Rational Review

"It’s been a year since Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, walked into the Ecuadorean embassy in London and sought political asylum, living there ever since as if in a 'space station.' In an interview with various news outlets marking today’s anniversary, he said that even if Sweden were to drop its investigation into sex allegations against him, he plans to stay put. That means London faces the prospect of an unusual guest for years to come. 'I wouldn't say I wouldn't leave,' he said. But 'my lawyers have advised me I shouldn't leave the embassy because of the risk of arrest and extradition to the United States.'" (06/19/13)

"Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents shot and blasted their way into the United Nations compound in Mogadishu Wednesday, the most serious attack on the UN in the troubled country in recent years. At least three civilians were killed in the streets outside the compound as Somali and African Union troops forced their way into the complex -- despite the Islamists battling back with heavy gunfire -- to end the hour and a half siege. There were no initial reports of UN casualties, although the Shebab claimed they had killed foreigners in the brazen daylight raid." (06/19/13)

"Turkish police sent 94 demonstrators to the prosecutor’s office to face charges of provoking violence during the recent unrest, as growing numbers adopted a silent form of protest inspired by the 'standing man.' The suspects, including 20 members of soccer team Besiktas’s fan club, known as Carsi, face charges of organizing acts of violence and inciting illegal protests, state-run TRT television said. ... The Turkish union of engineers and architects, which has been at the forefront of opposition to the Taksim Square plans, said almost 400 have been detained, including three of its members who were later released though two face charges." (06/19/13)

"A suicide bombing in northern Iraq on Wednesday killed the leader of a provincial political party and four relatives, officials said, on the eve of elections his bloc was to participate in. Yunus al-Ramah, head of the United Iraq party, had been hosting a social gathering at his home in the town of Al-Hadhr, in Nineveh province, when the attack took place, according to security and medical officials." (06/19/13)

"Four American service members were killed in a mortar attack on Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan on Tuesday, a senior defense official confirmed to NBC News. The four International Security Assistance Force service members died after an indirect fire attack in eastern Afghanistan, the ISAF said in a statement." (06/18/13)

"A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of hundreds of mourners attending a funeral in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing 29 people. Among the dead was a newly elected lawmaker who may have been the target, authorities said. The blast was the deadliest attack in the region since May 11 national and regional elections installed a new government in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa." (06/19/13)

"Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rohani has promised to use his victory to transform the Islamic Republic’s relations with the outside world and with its own citizens. Three days after a stunning upset at the polls, Mr. Rohani proclaimed a 'victory for moderation ... not extremism' that he said will begin to repair everything from stalled nuclear talks to US-Iran hostility to Iran’s caustic internal divisions. The first-round triumph for the centrist cleric, who won 50.71 percent of the tally against five conservative candidates, prompted jubilant street scenes across Iran." (06/17/13)

"States may not require additional proof of citizenship on federal forms designed to streamline voter-registration procedures, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court rejected a requirement passed by Arizona voters in 2004 that potential voters supply proof of eligibility beyond an applicant’s oath on the federal form that he or she is a citizen. The court ruled 7 to 2 that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 trumps Arizona’s Proposition 200." (06/17/13)

"The Supreme Court ruled on Monday regulators can challenge deals between brand-name drug companies and generic rivals that delay cheaper medicines from going on sale, which regulators say increase costs to consumers by billions of dollars. But the court, in a 5-3 vote with Justice Samuel Alito recused, declined the Federal Trade Commission’s request to declare the deals to be presumed to be illegal. The regulatory agency has fought the practice for more than a decade." (06/17/13)

"Two suicide bombers blew themselves up on Tuesday at a hall in north Baghdad, killing at least 15 people, security officials said, the latest in a surge in nationwide violence. The blasts took place shortly after midday prayers in the Habib Ibn Al Mudhaher Hussainiyah in the capital’s Qahira neighbourhood, the interior ministry and police sources said." (06/18/13)

"A large bomb has killed three civilians in western Kabul this morning, shortly before the international military coalition officially passed responsibility for the security of Afghanistan to national forces. According to Afghan police, a suicide attacker had been targeting the country’s second vice-president. Mohammed Mohaqiq, a senior Muslim cleric and leader of the Hazara ethnic minority, had passed the area in a convoy but was unharmed by the blast." (06/18/13)

"A Greek court has suspended a government order to close state broadcaster ERT - a move that triggered mass protests in the country last week. The top administrative court said ERT could resume transmission until a new national media body is set up. The ruling came as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition allies held crisis talks on the issue. Mr Samaras, who says ERT is corrupt, had reportedly offered to restart a trimmer version of the broadcaster." (06/17/13)

"The city has filed a lawsuit against six citizens, part of a group dubbed Robin Hood of Keene that patrols downtown armed with video cameras and pockets full of change to fill expired parking meters. Also known as Robin Hooders, the six are associated with the Free Keene group. ... The group says the suit was filed because the city is losing revenue from parking tickets. The city says the activists are harassing its employees." (06/13/13)

"It's official: Eleven and a half years after the 'war on terror' prison opened at Guantanamo, the maximum number of prisoners that the U.S. military intends to prosecute, or has already prosecuted, is 20 -- or just 2.5 percent of the 779 men held at the prison since it opened in January 2002. The news was announced on Monday, June 10, by Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins, the chief prosecutor for the military commissions at Guantanamo, and it is a humiliating climb-down for the authorities." (06/17/13)

"The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Monday he is stepping down next month to work in the private sector. John Morton, who has served as ICE director since May 2009, made the announcement in an email to staff, obtained by Federal News Radio." (06/17/13)

"A group of 7-Eleven store in New York and Virginia were taken into custody by federal authorities Monday as part of a criminal [sic] immigrant employment investigation that the Department of Homeland Security is describing as one of the largest in history. Fourteen stores were raided Monday and nine individuals -- eight men and one woman -- were indicted on allegations that store owners helped smuggle workers into the U.S." (06/17/13)

"The Turkish deputy prime minister has said that the army could be deployed to halt protests that have swept the nation over the past two weeks. Bulent Arinc on Monday said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) could be pressed into action if the police failed to restore order. 'What is required of us is to stop if there is a protest against the law. Here is the police, if not enough gendarme, if not TSK,'" he said in a televised interview to the A Haber channel. The threat came as members of two union federations in Turkey went on a one-day strike over the forced evictions of protesters from Istanbul's Gezi Park a day earlier." (06/17/13)

"A car bomb targeting a checkpoint near a military airport in an upscale neighborhood of the Syrian capital has killed 10 soldiers, activists said Monday as President Bashar Assad's troops pressed ahead with an offensive to regain territory they lost to rebels trying to topple his regime. The army has scored major victories in key battlefields in western and central Syria in the past weeks, and is now setting its sights on the country's largest city, Aleppo, in the north, parts of which have been opposition strongholds." (06/17/13)

"Iraqi officials say a bomb left inside a restaurant north of Baghdad has killed at least seven civilians and wounded 25 others. Two police officers say the restaurant is located in the town of Taji, serving travellers on the main highway that links Baghdad to northern provinces. They added that two women and a 12-year old child were among the dead in Monday's explosion." (06/17/13)

"Eleven extremists were killed in joint operations by Afghan and coalition security forces in various parts of Afghanistan on Saturday. Five extremists were killed and one other wounded during an operation in search of a senior Taliban leader in Muhammad Aghah district, Logar province, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release on Sunday." (06/16/13)