The UK is to put a resolution to the UN Security Council later on Wednesday "authorising necessary measures to protect civilians" in Syria. The resolution will be put forward at a meeting of the five permanent members of the council, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said on Twitter. Earlier a team of UN weapons inspectors resumed work probing an suspected chemical weapons attack on 21 August. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the council to act together.
"The body interested with maintaining international peace and security cannot be 'missing in action'," Mr Ban said. "The council must at last find the unity to act. It must use its authority for peace," he went on. "We've always said we want the UN Security Council to live up to its responsibilities on Syria," Mr Cameron said in another message. "Today they have an opportunity to do that," he said. The draft resolution would condemn the "chemical weapons attack by Assad", he added. In a briefing to journalists, joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said: "It does seem clear that some kind of substance was used... that killed a lot of people" on 21 August. But he emphasised that any military action needed Security Council authorisation. 'Further destabilisation'Russia and China have previously vetoed resolutions critical of Syria and may block any text deemed to approve military action. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that "attempts at a military solution will lead only to the further destabilisation" in Syria and the region. Mr Lavrov emphasised the need for a political solution in a phone call to Mr Brahimi, the foreign ministry in Moscow said. Russia, China and Iran have previously warned against launching an attack on the war-ravaged country, where more than 100,000 people are thought to have died in two years of fighting. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday that US intervention would be a "disaster" for the region. "The region is like a gunpowder store and the future cannot be predicted," Mr Khamenei said, according to Iran's Isna news agency. Stocks have fallen on global markets and oil prices have shot up amid growing concern about an impending attack Continue reading the main storyModels for possible intervention
Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23864124 After Microsoft and Google, Social media giant Facebook is the latest to reveal the number of requests it has received from the government over issuing user data in the first half of this year. Facebook revealed that the government agents in 74 countries demanded information on about 38,000 and half of the orders came from authorities in the US. The data shows that of the 26,000 government requests, Turkey submitted 96 requests covering 173 users out of which Facebook issued the data for 45 of the requested users but hasn’t revealed which information was furnished and why, Fox News reports. Facebook's general counsel company, Colin Stretch said that the company fights many of such requests but when they are bound to comply with a particular request, they frequently share only basic user information, such as name. The company’s spokeswoman Sarah Feinberg said that the data included in the report related to Turkey is about child endangerment and emergency law enforcement request. The report said that the data published by Facebook doesn’t clearly tell how many of the requests were for law-enforcement purposes and how many were for intelligence gathering. - DNA
WASHINGTON, August 27 (RIA Novosti) – The administration of US President Barack Obama said Tuesday it has moved beyond the question of whether or not chemical weapons were used in Syria last week, and by whom, and is now working with other nations – though not Russia – to determine the appropriate response.
“There is no doubt here that chemical weapons were used on a massive scale on August 21st outside Damascus. There is also very little doubt, and should be no doubt for anyone who approaches this logically, that the Syrian regime is responsible… and there must be a response,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney in a briefing Tuesday. That was the conclusion not just of the US government, Carney said, but of scores of others including the Arab League, an organization of Arab states, eyewitness accounts, video accounts, statements from independent organizations and press reports. France said Tuesday it too was prepared to take action in Syria. In England, the parliament is set to meet Thursday to debate the issue. More than 350 people died in the attack near Damascus last Wednesday, according to the Syrian opposition and the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders. “We know that the regime maintains custody of the chemical weapons in Syria and uses the types of rockets that were used to deliver the chemical weapons… the opposition does not,” Carney said. The government of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied using chemical agents, and showed on state TV what it claimed was evidence of rebel groups using such weapons. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Tuesday his country would use "all means available" to defend itself in case of a US strike, according to The Associated Press. To allow a chemical attack to happen without a response “would be to invite further use of chemical weapons… and the consequences of that, given the volatility of the region… would be very serious indeed,” Carney said. He added that while the US firmly believes that “Syria’s future cannot include Assad,” the goal of any US action to the reported use of chemicals in Syria is “not about a regime change,” but about “responding to a clear violation of international norms.” Senior US officials told NBC News that military strikes on Syria could come “as early as Thursday.” The United Nations Security Council has not authorized any military intervention in the Syrian crisis. Moscow, along with Beijing, has previously vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions condemning Assad's government. “Attempts to bypass the Security Council, to once again create artificial, unproven excuses for an armed intervention in the region are fraught with new suffering in Syria and catastrophic consequences for other countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement posted on the Ministry's website. Russia also slammed the US on Tuesday for allegedly using “unproven excuses” to justify military action in Syria and said it was “seriously disappointed” by Washington’s decision to put off a bilateral meeting – scheduled to start this week – to discuss the Syrian crisis. US Secretary of State John Kerry did speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf in a press briefing to reporters. The US wants the meeting with Russia to happen “at the time when we have the best chance to make progress. We are working now with the Russians to reschedule it,” she added. US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Tuesday most of the international community has little doubt that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against its own people, and added that his department has provided Obama with a variety of military options in Syria. “We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take. We are ready to go,” Hagel told the BBC. Harf said that Obama has not yet decided on what course of action to take in Syria. Carney said Obama is consulting with advisors and weighing the options, but that any US military response would not include “boots on the ground,” a reference to sending US troops into the region. - RIANOVOSTI MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - After nearly 90 Russians were evacuated from Syria on Tuesday, the emergencies ministry sent another plane for citizens willing to leave the war-torn country, a spokeswoman said.
“An Il-62 plane took off for Latakia. This special flight is for Russian and CIS nationals who had earlier expressed their determination to return to Moscow,” emergencies ministry spokeswoman Irina Rossius said. A total of 89 people, mostly women and children, returned to Moscow onboard a plane which landed in the Domodedovo airport late on Tuesday. Situation is Syria, where more than 100,000 people have been killed in a civil war since 2011, further deteriorated last week, following media reports of a chemical attack. August 24, 2013 - Pushed globally as a beneficial to dieters since its approval in 1981, accumulating research indicates that aspartame may actually damage the brain and cause cancer, to name but a few of a wide range of adverse health effects consumers risk by using this 'no-calorie' sugar alternative.
Google "aspartame" and you will find http://www.aspartame.org/ in search result position #1. Billing itself as an 'Aspartame Information Center,' this website opens with "The Benefits of Aspartame," discussing how as a 'low-calorie' sweetener aspartame helps consumers with weight control, diabetes and the prevention of tooth decay. Read more: http://www.disclose.tv/news/Aspartame_Putting_the_DIE_into_dieting_since_1981/92717#ixzz2dGBiTmDE Over ten thousand Israelis have signed up for a pilot project that provides them with a “smart” Israeli identity card that includes biometric information. Theproject is now operating in over a dozen cities, and is currently voluntary, although it is likely to become mandatory in the future. The project opened about a month ago, and so far the response to it has been very positive and welcome, said Population Authority officials. Residents of the thirteen towns where the program is currently operating can go to their local Population Registry offices, submit their fingerprints and have their photos taken by a special camera that will analyze their facialcharacteristics, and be issued a smart identity card. More cities are to be added in the coming weeks, and by the end of the year the program will be operating in 28 cities. The benefit for Israelis, according to the Interior Ministry, is that they will receive an identity card that will be next to impossible to duplicate, and will put a stop to instances of identity theft and fake ID cards. According to the Ministry, tens of thousands of illegal workers and illegal PA Arabs are using phony ID cards, either totally fabricated or using real information about Israelis. Over 130,000 ID cards are lost or stolen each year, the Ministry said, constituting a major security threat that can be solved by the biometric cards. The new program is voluntary, and is a pilot program designed to allow officials to determine if there are any problems with the biometric system. The program has been a controversial one; the law authorizing implementation of the biometric database was passed in 2009, but was challenged immediately by activists and privacy groups, as well as numerous MKs. Among the reasons for opposition to the program, which will gather intimate details on Israelis, is the possibility that the data could be stolen, or even worse, used by the government to impose controls on individuals by limiting their access to services, and tracking them using biometric information.“The information is well protected and will prevent identity theft,” Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar said. Regarding the fears that the information could be used in a negative manner, Sa'ar said that “there is no basis for the panic that has taken hold of some. The numbers of those requesting the cards is evidence of the faith the public has in the program, and its understanding the great need to defend individuals against identity theftand to ensure that we remain at the forefront of technology,” Disagreeing with Sa'ar was Labor Party head MK Shelly Yechimovich, who said that implementation of the program would cause “irreversible damage” to Israel. “You can cancel credit cards that have been stolen, you can change a password that has been compromised, but you cannot change your fingerprints and face,” she said, pointing out the risks in holding such information in a database that would be a major attraction for hackers. “We all know that it is just a matter of time before corporations or hostile forces get hold of this information. The information will no doubt be used in a negative manner and will endanger many Israelis, such as IDF soldiers who will also have to give over their details in the program.”
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