Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

• Benetton Unhate Campaign: Italian company causes outcry for photos of Pope, Imam kissing

  If Benetton was hoping to make waves with its new UNHATE ad campaign (and it’s a safe bet they were), mission accomplished. The Italian clothing company is no stranger to sensational ads, but the Benetton ad team may have outdone themselves this time with a series of digitally-altered photos depicting a handful of world leaders locking lips with one another.

• Work on 1km-tall Kingdom Tower set to begin in January - The National

  Construction is to begin in January on a 1km tall tower in Jeddah, including a six-storey "sky palace" on the 158th floor, the lead architect says. Most of the permits are in place for the US$1.2 billion (Dh4.40bn) Kingdom Tower, which would be the tallest building in the world, said Adrian Smith, a partner in Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.

• Pentagon: Cyber offense part of U.S. strategy - The Washington Post

  The Pentagon is prepared to launch cyberattacks in response to hostile actions that threaten the government, military or U.S. economy, according to a new policy document submitted to Congress this week. The report, obtained by The Washington Post, is the most detailed document so far from the government on its emerging cyberwarfare program, and it warns that adversaries attempting cyberattacks against the United States “would be taking a grave risk.”

• Report: U.S. Air Force receives new 15-ton bunker buster bombs - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

  The U.S. Air Force has received new 30,000-pound bombs capable of destroying deep underground bunkers, the Bloomberg news agency reported. The bombs, designed to be delivered by B-2 stealth bombers, "will meet requirements for the current operational need," U.S. Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller said in a statement to Bloomberg.

• Palestinian activists demonstrate by riding Israeli bus in West Bank - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

  Six Palestinian activists, clutching national flags and surrounded by dozens of reporters, were dragged off an Israeli bus they planned to ride into Jerusalem after a standoff with police Tuesday. The Palestinians boarded the Israeli bus in a widely advertised action hoping to draw attention to what they call discriminatory measures in the West Bank, particularly travel restrictions.

• Was Israel Behind a Deadly Explosion at an Iranian Missile Base? - TIME

  "Who Is Responsible for Attacks on the Iranian Army?" asks Maariv, and the paper lists without further comment a half-dozen other violent setbacks to Iran's nuclear and military nexus. For Israeli readers, the coy implication is that their own government was behind Saturday's massive blast just outside Tehran. It is an assumption a Western intelligence source insists is correct: the Mossad — the Israeli agency charged with covert operations — did it. "Don't believe the Iranians that it was an accident," the official tells TIME, adding that other sabotage is being planned to impede the Iranian ability to develop and deliver a nuclear weapon. "There are more bullets in the magazine," the official says.

• Israeli lawmakers push ahead contentious bills - Yahoo! News

  At the end of a stormy debate, Israeli lawmakers pushed ahead two bills that critics say would threaten the independence of the country's Supreme Court, just days after Cabinet ministers advanced another proposal to sharply limit funding for dovish groups. Opponents say both developments reflect attempts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to stifle dissent and pluralism.

• BBC News - Israel-Kenya deal to help fight Somalia's al-Shabab

  ** Israel reinvigorating its periphery alliances - Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, as a way to further harass and pressure Arab countries ** Israel has offered to help Kenya secure its borders as it tackles Somalia's Islamist group, al-Shabab, the Kenyan prime minister's office has said. It said Kenya got the backing of Israel to "rid its territory of fundamentalist elements" during Prime Minister Raila Odinga's visit to the country.

• Israel to hold $100 million in taxes owed to Palestinians - The Washington Post

  Israeli Cabinet ministers decided Monday to hold on to about $100  million in taxes owed to the Palestinians, an official said, despite warnings from Israel’s Defense Ministry that the measure could threaten the stability of the Palestinian government in the West Bank. Israel stopped transfer of tax funds as punishment for the Palestinian’s successful bid for admission to UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency, which was part of a larger effort to gain admission as a state in the world body.

• Vodka Tampons? Reported Alcohol Abuse Among Teens Also Includes 'Butt Chugging'

  It would appear that nobody wants to use their mouth anymore to get drunk. Much to their parents' dismay, teens have long been known to secretly consume alcohol, and the latest method reportedly has them doing so with tampons and bongs.

• Net Neutrality Survives With Help of Senate Democrats | Death and Taxes

  Al Franken has called net neutrality “the most important free speech issue of our time,” which most Democrats echo. However, Republicans believe the internet has flourished without regulation and that corporations should be allowed to do as they please in a non-regulated internet environment. Naturally, corporations like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon have heavily lobbied Republicans to oppose Net Neutrality, which many believe would create a  ”fast lane” for corporations who could afford to pay for a premium service. It would thus relegate those who could not afford such premium lanes to slower internet speeds, thus potentially stifling free speech and neutralizing the overall freedom associated with the internet.

• Robert Fisk: You can't blame Gaddafi for thinking he was one of the good guys - Robert Fisk - Commentators - The Independent

  Gaddafi was one of those Arab potentates for whom the moniker "crazy" was fitting, yet who spoke a kind of sanity. He did not believe in "Palestine" because he thought the Israelis had already stolen too much Arab land (correct) and he did not really believe in the Arab world – hence his tribal beliefs. He was, indeed, a very odd person.

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