United States

Over a dozen U.S. Army troops have been left trapped in Marjah, Afghanistan, amid enemy fire by Taliban fighters after a U.S. special operations soldier was killed earlier on.  Enemy forces surround the compound the soldiers are taking cover in, as they wait for backup over night. Foxnews.com reports: A U.S. official described the “harrowing” scene to Fox News, saying there were enemy forces surrounding the compound in which the special operations team sought refuge.

A new scientific study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology has proved that fracking wastewater causes cancer in humans.  The paper titled, Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water, confirms the suspicions already held by many people – that fracking pollution is carcinogenic. Scott.net reports: The new collaborative study was conducted by scientists at esteemed institutions in both the U.S.

Authored by Ben Tanosborn,

When last we checked in on the dispute over Beijing’s land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea, several dozen protesters from the Philippines were camped out on Pagasa island in a demonstration aimed at raising awareness of what they say is an illegal occupation of the Spratlys.

To let China tell it, it’s the other way around.

That is, the Filipino troop presence in the archipelago represents an illegal occupation of territory that belongs to Beijing and China would be well within its rights to forcibly expel the occupying army.

Submitted by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

The New Year’s execution by Saudi Arabia of the Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr was a deliberate provocation.

Its first purpose: Signal the new ruthlessness and resolve of the Saudi monarchy where the power behind the throne is the octogenarian King Salman’s son, the 30-year-old Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

 

Second, crystallize, widen and deepen a national-religious divide between Sunni and Shiite, Arab and Persian, Riyadh and Tehran.