In a Post-Chavez Venezuela, Militant Armed Groups Would Pose Major Threat

If the Venezuelan opposition wins October's elections, pro-government armed groups could become a major threat to stability in the country, potentially evolving into a full-fledged insurgency.
On March 16, the Venezuelan army announced that military operations in the western state of Apure had uncovered an internal organization chart detailing the command structure of the guerrilla group known as the Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FBL). While the contents of the diagram have not been released to the public, the Defense Ministry claimed that it showed that the FBL has joined forces with another, previously unknown armed rebel group calling itself the Patriotic Bolivarian Liberation Forces (FPBL). According to military officials, FBL commander Jeronimo Paz, alias “Gabino,” has taken on the leadership of both organizations.

Tracking the Spread of Crack Cocaine in Sao Paulo and Rio

The market for crack cocaine is booming in Brazil, and may already be bringing in major profits for organized crime in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
The extent of Brazil’s crack cocaine problem became clear in January 2012, when Sao Paulo police raided a central neighborhood known colloquially as a “cracolandia,” or crack land. Over 100 people were arrested and around 350 addicts were placed in the care of social services.
Brazil’s next largest city, Rio de Janerio, has also deployed police this year to sweep through “cracolandias,” bringing hundreds into government recovery programs.

BRICS Countries: The Imaginary Alliance

The BRICS (Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa) acronym has served to add a dramatic flair to shifting global power structures by envisioning a club of up-and-coming countries challenging a world order built on the bedrock of imperialism. But this isn’t accurate. The accord that is assumed in the BRICS grouping is imaginary. It doesn’t exist.
By Zachary Fillingham

'Los Urabeños' finance boss captured

Colombian authorities have captured one of the leaders of the country’s largest neo-paramilitary organization, "Los Urabeños", reported local media Thursday. Jose Gregorio Martinez Cabana, alias “El Gato,” was charge of the organization’s finances and one of the twenty most wanted criminals in the northern department of Magdalena. He was captured in central Colombia Wednesday. According to criminal investigations, Cabana is suspected of conspiracy, extortion and aggravated homicide in Santa Marta, Magdalena’s largest city, and the municipality of Cienaga, on the Caribbean coast in the south of the department. “El Gato” is allegedly responsible for an attack against five people in Santa Marta early last month as well as the assassination of two people in the Cienaga in March 2011. Cabana was arrested in the municipality of Flanders in the Tolima department in an operation carried out by the National Police.

Iran oil ban to bring huge spat between US & China

Iran's nuke foes can tip scales in favor of bomb

Narco-comunicado del Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación

Anonymous against the Pope

Anonymous Hacks Christian Websites in Mexico: “POPE is Not Welcome, OUT! OUT!!!"

Anonymous Hispano, the Mexican branch of the online hacktivist collective based in Latin America lay siege to two Mexican websites on Tue, March 20 in protest of Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit in an cyber-operation referred to as #opFariseo (hypocrite) on Twitter. The hackers succeeded in temporarily knocking the websites offline and defacing them with their own message: "Hacked system. The POPE is not welcome, out out!!!!!"

Anonymous Hispano, the Mexican branch of the online hacktivist collective based in Latin America lay siege to two Mexican websites on Tue, March 20 in protest of Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit in an cyber-operation referred to as #opFariseo (hypocrite) on Twitter. The hackers succeeded in temporarily knocking the websites offline and defacing them with their own message: "Hacked system. The POPE is not welcome, out out!!!!!"

Drug Lords Targeted by Fast and Furious Were FBI Informants

When the ATF made alleged gun trafficker Manuel Fabian Celis-Acosta its primary target in the ill-fated Fast and Furious investigation, it hoped he would lead the agency to two associates who were Mexican drug cartel members. The ATF even questioned and released him knowing that he was wanted by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

But those two drug lords were secretly serving as informants for the FBI along the Southwest border, newly obtained internal emails show. Had Celis-Acosta simply been held when he was arrested by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in May 2010, the investigation that led to the loss of hundreds of illegal guns and may have contributed to the death of a Border Patrol agent could have been closed early.

Vatican Bank Account Closed At JP Morgan

JP Morgan Chase is closing the Vatican bank's account with an Italian branch of the U.S. banking giant because of concerns about a lack of transparency at the Holy See's financial institution, Italian newspapers reported.
The move is a blow to the Vatican's drive to have its bank included in Europe's "white list" of states that comply with international standards against tax fraud and money-laundering.
The bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), enacted major reforms last year in an attempt to get Europe's seal of approval and put behind it scandals that have included accusations of money laundering and fraud.

As Occupy Arrestees Arraigned, Iris Scans Affect Bail

The first of the more than 70 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested Saturday afternoon and evening were arraigned yesterday in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Exhausted by a night and day in jail and shaken by the violence of the police response to Occupy Wall Street's six-month anniversary celebration, many burst into tears of relief when they were finally released to the friendly welcome of the movement's Jail Support team.
Unlike many of the other defendants with whom they shared cells, the protesters could feel confident that they would soon be released -- Occupy posts bail for those arrested during movement actions.
But protesters and their legal advisers were surprised yesterday to learn that the size of their bail was being affected by whether defendants were willing to have the distinctive patterns of their irises photographed and logged into a database.

Monsanto’s GMO Corn Causing Weight Gain, Disrupting Organs

Are genetically modified foods making you sick and fat? Monsanto’s genetically modified creations have been pegged for causing a plethora of environmental and human harm, but are they also contributing to one of the country’s fastest growing health problems? A study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences shows that GM food is indeed contributing to the obesity epidemic.
While being one of the first to report on a comparative analysis of blood and organ system data of rats fed GM corn, the study effectively ends the debate as to whether GMO foods are safe regarding health. The study found that GM corn fed to mice led to an increase in overall body weight of about 3.7 percent, while also increasing the weight of the liver by up to 11 percent.

France is on its Highest Anti-Terror Alert After Shooting

Toulouse shootings - 'Gunman' calls FRANCE 24 hours before pre-dawn raid

French Terror Attack: All the Hallmarks of an Intelligence Psy-op and False Flag

Mohammed Merah, the suspect in the killing of seven people outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, France, fits the pattern of an al-Qaeda intelligence asset. According to the BBC, he was on the radar of French authorities because of visits he made to Afghanistan and the “militant stronghold” of Waziristan in Pakistan.

More specifically, Merah was handled by France’s DCRI intelligence service “for years,” according to Claude Guéant, the interior minister.
Merah, a French citizen of Algerian origin, was arrested on December 19, 2007, and was sentenced to three years in jail for planting bombs in the southern province of Kandahar in Afghanistan.
In April of 2011, the United States admitted it has operated secret military prisons in Afghanistan where suspected terrorists are held and interrogated without charges.

The ex-FBI informant with a change of heart: 'There is no real hunt. It's fixed'

Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk.
"They said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did," Monteilh told the Guardian as he described his year as a confidential FBI informant sent on a secret mission to infiltrate southern Californian mosques.
It is an astonishing admission that goes that goes to the heart of the intelligence surveillance of Muslim communities in America in the years after 9/11. While police and FBI leaders have insisted they are acting to defend America from a terrorist attack, civil liberties groups have insisted they have repeatedly gone too far and treated an entire religious group as suspicious.

Iran oil ban to break EU faster than Euro?

Fast and Furious: The Hidden History of the Drug War

Life or Debt: 'Greece must escape bailout prison'

No outside force can topple Assad, even US

Outlaw Occupy: US set to strangle protests with jail threats

Turkey clashes video: Police fight Kurdish protesters