PRESSTV– On Monday, US President Barack Obama announced that the al-Qaeda leader was killed by US forces after he was found hiding in a compound in Pakistan.

This is while in an interview following a failed assassination attempt on Pakistan’s former premier in October 2007, Bhutto says bin Laden has already been killed.

In the interview, she identifies the man who killed the notorious al-Qaeda leader as one Omar Sheikh , excerpts of which was sent to Press TV’s UReport.

In response to a question whether any of the assassins had links with the government, Bhutto said, “Yes but one of them is a very key figure in security, he is a former military officer … and had dealings with Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama Bin Laden.” 

Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in a bomb attack as she was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb. 

The announcement of bin Laden’s death comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, a US official says bin Laden’s body has been buried at sea, alleging that his hasty burial was in accordance with Islamic law, which requires burial within 24 hours of death.

This is while burial at sea is not an Islamic practice and Islam does not determine a timeframe for burial.

The official added that finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world’s most wanted man was difficult, so the US decided to bury him at sea.

A November 2, 2007 Benazir Bhutto interview in which she says the al-Qaeda leader was ‘murdered’ years ago contributes to the uncertainty surrounding US claims about Osama bin Laden’s death. David Frost did not challenge her on her assertion that Bin Laden was murdered.

© 2011 PressTV

Video from YouTube user setfree69

OP-ED NEWS– On April 29 the White House issued an executive order to enforce new and more stringent sanctions against Syria and appealed to European North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies to follow suit.

In a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives President Barack Obama wrote, “I have determined that the Government of Syria’s human rights abuses….constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and warrant the imposition of additional sanctions.” 

His order targeted among others Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brother Mahir and cousin Atif Najib and also included – in an indication that broader objectives are also being pursued however tenuous, even farfetched, the link – the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with the presidential demarche contending: “Despite the Government of Iran’s public rhetoric claiming revolutionary solidarity with people throughout the region, Iran’s actions in support of the Syrian regime place it in stark opposition to the will of the Syrian people.”

Immediately afterward a White House official threatened that President Assad himself could be sanctioned next.

On February 25 Obama issued a comparable – in fact an almost identical – order against Libya, only ten days after anti-government protests began in the nation and three weeks before U.S. cruise missiles and bombs landed on its soil.

Employing a standard template in which only proper and place names need be changed, the earlier version stated:

“I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, find that Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, his government, and close associates have taken extreme measures against the people of Libya…The foregoing circumstances…pose a serious risk to its stability, thereby constituting an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”

Read more about U.S. And NATO Allies Initiate Libyan Scenario For Syria

© 2011 OpEdNews

Photo by Flickr user ravahna1

EXAMINER– In the two years since Barack Obama took office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ramped up its Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious gun trafficking sting operations, drug war homicides in Mexico nearly tripled, according to an article published over the weekend by Global Research.

This revelation comes coincidentally to the publication of the transcript of an interview on Univision, made available today by independent blogger Mike Vanderboegh, one of two men responsible for uncovering the Project Gunrunner controversy.

Figures quoted by the Global Research article come from the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego. They appear in a report titled Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2010, and show that the body count has risen sharply at the same time that the Obama State Department has allowed private arms sales to Mexico exceed those to Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel.

Read more about Mexican Homicides Tripled While ATF Sent Guns South

© 2011 Examiner

Photo by Flickr user frecuenciaspopulares

DAILY FINANCE– Don’t kid yourself. Real privacy no longer exists in this country.

We’ve long had government organizations collecting data that paints a pretty clear picture of what we do with our time. The Internal Revenue Service knows everything about what you earn and any major transactions you make. It can access every bit of information it needs to determine how much money you should be sending on April 15.

The most important gatherer of personal information in the country is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It keeps a database of over 90 million fingerprints, which can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies. It also has an extensive database of DNA, the most specific marker of personal identity. The bureau’s ability to collect information expanded following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It now tracks a large portion of mail, cell phone traffic and Internet activity of people it deems suspicious.

Thanks to advances in technology, however, there are also now numerous private enterprises that track and record your every move. Although they don’t usually give out this information, there are often worrisome leaks and security breaches where they inadvertently release sensitive information about their customers. Taken together, these industries have data on where you are, who you are communicating with, how you are earning your money, how you are spending that money, as well as the hobbies and interests you are pursuing.

We examined a large number of organizations to find the most intrusive firms and industries. Here they are, ranked by the number of people they track:

 1) Credit Rating Agencies

With each firm having files on over 200 million people, the three credit bureaus — Equifax (EFX), Experian (EXPGY), and TransUnion — know not only your credit history, but also have the data to project your credit future. The companies collect a history of all credit use by an individual, including payment of bills, mortgages, and credit cards. The agencies also track the frequency with which a person applies for credit. That information is used to determine a person’s credit risk through a credit score. These scores are produced using secret algorithms, ensuring that the bureaus know much more about you than you know about them.

 2) Cell Phone Service Providers

As cell phone popularity has increased and technology has evolved, cell phone companies have come to possess a wealth of information about their customers. Covering over 90% of the American population, cell phone providers can tell who you call, when you call, how often you call certain people and what you say in your text messages. With GPS, they also now know where you are whenever you have your phone. As smartphones become the equivalent of miniature computers, cellular companies can also track personal behavior, such as use of multimedia and wireless e-commerce transactions.

3) Social Media Companies

In its ascent to Internet superpower, social enterprise Facebook has amassed an enormous amount of user information. Who your friends are, what you like, and what photos you are in are all information that the company has access to. That, however, is not the full extent of it. Facebook also tracks which profiles you view, who you communicate with most often, companies and causes you support, your personal calendar, and a great deal of personal information about your friends and family. Perhaps most surprising, Facebook can access much of the information you may have deleted, including photos and status updates, from their servers.

See the FULL list & read more about Who Is Watching You? Nine Industries That Know Your Every Move

© 2010 Daily Finance

Photo by Flickr user jonathanmcintosh

TED– Can we reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avert planetary collapse? In this talk from RSA Animate, bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways it has shaped human development and society.

From YouTube user Digital Bob 8