from Tripoli to Beijing. They arrived on July 16, and in the following days they met with officials from three state-controlled weapons manufacturers: China North Industries Corp. (Norinco); the China National Precision Machinery Import & Export Corp. (CPMIC); and China XinXing Import & Export Corp. The Chinese companies offered the entire contents of their stockpiles for sale, and promised to manufacture more supplies if necessary.

The hosts thanked the Libyans for their discretion, emphasized the need for confidentiality, and recommended delivery via third parties.

“The companies suggest that they make the contracts with either Algeria or South Africa, because those countries previously worked with China,” the memo says.

The Chinese companies also noted that many of the items the Libyan delegation requested were already held in the arsenals of the Algerian military, and could be transported immediately across the border; the Chinese said they could replenish the Algerian stocks afterward. The memo also indicated that Algeria had not yet consented to such an arrangement, and proposed further talks at the branch offices of the Chinese companies in Algiers.

Appendices stapled to the memo, and scattered nearby, show the deadly items under discussion: truck-mounted rocket launchers; fuel-air explosive missiles; and anti-tank missiles, among others. Perhaps most controversially, the Chinese apparently offered Col. Gadhafi’s men the QW-18, a surface-to-air missile small enough for a soldier to carry on his shoulder – roughly similar to a U.S. Stinger, capable of bringing down some military aircraft.

While Algeria reportedly hadn't consented to such a deal, rebels and the interim government remained suspicious after Ghdaffi's wife and three of his children were able to seek asylum in neighboring Algeria.

Towards the beginning of the uprising, Libyan rebels were able to use seized radar equipment at the airport outside of Benghazi to track C-130 and IL-76 cargo planes- some bearing registration codes used by the Algerian military- flying into and out of Ghdaffi loyalist strongholds.

From Decades of Strife and Conflict, Africa's Newest Nation Is Born

South Sudanese girl hanging flag ahead of Independence Day

The boundaries on Africa's maps will once again be re-drawn, this time as the newest nation in the world readies itself for full independence from Sudan on Saturday. After a decade of civil war with Khartoum and an uneasy five year cease-fire, celebrations marking the formation of the new state are set to get underway in the South Sudanese capital of Juba on Saturday. This new nation will be slightly smaller than the state of Texas in terms of size.

Reportedly a number of expats will make their way to the new country from overseas for the occasion while a number of events as far afield as Sioux City, SD are planned for those unable to make it to Juba by July 9th.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir meeting with President Bush in 2009

The Republic of South Sudan came about as a result of the internationally-brokered Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the South and Khartoum that was signed in Nairobi. The terms of the 2005 ceasefire included six years of autonomy from Khartoum followed by a referendum on independence which took place earlier this year. Voters in the south overwhelmingly approved of secession from northern Sudan by a nearly 99% margin. The population of the South is largely Christian or Animist while the northern Sudan is majority Muslim.

Map of the new nation

Although rich in oil deposits, the South faces a number of challenges including rebuilding infrastructure damaged by years of civil war, AIDS, a high infant mortality rate. There is also the risk that lingering resentment towards the north could reignite into an armed conflict once again. To that end, the United Nations has sent approximately 7000 peacekeepers to act as a buffer between northern and southern forces.

There is also the problem of exporting the oil, since the new country is land-locked and the only pipelines into and out of the south are to Port Sudan and and easily be cut off if hostilities between the two nations resume.

Reveller in the capital city of Juba

The days and weeks leading up to the independence day have been marked with skirmishes with the northern militias and attacks on refugees. As recently as May of this year, forces from South Sudan and Sudan traded artillery fire and the Sudanese air force bombarded the region around the border town of Abyei.

International Monetary Fund Head Charged With Sexual Assault in New York City

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the IMF prior to his weekend arrest for sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York, was released on $1 million bail and will be electronically monitored as well as being under watch by armed guards around the clock a New York judge has ruled on Firday.

Stauss-Kahn, who was considered by many to be a challenger to current French president Nicholas Sarkozy in next year's presidential elections, was arrested NY Port Authority officers at JFK International airport while on board a Paris-bound flight before it departed from JFK International.

According to the NYPD, a hotel maid entered Strauss-Khan's suite on the 28th floor of Manhattan's Sofitel hotel thinking it was vacant. It was there that the 62 year old Strauss-Khan chased her down and pulled her into another bedroom in his suite before sexually assaulting her. The IMF head apparently left in such a hurry that he left his cell phone and a number of personal items behind at the scene after the victim had escaped and called 911. Strauss-Kahn resigned as IMF head earlier in the week (some members of the Brazil-Russia-China-India bloc are hoping the new IMF head coupld be replaces with somebody from one of the aforementioned nations).

The accuser was identified as a 32 year old immigrant from the West African country of Guinea. It was also learned this week that the maid's address was an apartment block in the Bronx that is rented out exclusively to tenants that are HIV positive.

Forces Loyal To Ghdaffi Counterattack, Bombard Rebel Positions

[Map: AFP]

Mummar Ghdaffi's forces struck back at rebel-held cities in the eastern part of Libya with airstrikes, missiles, tanks and artillery this week, retaking the oil port of Ras Lanuf and have made it as far east as Ajdabiya- some 100 miles south of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Earlier in the month, the Libyan rebels- increasingly made up of soldiers who had defected from the Libyan Army- had made their way westward from Benghazi to the outskirts of Tripoli before being steadily pushed back eastward to their stronghold by Ghdaffi's forces.

Since then, the beleaguered Libyan rebels have been requesting assistance from outside the country- including arms and the possible imposition of a no-fly zone against Ghdaffi's Air Force.

In rebel-held eastern Libya, patience for diplomatic niceties is running short. At a checkpoint near the contested town of Ras Lanuf, Saluhaddin Sultan, 38, a rebel who used to work as a kitchen worker at an oil plant, gestured angrily and said: "Why aren't the Americans doing anything? They just watch and talk. Gaddafi has heavy weapons and he is killing us."

There was a personal reason for his anger. His brother-in-law and nephew, also fighters, had died a day earlier when their car was hit by one of Gaddafi's jets.

"We are fighting for our revolution, but we cannot protect ourselves from the planes," he said.

A couple of miles along the road from the checkpoint were two deep craters on the road edge, from another bombing raid which had killed a family in their car as they fled the fighting.

Jalal Elgallal, a Benghazi businessman educated in Britain who supports the revolution, added: "I lived in Britain for years, I admire Britain - as most Libyans do - and I would expect Britain to help the underdog. If we get a no-fly zone he can't bomb us, and our fighters could march on Tripoli and end this.

"We need your help to get rid of Gaddafi. Just think about what he has done to you in the past - Lockerbie, Yvonne Fletcher, terror attacks.

"This is your chance too to get rid of him. We could get rid of him quickly with some foreign help, otherwise doing this could cost tens of thousands of lives."

In Cairo, the Arab League called for the United Nations Security Council to establish and enforce a no-fly zone during an emergency meeting last week.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have also supported a Libyan no-fly zone while President Obama has been ambivalent at best and Germany and Russia have expressed doubts.

The British and Lebanese have put forth a proposed resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would present a 'menu' of options the international community could use to curtail the activities of Ghdaffi's regime and military. However, it's thought that Russia and China- permanent members of the UN Security council- are likely to oppose any external military intervention against the Libyan regime.

Libyan Evacuation: Ferry Bring Americans to Malta, USAF Flying Egyptian Nationals Home.

While some 200 Americans being evacuated from Libya had to wait for a ferry to Malta last week, President Obama dispatched US Air Force C130s to Tunisia in order to aid in the evacuation of Egyptian workers trapped in Libya since an uprising against the Gahdaffi regime and ensuing crackdown

President Obama announced today that he had approved the use of military planes to transport Egyptian refugees from the Tunisian border back to Egypt.

Defense officials says the operation will be run by Africa Command (Africom) which is based in Stuttgart, Germany. One of the officials says Africom will use between two and four C-130 aircraft based in Germany to carry out the flights between Tunisia and Egypt. C-130’s are smaller aircraft compared to C-17’s so it looks like they could be making a lot of trips.

The flights will operate between Tunisia and Egypt. A Department of Defense official said that USAID would charter additional civilian aircraft to evacuate foreign nationals who are fleeing strife-torn Libya via the Tunisian border. Spain and German are sending aircraft and warships to aid in the evacuation of foreigners (mostly Egyptians) while India and South Korea have dispatched Naval vessels to evacuate their citizens.

You know what? I hope I don't come off like I'm against using US Air Force aircraft and personnel to evacuate foreign nationals from the escalating and increasingly bloody clusterfuck in Libya, because I'm not....

Simply put, It's the right thing to do......

I'm sure there were some logistical concerns as well. But with that said, how come these assets weren't made available to the American citizens who needed them first?

Food for thought.

US Repositions Naval Assets in Mediterrenian As Ghdaffi Steps Up Attacks on Rebel Strongholds

And at this point, I think 'Rebel Strongholds' could mean pretty much everywhere in Libya outside of Tripoli and environs.

As forces loyal to Ghdaffi continued airstrikes against weapons depots and military facilities in rebel-held territory, the US Navy began to move ships off the coast of the strife-torn North African nation. The USS Mount Whitney is already in the Mediterranean while the USS Enterprise is making its way through the Suez Canal after being diverted from the pirate-infested waters near the Gulf of Aden [complete with detained pirates on board- NANESB!]. Secretary of Defense William Gates has also ordered 400 Marines currently stationed in the continental United States to be deployed to the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, which is also making its way through the Red Sea towards Libya.

The US, NATO and the United Nations are discussing possible actions against the Libyan regime, including a naval blockade or establishing 'no fly zones' similar to Iraq before 2003. Canada has dispatched the Halifax-based frigate HMCS Charlestown to the Mediterranean to take part in the international buildup against the Libyan regime. British prime minister David Cameron ordered contingency plans for the UK to enforce a yet-to-be-established no fly zone over Libya in coordination with other NATO members. Cameron also hinted that the UK is considering arming Libyan rebel groups if Ghdaffi continues his crackdown on opposition protesters.

Last week, President Obama signed an executive order placing sanctions against Ghdaffy and his associates while the European Union placed an arms embargo and travel ban against Libya. Already, international observers say that the former Soviet republic of Belarus has violated the arms embargo.

Elsewhere, A council of top Libyan dissidents remained divided on the prospect of foreign intervention, saying that while some groups were considering a request for foreign air strikes under United Nations auspices, the group ultimately opposed foreign military intervention in the crisis.

Lebanese, Tunisian Governments Collapse.

Ministers from the Islamic group Hezbollah and their allies withdrew from the 30 member coalition cabinet in Beirut while the Lebanese prime minister was in Washington D.C. meeting with President Obama at the White House this week. This has effectively collapsed the Lebanese government.

Eleven ministers from Hezbollah and their allies pulled out of the 30-member coalition cabinet Wednesday after Prime Minister Saad Hariri refused to discredit a United Nations-backed court investigating the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Hariri tribunal is expected as soon as next week to indict two to five members of Hezbollah for roles in the assassination, according to officials briefed on the court's work.

The announcement of the resignations coincided with Prime Minister Hariri's meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington. An opposition minister said they wanted Mr. Hariri to "meet Obama as the former prime minister of Lebanon."

Successive U.S. governments have supported Mr. Hariri and his father in a bid to build a secular Western-leaning government on Israel's northern border. The Obama administration had viewed the White House meeting as an important symbol of support for the Lebanese leader

The new developments underscore the re-emergence of Syria as a formidable power broker in Lebanon and its crucial role—along with Iran—in steering Hezbollah, a political and militant party on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist groups.

"On big regional and strategic matters Iran has the first word but in Lebanon's internal affairs, Syria calls the shots," said Okab Sakr, a parliamentarian for Mr. Hariri's bloc.

In the short term, it is unlikely that Hezbollah, will resort to violence, as it did in 2008, in a dispute over security and the use of the movement's telecom network, analysts say.

Hezbollah's ministers on Wednesday stressed that withdrawing from the government was within their democratic rights.

Mr. Hariri's office said he was cutting his visit to Washington short and heading home, where he would meet with President Michel Suleiman to discuss the next steps.

The developments in Beirut has put Israel's military on alert, as Hezbollah has used southern Lebanon to launch rocket attacks into Israel as recently as 2006.

Reuters photo

Elsewhere, the president of Tunisia has fled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after demonstrators protesting high unemployment and food prices began rioting and clashing with police.

President Zine al-Abadine Ben Ali seized power in a bloodless coup in 1987, and leaked diplomatic cables from the US Embassy compare Ben Ali's family and inner circle to a mafia family.The leaked cables seemed to confirm what many Tunisians had already suspected about the ruling party and first family.

Clashes between authorities and protesters and police crackdowns had killed 23 in Tunisia this week, although some human rights groups say the total could be as high as 66.

The final moments of Mr Ben Ali's long dominance of his country will be remembered for the drama on the streets as protests that have raged across the country for four weeks, finally reached the capital on Thursday.

Demonstrators ignored a curfew, and took no notice of a promise by Mr Ben Ali that night not to seek a sixth term of office in 2014. Instead of returning home, they took to the streets and the roof-tops, even of government buildings and the interior ministry, hurling stones at symbols of authority.

Ben Ali named Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi Tunisia's interim head of state before leaving the country. An aircraft thought to be carrying Ben Ali departed from Tunis and landed on the Italian island of Sardinia, but that turned out to be a decoy.

Although Tunisian airspace was briefly shut down, British Travel agency Thomas Cook began evacuating an estimated 3000 Britons on vacation in the North African country.

Although the interim government announced plans for a special election within 60 days, rioters continued looting businesses and torched the capital city's main train station on Friday.

Pakistani Suicide Bomber Targets Refugees Awaiting Food

A bhurka-clad suicide bomber hurled grenades into a crowd that was gathered to receive rations from the UN's World Food Program before blowing herself up in northern Pakistan on Sunday. The Taliban took credit for the attack, which killed 46 people, injured 76 more and was thought to be the first suicide bombing carried out by a female in Pakistan.

The blast had taken place in the northern town of Khar in the Bajaur reigon along the Afghan border. Many of the people awaiting rations from the WFP had been displaced earlier by fighting between the Taliban and Pakistan's military or flooding earlier this year.

The BBC reported that Pakistan's Army had begun attacking Taliban and militant positions in the neighboring Mohmand region. This would not be the first time the UN's WFP was targeted in Pakistan- last October, a suicide bomber killed six employees when he attacked the WFP offices in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

At Least 200 Feared Dead in Congo Tanker Blast

The UN and local officials in eastern Congo say that an estimated 200 people were killed in an explosion when a tanker truck overturned and exploded in the village of Sange. The trailer overturned while speeding according to a local official and it's believed the death toll was so high because many of the villagers were trying to collect oil from the crash site.

Those that weren't attempting to siphon off oil from the punctured trailer were likely indoors watching one of the World Cup matches. Regional police say the truck had come from Tanzania and was trying to pass a bus when the accident happened.

According to the UN, at least 5 of their Peacekeepers were killed in the explosion as well.