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Estimated Cost of Afghan, Iraq Wars Tops $1 Trillion -- News from Antiwar.com Tonight it is the later, as Costofwar.com , the maker of a popular Javascript ticker that estimates the current costs of the war, has seen its estimate pass the $1 trillion mark earlier today. Costofwar’s estimate is based on the amount of money allocated to the war in the current and previous fiscal years , but other estimates suggest that the true cost runs into the several trillion dollar range .

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet - Middle East - Al Jazeera English Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza. At least 19 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, Israeli radio reported. The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast. Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, confirmed that the attack took place in international waters, saying: "This happened in waters outside of Israeli territory, but we have the right to defend ourselves." Footage from the flotilla's lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara , showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhea...

All of Us Use Drugs, But Only Some of Us Go to Jail | Drugs | AlterNet Most people start using drugs before they even leave the house in the morning. Yes, that first cup of coffee is what many of us need to start the day. The next drug that millions of Americans use, sometimes up to 20 times a day, is our nicotine! And then, after a long day of work, many of us head to a local bar or to our refrigerator and pour ourselves a cocktail, ice cold beer or a nice glass of wine. And I'm just getting started. There are over 100 million Americans who have used marijuana. Thirty years after Nancy Reagan told us to "Just Say No," half of high-school seniors will try marijuana and 75% will try alcohol before they graduate. And what about the college students who use Ritalin to help them focus and put in long hours at the library? And how about all of the superstar athletes who use performance enhancing substances? What about all of the men (and women) who are deeply grat...

Revealed: how Israel offered to sell South Africa nuclear weapons | World news | The Guardian Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons . The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa 's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret.

Audio of incident between Canadian citizen and US immigration officer. : Information Clearing House - ICH

Al Jazeera English - Africa - Ethiopia rejects Egypt Nile claims Ethiopia's prime minister has rejected a threat by Egypt to prevent the building of dams and other water projects upstream on the Nile river. Meles Zenawi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Egypt will not be able to stop his country from building dams on the river. His comments came nearly a week after Ethiopia joined Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania in signing a new treaty on the equitable sharing of the Nile, despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan who have the major share of the river waters.

Yellow Press § Elvis Costello It is after considerable contemplation that I have lately arrived at the decision that I must withdraw from the two performances scheduled in Israel on the 30th of June and the 1st of July. One lives in hope that music is more than mere noise, filling up idle time, whether intending to elate or lament. Then there are occasions when merely having your name added to a concert schedule may be interpreted as a political act that resonates more than anything that might be sung and it may be assumed that one has no mind for the suffering of the innocent. I must believe that the audience for the coming concerts would have contained many people who question the policies of their government on settlement and deplore conditions that visit intimidation, humiliation or much worse on Palestinian civilians in the name of national security.