Medical science might save an El Salvador woman even if the country’s Supreme Court let her down; Pakistan’s next Prime Minister condemns this weeks US Drone Strike on his country; Austerity and Authority prime street demonstrations in Europe.

A seriously ill pregnant woman in El Salvador who was denied a therapeutic abortion by the Supreme Court will be allowed to have a premature caesarian section next week.  The mother “Beatriz” suffers kidney disease and lupus; her fetus suffers anencephaly and is developing without a complete brain and will not live long after delivery.  The high court in the heavily Roman Catholic country was widely condemned for refusing to adjust draconian laws governing reproductive rights to protect the life and health of “Beatriz”.

IF you’re reading this right now, it’s because the Planet Earth definitely was not destroyed by a really, really big rock that passed by instead of striking our world.  Asteroid 1998 QE2 made it’s closest pass to earth at 20:59 GMT on Friday, or just before 8:00 AM Saturday morning in beautiful Melbourne.  And that thing was pretty big, 2.7 kilometers across and even has its own “moon” orbiting around it.  But if you missed it (and I’m kind of glad we did), you really did miss it:  1998 QE2 won’t be back for at least 200 years.

Pakistan’s incoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif says this week’s American drone strike that killed a Taliban leader was “not only a violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also an action that has been declared as a violation of international law and the UN Charter.”  The Taliban backed out of peace talks shortly after the drone strike.

The US and Germany are urging Russia to halt missile sales to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, saying it could prolong the civil war.  The advanced S-300 missiles could give Syria the ability to defend itself from foreign air strikes.  Russia is allies with Assad and has repeatedly started its right to complete state-to-state weapons sales while at the same time working to get both sides to peace talks planned in Geneva.  The maker of the Russian MiG aircraft says it’s planning to sell 10 fighter jets to Damascus.

Did you SEE this?  This guy is driving down the highway in Russia.  And just when a little blue car passes him, a bear comes tearing out of the woods.  The car slams into the bear, who gets up and walks it off because.. Russia.  And knowing there's an angry bear nearby, the Russian driver mumbles something and gets out to check the damage, because.. Russia.  

Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano says record high unemployment in the Eurozone is a “Social Crisis”.  EC joblessness is up to 12.2 percent.  But it’s as high as 27 percent in Greece and just a few ticks off that in Spain.  And in Italy, adjust the stats for age and more than 40 percent of young people can’t get a job.  And that is why thousands blocked streets and clashed with riot police outside the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, protesting failed austerity policies and capitalism’s failure to serve the people.

Amnesty International is condemning cops in Turkey for using violence against peaceful protesters.  This, as police crack down on growing nationwide demonstrations that grew out of a sit-in to protect some trees in a park in Istanbul (not Constantinople).  The decision to develop one of the few green spots in the capital into a shopping center brought together a coalition of Greens, Gays, Socialists, Unions and even “anti-capitalist Muslims” opposed to Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.

A United Nations official in Iraq says "systemic violence is ready to explode at any moment", as a fresh wave of attacks killed at least 24 people.  A wave of car bombs primarily in Shia Muslim districts killed more than 100 people just since Monday.  More than 1,000 people have died in bubbling sectarian violence in Iraq in the last two months.

Four American Firefighters were killed battling a restaurant fire in Houston, Texas.  The roof of the Indian vegetarian cuisine eatery attached to a hotel collapsed while the fire department was trying to put it out.  Witnesses say it started with three large blasts.  Some neighboring businesses were damaged.