Iraq Warns Europe about Risks of Arming Rebels in Syria
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki today warned European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, that arming irregular groups in Syria means to destroy the country and destabilize The Levant.
Ashton arrived in a surprise visit to this capital to discuss Iraq-EU cooperation and coordination and she immediately met with Maliki in his offices of the so-called Green Zone, according to an official communique.
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad made statements to press on similar topics on Monday.
Al Maliki, besieged by a wave of attacks against Army and Police staged by organizations linked to armed groups in Syria, insisted that his country backs a political solution to the crisis in its western neighbouring nation through dialogue and with no interference in the internal affairs.
The official Iraqi announcement opposes the European Union’s stance, which lifted the arms embargo of Syria few days ago, and announced that it will give military support to anti government Syrian groups.
The Iraqi Government launched a military operation in its borders with western neighbouring nations few weeks ago, in order to prevent the passing of arms and men for Syrian insurgency.
Protests Explode Across Brazil
Protests in 20 Brazilian cities show a growing popular discomfort because of the continuous increase of prices, the high cost of living and the excessive public expense to celebrate the World Cup.
The demonstrations were started on June 3 in Sao Paulo against the increase of the price of the transport tickets in buses, trains and subway, and got stronger, to extend to other municipalities, adding other demands.
Demonstration participants in the 5th day of protest in Sao Paulo, camped outside the Palace of Bandeirantes, host of the state government, demanding the reduction of the transport ticket prices.
The demonstrators are 50 young people who are camped at the other side of the street where the Palace of Bandeirantes is located, after they participated in another demonstration against the increase of the ticket prices (from 1.50 to 1.60 dollars).
Convoked by the Passe Libre Movement through the social networks, 65,000 people went out to the streets in Sao Paulo and marched to Avenida Paulista, one of the main in this Brazilian city.
Other demands were for less corruption, a greater investment in education and public health and a reduction of the expenses in the constructions for the Confederations Soccer Cup.
The marches reached their climax when 200,000 people were protesting in 20 cities, being considered the biggest demonstration in Brazil in the last 20 years.
In Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, the police broke up a group with tear gas and there were other protests in Salvador, Curitiba, Macejo, Belem, Santos and other cities.
New demonstrations took place in the federal capital, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and others.
USA Investigating 375 Cases of Secret Info Leaks
US authorities are investigating 375 cases of leaks of secret information, according to a report released today and addressed to Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper.
The confidential report says that the Office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) has also nine independent probes into leaks of data known so far, indicates The Hill newspaper.
Director of ICIG, Charles McCullough, said that first such violations date from Nov. 2011, previous to the recent denunciations of domestic espionage by the National Security Agency, leaked to the press by ex contractor Edward Snowden, who is now in Hong Kong.
Counterintelligence NSA officers are assessing the level of damage caused by the information provided by Snowden to newspapers The Guardian (Britain) and The Washington Post.(United States).
Chair of the House Intelligence Committee said last Thursday that the more you find out about the former NSA contractor’s leaks, the more dangerous the situation becomes.
In an interview with The Guardian today, Snowden said more classified information about the CIA will be exposed soon “because the truth moves, advances; and it can’t be stopped.”
Via PL