{!hitembed ID=”hitembed_1″ width=”350″ height=”197″ align=”right” !}

Hey everyone! It is the start of a brand new week. I have been considering adding links in Spanish since I am starting to get news from Argentina and Uruguay. I wanted to see if that would be alright with readers.

May Tommy Ramone and Charlie Haden rest in peace.

International Politics

Overall

– The UN warned the Iraqi government that if no unity government is formed, then the country will slip into “chaos”

– John Pilger: “On Israel, Ukraine and Truth”

– Jules Boykoff and Alan Tomlinson pen a piece on how FIFA should stop acting like a parasite to other countries and more of a supporter of genuine soccer

– Newly uncovered emails found a UK link to the CIA’s torture program

Middle East

– A former aide of Saddam Hussein expressed support for the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant and believes the government will fall

– Interestingly, both the Iraqi government and ISIS have been cracking down on former Iraqi officers

– The two rival candidates in Afghanistan reached a deal to form an audit of votes cast in the presidential election and to accept whoever is the victor

– An article by the Associated Press highlights the devastating cost of Israel bombing Gaza during Ramadan

– Meanwhile, Israel told residents in northern Gaza to evacuate for “their own safety” as the UN reports 77 percent of those killed in Gaza are civilians

– Haaretz‘s Gideon Levy explains to The Real News how a potential ground invasion by Israel will cause more Palestinians deaths

– Part four of four with economist Shir Hever on how there are different forms of peace sought out by Israel and Palestine

– The U.S. government stated it was extremely worried about Yemeni and Syrian extremists working together

– In Baghdad, Iraq, gunmen killed more than 30 people after raiding two buildings

Africa 

– The U.S., U.K. and Italy are worried about the growth of violence in Libya as five people were killed in clashes in Tripoli, Libya

Asia and Oceania

– A popular business TV journalist in China was detained by Chinese officials. No reason was given.

– The top newspaper in China warned the government that a “new cold war” between China and the U.S. should be avoided

– A great read into Indonesia, a nation that might as well change its government structure to the ones the Nazis did in Germany

Europe

– Russia warns Ukraine that its shelling falling past the Ukrainian border into Russia could have consequences 

– Pope Francis: Just two percent of the clergy in the Catholic Church are pedophiles

– Vice President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko the U.S. will continue to press Russia on pro-Russian separatists

Latin America, Caribbean and Canada

– Yesterday, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández hosted not only Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but also Uruguay’s José Mujica, Ecuador’s Evo Morales and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. The topic of Argentina’s debt was surely among the main courses.

– Speaking of Putin in Latin America, he visited Cuba and eliminated $32 billion in debt from its Soviet Union days. Good guy Putin, right? Maybe oil could play a part

– Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff stated, as the World Cup finishes in the Maracana, Brazil handled the tournament well; Yes, I am sure the deaths of workers who constructed the stadiums, the removal of those in the favelas, the protests in the streets, and the plethora of examples show a Brazil that agreed with this tournament

Surveillance Planet

– NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden denounced the emergency surveillance bill in UK’s Parliament as unnecessary

– A new cybersecurity bill appeared in Congress, in the same vein as SOPA and CISPA, and it is just as dreadful

– German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not believe the U.S. will stop its spying

– Trevor Timm: “The Senate is giving more power to the NSA, in secret. Everyone should fight it”

Financial Matters

– In Washington D.C., a Uber driver sped away with passengers in his car after being chased by a taxi inspector to pay a $2,000 fine; Go free market!

– Slavoj Zizek: “How capital captured politics”

Labor’s a-Brewing

– Port truckers in Los Angeles, Calif., went on strike to protest their low-wages and being labeled as independent contractors

– The largest union in the UK supported a call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel over recent actions in the Gaza Strip

Politics US

Washington USA

– New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: The lack of President Obama’s harsh condemnation of the deaths of three Israeli teenagers allows Israel to feel betrayed; A misleading title by the Associated Press, which is surprising

– Attorney General Eric Holder stated conservative critics of the Obama administration are driven by race

– Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX): We should build warehouses not in the U.S. but in the countries these children come from

Anytown USA

– Rep. Kathy Castor, along with other Florida lawmakers, are silent on the attack on Tariq Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian-American from Florida, by Israeli police

– Journalist Sarah Jaffe interviews Cecily McMillan about her future, her time at Rikers and more

– Thomas Frank: “The animatronic presidency: How presidential museums become propaganda palaces, whitewashing Bush’s disasters and Clinton’s failings”

– The idea of reparations for black Americans certainly needs to be discussed despite the current reactionary climate

Health, Hunger and Homelessness

– A new study found organic foods have more antioxidants and lower amounts of pesticides than non-organic foods

The Second Sex

– A woman in Tennessee was charged with assault two days after her giving birth since a new law was implemented to arrest mothers who test positive for narcotics; Here’s the thing, she tested positive for something that was not a narcotic

– Tragic news as a 13-year-old girl in India was raped for a crime committed by her brother

– In what is indicative of the role women can have, in social struggles women often lead the charge

Planet Earth

– More insight into Mexico’s turn to privatizing its oil for corporations

– Here is good news to share. In Naples, Fla., an oil company did not go through with their fracking project

– A new European Commission study found billions that could be lost due to climate change

Mixed Bag

– On late night talk shows, it seems hosts are interested less in talking with guests and more in doing skits

– The Harper’s Index for August 2014

Break Time

– Peace