Almost two years after 331 people died in the Beslan school siege, one of the MPs investigating the tragedy has released a report that blames the Kremlin for the death of more than a third of the hostages, whose safety, he suggests, was not a priority.
Yuri Savelyev, an MP and member of the official parliamentary inquiry panel, claims that Russian forces deliberately stormed the school on 4 September 2004 using maximum force.
His account suggests the government disregarded the safety of the women and children cowering inside the school in southern Russia and that it was more interested in killing the pro-Chechen terrorists than saving the hostages.
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Did you know that in the past 8 weeks, 200 Palestinians, most of them unarmed civilians and many of them children, have been mercilessly gunned-down by the forces of the state of Israel? Are you aware that almost every day at least one Palestinian civilian is murdered in cold blood by the state of Israel? Did you know that the US government whole-heartedly supports and finances this systematic slaughter? Did you know that the 1,300 Lebanese civilians that were murdered in Israel's turkey shoot in Lebanon last month would still be alive today if it were not for the financial and military assistance that the US government gives to Israel?
PARIS, Aug 29 (Xinhua) -- France's European affairs minister Catherine Colonna said on Tuesday that the European Union (EU) was in a worrying state and warned that the construction of bloc faced "dilution".
"The functioning of the Union, and largely the state of the Union seems alarming to me," she told a gathering of French ambassadors.
The EU was "suffering from a kind of wasting disease, a general fatigue that bodes ill for its ability to answer the needs of its peoples," she said.
"The functioning of the Union, and largely the state of the Union seems alarming to me," she told a gathering of French ambassadors.
The EU was "suffering from a kind of wasting disease, a general fatigue that bodes ill for its ability to answer the needs of its peoples," she said.
Running Time: 01:01:29
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I'm pretty sure no one was as unsurprised as I when two Fox news employees were kidnapped in Gaza 10 days ago, 'coincidentally' right after the Israeli-Hizb'allah 'ceasefire'. Israel and America's dog and pony terror show must go on after all, and 'ceasefire' is a dangerous word when your goal is perpetual war. Use the word "ceasefire", and before you can say "nuke Iran" the damn bleeding heart pinko commies are talking about "Middle East peace".
Those who subject David Hicks to an unfair trial may breach international law, writes Geoffrey Robertson.
The term "Bush lawyer" is Australian slang for a hick counsellor, ignorant of the law. Thanks to recent decisions of the US Supreme Court and inquiries into torture at Abu Ghraib, it has been given a wider meaning, to denote the lawyers in US Government service who have misunderstood or misrepresented the fundamental rules of human rights in their advice to the President. Their mistakes have been so damaging that the British Attorney-General has taken to tendering his own advice to the White House about Guantanamo Bay - namely to close it. The case of David Hicks should provide his Australian counterpart with an opportunity to do likewise.
The term "Bush lawyer" is Australian slang for a hick counsellor, ignorant of the law. Thanks to recent decisions of the US Supreme Court and inquiries into torture at Abu Ghraib, it has been given a wider meaning, to denote the lawyers in US Government service who have misunderstood or misrepresented the fundamental rules of human rights in their advice to the President. Their mistakes have been so damaging that the British Attorney-General has taken to tendering his own advice to the White House about Guantanamo Bay - namely to close it. The case of David Hicks should provide his Australian counterpart with an opportunity to do likewise.
He held a loaded submachine gun while being driven through Baghdad by two Kurdish security men.
He had three million dollars in cash locked inside his bedroom in the Green Zone.
Armed with a gun, he interrogated Iraqi employees about whether they were doing their job.
He spent a summer in Baghdad paying to plant pro-American articles in the Iraqi press that were secretly written by the US military.
Today, we speak with that former intern of the Lincoln Group. Willem Marx is a freelance writer and a graduate student in journalism at New York University. His article detailing his experience is published in the latest issue of Harpers Magazine. It's titled "Misinformation Intern: My summer as a military propagandist in Iraq." He joins us on the line from Uzbekistan.
Broadcast: 08/21/06 Democracy Now! Transcript Below
He had three million dollars in cash locked inside his bedroom in the Green Zone.
Armed with a gun, he interrogated Iraqi employees about whether they were doing their job.
He spent a summer in Baghdad paying to plant pro-American articles in the Iraqi press that were secretly written by the US military.
Today, we speak with that former intern of the Lincoln Group. Willem Marx is a freelance writer and a graduate student in journalism at New York University. His article detailing his experience is published in the latest issue of Harpers Magazine. It's titled "Misinformation Intern: My summer as a military propagandist in Iraq." He joins us on the line from Uzbekistan.
Broadcast: 08/21/06 Democracy Now! Transcript Below
Running Time: 00:49:08
Download: MP3
Israel's storied foreign-intelligence service failed to fully understand the threat posed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, based on a view among many analysts that the guerrilla organization was an evolving political group, according to U.S. officials and private intelligence specialists.
The Mossad had intelligence about most Hezbollah weapons, including rockets fired into Israel and other hardware. But the service knew little about the military and intelligence side of Hezbollah, a diverse organization made up of Islamic terrorists, conventionally armed militia forces, a charity wing and a political movement.
The Mossad had intelligence about most Hezbollah weapons, including rockets fired into Israel and other hardware. But the service knew little about the military and intelligence side of Hezbollah, a diverse organization made up of Islamic terrorists, conventionally armed militia forces, a charity wing and a political movement.
Israeli intelligence services planned to assassinate Khalid Mishaal, the head of the political wing of Hamas, last month sources in the group say.
Israel's intelligence and special operations force, Mossad, sent a team to the Syrian capital in July to carry out the killing, Hamas sources said on Wednesday quoting "Western intelligence sources".
Khalid Mishaal is living in exile in Damascus.
Israel's intelligence and special operations force, Mossad, sent a team to the Syrian capital in July to carry out the killing, Hamas sources said on Wednesday quoting "Western intelligence sources".
Khalid Mishaal is living in exile in Damascus.
