World

North, South Korean Troops Trade Gunfire Across Border

Troops from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire Sunday along their heavily fortified border in the second such shooting in less than 10 days, South Korean officials said. There were no reports of injuries or property damage, but the 10 minutes of shooting highlighted rising tensions between the divided countries. The Koreas’ first exchange of gunfire came after North Korea opened fire at balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets that were floating across the border from the South.

ISIS Has Three Warplanes In Syria?

Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time the militant group had taken to the air. The group, which has seized swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.

Leaked draft confirms TPP will censor Internet and stifle Free Expression worldwide

This morning Wikileaks published a second leaked draft of the Intellectual Property chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The draft confirms people’s worst fears about Internet censorship. That’s according to community-based organization OpenMedia, which is leading a large international Fair Deal Coalition aimed at securing balanced copyright rules for the 21st Century.

British Parliament votes in favor of Palestinian state recognition

Britain’s House of Commons voted in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state late Monday in a move that will not alter the government’s stance on the issue, but that carries symbolic value for Palestinians in their pursuit of statehood. Lawmakers in Britain’s lower house of parliament voted by 274 to 12 to pass a non-binding motion stating: “That this House believes that the Government should recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.

Richest 1 percent of people own nearly half of all global wealth

The richest 1% of the world’s population are getting wealthier, owning more than 48% of global wealth, according to a report published on Tuesday which warned growing inequality could be a trigger for recession. According to the Credit Suisse global wealth report (pdf), a person needs just $3,650 – including the value of equity in their home – to be among the wealthiest half of world citizens. However, more than $77,000 is required to be a member of the top 10% of global wealth holders, and $798,000 to belong to the top 1%.

Palestinians: We have 7 of 9 Security Council votes needed to force ballot on resolution to end ‘occupation’

A senior Palestinian official said Monday that the Palestinian Authority has mustered the support of seven of nine UN Security Council members needed to bring to a vote its resolution that would force an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by November 2016. Speaking in an interview with the Bethlehem-based Ma’an News Agency, Sha’ath said, “We are at the stage of lobbying within the Security Council to get nine or more votes.” Sha’ath said that the PA was facing opposition to the move from the US, who was not only threatening to veto the resolution should it be brought to a vote, but also was urging other Security Council members to oppose the resolution and push back a vote on the measure until after US midterm elections in November.

South Korea warns North of ‘strong’ response after exchange of fire

South Korea said on Monday it had warned North Korea of a “strong” response if it provoked an incident similar to one last week that sparked an exchange of machinegun fire across their border. The warning came as South Korean President Park Geun-hye reiterated on Monday her commitment to engage with the North, despite what she called “the dual nature” of ties, saying the “door was always open to dialogue”. South Korea said the North Korean firing was a “provocative act” that had violated the truce suspending their 1950-53 war and the complaint was reiterated in a notice the South sent the North late on Sunday.

Horror of Kobani: Headless corpses left in the street and victims with their eyes ‘cut out’, the savagery of Isis laid bare

Survivors of the fighting in Kobani have spoken of the horrors they witnessed as Isis militants took control of parts of the town from Kurdish forces. Refugees in Suruc, Tukey, have told The Daily Mail how relatives and neighbours were beheaded by the militants, while another spoke of how he had seen “hundreds” of decapitated corpses in the besieged town. On Friday, the UN Syria envoy warned the hundreds still trapped in Kobani will be “massacred” by militants if the town falls, where only a small corridor remains open for people to flee.

China reports over 27,000 dengue fever cases

An outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever in China has killed six people and infected more than 27,200, a Chinese health authority spokeswoman said on Thursday. Song Shuli, spokeswoman of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said that this year witnessed an apparent increase of dengue cases with most of them found in China’s southern regions, including Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and Guangxi. Unusually high temperatures and humid weather have contributed to a mosquito population in South China five times as high as normal, fuelling the outbreak, health officials said.

Where is North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?

The mystery of Kim Jong Un’s whereabouts deepened Friday after the North Korean leader appeared to have missed a ceremony to pay tribute to his late father and grandfather on what is an important national anniversary. Kim’s name was absent from the list of attendees at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on the 69th anniversary of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, issued by state news agency KCNA on Friday. The Workers’ Party, founded in 1945, is North Korea’s political party and is considered one of the country’s most crucial institutions alongside the military.

Temple Institute Raises One Hundred Thousand Dollars For Third Temple Plans

The Temple Institute’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the modern architectural plans for the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem came to a close on Rosh Hashanah after surpassing its $100,000 goal in 60 days. The initiative began on the first day of the month of Av, when Jews commemorate the destruction of the ancient Holy Temples. Almost 900 pledges have come in from more than 30 countries worldwide.

British parliament to hold symbolic vote on Palestine status

British lawmakers will next week hold a symbolic parliamentary vote on whether the government should recognize Palestine as a state, a move unlikely to shift official policy but designed to raise the political profile of the issue. Britain does not class it as a state, but says it could do so at any time if it believed it would help the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel. The motion due for debate in Britain’s lower house of parliament on Oct.

CFR: 2016 Candidates Must Build an ‘Integrated’ North America

Former General David Petraeus and former World Bank head Robert Zoellick are leading the Council on Foreign Relation’s latest push for an ‘integrated’ North America. Today, these men are leaders of predatory global finance: Petraeus now heads KKR Global, the leveraged buyout firm, while Zoellick is a senior advisor to Goldman Sachs International.

FBI Director: Americans Fighting With ISIS ‘Entitled’ to Come Back

FBI Director James Comey told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that “a dozen or so” Americans are fighting with terrorists in Syria; “yes,” he knows who they are; and they are “entitled to come back” unless their passport is revoked; and if they do come back, they will be tracked. Asked if he know who “each and every one” of the Americans are, Comey said, “of that dozen or so, I do.” Comey said he expects some of these Americans to return to the United States:

ISIS set to capture Kobani, finish major land grab

ISIS fighters pounded the Syrian city of Kobani with tanks and heavy artillery Monday as the extremist group came closer to capturing the key city on the border with Turkey. The fall of the city would carry huge symbolic and strategic weight, giving ISIS sway over an uninterrupted swatch of land between the Turkish border and its self-declared capital in Raqqa, Syria, 100 kilometers (62 miles) away. Although the fight was not over, CNN crews on Monday spotted what appeared to be the black flag of ISIS flying from a hilltop on the eastern side of the city.

Report: Two dead after major explosion at Iranian nuclear facility

Two people died in an explosion that ripped through an explosive material production unit at a nuclear facility near Tehran, according to Iranian press reports on Monday. The incident occurred at the Parchin military compound, not far from the Iranian capital, according to the Iranian Students News Agency. The BBC said on Monday that a pro-opposition website was also reporting an explosion at the site.

Has North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Been Toppled?

Out of sight for a month, young Kim is supposedly ill. But rumors are swirling he’s been deposed—and North Korea’s second most powerful man now feels confident enough to travel South. Hwang Pyong So must be feeling pretty good about himself right now.

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