Human rights

Cheney reaction: Interview blackout as protester waves handcuffs at “war criminal”
A live interview with former Vice-President Dick Cheney and his family was marred by protesters accusing him of war crimes and torture. One protester tried to "arrest" the politician, but was taken away, as live video of the event went black. Cheney made a rare appearance, together with his wife Lynne and daughter Liz, on Monday to be interviewed by Politico's Mike Allen in Washington. [...]
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Conscientious objector: US Navy nurse refuses to force-feed Guantanamo detainee
A Navy nurse is making waves for refusing to force-feed inmates participating in hunger strikes at the prison complex in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The unidentified nurse – described by one inmate as a 40-year-old Latino – is believed to be the first conscientious objector to Guantanamo’s controversial tube feeding policy. [...]
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‘It defies belief’: Snowden condemns UK’s new surveillance bill
NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has denounced the UK'€™s emergency surveillance bill, criticizing the distinct lack of public debate it encompassed and its heightened powers of intrusion. During an exclusive interview in Moscow with the Guardian, the whistleblower suggested it was highly unusual for a state to process legislation so hastily other than at a time of acutely endangered national [...]
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GCHQ tribunal hears civil liberties legal challenge
Civil liberties groups are making a legal challenge against the alleged use of mass surveillance by UK intelligence services. The tribunal follows revelations about UK and US surveillance practices by former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. The groups involved intend to challenge the legality of alleged “interception, collection and use of communications” by GCHQ. [...]
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Whistleblower: NSA stores 80% of all phone calls, not just metadata – full audio
At least 80 percent of all audio calls are gathered and stored by the NSA, whistleblower William Binney has revealed. The former code-breaker says the spy agency's ultimate aim is no less than total population control. [...]
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Armed militias planning to take over US border to thwart illegal immigrants
As militias vow to protect the Texas border from illegal immigrants, Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) said he believes the president has an ulterior motive for not moving quickly to prevent the overwhelming numbers of immigrants crossing the border. Between January 1 and June 15, 2014, more than 52,000 unaccompanied alien children have been apprehended after crossing the Mexican border into the US [...]
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Ukraine army assaults Lugansk: Airstrikes on suburbs, shelling of residential areas
Kiev's artillery attacked the city of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, witnesses and militia of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Lugansk (LNR) said. Ukrainian forces also attacked the city's suburbs from the air. [...]
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US “profoundly troubled” by brutal beating of Palestinian teen who turned out to be American
The US has condemned the beating and detention of a 15-year-old Palestinian-American by Israeli police after a massive social media campaign exploded in cyber space decrying the actions and hypocrisy of Israeli authorities. [...]
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Journal that published Facebook psych study sorry… social network not
The journal that has published the Facebook mood swings study regrets the way the study was conducted. Facebook issued a sorry statement for accessing the content of 700,000 people's pages, but the company's second-in-command said she has no regrets. It was concluded by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal that the move to manipulate the content appearing on the Facebook pag [...]
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Facebook mind control experiments linked to DoD research on civil unrest
Facebook's experiment on over half-a-million unsuspecting users has taken a new twist with the revelation that a researcher connected to a Department of Defense-funded program to use the military to quell civil unrest also participated in the study. Social media sites exploded over the weekend after it was revealed that Facebook, no stranger to controversy of late, secretly manipulated posts be [...]
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Humanitarian situation in Ukraine aggravates every minute
The situation in Ukraine is gradually leading to a humanitarian catastrophe, and it is aggravating every day. Russia sees it as its duty to expand assistance to refugees from Ukraine, displaced persons and to the Ukrainians who stay in the conflict-torn areas. Russia is extending humanitarian assistance to the people of the southeastern part of Ukraine without formal agreement with the Ukrainian a [...]
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Battlefield USA: American police “excessively militarized” – ACLU study
Inheriting both the weapons and the mindset of the US military, police are becoming militarized and "hyper aggressive" in their approach to maintaining security on the streets of America. New study calls on police not to treat people as "wartime enemies." [...]
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US wants to oust Maliki, while he refuses to resign in exchange for airstrikes
As the United States mulls whether or not to provide military support to Iraq in its battle against Sunni insurgents, recent reports indicate the White House wants Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki out of power. [...]
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“No to war!” Thousands of miners protest Kiev’€™s crackdown on E. Ukraine
The coal miners of the Donetsk region have stayed away from work and marched in downtown Donetsk against Kiev'€™s military campaign against Ukrainian citizens, which has already killed over 250 civilians, according to the UN. A rally on Donetsk’s central Lenin Square initially attracted about 1,000 people. [...]
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ISIS ‘execute’ 1,700 Iraqi soldiers, post gruesome pictures (GRAPHIC)
Radical Sunni militants who have been capturing cities in northwest Iraq claimed on Twitter that they executed 1,700 Iraqi soldiers. The radicals posted graphic photos as evidence. The photographs, which were posted on the Twitter account associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL), came with captions that described their alleged massacre. [...]
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Biden to Germans: You are xenophobic
Vice President Joe Biden undoubtedly ruffled some feathers in Germany on Tuesday when he suggested the country was "€œxenophobic"€ and much less accommodating to immigrants compared to the United States. Speaking at an event held by the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington, DC, Biden gave a speech in which he described three things the United States needs to do to “keep our e [...]
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State of emergency: ISIL militants overrun Iraq city of 1.8mn, free 2,500 prisoners
Heavily-armed, Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants have seized the Iraqi city of Mosul, driving back government forces. Officials say the Iraqi Army'€™s soldiers are demoralized and are no match for the attacking militant forces. “The city of Mosul is outside the control of the state and at the mercy of the militants,” an Interior Ministry official told AFP on Monday. [...]
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E. Ukraine warzone: Demolished houses, fires after heavy shelling (VIDEOS)
Despite President Poroshenko intention to bring about a ceasefire, Kiev’s relentless military operation in the country's east is intensifying. Slavyansk has become one of the main targets of artillery attacks, amateur videos filmed in the area show. [...]
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Democracy? Just business: Egyptian elections get US blessing
The recent presidential polls in Egypt proved once again that the West interprets similar events in the way they correspond to the US and EU interests, calling "€˜legitimate"€™ elections which have nothing in common with real democratic choice. On June 3 Egypt got official results of the presidential elections which took place on May 26-28. [...]
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