American Predator drone firing a Hellfire missile. The US military is reportedly making use of remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicles in Somalia in order to conduct targeted killings in the Horn of Africa nation. An unnamed senior US military official said on Wednesday that the United States carried out a drone attack in Somalia last week, The Washington Post reported. The drone strike reportedly... 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is grabbed as he speaks to supporters near the southern city of Toulouse, June 30, 2011. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been grabbed and almost knocked to the ground by a man in the southern French town of Brax. The attacker yanked Sarkozy’s suit by the shoulder and knocked him to the ground while he reached over a metal barricade to greet onlookers, AP... 

The Greek Parliament voted in favor of the austerity measures by a narrow margin. The Greek parliament has voted in favor of new austerity measures, in a move that is expected to infuriate thousands of demonstrators outside the parliament. The austerity measures were approved on Wednesday with 155 votes in favor, 138 against and seven abstentions. Greece’s newly-approved austerity plan is worth... 

Orban says Hungarian renewal provides model for Europe as country recaptures lost respect during EU presidency. Hungary has provided practical examples for Europe by the renewal of the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday. Assessing the six-month Hungarian EU Presidency, Orban said Hungary had recaptured much of its lost respect over the past six months. Opposition party... 

Tripoli says the arrest warrant for Muammar Gaddafi issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is just a cover for continued NATO bombings, while the court itself has no authority over Libya. “This court is nothing but a cover for the military operations of NATO. NATO that tried time and again and declared it frankly that it would assassinate the brother leader and his family. These actions... 

Senator Don Oliver photograph in the court yard of the Senate on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ont., June 27, 2011. Blacks in Canada need to unite, rise up and address the deep racism in this country that keeps them out of positions of power, a Conservative senator says. “What will it take for our collective Afro-Canadian family to unite — to rise up and claim our rightful place in Canadian society?”... 

After Undergoing Surgery In Cuba, Some Are Speculating That Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Is Dead. BBC reported just a momemnt ago that “Absence of ill Hugo Chavez sparks speculation“. Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, is undergoing medical treatment in Cuba, leading to all sorts of rumors about his health. There are even people speculating that Hugo Chavez is dead. Is Hugo Chavez... 

The Foreskin Man Web comic advocates for a ban on circumcision in California. Colorado lawmakers have decided to cut out Medicaid coverage for newborn circumcision, making them now the seventeenth state to stop subsidizing the snip. Officials in Colorado claim that the move to skin the procedure from Medicaid-covered procedures would save the state an estimated $186,500 a year. With a budget shortfall... 

Philippine Army Clinton Calls for Restraint, Announces More Weapons Transfers. With the disputes over the unpopulated Spratly Islands continuing to grow, the Obama Administration has announced that it is preparing a major increase in arms shipments to the Philippines to prepare the nation to fight a war with China. The announcement came at a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Philippines... 

Croatia's Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor is welcomed by EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Croatia has been given the conditional go-ahead to join the EU, after six years of preparations marred by slow democratic reforms in Zagreb and the EU’s reluctance to expand. The former Yugoslav state of 4.4 million people should be able to wrap up accession negotiations next week, EU leaders said... 

More than 1,500 Syrian refugees crossed to Turkey on Thursday, according to state-run Anatolian news agency, as the Syrian army swept up to the border in its campaign to stamp out anti-government protests. The provincial government in Hatay said on Friday morning that the total number of refugees registered at the temporary shelter camps had reached 11,739, compared with 10,224 a day earlier. Most... 

It flew through the House with nary a word against it in the regular session. But today Speaker Joe Straus called the anti-TSA-groping bill “ill-advised” and a “not well-researched” publicity stunt, after quickly gaveling in and out a five-minute floor session this morning. The possible lack of quorum may have been the official reason that bill did not get a floor debate this... 

A scandal similar to one where the former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a defendant broke out in France. Only this time the accused is the former Secretary of State Georges Tron who is believed to be close to President Nicolas Sarkozy. This story began unfolding in May. Georges Tron was reminded of the sins that he might have committed in the period from 1994 to... 

American USS Monterey cruiser. Russia is outraged at the maneuvers of American USS Monterey cruiser carrying the AEGIS air defense system near the Georgian coast on the Black Sea, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The U.S. warship arrived for joint exercises with Georgia as part of the Phased Adaptive Approach program designed to shape the European segment of the U.S.-led project to build a global... 

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière in Berlin: “Significant progress must be made in Afghanistan.” The US has been critical of Germany for not supporting NATO in the mission in Libya. SPIEGEL spoke to German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière about Berlin’s skepticism of getting involved in Libya and Syria, and about the future of the NATO alliance. SPIEGEL: Minister de...