Toronto is right now in the midst of a massive government / media propaganda fraud. As events unfold, it is becoming increasingly clear that the 'Black Bloc' are undercover police operatives engaged in purposeful provocations to eclipse and invalidate legitimate G20 citizen protest by starting a riot. Government agents have been caught doing this before in Canada.

http://www.globalresearch.ca

Iraq's rapid moves towards handing its undeveloped oilfields to multinational oil companies through production sharing agreements are a cause for concern.

It is a question for the people of Iraq as to whether they want foreign investment in their oil at all. If Iraq were to rush into signing oil contracts, and especially if it were to do so without public debate or transparency, unfavourable outcomes could be expected.

There are certainly wide variations in the terms of PSAs worldwide. Some give a more reasonable deal, others not. In some ways, depending on the detail of the terms of a PSA, its impact can be comparable to that of the worst concession agreements, such as those in place in Iraq from the 1920s to the 1970s. PSAs stand for long periods of time They fix revenue distribution at what may be later considered unfair levels and they deny the state much of its ability to regulate.

Iraq would be well advised to maintain flexibility in how it structures its oil industry and to avoid long-term, irreversible irreversible (ir´ēvur´sebl),

On June 21 Jerry Torres, whose company provides translators and armed security
guards in Iraq, was invited to testify before the Commission on Wartime
Contracting (CWC). The bi-partisan body was created by the U.S. Congress in
early 2008 to investigate waste, fraud and abuse in military contracting
services in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The CEO of Torres Advanced Enterprise
Solutions failed to show up for the hearing.

Torres is a relatively
small player in an enormous and growing industry of private contractors, who are
assuming more and more functions that used to be carried out by the U.S.
military, and who are, some charge, assuming inherently governmental functions.

Read the full article @ http://www.corpwatch.org

A global justice gap is being made worse by power politics despite a landmark year for international justice, said Amnesty International today in its annual assessment of human rights worldwide.

Launching Amnesty International Report 2010: State of the World's Human Rights, which documents abuses in 159 countries, the organization said that powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenien

Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to
the besieged Gaza strip. Dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, the ships were aiming to
break Israel’s 3-year blockade of Gaza. At least 15 people were killed and
dozens injured when Israeli troops attacked the lead ship in the convoy–the
Turkish "Mavi Marmara"–early Monday morning. The attack happened in
international waters, 75 miles off the coast of Israel and Gaza. We reached Adam
Shapiro in New York a few hours after the attack. He’s a board member of the
Free Gaza movement, one of the groups that coordinated the Freedom Flotilla. His
wife Huwaida Arraf is the chairperson of the Free Gaza movement and is on the
flotilla.

Over 60 pro-Palestinian campaigners wounded after aid convoy sailing for Gaza
Strip ignored Israel's order to turn back, Turkish news reports. IDF confirms
two commandos also wounded.

Read the full article at Haaretz

When Spain is mentioned in the English-speaking world, romanticized images of Mediterranean landscapes quickly come to mind.  They are usually set to a passionate flamenco-inspired soundtrack and mingle with the fantasy of tantalizingly fresh paella, golden olive oil and ruby red wine.  This is the Spain most outsiders imagine and experience, and it is largely what the Spanish economy has depended upon since the 1960s when the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco launched a massive tourist campaign to stimulate a struggling economy.  The campaign was the stuff of economic miracles.  Spain rapidly became one of the world’s premier vacation destinations.

But all the sun in the world couldn’t hide the horror lying in the shadows of a country haunted by a recent war that touched every aspect of Spanish life.  At least not forever.

Russian federal judge Edward Chuvashov was shot dead in downtown Moscow on Monday, a law-enforcement source told RIA Novosti. "An unidentified person shot Chuvashov in the entrance to an apartment block and then fled," the source said, adding that investigators were working at the scene.

Chuvashov heard the trial of the "White Wolves" skinhead group in Moscow City Court, sentencing nine gang members to up to 23 years in prison in February. He also worked on the case of the Federal Drug Control Service officer Alexander Bulbov, who was accused of embezzling $3.2 million and released on bail in November 2009 after 25 months in pre-trial detention.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100412/158534295.html

In February groups from France and the UK including people involved in the UK NoBorders Network agreed in a meeting in Lille to organise transnational Noborder Camp in Calais, France, which will be held from 23-29th of June 2009.

Why a protest camp in Calais?

While Europe is tightening its border controls to the outside of Europe, and especially to Northern Africa, one of its internal borders is often overseen. Many migrants who come to Europe aim to reach the United Kingdom, but after the closing down of the centre in Sangatte/Calais, people are forced to sleep rough in the woods around the harbour, getting pushed around and often finally sent back to Paris where they are forced to sleep rough in their hundreds

Click on the image below to visit the London NoBorders webiste

Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped in a shrinking 3 square kilometer (1.6 miles) conflict zone - bombarded by government artillery, and used as human shields by the rebels. The Japanese government, Sri Lanka's major donor and close regional partner has the power to help stop this humanitarian disaster. Act now by sending a pre-translated message below to the office of Japan´s Foreign Minister Nakasone. The message (right, in Japanese) calls on the Japanese government to: - demand that all citizens are protected from harm; - push for UN Security Council access to the conflict zone and the capacity to deliver urgent humanitarian aid; and - ensure Japan's aid achieves real peace and human rights. Add your own personal message (optional) above the Japanese text (in the box to the right). Or just press send and an email will be sent on your behalf

Click on the Image Below and Sign the Petition at Avaaz.org

This Monday the Israeli prime minister meets Barack Obama for the first time -- and war and peace are at stake. Some say US President Obama will do as he’s told: endorse more dead-end talks between a far-right Israeli government and a discredited and divided Palestinian leadership. But ordinary Israelis and Palestinians still want peace -- and are calling for Obama to lead. We urgently need to show Obama that ordinary people in the region and around the world will back him to take a bold lead -- watch the new TV ad campaign and donate to help air it in the next 72 hours:

ACT NOW - GOTO AVAAZ.ORG

The House has approved a nearly $97 billion spending bill funding the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. The measure includes $1 billion in military and economic assistance to Pakistan. Lawmakers stripped a provision that would have granted $80 million toward the closure the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The final vote was 368-to-60, with a bloc of fifty-one antiwar Democrats voting in opposition. The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, has approved a $93 billion version of the bill that includes the Guantanamo funding but bars the transfer of any prisoners to US soil.

Read more at Democracy Now

The New York Times' David Barstow won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize yesterday for two articles that, despite being featured as major news stories on the front page of The Paper of Record, were completely suppressed by virtually every network and cable news show, which to this day have never informed their viewers about what Barstow uncovered. Here is how the Pulitzer Committee described Barstow's exposés: Awarded to David Barstow of The New York Times for his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended.

Read the full article here

The articles by David Barstow

One Man’s Military-Industrial-Media Complex

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand

In his first national broadcast interview, New York Times reporter David Barstow speaks about his 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of the Pentagon propaganda campaign to recruit more than seventy-five retired military officers to appear on TV outlets as military analysts ahead of and during the Iraq war. This week, the Pentagon inspector general’s office admitted its exoneration of the program was flawed and withdrew it

See the Democracy Now video over Here

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barstow

CNN doesn report David Barstow as a pulitzer price winner in their article >