Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy A new report reaffirms what everyone already knew – that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons. It seems worth noting that it has been alleged that the rebels have also used chemical weapons. Nonetheless the US plans to step up military aid [...]

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo. Hello. International Developments ❖ At least 93,000  killed during the Syrian conflict, according to the UN.  “Over 80% of those killed were men. 1,700+ children under the age of 10 also killed. ❖ “Guantanamo prisoner [Abd al Rahim al Nashiri] seeks to attend pre-trial talks on secret evidence” [...]

A U.S. State Department Inspector General’s memorandum details a slew of inappropriate behaviors by officials in the State Department, as well as efforts to cover up that wrongdoing. The memo was obtained by CBS News and lists claims of prostitution, sexual assault, and illegal drug use by State Department officials. CBS News’ John Miller reports that [...]

According to Pro Publica, Walmart accepted shipments from factories in Bangladesh unsafe for workers despite explicit promises not to. This violation of Walmart’s own stated policy comes shortly after the world’s attention fell on Bangladesh’s troubled manufacturing sector with the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people. The world’s largest retailer, Walmart, [...]

While Edward Snowden may see himself as neither a traitor nor a hero but just an American, those surveyed in a recent Reuters Poll feel differently. According to the poll, more Americans see Snowden as a patriot than a traitor. Roughly one in three Americans say the former security contractor who leaked details of top-secret [...]

Greetings! International Developments ❖ Guantanamo:  A “‘medical ethics-free zone’“; “doctors must refuse to force-feed hunger strikers.” ❖ Turkish Prime Minister “Erdogan’s chilling warning: ‘these protests will be over in 24 hours’. . ..  From now on security forces will respond differently.’” ❖ 60 Shiite Muslims were killed in Haita, eastern Syrian,  during brutal fighting, including by [...]

Edward Snowden is still in Hong Kong and told reporters he was not hiding from justice but exposing criminality. Snowden said he plans to fight the United States in the courts and believes in Hong Kong’s rule of law. The 29-year-old former CIA employee behind what might be the biggest intelligence leak in US history [...]

The head of the National Security Agency General Keith Alexander will testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee today at 2 pm EST. The hearing was scheduled prior to the bombshell revelations published by the Guardian of NSA spying programs targeting American citizens. Army Gen. Keith Alexander, National Security Agency director and head of U.S. Cyber [...]

After enduring a week of bad press over its involvement with NSA spying programs, Google has written an open letter to the U.S. government asking for permission to publish more data on national security requests. Dear Attorney General Holder and Director Mueller Google has worked tremendously hard over the past fifteen years to earn our [...]

‘Evening, all! International Developments ❖ “United States scales back plans for Guantanamo prosecutions.  Far fewer prisoners will be tried [than] originally planned after a recent court ruling cast doubt on the validity of some charges”. ❖ “At least 70 people have died in a wave of bombings and attacks in central and northern Iraq”. ❖ [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the NSA Phone Spying Program. The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a constitutional challenge to a surveillance program under which the National Security Agency vacuums up information about every phone call placed within, [...]