Paul Joseph Watson | Strike on convoy heading to Lebanon was diversion.

Tony Cartalucci | Israel has conducted airstrikes in Syria based on “suspicions” of chemical weapon transfers.

DEBKAfile | The Syrian announcement of an Israeli air strike on a military site near Damascus Wednesday, Jan. 30, drew strong condemnation from Moscow the next day.

usatoday.com | About 2,500 French troops took part in the operation alongside the Malian military.

Ayman Mohyeldin | Underlying cause remains an economy on the brink of collapse.

BBC News | Gen Montt will face charges of crimes against humanity and the killing of 1,771 indigenous Mayans during his rule in 1982-1983.

BBC News | She would formally stand down on 30 April.

Zero Hedge | Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says his nation must prepare for the threat of a chemical attack from Syria.

Fox News | An angry Mohammed Morsi vowed in a televised address on Sunday he would not hesitate to take more action to stem the latest eruption of violence.

Daily Mail | An armed robber wearing a gas mask and brandishing a gun collapsed and died after being tackled by customers.

Washington’s Blog | Royal Bank of Scotland Says Worst Economy Since Before Queen Victoria Was Crowned.

bbc.co.uk | Guidelines are being issued to the Russian army to check soldiers for intimate tattoos.

VOA News | Young protester: “We are here on the 25th of January not to celebrate not to support any party [or] movement, but to resume our uncompleted revolution.”

Tony Cartalucci | These are the “freedom fighters” then and now, that the US has been supporting, funding, and in fact arming.

Reuters | Vice president fears “unidentified groups” entered the country aiming to assassinate him.

Telegraph.co.uk | Report concludes: “All EU countries should have independent media councils.”

IB Times | “…workers would be fined 50 yuan ($8) if they are late once and fired if they are late twice.”

London Independent | English-speaking jihadis seen in Mali, as a Canadian is reported to have co-ordinated Algeria attack.

Zero Hedge | Sounds like a catalyst to double down and buy every ES contract in sight: just think of the GDP boost and appropriate fiscal multiplier once Japan is levelled.

AFP | There were conflicting reports about the immediate circumstances of Dolmatov’s death.

The Guardian | State department declines to say how many hostages are being held but insists that the US does not negotiate with terrorists.

Syrian Girl | Over 80 people have died in two bomb blasts in Aleppo university.

usnews.com | French ground operations began overnight in Mali.

Pro Publica | “The U.S. has also sold Bahrain a helicopter fit for the royal family.”

AFP | “Internet users grew by 50.9 million people in 2012 to 564 million, with mobile devices as the main means of access.”

New American | The controversial operations, ironically, are being taken under the guise of fighting Islamic extremism.

Mac Slavo | None of it makes any sense. Unless the Chinese know something we haven’t been made privy to.

theendrun.com | Piers Morgan calls the GOA Executive Director’s claim an “absolute lie.” Is it?

Mac Slavo | If there were ever a sign that something is amiss, this may very well be it.

Natural News | For CNN’s Piers Morgan, trouble just seems to be a calling. But then again, it’s not as if the cheeky British isn’t responsible for much of his own grief.

Syrian Girl | This is an update on Al Qaeda (Al CIAda in Syria).

New American | Federal Brazilian police and military personnel, some wearing United Nations insignia, are forcibly relocating whole communities in Brazil at gunpoint.

RT | Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has said the CIA may try to kill him prior to upcoming elections.

London Independent | Cameron says he will use his G8 presidency to seek collective backing to tackle corporate abuses

London Telegraph | President Anibal Cavaco Silva called for urgent action to halt the “recessionary spiral.”

France 24 | France’s Esther Duflo nominated by Obama to advise on global development policy.

Business Insider | The Amazon product page has become a sounding board for Americans disgusted with their government’s targeted killing program.

BBC | Vatican tickets and souvenirs must be purchased in cash for time being.

Paul Joseph Watson | Increased media coverage could force secretive group to avoid Europe.

Infowars.com | Very quietly, Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, signed in October a comprehensive development agreement to construct a toll-road.

Daily Mail | “…doctors could decide to switch off the machines ‘at any moment’.”

Paul Joseph Watson | But country’s draconian gun control laws leave them defenseless.

Christian Science Monitor | “Record assaults on journalists in 2012 and official moves to censor the Internet show how much authoritarian regimes fear the truth.”

Reuters | Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail.

AFP | New figure is roughly double the old minimum.

NTDTV.org | Letter found in decorations pleas for help from one of the harshest labor camps in China.

Matthew Campbell | “They beheaded him, cut him into pieces and fed him to the dogs.”

New American | In his remarks at the conclusion of the summit, Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, made repeated reference to progress toward the goal of “global governance”.

Independent.co.uk | “Research reveals that antibiotic-resistant organisms are gaining a hold on dairy industry.”

AFP | Russia’s children’s rights commissioner said: “A country as great as Russia should not be selling its children.”