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Friday 02.24.2012
Western Countries 'Poised for Military Intervention' in Syria
By GIANLUCA MEZZOFIORE: IBTimes.co.uk
The governments of US, France, Turkey and Italy are secretly preparing for a military intervention in Syria, an Israeli military intelligence website has claimed
Debkafile quotes Washington sources speculating that President Barack Obama is poised for a final decision after the Pentagon has submited operational plans for protecting the Syrian population from Assad's forces.
The sources claim that US's western allies are waiting for a White House move before going forward.
Unlike Libya, where foreign intervention was mandated by UN Security Council, Syria will allegedly see a limited military action. In January, Russia vetoed an Obama-supported UN resolution condemning the violence, causing anger and disappointment in the international community and inside Syria.
US, France, UK, Turkey, Italy
prepare for military intervention in Syria
DEBKAfile.com
Despite public denials, military preparations for intervention in the horrendous Syrian crisis are quietly afoot in Washington, Paris, Rome, London and Ankara. President Barack Obama is poised for a final decision after the Pentagon submits operational plans for protecting Syrian rebels and beleaguered populations from the brutal assaults of Bashar Assad’s army, DEBKAfile’s Washington sources disclose.
This process is also underway in allied capitals which joined the US in the Libyan operation that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s rule in August, 2011. They are waiting for a White House decision before going forward.
In Libya, foreign intervention began as an operation to protect the Libyan population
Greece surrenders its gold and itself
to creditors in the new deal
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Though Greece finally reached a debt deal last week, the fine print suggest that the country may have surrendered itself to creditors and bondholders.
As per the new agreement, Greece's lenders will have the right to seize the country's gold reserves in the event of any default. Greek gold reserves are estimated to be more than 100 tonnes. Also hard hitting to its national interests is the fact that all future issues of Greek bonds will be governed in English and Luxembourg courts- conditions more favourable to the bondholders.
Gold, silver boosted by euro, crude oil
LONDON (Commodity Online): Comex gold and silver have strengthened in reaction to recent moves in the euro and crude oil, said Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance.
Technically, gold generated momentum when it pushed through the $1,765 area Wednesday. “The market has had a nice move up toward the $1,785-ish area so far,” he said.
The area around $1,800 looms as resistance for gold and $35 for silver, he says. Around 9:25 a.m. EST, the euro was up to $1.3289 from $1.3246 late Wednesday.
Lack of supply will push silver
to $50/oz in 24 months: Kingsgate CEO
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Silver prices are so low right now that there is a huge room for upside movement, says CEO of Kingsgate Consolidated -Gavin Thomas. Kingsgate Consolidated is an Australia based mining company.
"Silver is a fantastic opportunity. I see there’s a lot of upward price (for the metal), because of the lack of supply", CNBC quoted Gavin who also went on to add that he expected prices to hit $50 within the coming 24 months.
Negative Salaries, Negative Bailout
And Now Negative Gold -
Greece Just Became The Bankster's Paradise
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While Iceland is now known as the country that is the closest earthly approximation tobanker hell, it is safe to say that Greece is the terrestrial equivalent of banker heaven. Because as explained earlier today, the country's population is about to get a worse deal than your average run of the mill slave - they may get whipped, but at least never have to pay for the privilege, unlike the Greeks. Hence negative salaries. As also explained, the European bailout of Greece, is now formally a Greek bailout of Europe, funded by the country's already negative primary surplus, or better said - deficit (don't try to make mathematical sense of that - a scene out of Scanners is guaranteed). Hence, negative bailout. But the piece de resistance, and the reason why Greece is the in situ version of bankster heaven is the news from the NYT thatGreece is also about to have negative gold.
Bretton Woods uncovered (a scoop, of sorts)
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
Students of economic history are in for a treat. An official studying deep in the bowels of the US Treasury library has recently uncovered a prize of truly startling proportions – an 800 page plus transcript of the Bretton Woods conference in July 1944, the meeting of nations which established the foundations of today's international monetary system.
Bizarrely, this extraordinary manuscript has never before come to light. Professor Steve Hanke of John Hopkins University, whose former student it was who discovered the document, is now dashing to publish it in full in conjunction with his friend, Jacque de Larosiere. The first stage of the process, transcribing the type-written document into digital form is now complete, though it is not yet available. It's hoped eventually to produce a hard copy, book version.
Intel Exclusive: Trillion Dollar Terror Exposed
Bush, Fed, Europe Banks in $15 Trillion Fraud, All Documented
By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor - VeteransToday.com
Below is one of the strangest stories in financial history, one involving the US government lying about hundreds of thousands of tons of imaginary gold, illegal wire transfers and loans totaling $15 trillion. The video, from the House of Lords, is amazing in itself.
What it doesn’t express is where the money came from though Lord James of Blackheath proves conclusively that an effort was made to say it came from a gold reserve in Brunei that, in fact, never existed.
At surface, it appears we have stumbled upon the largest terrorist organization in the world and have found original documents tracing its funding to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, two of the top financial officers in the US. A cursory review of terrorism statues in the US indicate that all transactions we will learn about are, in fact, to be assumed “terrorist money laundering” and that the only thing preventing the immediate arrest of hundreds of top financial officials is their political connections alone.
Lord James of Blackheath FOUNDATION X UPDATE
Lord James of Blackheath, House of Lords February 16 2012
Breaking news Lord James of Blackheath has spoken in the House of Lords holding evidence of three transactions of 5 Trillion each and a transaction of 750,000 metric tonnes of gold and has called for an investigation.
The spectre of deflation rises as inflation falls
Cash-strapped households should be helped by a sharp fall in inflation this week but it carries with it the seeds of an equally uncomfortable outcome - deflation.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
It is not normally worth your while paying close attention to the cacophony of monthly economic data releases. If you did, you would soon feel like a manic depressive on steroids: up, down, sideways and all over the place.
But you should watch out for the inflation figures on Tuesday.
Last year, CPI inflation rose alarmingly to peak at 5.2pc, confounding the earlier optimism of the Bank of England (and yours truly).
Greek Deal Leaves Europe on the Road to Disaster
By Clive Crook - Bloomberg.com
If Europe’s new plan for Greece succeeds, nobody will be more surprised than the politicians who designed it. At best, the arrangement is a holding action, one that fails yet again to deal with the much larger confidence crisis facing the euro area.
The deal announced on Tuesday starts with private lenders. Their representatives agreed to accept even bigger losses on Greek government bonds than previously discussed. The bonds’ face value will be cut by 53.5 percent, and they’ll pay a low interest rate, starting at 2 percent then rising later. Altogether, this reduces their net present value by about 75 percent, far more than deemed necessary just weeks ago.
When Greece Defaults
The second European bailout of Greece
will just delay the inevitable.
By Anthony Randazzo - Reason.com
The second round bailout of Greek debt is just delaying the inevitable—Greece is going to default.
As details have emerged on the European Central Bank, European Financial Stability Facility, and International Monetary Fund joint agreement with private creditors and the Greek government on providing money to make sure Greece pays a March debt bill, it is increasingly clear that this deal will not be enough.
Folker Hellmeyer and James Turk
talk about Europe, inflation and gold
December 14, 2011 -- In this video Folker Hellmeyer, chief analyst at Bremer Landesbank, and James Turk of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about the problems facing the eurozone and the coming pick up in inflation. Hellmeyer doesn't see a recession coming in Europe. However he believes that inflation will pick up and go back to the levels of the 1980s. In his opinion, the disinflationary period following the 1980s is widely misunderstood and was caused by the opening of communist countries which lead to over capacities in global labour markets. Those resources have now been exploited and can't buffer inflationary pressures any longer. They agree, that the government inflation statistics have been modified to show lower numbers -- as claimed by John Williams of shadowstats.com -- leading to a growing inflation-burden on the middle class.
Athens told to change spending and taxes
EU creditor countries poised to micromanage Greece
By Peter Spiegel in Brussels,
Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin
and Kerin Hope in Athens - FT.com
European creditor countries are demanding 38 specific changes in Greek tax, spending and wage policies by the end of this month and have laid out extra reforms that amount to micromanaging the country’s government for two years, according to documents obtained by the Financial Times.
The reforms, spelt out in three separate memoranda of a combined 90 pages, are the price that Greece has agreed to pay to obtain a €130bn second bail-out and avoid a sovereign default that the government feared would throw Greek society into turmoil.
The Greek Tragedy And Great Depression Lessons Not Learned
By Nomi Prins - ZeroHedge.com
Greece has been the most pillaged country in Europe this Depression, among other reasons, because no one in any leadership position seems to have learned lessons from the 1930s. Plus, banks have more power now than they did then to call the shots.
Despite no signs of the first bailout working – certainly not in growing the Greek economy or helping its population - but not even in being sufficient to cover speculative losses, Euro elites finalized another 130 billion Euro, ($170 billion) bailout today. This is ostensibly to avoid banks’ and credit default swap players’ wrath over the possibility of Greece defaulting on 14.5 billion Euros in bonds.
German showdown with IMF looms
as Bundestag blocks rescue funds
Germany's ruling parties are to introduce a resolution in parliament blocking any further boost to the EU’s bail-out machinery, vastly complicating Greece’s rescue package and risking a major clash with the International Monetary Fund.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, and Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
"European solidarity is not an end in itself and should not be a one-way street. Germany’s engagement has reached it limits," said the text, drafted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Free Democrat (FDP) allies.
"Germany itself faces strict austerity to comply with the national debt brake," said the declaration, which will go to the Bundestag next week. Lawmakers said there is no scope to boost the EU’s "firewall" to €750bn, either by increasing the new European Stability Mechanism (ESM) or by running it together with the old bail-out fund (EFSF).
Just What Is the REAL Exposure to Greece? Pt 1
by Graham Summers, Phoenix Capital Research - ZeroHedge.com
The financial world is awash with theories as to how significant the Second Greek Bailout is. I’m far less concerned with this (the Bailout accomplishes nothing of import and only puts off the coming Greek default by a short period). Instead, I think it much more important to ascertain the true exposure to Greek sovereign debt.
And what better place to start than the banking system of the one country that is playing hardball with Greece during this latest round of negotiations: Germany.
THE BROKEST COUNTRY HAS THE BROKEST CITIZENS
American's Per Capita Government Debt Worse Than Greece
By John Hinderaker - PowerLineBlog.com
I wrote yesterday that "Maybe you have to be Greece before most people get seriously concerned about sovereign debt." Oops. My mistake. It turns out that the United States is already, by at least one basic measure, broker than Greece. This chart, from the Senate Budget Committee, shows how much citizens of various countries owe, on a per capita basis, in national government debt. The average American owes more than the average Greek (or anyone else):
Unintended Consequences
By Eric Sprott and David Baker - Sprott.com
2012 is proving to be the 'Year of the Central Bank'. It is an exciting celebration of all the wonderful maneuvers central banks can employ to keep the system from falling apart. Western central banks have gone into complete overdrive since last November, convening, colluding and printing their way out of the mess that is the Eurozone. The scale and frequency of their maneuvering seems to increase with every passing week, and speaks to the desperate fragility that continues to define much of the financial system today.
Impartial Analysis Finds Only Ron Paul Would Cut US Debt Burden
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When one puts aside all the histrionics, all the melodrama, all the irrelevant secondary bullshit such as appearance, charisma, ability to tele-evangelize, all the irrelevant policies such as what planet the US should colonize or how women should procreate, and focuses on just one thing: which presidential candidate (not to mention president) will do the right thing for America, which is to make sure that it doesn't collapse under a record debt load, there is just one answer. And it is not even ours: it comes from the impartial Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Project, aka US Budget Watch ("U.S. Budget Watch neither supports nor opposes any candidate for office. Its reports are intended to promote understanding and discussion of the federal budget and how specific policy proposals would affect the deficit") which today released an analysis on debt sustainability titled "The GOP Candidates and the National Debt." The answer is in the chart below...
Full report by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget - PDF
Keiser Report: Burning Bankers Pays (E253)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss Lloyd Blankfein's suicide twinkie vest, Iceland's parliamentary pelting, manipulation of Libor rates and rampant foreclosure abuse. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Shir Hever about price tagging in Area C of the West Bank and about destroying the competition in Gaza.
Bank of America freezes pension plans
The Business Journal by Adam O'Daniel, Finance Editor
Retirement plans at Bank of America are changing.
The Charlotte-based bank announced in its 2011 annual report that it will freeze the majority of its existing pension plans. In return, the bank says it will increase the amount it contributes to employees 401(k) retirement plans.
The change is effective June 30.
A BofA spokesman was not available for comment.
BofA has about 2,000 employees in the Triad, the majority of which work at a call center in High Point's Piedmont Centre.
Bank of America stops selling mortgages to Fannie Mae
By Jacob Gaffney - Housingwire.com
Bank of America ($8.02 0.07%) is faced with numerous reps and warrants challenges on the mortgage front, and as a result of growing uncertainty, it will no longer sell certain mortgage refinances into Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities.
"The issue is tied to ongoing disagreements between Bank of America and Fannie Mae in regards to repurchases," said Dan Frahm, spokesman for BofA.
Specifically, Bank of America will no longer place non-Making Home Affordable Program (MHA) refinance first-lien residential mortgage products into Fannie mortgage-backed securities.
Why Renters Rule U.S. Housing Market (Part 3)
By A. Gary Shilling - Bloomberg.com
Think of all the recent federal programs to keep people who can’t afford them in their four- bedroom houses.
There are the Home Affordable Modification Program, the Home Affordable Refinancing Program and the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program. In addition, there are Hope Now, Hope for Homeowners, the Hardest Hit Funds and, most recently, the proposal to expand HARP to distressed mortgages not covered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
-- Hopeless HAMP: The administration initially said this program would relieve 3 million to 4 million distressed homeowners, but it’s been a miserable failure. That was to be expected because loose-lending practices put many people in houses so unaffordable that, short of canceling their monthly mortgage payments completely, no modification would return them to financial health. About the only thing HAMP has done is delay foreclosures while lenders, under federal government edict, attempt to modify home loans to reduce total monthly payments on mortgage, credit-card and other debt to 31 percent of income.
Comments on Existing Home Inventory
by CalculatedRisk
Analysts are trying to explain the recent sharp decline in existing home inventory and trying to estimate the impact of less inventory on house prices. As an example, Goldman Sachs economist Zach Pandl wrote yesterday:
Inventory of existing homes on the market declined by 21% in the year to January, or by 600,000 units. The "months supply" of existing homes — homes for sale divided by the current sales pace—fell to 6.1 in January, the lowest level since April 2006. Although we consider these declines a modest positive for the housing market outlook, we also think they exaggerate the improvement in excess supply.
JPMorgan Places $72 Billion Bet on Global Homeowners
By Jody Shenn and Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has more than tripled its holdings of mortgage securities without U.S. government guarantees to $72 billion as the nation’s biggest bank bets on borrowers from outside the country it calls home.
The investments swelled $8.4 billion in the fourth quarter, climbing from $52.8 billion at the end of 2010 and $19 billion the prior year, according to regulatory data released last week. The bank has primarily been adding debt from outside the U.S., including bonds tied to U.K. and Dutch mortgages, Securities and Exchange Commission filings by New York-based JPMorgan show.
JPMorgan Places $72 Billion Bet on Global Homeowners
By Jody Shenn and Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has more than tripled its holdings of mortgage securities without U.S. government guarantees to $72 billion as the nation’s biggest bank bets on borrowers from outside the country it calls home.
The investments swelled $8.4 billion in the fourth quarter, climbing from $52.8 billion at the end of 2010 and $19 billion the prior year, according to regulatory data released last week. The bank has primarily been adding debt from outside the U.S., including bonds tied to U.K. and Dutch mortgages, Securities and Exchange Commission filings by New York-based JPMorgan show.
The Dis-United States of Gas Prices:
Why Fuel Is So Cheap in Denver
Thanks to America's overwhelmed oil pipelines, some lucky drivers in the Rockies are getting a big discount on gas.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Right now, it's very, very good to be a commuter in Colorado.
Gas prices have been on the rise for the past two months, as the international game of chicken between the West and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program has sent global price of crude oil up above $120 a barrel. In California, an average gallon of fuel now costs more than $4. In New York, it's about $3.90. Even in Houston, the gas-pumping heart of U.S. refining capacity, motorists are paying more than $3.50. The run-up has many contemplating whether gas prices could break the U.S. economic recovery, as they nearly did in 2011.
P&G to slash 5,700 jobs and cut costs by $10bn
Group responds to slowing growth of western markets
By Barney Jopson in New York - FT.com
Procter & Gamble, the world’s biggest consumer goods maker by sales, plans to cut 5,700 jobs and $10bn in costs over the next four years as it responds to market demands to sharpen its performance in the face of slow growth in the west.
Bob McDonald, P&G chief executive, said: “We realise that we have to do it. The environment necessitates it.” Shares in the Cincinnati-based company, which has less exposure to high-growth emerging markets than its main rivals, rose 2.3 per cent to $65.93.
USPS closings plan to eliminate up to 35,000 jobs
(Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service announced plans on Thursday to close or consolidate 223 mail processing centers and eliminate up to 35,000 jobs as part of its strategy to cut costs by reducing its network of facilities.
The Postal Service has been losing billions of dollars each year as email chips away at mail volumes and as it faces massive annual payments to the federal government.
City Council -
What does -innovative procurement options-mean?
By Peter Ewart - Opinion250.com
In December, Prince George Mayor Shari Green formed a "Select Committee on Business" to get the views of certain business people on the operations of City Hall. This Select Committee has just released its recommendations, and one of them, point number ten, calls for "ensuring" that the city is "open to innovative procurement options."
So what does "innovative procurement options" mean? Some people might simply interpret this phrase as the PG municipal government finding some new ways to acquire goods and services of various kinds. But others, with good reason, might interpret it as code words for "contracting out" and "privatization" of city services.
Is Censorship the New Pluralism?
By Cal Thomas - PatriotPost.us
Pat Buchanan might have seen the end of the line coming at MSNBC when last month network president Phil Griffin commented on his latest book, "Suicide of a Superpower," by saying, "I don't think the ideas that (Buchanan) put forth are appropriate for the national dialogue, much less on MSNBC."
When Buchanan was let go last week after 10 years as a commentator on the network, no one was surprised.
I don't agree with some of Buchanan's ideas, especially regarding Jews, his questioning of whether World War II had to happen or whether the United States should be involved militarily in the Middle East, but he has every right to his ideas, as we all have the right to our own. It's called free speech.
Ron Paul after the AZ Republican Debate -
CNN - February 22, 2012
The Model for Presidential Character -- George Washington
By Mark Alexander - PatriotPost.us
The REAL President's Day
"A few short weeks will determine the political fate of America for the present generation, and probably produce no small influence on the happiness of society through a long succession of ages to come." --George Washington (1788)
George Washington's birthday (February 22, 1732) was spontaneously celebrated nationally from the date of his death in 1799 until 1879, when Congress officially established the observance. In 1971, however, the celebration was changed from the date of his birthday to the third Monday in February, and with that change arose the generic "Presidents' Day."
What Republican Elites Can Learn from the Arizona Debate
There's nothing to be done about the candidates. But the rhetoric on the right? It cost the GOP Wednesday. Its voters have been lied to for too long.
By Conor Friedersdorf - TheAtlantic.com
On an Arizona stage, clad in suits and ties and American flag lapel pins, the remaining GOP candidates debated for the 20th time Wednesday, when voters got perhaps their last chance to see Mitt, Rick, Ron, and Newt taking questions from timid Massachusetts moderate John King. The near consensus among commentators? A certain ornery, sweater-vested Pennsylvanian lost. "Rick Santorum's night was defined by explaining why he voted for things he opposed," National Review's Rich Lowry observed. "He didn't know when to let go on the earmark discussion, which he couldn't possibly win.... Overall, he was too defensive, too insider, too complicated."
Satan Is Not a Campaign Issue
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
In 2008, Rick Santorum spoke at Ave Maria University in Florida. There, he tackled the crucial issue of moral decline in America and did so in explicitly religious language. "Satan has his sights on the United States of America," he said. "Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition.
"He attacks all of us, and he attacks all of our institutions," he stated.
Now Santorum obviously has a right to his religious believes. And polls show that Americans agree with him that Satan exists -- 70 percent of Americans, according to Gallup, believe in the devil, and 69 percent believe in hell.
Apple 'has more money than it needs', says chief Tim Cook
Apple has fuelled expectations it will begin a major acquisition spree, after telling investors it has more cash than it knows what to do with.
By Katherine Rushton - Telegraph.co.uk
Tim Cook, who in August became chief executive of the world's biggest company by market value, said Apple's current $97.6bn (£62bn) in cash and investments had grown by nearly two-thirds in a year and was "more than we need to run a company".
He told its annual general meeting in Cupertino, California, that Apple was in "active discussions" about what to do with the cash pile. "The board and management team are thinking about this very deeply," Mr Cook said.
Group Files FTC Complaint
Against Google for Privacy Changes
By Grant Gross, IDG News
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission should force Google to halt its plan to consolidate user identities across its services and fine the company for violating an October privacy settlement with the agency, privacy group the Center for Digital Democracy said in a complaint filed Wednesday.
Google is not making the changes to its privacy policy to provide convenience to users, as it claims, but to better track them and deliver targeted advertising, the CDD complaint said. "Google has communicated its real plans to expand data targeting throughout all it services, and to better compete against Facebook, to its advertising customers," said Jeffrey Chester, CDD's executive director. "They have failed to tell the truth to consumers."
How Much Would it Cost to build the Death Star?
Centives.net
Building a massive space weapon is all very well, but you have to find the materials to build it with. It's easy to say that "sure, the Death Star would be expensive" but is there actually enough iron in the Earth to make the first Death Star? Centives decided to find out.
We began by looking at how big the Death Star is. The first one is reported to be 140km in diameter and it sure looks like it's made of steel. But how much steel? We decided to model the Death Star as having a similar density in steel as a modern warship. After all, they're both essentially floating weapons platforms so that seems reasonable.
NASA Will Pay You to Eat Astronaut Food for 4 Months
By Carol Pinchefsky - Forbes.com
You read that right. NASA wants volunteers for their four-month simulation to Mars. But instead of conducting tests on confinement and psychological stress, NASA just want to study your tastebuds.
According to Mashable, The space agency is looking for applicants to eat astronaut food for four months during a simulated trip to the Red Planet. Participants will try instant foods, and ones with shelf-stable ingredients, and scientists will record their reactions. The goal of the experiment is to discover what foods people like to consume consistently.
Astronaut ice cream aside, limited supplies (such as flour, sugar and dried meat), and no chance of fresh food limits the space-based diet. This study will gauge if participants can avoid “menu fatigue,” that is, becoming tired of eating the same foods. The study background states that if menu fatigue occurs, astronauts' "overall food intake declines, putting them at risk for nutritional deficiency, loss of bone and muscle mass, and reduced physical capabilities."
Putin praises Cold War moles for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets
By Steve Gutterman
(Reuters) - Vladimir Putin praised Cold War-era scientists on Thursday for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets so that United States would not be the world's sole atomic power, in comments reflecting his vision of Russia as a counterweight to U.S. power.
Spies with suitcases full of data helped the Soviet Union build its atomic bomb, he told military commanders.
"You know, when the States already had nuclear weapons and the Soviet Union was only building them, we got a significant amount of information through Soviet foreign intelligence channels," Putin said, according to state-run Itar-Tass.
Somalia urged to unite behind stable government
London conference seeking solution to 20-year conflict calls for dissolution of weak transitional regime in Mogadishu
By Mark Tran and Julian Borger - Guardian.co.uk
World leaders have pledged more help to combat terrorism and piracy inSomalia, but demanded that its politicians form a stable government and backed this up with a threat of sanctions against anyone deemed to be stalling progress.
The conference in London issued a joint statement calling for the dissolution of the weak transitional government that holds power in Mogadishu and in a limited amount of territory outside the capital, with the help of African Union and Ethiopian troops.
Blueprint for China to open up markets
Central bank plan to loosen controls on capital
By: Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing - CNBC.com
China should accelerate the loosening of capital controls, its central bank said, in a report outlining the path to a freely tradable currency and more open capital markets.
While China’s economy has grown dramatically over the past three decades, its financial markets have remained mostly closed off from the rest of the world. Opening the capital account would give foreigners far more access to Chinese stocks and bonds and help transform the renminbi into a global currency and potential rival to the dollar.
The proposal signals that officials in favor of bolder economic reforms may be trying to seize the initiative just months before a once in a decade leadership transition is announced.
DIA DIRECTOR: CHINA PREPARING FOR SPACE WARFARE
GROWING THREAT TO UNITED STATES
BY: Bill Gertz - FreeBeacon.com
Army Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, disclosed new details of China’s space weapons programs last week, including information regarding China’s anti-satellite missiles and cyber warfare capabilities.
Burgess stated in little-noticed written testimony prepared for an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee that Beijing is developing missiles, electronic jammers, and lasers for use against satellites.
Russia warns Israel not to attack Iran
By Alexei Anishchuk
(Reuters) - Russia warned Israel on Wednesday that attacking Iran would be a disastrous and played down the failure of a U.N. nuclear agency mission to Tehran, saying there is still a chance for new talks over the Iranian atomic program.
"Of course any possible military scenario against Iran will be catastrophic for the region and for the whole system of international relations," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told a news conference.
Iranian Scientist 'Sought Israel's Annihilation,' Says Widow
Semi-official Iranian news agency interviews widow of Mostafa Roshan – leaving no doubt as to nuclear program's goal.
By Gil Ronen - IsraelNationalNews.com
The wife of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, an Iranian nuclear scientist who was assassinated in Tehran in January, said Tuesday that her husband"sought the annihilation of the Zionist regime wholeheartedly," according toIran's semi-official Fars news agency.
"Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel," the agency quoted Fatemeh Bolouri Kashani as saying Tuesday.
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