Al-Qaeda's Syrian wing takes over the oilfields once belonging to Assad Up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil were previously produced by wells around the city of Raqqa and in the desert region to its east that are now in rebel hands - in particular Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda off-shoot ...Because of sanctions, Jabhat's oil is largely shipped to thousands of home-built mini-refineries that have sprung up across the north of the country.
Dark, massive asteroid to fly by Earth on May 31
It's 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby. Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make its closest pass to Earth on May 31 at 1:59 p.m. PDT.
S.Korea deploys Israeli missile on border with North
South Korea deployed Israeli precision-guided missiles on Yellow Sea islands bordering North Korea... "Dozens of Spike missiles and their launchers have recently been deployed on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands," a South Korean army official said. "They can destroy (North Korea's) underground facilities and can pursue and strike moving targets," he continued.
PM: Israel will keep stopping weapons transfer to Hezbollah
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded at the opening of Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting to reports in the British newspaper Sunday Times saying Syria has missiles aimed at Tel Aviv, assuring that "the Israeli government acts in a responsible, determined and measured manner to ensure the State of Israel's main interest, which is the security of its citizens."
Syria army 'storms' rebel town Qusair
Syrian government forces have surrounded the rebel stronghold of Qusair and are storming it from several directions, says Syrian state TV. Fighting has gone on around the town, near the Lebanese border, for weeks. Opposition groups say militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement are fighting alongside government forces.
Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper
More than 8,000 French households' tax bills topped 100 percent of their income last year, the business newspaper Les Echos reported on Saturday, citing Finance Ministry data.
Father of Assad spokesman Mekdad kidnapped in Syria
Gunmen in Syria have abducted the elderly father of Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, one of the most powerful voices in the government. The man was seized in the southern province of Daraa, government and opposition sources said.
Italy coalition: Thousands rally in Rome against cuts
About 100,000 protesters, led by trade unionists, have rallied in the Italian capital Rome against the policies of the new coalition government. Wielding red flags and placards, they urged the centre-left Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, to scrap austerity measures and focus on job creation. Public trust in his fragile coalition with the centre-right is dropping, opinion polls suggest.
More South Koreans support developing nuclear weapons
Perhaps it is merely basic human desire to keep up with the neighbors, but an increasing number of South Koreans are saying that they want nuclear weapons too. Even in Japan, a country still traumatized by the legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a debate about the once-taboo topic of nuclear weapons.
Alaska volcano shoots lava up hundreds of feet
Alaska's remote Pavlof Volcano was shooting lava hundreds of feet into the air, but its ash plume was thinning Saturday and no longer making it dangerous for airplanes to fly nearby. A narrow ash plume extends a couple hundred miles southeast from the volcano, which is 625 miles southwest of Anchorage, said Geologist Chris Waythomas of the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
Armed groups bomb Libyan military posts in Benghazi
Armed groups attacked military posts in Libya's second city Benghazi with bombs and a rocket-propelled grenade, an army commander said on Saturday. Nearly two years after the uprising that ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, the government still exerts little control over the armed brigades that helped overthrow him.
It’s Official: Gold Is Now The Most Hated Asset Class
Not a day passes without the financial media denouncing gold as an investment option and hailing the bureaucrats heading the world's monopolist monetary central planning agencies as superheroes. It began prior to gold's recent breakdown, with widely cited bearish reports on gold published by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, among others.
Chinese premier heads to India to boost ties
Just weeks after a tense border standoff, China's new premier is heading to India on his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to expedite efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties. China says Li Keqiang's choice of India for his first trip abroad since taking office in March shows the importance Beijing attaches to improving relations with New Delhi.