*Federal public sector unions will lobby the government for back pay if the government shuts down, saying they’ve seen their salaries contract enough under sequestration. According to The Hill, union officials predict that about 800,000 workers will be furloughed if (when) the government shuts down.
*A minimum of 40 people were killed and 100 people were wounded in Peshawar, Pakistan after a car bomb was denoted at the Qissa Khawani bazaar. The Pakistani Taliban denied responsibility, saying it’s targeting the Pakistani government but not the general public. A splinter cell of the group claimed responsibility, saying the attack was (somehow) in retaliation to U.S. drone strikes in tribal areas.
The attack comes just days after suicide bombings at a church in the city killed 83 people.
*Two Canadians – a medic and a filmmaker – claim that they have been beaten by Egyptian junta authorities in prison after documenting and aiding supporters of Mohammed Morsi who were attacked by security forces.
*Jeremy Scahill gave a preview of the story he and Glenn Greenwald are working on, based on some of Edward Snowden’s disclosures. And it’d be a safe bet to wager that it’s going to revolve around President Obama’s targeted killings program:
“The connections between war and surveillance are clear,” Scahill said. I don’t want to give too much away but Glenn and I are working on a project right now that has at its center how the National Security Agency plays a significant, central role in the U.S. assassination program.”
*This Slate piece, from Mother Jones editor Nick Baumann, should be required reading every time a blowhard saber-rattling politician cackles about Appeasement.
