View original: Political protest brings sudden end to Rohani’s first press conference
‘Don’t arm maniacs’: London’s mayor opposes weapon support for Syrian rebels
Writing for British publication The Telegraph, Boris Johnson wrote that the UK must not use Syria as “an arena for muscle flexing.” “We can’t use Syria as an arena for geopolitical point-scoring or muscle-flexing, and we won’t get a ceasefire by pressing weapons into the hands of maniacs,” wrote Johnson. He joins a number of prominent British political and social figures in an attempt to dissuade Prime Minister David Cameron from sending arms to the Syrian opposition. “This is the moment for a total ceasefire, an end to the madness,” Johnson writes. “It is time for the US, Russia, the EU, Turkey, Iran, Saudi and all the players to convene an intergovernmental conference to try to halt the carnage.” Deputy PM Nick Clegg also warned Cameron of the dangers of supplying the opposition with weapons. He reasoned that the UK government had not deemed it necessary to send weapons before and saw no reason to change this policy. There has been speculation that Cameron is in favor of supporting Washington and sending weapons aid to rebels in Syria. The Obama Administration announced last week that the Syrian regime had crossed “a red line,” citing evidence that government forces had used the chemical weapon sarin in the conflict. The “intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,” said Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes said in a statement. Russia spoke out against the US plan to aid the rebels, saying the Kremlin was “unconvinced” by the US evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces were using chemical weapons. The Syrian issue dominated bilateral talks between Moscow and London last week. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Cameron last Monday, insisting that supplying the opposition with weapons would only serve to destabilize Syria further. Russia believes the conflict will only be brought to an end through negotiations. “I think you will not deny that one does not really need to support the people who not only kill their enemies, but open up their bodies, eat their intestines in front of the public and cameras,” Putin said, referring to a video footage on the internet of a rebel fighter apparently eating the heart of a government soldier. David Cameron, however, remains steadfast in his opinion that the root cause of the conflict is Assad. The “new evidence makes that clearer than ever,” said Cameron, citing the US’ claims of government forces using sarin gas. Washington is also reviewing the possibility of setting up a no-fly zone in Syria, US officials told Reuters. The no-fly zone would extend 40km into Syrian territory and would be used as a safe haven for refugees and a platform to train rebels. … Read More
Russia – Setback for freedom of information as Duma passes restrictive new laws
Читать по-русски в PDF и ниже / Read in Russian Reporters Without Borders is deeply concerned at the approval by the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the Duma, two days ago of two acts restricting freedom of information on the pretext of protecting religious feelings and traditional family values. The press freedom organization calls on the authorities to refrain from enacting the legislation, which imposes penalties for insulting religious feelings, and amendments banning “propaganda of (…) … Read More
Syria crossed ‘red line’ using chemical weapons on rebels – White House
An internal memorandum circulating within the Obama administration has assessed that chemical weapons, most likely the nerve gas sarin, were used multiple times in battle against the Syrian rebels. The “intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,” according to that memo, as cited by The New York Times. White House officials speculated over evidence that nerve gas had been used as of April, but that evidence is now being called “definitive” – with Congressional sources describing the conclusion as crossing the “red line” for US military intervention as previously defined by the president. According to officials who spoke with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the US military is currently considering a proposal for arming factions of the Syrian insurgency – as well as establishing a limited no-fly zone over the country to be enforced from nearby Jordanian territory. That no-fly zone could stretch for up to 25 miles into Syrian territory, and would be set up in a bid to train and equip rebel forces and protect refugees, officials said. A no-fly zone would not require the destruction of Syrian antiaircraft batteries, according to the accounts cited in American media. The White House could alternatively authorize the arming and training of the Syrian opposition in Jordan without a no-fly zone. Congress was being notified of the conclusions over chemical weapons use in the country on Thursday in classified documents. Findings were corroborated by evidence sent to the US by France, which along with Britain claimed that Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons. In a conference call to reporters on Thursday, the White House said that the intelligence community estimates that as many as 150 people, or about 0.16 per cent (0.0016) of the 93,000 reported deaths in the Syrian conflict, could have been a result of chemical weapons used by pro-Assad forces. The White House said during the same call that the US “will make decisions on our own timeline” regarding the next steps on Syria. President Obama will consult with G8 partners, including Russia, about Syria next week. Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham called on the US to provide “lethal assistance, especially ammunition & heavy weapons” to Syria’s rebels on Thursday. “The President must rally an international coalition to take military actions to degrade Assad’s ability to use airpower and ballistic missiles and to move and resupply his forces around the battlefield by air,” said a joint statement by the pair. As a UN probe was underway into allegations of chemical weapons use in May, lead investigator Carla Del Ponte said the findings showed that rebels were behind at least one chemical weapons attack. “This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities,” Del Ponte told Swiss TV. … Read More
Sony PlayStation 4 hardware revealed at E3, priced at $399
Sony took the stage on Monday evening for their annual E3 press conference just hours after Microsoft revealed pricing and their lineup of games for the Xbox One. For Sony, the biggest question on everyone’s mind heading into the event was whether or not we would finally get to see… … Read More
WWDC Preview: iOS 7, iRadio and Mac OS X 10.9
What to expect from Apple’s 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference … Read More
Alex Jones Makes History in Watford, England
http://www.youtube.com/v/v8rC2plJMcU?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Continued - Alex Jones Makes History in Watford, England
