In Syrian chemical weapons claim, criticism about lack of transparency
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UNITED NATIONS — Despite months of laboratory testing and scrutiny by top U.S. scientists, the Obama administration’s case for arming Syria’s rebels rests on unverifiable claims that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its own people, according to diplomats and experts.
The United States, Britain and France have supplied the United Nations with a trove of evidence, including multiple blood, tissue and soil samples, that U.S. officials say proves that Syrian troops used the nerve agent sarin on the battlefield. But the nature of the physical evidence — as well as the secrecy over how it was collected and analyzed — has opened the administration to criticism by independent experts, who say there is no reliable way to assess its authenticity.
German foreign minister condemns Ukraine over Tymoshenko
Guido Westerwelle wants president Viktor Yanukovich to allow jailed former leader to travel to Germany for treatment
German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has condemned the use of "selective justice" in Ukraine and indicated he would press president Viktor Yanukovich on Friday to let his jailed opponent Yulia Tymoshenko go to Germany for medical treatment.
Speaking to journalists before meeting Yanukovich, Westerwelle said: "From our point of view, Mrs Tymoshenko has full rights to an honest judicial hearing and decent medical treatment. The German proposal for medical monitoring and treatment [in Germany] remains on the table."
"It is very important that 'selective justice' is not used in any system of values in Europe. It must not be allowed in either Europe or Ukraine," he said.
1m Brazilians defy tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets as demonstrations hit new peak
Anemergency meeting has been called by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff after
more than one million protesters took to the streets across 80 cities, complaining
about corruption, poor public services and the cost of hosting the 2014 World
Cup.
more than one million protesters took to the streets across 80 cities, complaining
about corruption, poor public services and the cost of hosting the 2014 World
Cup.
Police reacted violently with rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray, as rioting and looting flared up across the country. One protester was killed when a car rammed a crowd of people barricading a street in Sao Paulo state.
On a night that saw the largest demonstrations since a protest of 5,000 people against bus fare rises was brutally quashed last week, around 300,000 gathered in Rio de Janeiro alone.
Long road to Afghan peace
June 21, 2013Amin Saikl
The Taliban are not under as much pressure as the US and its allies to reach a political settlement.
After nearly two years of a cat-and-mouse game, the United States and the Taliban have finally agreed to meet in Doha soon. The objective is to reach a political settlement of the Afghan conflict, so that the US and its NATO and non-NATO allies can end their costly combat involvement in Afghanistan and withdraw most of their troops from that country by the end of next year.
However, the Taliban are not under as much pressure as the US and its allies to reach a settlement. This leaves the future of a peace negotiation, like that of Afghanistan, in the balance.
The issue of a negotiated resolution of the long-running Afghan conflict has been touted for some time. Yet, demands from the US and the Taliban sides had stymied it.
Secret insider warned Zanu-PF 'rebel' before his death
Weeks after he was warned that his security was at risk, outspoken Zanu-PF MP Edward Chindori-Chininga, died in a car accident.
According to media reports, Chindori-Chininga (58) died at the scene of the accident after the car he was driving hit a tree when he failed to stop at a T-junction on the road that links Harare and Guruve.
The passengers in his car escaped with minor injuries.
Last week, Parliament's mines and energy committee – which Chindori-Chininga chaired – released a damning report on the abuse of diamond revenue from the Chiadzwa diamond fields. In its report, the committee said that "serious discrepancies" were discovered between what the diamond firms claimed to have paid in local taxes and what the treasury had received.
Chindori-Chininga was recently warned on Facebook by Baba Jukwa, an unknown Zanu-PF insider, that his political enemies in Zanu-PF could use "dirty and unorthodox measures" against him.
Israel has struck energy gold offshore. Now what?
Israel has long bemoaned its lack of natural resources in the oil-rich Middle East. With the discovery of offshore natural gas fields, it faces big economic decisions.
Two offshore natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean have left Israel flush with energy reserves for decades to come, but the country is stalled at an economic crossroads with geopolitical consequences as it considers the best way to use them.
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