Turkish court rejects Interpol Red Notice request for arrest Israeli generals.

Turkish court rejects Interpol Red Notice request for arrest Israeli generals.(TZ).

An İstanbul court which is hearing the case opened against retired Israeli military officicers over the raid of the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara humanitarian aid ship in May 2010 has rejected lawyers' request for an Interpol Red Notice for several high-ranking retired members of the Israeli army.

One plaintiff's lawyer, Cüneyt Karaman, told the judge that it is not possible to conduct a trial without suspects being present at the court, and thus the court should pursue an Interpol Red Notice for the accused former Israeli army members. However, the request was denied by the court.

The hearings were adjourned to March 27, 2014.Members of nongovernmental organizations on Thursday gathered outside the Çağlayan Courthouse and expressed their frustration over the trial not being brought to a conclusion. 

A crowd consisting of members of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) and Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), gathered outside İstanbul's Çağlayan Court with Palestinian and Turkish flags in their hands on Thursday, while the court was holding the 7th hearing of the trial, in which several high-ranking retired members of the Israeli military are accused of responsibility for the killing of eight Turks and one Turkish-American in the 2010 raid.

Several foreign plaintiffs who were present in the flotilla during the raid were also present at the court. Italian activist Manulo Luppicini explained how the Israeli forces raided the flotilla and stated that he was stripped of all his belongings by the Israeli soldiers and that he realized some amount of money had been taken from his bank accounts when he returned to Italy.

Numerous lawyers from Egypt, France, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Greece and Britain were also present at the hearing.The trial began on Nov. 6, 2011, and saw the attendance of a large number of attorneys from both Turkey and abroad as well as the flotilla activists and families of the victims.

The court is hearing charges filed against four of Israel's most senior retired commanders, including the ex-army chief, in absentia. Prosecutors are requesting life imprisonment for the officers who directed the raid.

Following Israel's recent apology to Turkey for the raid, the two countries began talks of compensation to be paid to the families of those who were killed or injured on the Mavi Marmara. Although there is an agreement with Israel over the parameters within which the compensation will be paid, a precise amount has not yet been determined.

Israel wants the lawsuits against its military officers to be dropped as part of the agreement on compensation.

The text of the apology offered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on March 22 said the two sides had agreed "to conclude an agreement on compensation [and] non-liability" of the Israeli military officers.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has identified the four accused as former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Gen. Rau Aluf Gabi Ashkenazi, Naval Forces Commander Vice Adm. Eliezer Marom, Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin and Air Force Intelligence head Brig. Gen. Avishai Levi.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Vanuatu 5.1 !More info here.

• This is not a Purim story: UN to condemn Israel for its treatment of women! (IsraelMatzav).You can't make this stuff up. The country that currently has three parties in the Knesset headed by women (Kadima, Labor and Meretz) is going to be the only country condemned by the UN for its treatment of women. However, the panel is expected to also an eight-clause resolution, determining that the "Israeli occupation" in territories, including East Jerusalem, is the main obstacle for the advancement of the Palestinian woman.The panel, which includes representatives from 45 countries, including Israel, is considered to be one of the UN's most active and respected bodies.Responding to the decision to condemn Israel, Israeli envoy to the UN Ron Prosor told Haaretz that the "council's bring levels of absurdity and cynicism to new heights.""The thousands of Syrian women butchered, tortured, raped and trampled under Assad's iron boot don't even get a passing mention in the panel's decisions," Prosor added. Nor do the Saudis, whose women need a male guardian to venture outdoors, nor do the 'Palestinians' who regularly murder women over 'family honor, nor do the Egyptians, whose women are regularly sexually harassed, nor do the Iranians or any of the Arab countries. Only the Jooos, who happen to treat women better than any other country within 1,000 miles of here.Hmmmmm.......United Nutcases?Read the full story here.

• Iranian women get naked to protest their role as second-class citizens.......Where's the U.N. outrage? (BNI).A group of Iranian women living abroad have recorded a video message in which they defend women’s rights – while posing topless. The women speak straight to the camera, explaining their reasons for posing nude: “My nudity is a ‘no’ to stoning to death,” “For those who want to but can’t…”, and even: “Why not?”“The Islamic laws Iranian women are subjected to are what’s pornographic, since they define women as sexual objects”8 March 2012 International Women’s Day – the Nude Photo Revolutionaries Calendar is being launched in homage to Egyptian atheist, student and blogger Aliaa Magda Elmahdy who posted a nude photo of herself, announcing the post on Twitter under the hashtag, #NudePhotoRevolutionary.The calendar is the idea of campaigner Maryam Namazie to support Aliaa Magda Elmahdy and join her ‘screams against a society of violence, racism, sexism, sexual harassment and hypocrisy’.Namazie says: ‘What with Islamism and the religious right being obsessed with women’s bodies and demanding that we be veiled, bound, and gagged, nudity breaks taboos and is an important form of resistance.’The calendar is designed by SlutWalk Co-founder Toronto, Sonya JF Barnett who says: ‘I felt that women needed to stand in solidarity with Aliaa. It takes a lot of guts to do what she did, and the backlash is always expected and can quite hurtful. She needed to know that there are others like her, willing to push the envelope to express outrage.’Read the full story here.

• Obama allowing Turkey to reverse engineer US weaponry.(IsraelMatzav).President Obama loves Turkey and its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan so much that he's decided to let the Turks reverse engineer American weaponry (Hat Tip: Joshua I). Turkey makes no secret of its desire to bolster its domestic armament industry. And yet President Obama has provided Prime Minister Erdogan with the exact same technology which Turkey now seeks to manufacture. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that Turkey now brags it has reaped billions of dollars during the past few years selling advanced weaponry. It should come as no surprise that Saudi Arabia is Turkey’s best customer.Hmmmm.........Both carry the same 'love' for Israel.Read the full story here.

• Berlin Funeral for Dead Muslim Thug Looks Like Something Out of the Gaza Strip.(IVE).Yesterday I posted about how Muslim thugs in Berlin were promising revenge after a German man they were attacking stabbed one of them to death. These are pictures from the dead Muslim's funeral procession. There were shouts of "Allahu Akbhar!" As PI noted, these photographs could have come from the Gaza Strip.On police advice, the German man who killed the Muslim in self-defence has moved out of the area with his family to stay with relatives.See chilling video of it here.Read the full story here.More here.

• Muslim persecution of Copts In Egypt.(AEB).First of all I’d like to say that the problem with the Muslim persecution of Copts in Egypt is that it’s indirect, for instance: the state allows building 10 or 20 Churches to show how they are tolerant with building Churches while banning 300 churches and allow 5 or 6 Copts for high posts to show they are tolerant toward the Coptic people while disallowing 7000. Muslim people smile in your face and stab you in the back. Muslims are not just are persecuting Copts but also frightened of taking the consequences of such shameful act which is the real problem: this is why the Muslim persecution of Copts is a Kind of Stealth persecution enough to make even some Copts believe there is no persecution..The Persecution is practiced by the entire Muslim Egyptian nation not just by the Muslim people or just the regime as the well known Muslim writer Alaa’ Alaswani used to say, the regime persecute Coptic people to avoid wrath of the Muslim people because if they are fair to Copts ,the Muslim people will go mad, the regime never forget that Muslims assassinated Sadat for the peace treaty with “Jews”, the regime reads history and never forget that Muslim people in 735AD assassinated the Muslim governor Waleed Bin Refa’ah when he allowed Coptic people to build a church …The persecution by the state is....Read the full story here.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Russia 5.3 - 5.1 ; Japan 5.4 - 5.2 ; Vanuatu 5.1  !More info here.

• ATF Implicated in another DHS Agent's Death; Where is Napolitano's Outrage?(BN).This new development could indicate that Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator Chuck Grassley have come into possession of the best evidence yet that ICE Agent Jaime Zapata's murder was a direct result of an ATF Fast and Furious type operation. It involves a man named Manuel Barba, whom I posted about here last week. Barba had been convicted of trafficking a weapon connected to Zapata's death without the Zapata family being notified. That is noteworthy in itself.On the heels of that astonishing news, Issa and Grassley have sent another letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and it contains information that may indicate exactly why the DOJ wanted to let Barba's prosecution fly under the radar.To this point, there have been three other men with ties to guns that were used in Zapata's murder but they reportedly weren't under ATF surveillance at the time. Though they had plenty of reason to be. The names of those three other men are Otilio and Rafael Osorio and Kelvin Morrison. The addition of Barba to this grouping may point directly to a Fast and Furious style operation that led to Zapata's murder, which would seemingly contradict a statement made by an ATF spokesman.Here is a portion of the letter to Holder I had sitting in my inbox from Issa Press Secretary Becca Watkins this morning.Read the full story here.

• 20 Signs That Dust Bowl Conditions Will Soon Return To The Heartland Of America.(BLN).By Michael Snyder.For decades, the heartland of America has been the breadbasket of the world. Unfortunately, those days will shortly come to an end. The central United States is rapidly drying up and dust bowl conditions will soon return. There are a couple of major reasons for this. Number one, the Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted at an astounding pace. The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the entire world, and water from it currently irrigates more than 15 million acres of crops. When that water is gone we will be in a world of hurt. Secondly, drought conditions have become the “new normal” in many areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and other states in the middle part of the country. Scientists tell us that the wet conditions that we enjoyed for several decades after World War II were actually the exception to the rule and that most of time time the interior west is incredibly dry. They also tell us that when dust bowl conditions return to the area, they might stay with us a lot longer than a decade like they did during the 1930s. Unfortunately, without water you cannot grow food, and with global food supplies as tight as they are right now we cannot afford to have a significant decrease in agricultural production. But it is not just the central United States that is experiencing the early stages of a major water crisis. Already many other areas around the nation are rapidly developing their own water problems. As supplies of fresh water get tighter and tighter, some really tough decisions are going to have to be made. Fresh water is absolutely essential to life, and it is going to become increasingly precious in the years ahead.Most Americans have never even heard of the Ogallala Aquifer, but the truth is that it is one of the most important bodies of water on the globe. It covers well over 100,000 square miles and it sits underneath the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota.Water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer is used to water more than 15 million acres of crops. Without this source of water, the United States would not be the breadbasket of the world.That is why what is happening right now is so alarming.The following are 20 signs that dust bowl conditions will soon return to the heartland of America….

1. The Ogallala Aquifer is being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute.
2. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, since 1940 “a volume equivalent to two-thirds of the water in Lake Erie” has been permanently lost from the Ogallala Aquifer.
3. Decades ago, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average depth of approximately 240 feet, but today the average depth is just 80 feet. In some areas of Texas, the water is gone completely.Read the full story here.

• Google offers $1 million reward to hackers who exploit Chrome.(DR).There's security and then there's security.Google has pledged cash prizes totaling $1 million to people who successfully hack its Chrome browser at next week's CanSecWest security conference.Google will reward winning contestants with prizes of $60,000, $40,000, and $20,000 depending on the severity of the exploits they demonstrate on Windows 7 machines running the browser. Members of the company's security team announced the Pwnium contest on their blog on Monday. There is no splitting of winnings, and prizes will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis until the $1 million threshold is reached....At last year's competition, Internet Explorer and Safari were both toppled but no one even attempted an exploit against Chrome (despite Google offering an additional $20,000 beyond the $15,000 provided by contest organizer Tipping Point).Chrome is currently the only browser eligible for Pwn2Own never to be brought down. One reason repeatedly cited by contestants for its lack of attention is the difficulty of bypassing Google's security sandbox.Read the full story here.

• Iran: Only military can decide if IAEA can visit Parchin.(JPost).TEHRAN - It is up to Iran's military to decide whether UN nuclear inspectors can visit a site they want to see as part of their investigation of Iranian nuclear activities, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday.The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that it had requested access to the Parchin military facility during high-level talks in Tehran earlier this month, but that the Iranian side had not granted it.The IAEA had hoped that Iran would start addressing its mounting concerns about possible military links to the Iranian nuclear program but made no progress in its talks.Iran rejects Western accusations that it is secretly trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability and says it wants nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes, notably electricity generation and medical uses.The official IRNA news agency quoted Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, as saying IAEA inspectors could visit the country's nuclear sites "whenever they want."But "Whether or not IAEA inspectors can visit Parchin will be a decision for the country's military officials," he said, adding that his organization was under no obligation "to show them anywhere they ask to visit in the country."The IAEA's request to visit Parchin, a military complex southeast of Tehran, followed a report the Vienna-based agency issued in November suggesting Iran had pursued military nuclear technology. This helped precipitate the latest round of US and EU sanctions on Iran.The report said the IAEA had information that Iran had built a large containment chamber at the Parchin complex to conduct high-explosives tests. There were "strong indicators of possible weapon development," the agency said.Suspicions about activities at the Parchin complex date back at least to 2004, when a prominent nuclear expert said satellite images showed it might be a site for research and testing relevant to nuclear weapons.UN inspectors visited Parchin in 2005, but did not see the place where the IAEA now believes the explosives chamber was built.Read the full story here.

• Gaza, Jerusalem, Nicosia, Baku.(HD).Since Turkey decided to isolate Israel in the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara raid in which Israeli commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American in May 2010, the events have not exactly taken the route Ankara wished them to take. A well-deserved apology for the Israeli fiasco and the unnecessary loss of life has never arrived. Nor has compensation for the families of the victims. And the termination of Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip remains a Turkish dream. Meanwhile, two-way trade between Turkey and Israel rose by nearly 30 percent to $4.449 billion last year from $3.440 billion in 2010. In the same period, Turkish imports from the Jewish state rose more than 50 percent. Turkey’s “brotherly” relations with its southern and eastern Muslim neighbors – Syria, Iraq and Iran – have metamorphosed into something reminiscent of relations among brothers claiming the Ottoman throne. In the meantime, Israel has cultivated closer ties with Balkan countries such as Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece. It has also put in more effort to strengthen ties with Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, India and China. But the brawl goes on. In December, an Israeli defense company, Elbit, canceled a sale of hi-tech surveillance systems to the Turkish Air Force. More recently, Turkey imposed tighter restrictions on Israeli cargo flights entering the Turkish airspace, leading to economic losses for Israeli companies.If the “Israeli defense officials” chose the timing to announce the lucrative Azeri deal, they must have a genuine sense of humor: A $1.6 billion handshake between Israel and “one nation-two states” Azerbaijan on the same day when the other of the (one nation) two states was exhibiting solidarity for the Azeri victims of Karabakh in demonstrations previously unseen!If there is one region that is the ostensible reason for all this reshuffling of political balances in this part of the world, it is Gaza (see Ömer Çelik, deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party, who said that the “Gaza conflict is Turkey’s domestic issue”). If there should be another, it is Jerusalem.Now we have Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay swinging his sword in the Battle for Jerusalem. A few days ago, Mr. Atalay said Jerusalem had to be freed of Israeli occupation if a lasting settlement was to reign in the Middle East. “Without the liberation of Jerusalem,” he said, “No real peace and stability can be achieved.” Speaking at the International Conference for the Defense of Jerusalem in Doha, Qatar, Mr. Atalay described Jerusalem as “a captive city in the hands of Israel.”Hmmmm.......I think The US could solve it's energy probs if only they could catch and transform all the 'hot air' coming from Turkey in energy.Read the full story here.

• Defense Minister: US to Face New Environment in Battle with Iran.(Fars).Tehran - Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi warned about the country's crushing response to any aggressive move by the enemies, and said Iran has not revealed all its capacities and capabilities and the US and its allies will face a new realm and environment if they dare to enter war with Iran. "Undoubtedly, since our defense is an independent and defensive one based on our own defensive policies, special defense doctrines and our own indigenous defense and internal capabilities, the US will face a completely new environment when gets involved with the new issues that Iran is pursuing and it will be obliged to think of this new environment," Vahidi told FNA on Tuesday. He underlined the US Armed Forces' passivity in confronting Iran's military programs, and said, "Naturally, they cannot reach this point since we have not displayed all our capabilities and capacities." Iran has recently renewed and upgraded the weapons and defense systems of its air defense units. Late in September, Iran equipped its air defense units across the country with large numbers of the home-made Mersad Air Defense Missile System. In November and during the massive air defense exercises in Iran, the power, capability, weapons and military systems of the Rapid Reaction units of Iran's Air Defense Force were tested. The Iranian Air Defense Force's rapid reaction units used their state-of-the-art, home-made weapons and systems, including multi-frequency radar equipment, anti-aircraft canons and different types of air defense missiles to force hypothetical enemy aircraft out of the country's air space. Later in the drills, the rapid reaction units tested their ability against the hypothetical enemies' surprised night raids and blitzkrieg with full radio silence.Read the full story here.

• Al-Shabab Migrates to Yemen.(BM).SANA’A: Amid leaking intelligence pointing to the American militarization of the Arabian Peninsula, as it prepares for a potential armed conflict with Iran, and steps up its “War on Terror” in the region, officials in Somalia announced that hundreds upon hundreds of al-Shabab Jihadists fighters were headed for Yemen in a bid to join up with al-Qaeda there.Reports already confirmed that as many as 8 boats had left Kismayu port in Somalia for Yemen in the past 48 hours alone. Since informants advanced that each boat had an 100 person capacity, 800 armed militants could be now heading for the shore of the poorest and most unstable country in the Arabian Peninsula.The Jihadist mercenaries, also known as al-Mujahedeen al-Muhajereen (the migrants jihadists), could be now turning their attention towards Yemen and its Ansar al Shariah as they believe their task in Somalia complete, while Yemen’s campaign was only starting.Even since the beginning of the Yemeni popular uprising, al-Qaeda fighters in the country used the power vacuum left by the protests to further their territorial ambitions in the tribal southern provinces of Abyan and Mareb, seizing towns and villages.Emboldened by the government’s inability to thwart their moves, al-Qaeda declared a few months ago that it aimed at setting up an Islamic Caliphate in Yemen, returning to an ancestral governing system based solely on the Muslims scriptures.In February, al-Shabab declared in a statement that it was looking at partnering with al-Qaeda in Yemen in a bid to control the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, saying it had already sent dozens of fighters.Read the full story here.

Gospel of Barnabas Text that reveals Jesus’ prediction of Mohammed a fake?

Gospel of Barnabas Text that reveals Jesus’ prediction of Mohammed a fake?Turkey says it has acquired a 1,500-year-old Bible in which Jesus Christ is believed to have foretold the advent of Prophet Mohammed, according to press reports.Pope Benedict XVI has reportedly requested to see the book, which has been hidden in Turkey for the last 12 years before it was revealed this week.
The book in question, appraised at a value of $28 million, is said to contain Jesus’ prediction of the Prophet Mohammad’s coming; but the book was suppressed by the Christian Church for years due its similarities to the Islamic view of Jesus. This, according Turkish culture and tourism minister Ertugrul Gunay.“In line with Islamic belief, the Gospel treats Jesus as a human being and not a God. It rejects the ideas of the Holy Trinity and the Crucifixion and reveals that Jesus predicted the coming of the Prophet Mohammed,” Gunay told the UK’s Daily Mail.“In one version of the gospel, he is said to have told a priest: ‘How shall the Messiah be called? Mohammed is his blessed name’. And in another, Jesus denied being the Messiah, claiming that he or she would be Ishmaelite, the term used for an Arab,” he added.
According to the report, carried by Gulf newspapers and the Saudi Al-Arabiyya news network, Muslims believe the text, which many say is the Gospel of Barnabas, is an addition to the original gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. St. Barnabas is traditionally identified as the founder of the Cypriot Church, an early Christian later named an apostle.Gunay said the Vatican has officially requested to see the book, which Turkey had discovered during a police anti-smuggling operation in 2000.Read the full story here.

According to Timothymichaellaw:

If Turkey can prove it is from 500 AD it obviously scores a huge point since Mohammed doesn’t come until the end of that century, and thus the book would clearly be a prophecy about his coming. Lots at stake then, and no surprise the Turkish authorities are not so readily handing it over to the Vatican and are instead keeping it under military control.What could be really funny is that at the bottom it appears to read something like 1500 AD. It is admittedly tough to read, but it would quite a mistake to claim it is 1500 years old when it was produced in 1500. This date would also conform to what most scholarship believes anyway, that this gospel was produced around this time.
Another colleague just wrote:
Another modern fake, I’m afraid – hence the gold ink, and the uncured skins. (Forgers are obsessed with using skins instead of vellum or paper.) For once the forger seems to know some Syriac, but not very well. Not sure about the last date – looks like 1500 of ‘our Lord’, which is itself very dubious!
Anyway, this is interesting but read it with discernment:

Aydoğan Vatandaş, a Today’s Zaman journalist and author who has written two books on the Gospel of Barnabas, said there is no clue that the Bible mentioned in the Turkish press dates back to 1,500 years ago, but he said it is sure that the Gospel of Barnabas had been written in the Aramaic language and Syriac alphabet.Read the full story here.

China, India plan Iran oil cuts of 10% or more

As of January 2012, Iran exports 22% of its oil to China, 14% to Japan, 13% to India, 10% to South Korea, 7% to Italy, 7% to Turkey, 6% to Spain and the remainder to France, Greece ( other European countries), Taiwan, Sri Lanka, South Africa.

China, India plan Iran oil cuts of 10% or more.(JPost).Beijing/NewDelhi - China, India and Japan are planning cuts of at least 10 percent in Iranian crude imports as tightening US sanctions make it difficult for the top Asian buyers to keep doing business with the OPEC producer.
The countries together buy about 45 percent of Iran's crude exports. The reductions are the first significant evidence of how much crude business Iran could lose in Asia this year as Washington tries to tighten a financial noose around Tehran.European Union ban on Iran oil imports, which comes into effect on July 1, to restrict the flow of vital foreign exchange to Tehran under pressure over its nuclear program.
Japan is close to an agreement with Washington on the size of cuts needed to win waivers from the US sanctions, two ministers said. The Yomiuri newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said the two sides would settle on an 11 percent cut.
The Indian government is pushing its refineries to cut imports by at least 10 percent, two sources said. India has said it will not abide by US unilateral sanctions, so its response could indicate the increasing uncertainty of doing business with Iran.
China's Unipec, the trading arms of Sinopec Corp, is likely to cut imports by 10 percent to 20 percent under 2012 supply contracts, a Chinese industry executive with direct knowledge of the deal said.
Reuters calculates China's total cuts this year will amount to about 14 percent.
In a further blow to Tehran, East Asian purchases of Iranian fuel oil is set to slump to a six-month low in March, according to comments from Singapore-based oil traders and an examination of shipping reports.
India is Iran's second-biggest crude buyer after China. Iran provides about 12 percent of India's demand, or 370,000 barrels per day (bpd).
New Delhi indicated refineries should cut their imports from Iran by about 10-15 percent in the year through March 2013, one source said.
Another source said the cut should be "substantial."Still, sanctions are cutting off payments routes. India's refiners have used Turkey's state-controlled Halkbank for payments to Iran in euros since the middle of 2011, but are unsure how long that route will last given tougher EU sanctions. Turkey is seeking membership of the EU.Hmmmm.....Turkey imports at least 175,000 barrels a day from Iran and intends to increase it's import they don't need a waiver and risk no sanctions since they're Obama's 'trusted' allies.Read the full story here.

Iran giving contradictory signals to Certain EU Members.

Iran giving contradictory signals to Certain EU Members.(JPost).Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Salehi took a conciliatory tone on Tehran's relations with Europe on Monday, a day after cutting off oil sales to two key countries, saying that Europeans and Iran need one another, Iran's Mehr News reported.
Salehi said he believes relations with Europe will soon return to their "earlier state," adding that the current deteriorated state of ties cannot continue for long."Europeans cannot be needless of us, and Iran, due to its old relations with European countries, needs Europe," he said.
On Sunday, Iran announced that it had stopped selling crude oil to British and French companies, a retaliatory measure against the latest round of European sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil.
"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website.In a contradictory report, Iranian broadcaster PressTV quoted Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Kalebani, as threatening to stop selling oil to additional European countries.
Kalebani reportedly said Tehran would take further measures if "EU hostilities continue," according to PressTV, which listed Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Italy and Portugal as countries that could be targeted.China rebuked Iran on Monday for stopping oil sales to British and French companies over the weekend, calling for renewed efforts at dialogue over an escalating stand-off over Tehran's controversial nuclear program."We have consistently upheld dialogue and negotiation as the way to resolve disputes between countries, and do not approve of exerting pressure or using confrontation to resolve issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said when asked about Iran's ban on oil sales to British and French firms.Hmmmmm.......Read the full story here.

Related - 'Japan to win exemption from Iran sanctions by US'.(JPost).Tokiyo - Japan is likely to win an exemption from US sanctions by reducing its imports of crude oil from Iran by at least 11 percent per year, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Tuesday.
The two countries reached an agreement at talks last week, with a formal deal expected by the end of this month, the report said, citing unnamed sources.
The United States, angry over Iran's nuclear program, wants Japan, to cut back on Iranian imports.
Japan is the third-biggest customer for Iranian oil. It needs to import more oil in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, and the country's refiners have yet to make significant cuts, awaiting the Japanese government's instructions.
The United States says it will punish financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank, the main clearing house for oil revenues. A country can earn a waiver from the sanctions if it significantly reduces trade with Iran.
The US sanctions, which President Barack Obama signed into law in December, would penalize financial institutions for undertaking transactions with Iran's central bank, exposing the US operations of Japanese banks that deal with Iran.
As of January 2012, Iran exports 22% of its oil to China, 14% to Japan, 13% to India, 10% to South Korea, 7% to Italy, 7% to Turkey, 6% to Spain and the remainder to France, Greece ( other European countries), Taiwan, Sri Lanka, South Africa.
Hmmmm.....Turkey imports at least 175,000 barrels a day from Iran and intends to increase it's import they don't need a waiver and risk no sanctions since they're Obama's 'trusted' allies.Read the full story here.

'Strait' partners: Iran and Oman to carry out joint naval exercises.

Strait partners: Iran and Oman to carry out joint naval exercises.(RT).An Iranian Navy commander says his country is set to conduct naval exercises with nearby ally Oman in March. Iran looks to be on its way to major naval power status, fighting piracy and cooperating with other countries in the region.
Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the exercises will involve joint rescue and relief operations. He expressed his country’s readiness to cooperate militarily with other countries in the region in an effort to ensure the peace and stability of the Middle East.
Iran and Oman occupy opposite shores of the Strait of Hormuz. They have already conducted two drills together, in 2009 and 2011. Last year’s included four vessels, two fighter jets and one maritime helicopter under Omani command, with four Iranian naval ships.
With Iran’s decision to cut off oil supplies to France and the United Kingdom in response to the EU’s decision to ban Iranian oil imports, the country is on the lookout for new customers for its energy sector. Iran’s First Vice President Mohammez Reza Rahimi recently visited Oman to discuss the gas trade, and back in 2009 the countries agreed to jointly develop a 200-kilometer underwater gas pipeline. In September 2011, the National Iranian Gas Export Company said Iran had reached an agreement to export gas to Oman and India.
Over the past few years, Iran’s presence in international waters has been on the rise, with vessels visiting locations as far off as the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.Hmmmm.......I'm still Waiting to see Turkey to join in.Read the full story here.

"Sanctions that Benefit" Turkey welcomes large number of Iranian firms.

"Sanctions that Benefit" Turkey welcomes large number of Iranian firms.(HD).The number of Iranian firms established in Turkey registered a record increase last year, according to Anatolia news agency.Some 590 Iranian firms were established while the number of Iranian joint ventures hit a total of 2,140.
Iran was also the number-one country in terms of the increase in the number of firms in Turkey, hitting 41 percent in 2011.The sectors the international firms showed an interest in mainly spanned wholesale and retail trade, real estate leasing, transportation, communications and storage.
Some 347 of those firms had an authorized capital exceeding $500,000.Some 1,547 of these firms came from the European Union, while 412 of them were from other European countries. Another 1,245 of them came from the Middle East.Hmmmm........Obama said the United States is confident the world is "unified around Iran's ... This means crippling sanctions and these sanctions must be applied right now,"Read the full story here.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Japan 5.1!More info here.

• CNN’s Zakaria Papers Over Mass Murder....Iran doesn't commit suicide bombings, Frighteningly his bio promotes Zakaria as “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation”.(AIM).Fareed Zakaria of CNN has written a column for The Washington Post that serves as an excuse for letting Iran develop and acquire nuclear weapons. MJ Rosenberg, Senior Foreign Policy Fellow at Media Matters Action Network and contributor to Al-Jazeera, was absolutely ecstatic, saying Zakaria had done “a terrific job destroying some arguments for war with Iran,” and that he had done so by “citing history.” But Zakaria’s “history lesson” gets an “F.”Touting the theory of mutually assured destruction, which prevented the U.S. and the Soviet Union from annihilating one another with nuclear weapons, Zakaria suggested that Iran could be deterred from using nuclear weapons. He quoted Gideon Rose, the editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, as saying that deterrence “is less disastrous than preventive war.” Rose is a former National Security Council official in the Clinton Administration and a prominent official of the Council on Foreign Relations.Zakaria said that “While the Iranian regime is often called crazy, it has done much less to merit the term than did a regime such as Mao’s China. Over the past decade, there have been thousands of suicide bombings by Saudis, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians and Pakistanis, but not been a single suicide attack by an Iranian.”This is deceptive to the point of dishonesty. Why would he go back in history to the time of Mao’s China, but only examine suicide bombings over the last ten years?The answer is that the facts about Iranian suicide bombings do suggest a craziness on the part of the regime. The strange formulation of “over the past decade” enabled him to ignore the fact that, on October 23, 1983, Iran ordered and carried out the suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 American military personnel. An Iranian drove the car bomb into the barracks.Hmmmm......And Iran funds hundreds of foreign terrorists........ever heard of Hamas?Read the full story here.

• Iran stops oil sales to British, French companies: official.(HurriyetDaily).Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday. "Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website. The move appeared to be in retaliation for a decision by the European Union in January to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this. Iran's oil minister said on Feb. 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to "some" European countries. "We have our own customers ... The replacements for these companies have been considered by Iran," Nikzad said.Read the full story here.

• Karzai tells Americans: don’t talk to Taliban ‘on our behalf’.(Dawn).ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai may have struggled in Pakistan to get the desired support for reconciliation with the Taliban, but his trip revealed that he was not on the same page with the Americans about their peace efforts despite having endorsed the establishment of group’s office in Qatar.“Americans cannot negotiate on our behalf with the Taliban and with us on behalf of the Taliban,” President Karzai, who was visibly uneasy with the Qatar initiative, told a group of journalists.He was quick to clarify his government’s withdrawal of objection to the Taliban setting up their liaison office. “We only and only agreed to the establishment of office of the Taliban in Qatar. … Venue of talks, actual talks between us and Taliban, should be something we decide. Our preference is Saudi Arabia or Turkey.”Mr Karzai’s statement and what he portrayed as “intellectually candid” discussion with the Pakistani delegation at the bilateral meeting (that was seen by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar as “hard talk”) reflect a serious disconnect between the stakeholders in the Afghan peace process and growing frustration in Kabul about not being meaningfully involved by the US in the process and Pakistan supposedly not delivering the Taliban leaders for peace talks. The Taliban, meanwhile, haven’t unambiguously indicated their willingness to participate in the peace process.Apparently the scenario looks confusing and it’s unclear how the process would go ahead despite the excitement about Qatar office.It appears that Pakistan has its eyes fixed on post-2014 situation whereby Nato would, as per its commitment, have completed its drawdown and an unclear future for Mr Karzai, who wouldn’t be able to run for another term after completing two tenures.Under this emerging setting Mr Karzai has expanded his contacts beyond the government in Islamabad and has engaged with political and religious leaders, who he thinks could be helpful to him.Starting with meetings with Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI-F and PML-N after his arrival, the Afghan president stayed for an extra day after the conclusion of the trilateral summit and met with JUI-S chief and Taliban’s ‘spiritual leader’ Maulana Samiul Haq, PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Mushahid Hussain, ANP delegation led by Haji Adeel, PPP-S leader Aftab Sherpao and PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai.The common strand in all these meetings was a plea for support to the reconciliation efforts and stopping Taliban insurgents from using Pakistani soil for attacks against Afghanistan.Read the full story here.

• Police arrest 11 Palestinians near Temple Mount.(JPost).Police arrested 11 Palestinians during clashes with stone-throwers who targeted tourists at the Temple Mount on Sunday.Three officers were wounded during the clashes, Police Spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said, describing the incident as a "disturbance on the Temple Mount."Stone-throwers attacked a group of Christian tourists that were visiting the site. At least 40 officers entered the Temple Mount to deal with the situation, where Rosenfeld said some 50 Palestinians were participating in the rock throwing.Police arrested three suspects on the scene who were involved directly in the attacks. By the afternoon, police announced that eleven people had been arrested, nine of whom were minors who were caught throwing stones.Rosenfeld said the Waqf, which manages the Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount, participated with police to quiet the tense situation.Despite Palestinian claims of religious Jews trying to storm the Temple Mount, police said that no Jews were around the site. The incident came after unfounded Palestinians reports that a group of "religious [Jewish] Israelis" tried to "storm" the Temple Mount - where the Aksa mosque and Dome of the Rock are located - on Sunday morning, according to Jordanian semi-official newspaper Ad-Dustour.Palestinian sources claimed over the weekend that a group of Jews would attempt to storm the Temple Mount in order to "strengthen Israeli sovereignty over the site," according to the Jordanian newspaper.Read the full story here.

• The sins of the fathers.(Dawn)By Fahad Faruqui. Shakila was only eight-years-old when she and her cousin were abducted from their home. One night, men armed with AK-47s barged into her house and dragged her out as recompense for dishonoring an influential man in the district.You may wonder how a girl of such tender age could have dishonored a grown up? Well, she had nothing to do with the offense; the wealthy man’s wife, however, had eloped with Shakila’s uncle. And the wealthy man wanted compensation the traditional way.The young girls were confined in a dark room for three months. After about six months, they were allowed to wash their clothes for the first time. For sustenance, they were provided bread and water every alternate day. And they were repeatedly beaten.“They tortured us in a way that no human being would treat another,” Shakila said to the New York Times.Shakila’s case is not a unique one when we talk of Afghanistan; young girls are given away to make up for the wrongdoings of others, including murder, adultery and anything that’s not condoned by society. This custom dates back to jahiliyyah (the age of ignorance).This cultural form of justice — in which a girl is traded to settle the dispute — is called “baad.” The practice was deemed illegal as per the Elimination of Violence against Women Act of 2009, but it continues to prevail in Afghanistan. The reason given for the practice is the corruption in the legal system, due to which people resort to “jirgas,” where the local elders decide about what needs to be done. And, yes, giving away women to settle the dispute is in the cards.One can’t say how common it is for girls to be traded to nullify the wrongdoings of someone else in the family. Even if a girl is married to a member of the aggrieved family, it doesn’t mean that she won’t be maltreated. Taking a girl in marriage has the advantage of ensuring that the feud will not continue because, by hook or by crook, the two families become relatives.Shakila’s cousin escaped. And the beatings intensified for Shakila. One day she managed to escape and reach her sister’s house. The family was unable to recognise the malnourished Shakila.What’s most troubling is that the family is not against the practice — this should give you a sense of how deep-rooted this tradition is in Afghanistan (and of course Pakistan). What troubled them was the fact that at birth she was promised in marriage to her cousin in Pakistan, hence she was not their “property” to give away.“We did not mind giving girls,” Gul Zareen told the New York Times. “But she was not mine to give.”Read the full story here.

• Ukraine - Femen Topless Protesters Investigated Over Flag Abuse.(RN).In a first, Ukrainian topless protesters Femen face a criminal case in their home country, though not over their practice of stripping in public for a good cause.A group of unnamed Femen activists may end up in prison for up to four years over climbing onto the balcony of the residence of the Indian ambassador in Kiev and tearing down the Indian flag, local police said on Friday.The activists were enraged by the Indian Foreign Ministry ordering thorough checks into all Ukrainians aged 15 to 40 seeking to enter the country, saying it would help weed out the numerous prostitutes in search of a job.The protesters tore down the Indian flag, beat it about doors and windows and threw it on the ground. Despite temperatures of minus 4 degrees Celsius, all of them were topless.The incident resulted in two cases opened on separate charges of hooliganism and desecration of state symbols, Ukrainian police said. No one was charged as of Friday evening.Femen, media darlings due to their methods of protests, have been active since 2008, staging political protests in Ukraine and outside the country. The group declared freedom of speech and protection of women’s rights as its goals.Group members never faced criminal cases before, getting away with fines or brief arrests. However, hapless activists who tried to stage a protest against the authoritarian ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in December reported severe abuse by local KGB, which beat them up, shaved them bald, stripped them naked and threw them out in a forest. The KGB denied the incident.Read the full story here.

Outrageous Iranian Anti - Semitism display! Iranian -French Co-production by Antisemitic French Comedian Dieudonné Presents Spoof on Auschwitz Gas Chambers

Transcript here - HT: Memri.

Pakistan Allies with Iran Against US.

Hamid Karzai (L),  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) and Asif Ali Zardari, why so cheerfull?

Pakistan Allies with Iran Against US.(RT).Pakistan has pledged to support Iran if the US launches a military attack against the Islamic Republic. The Pakistani president assured the Iranian leader that his country’s territory will not be used as a launch pad for such an assault.Should the United Stated decide to attack Iran, Pakistan will not support the move and will not allow the US to use its local airbases for military operations, the Pakistani leader Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday.
His assurances of support came during a meeting of the leaders of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan in Islamabad. The talks are seen as Pakistan’s way of sending a message of defiance to the US.
Meanwhile, Turkey has denied Israel the right to use intelligence from its NATO radar system. In the wake of a recent US-Israel joint missile test and the ongoing tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv, Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu said on Friday that any intelligence gathered by the NATO facilities should not be shared with a third country, especially if the country is Israel.Hmmmm.....Nobody else to blame for this Debacle than President Obama....'leading from behind'.Read the full story here.

'Regional Bully' Turkey warns Greek Cyprus on oil drilling ahead of Israeli PM visit

'Regional Bully' Turkey warns Greek Cyprus on oil drilling ahead of Israeli PM visit.(HD).Turkey warned Thursday that it will not allow under any circumstances foreign oil companies to conduct unauthorized oil and natural gas exploration and exploitation activities in the Eastern Mediterranean and will take all necessary measures to protect its rights in the areas within its continental shelf.
Turkey’s strong worded warning came after an announcement published in the EU Official Journal dated 11 February 2012 that the Greek Cypriot administration has called for a new international tender for off-shore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation within its so-called economic exclusive zone.
“We protest this unilateral step, which is both irresponsible and provocative, taken by the Greek Cypriots despite all warnings,” read the written statement made from the Foreign Ministry. Recalling that the move came amid ongoing unification talks between Turkish and Greek Cypriots, the statement repeated that this sort of explorations should have been made after parties reach an agreement and form a new partnership. “This situation would bring those international companies that might be interested in bidding for this illegal tender into confrontation with the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) and the TPAO (Turkish Petroleum Corporation) , and thus would lead to an undesired tension in the region,” the statement said.Hmmmm.......It's mine....All MINE! Read the full story here.

Iran Halts Oil Exports to 6 EU States - Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France, Greece and Portugal.

Iran Halts Oil Exports to 6 EU States - Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France, Greece and Portugal.(Fars).TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran stopped oil exports to Italy, Spain, Netherlands, France, Greece and Portugal, media reports said on Wednesday.According to a report by press tv, the move was in retaliation for the latest sanctions imposed by the EU against Iran's energy and banking sectors. Brent crude oil prices were up $1 a barrel to $118.35 shortly after the announcement. The announcement came after the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal and the Netherlands to protest at the EU's unilateral sanctions against Tehran over its peaceful nuclear program. The six European envoys were summoned to the foreign ministry on Wednesday. After months of debates, the EU member states reached an agreement in their meeting on January 23 to sanction oil imports from Iran and freeze the assets of Iran's Central Bank within the EU. Following the decision, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton claimed that the sanctions are aimed at pressuring Iran to return to talks over its nuclear program. Despite Ashton's claims, Iran has always underlined its preparedness to resume talks with the West but has meantime stressed that it will never accept any precondition for such talks. The Iranian oil ministry in a statement late January downplayed the effects of the US and EU's unilateral oil sanctions against Tehran, and said such embargoes will merely harm the European economies and oil consuming countries. European sanctions against Iran's oil exports will affect world economy and hurt European and non-European countries, the statement said. "The hurried decision by EU states to use oil as a political tool will have a negative impact on the world economy and specially on the recovering European economies which are fighting to overcome the global financial crisis," it added. The statement continued that since just 18 percent of oil produced by Iran is exported to European countries, the Islamic Republic can easily replace new markets with the European market.Hmmmmm......."Sanctions that benefit "Nato Ally" Turkey.Read the full story here.

Spielberg and Schindler’s List writer Steven Zaillian to make Armenian “Genocide” film.

Spielberg to make Armenian “Genocide” film.(ArmenianPulse).By Michael Santo.Both renowned producer-director Steven Spielberg and Schindler’s List writer Steven Zaillian are in negotiations with the Armenian National Cinema Center to develop a full-length feature film on the Armenian Genocide, Nouvelles d`Armйnie reports.Steven Spielberg and Zaillian collaborated on Schinder’s List. Spielberg also produced and directed the movie Munich.
It is hoped that the film will be ready by 2015, in time for the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The date of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide is conventionally held to be April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.The Armenian Genocide has also been called the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, the Great Crime. The number of Armenian deaths is generally held to have been between one and one and a half million.Turkey continues to deny the existence of the Armenian Genocide ever occurred. Instead, Turkey says that while that during World War I, many Armenians died, the number of Armenian victims has been greatly inflated.The country continues to face calls to accept the events of that period as genocide. Reportedly, to date, twenty countries have officially recognized the events of the period as genocide. Most historians also accept this view.
Gevorg Gevorgyan, Director of the Armenfilm studio and of the National Film Center in Yerevan said, “By the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide we must show the world a film that would be even more impressive than Mayrik or Ararat. Armenian and foreign actors will play in the film.”Read the full story here.

MFS -The Other News - What the main papers don't say.

  Morning Posting.

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity situation Japan 5.7 - 5.6 ; Equador 5.6 - 5.5 ; Tonga 5.3 ; Indonesia 5.1!More info here.

• Bill would give DHS broader control of cybersecurity, follows corporate-sponsored MIT study recommendations.(AP).By Madison Ruppert.In December of last year I covered a study conducted by MIT with the help of “advisers” from the exact corporations which would benefit from the implementation of the recommendations of the report, and now it appears that these ideas have made their way all the way to Capitol Hill.This bill, which is reportedly currently before Congress, would give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) significantly more monitoring power of the cybersecurity practices of private industries and services which are supposedly part of the United States’ critical infrastructure.The details of the bill have yet to be released, and I have not even been able to track down a number for the legislation yet so I can actually read it (if anyone can help me out with this I would be quite grateful).The small portions of the bill which have been made public attempt to define which companies are covered by the bill, although it is hardly as precise as one might like.Furthermore, I find it laughable that any legislation is allowed to be kept from the public at all, although given that our current government refuses to even justify why they think they are able to murder Americans without charge or trial, this is hardly unusual.The companies which will be affected by the bill have systems “whose disruption could result in the interruption of life-sustaining services, catastrophic economic damage or severe degradation of national security capabilities.”As I’m sure you can tell, this leaves a lot of wiggle room, something which legislators and bureaucrats love because it allows them to exploit the legislation as much as possible without technically violating it.A recent article in the Washington Post claims that the bill is just going to allow DHS to inspect the computer systems and networks which fall under this jurisdiction in order to determine if they are sufficiently secured against cybersecurity threats.I’m not sure if DHS and our so-called Representatives are aware, but our own deadly drone fleets are infected with malware. Maybe they should worry about securing the most critical of government systems before beginning to impose themselves on private industries.If they can’t even manage to secure unmanned aerial vehicles or Pentagon networks, who in their right mind would trust them to tell private industries what to do when it comes to securing their networks?This bill would allow the DHS to actually require companies to upgrade their systems and improve security if they decide they do not meet their arbitrary standards.Read the full story here.

• House panel advances Keystone pipeline plan.(Yahoo).WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A plan to fast-track the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline was passed by a key committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, as Republicans made yet another attempt to spur approval of the project that has become a major issue in the 2012 elections.The bill would wrest decision-making on the pipeline from the Obama administration and hand it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which would be compelled to issue approval permits quickly on the Canada-to-Texas project.But the plan would need to clear several more congressional hurdles, including getting through Democratic opposition in the Senate, before it could land on President Barack Obama's desk for approval.In a decision last month that pleased environmental groups, Obama blocked TransCanada's $7 billion project, citing the need for further review of its route as the line would have traversed sensitive lands and an aquifer in Nebraska.Republicans have made the pipeline a symbol of what they believe are unnecessary regulations that are stifling job creation and energy production in the United States.On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 33-20 to send its Keystone bill to the full House, where it will likely become part of a highway and infrastructure funding bill that House Speaker John Boehner wants to see passed this month.Republicans also have not ruled out trying to attach a Keystone provision to must-pass payroll tax-cut legislation."We're going to use all options, so we'll see," said Fred Upton, the Republican chair of the energy committee, who is also part of a joint Senate-House conference panel working on the payroll tax-cut compromise.On Tuesday, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch withdrew a proposal to link Keystone to the Senate's highway funding bill."It is absolutely tragic that the prime minister of Canada is now negotiating with the Chinese to take their oil because we're too stupid to allow a pipeline to go through," Hatch said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.Max Baucus, the Democratic chairman of the powerful panel, convinced Hatch to withdraw his measure."The inclusion of Keystone would take down the bill," Baucus said, although he noted he strongly supports the pipeline.Read the full story here.

• Iran: US, Israel vulnerable to counterattack.(JPost).The United States and Israel are in no position to launch a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities because of their high susceptibility to retaliatory attacks from the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian military commander said Tuesday.Iranian news agency Press TV quoted senior Revolutionary Guard official Brig.-Gen. Masoud Jazayeri as saying that both the US and Israel were aware of Tehran's ability to hurt them with its counterattack and therefore their threats lack credibility.The Tehran Times quoted Jazayeri as saying that Iran will continue to pursue its objectives without considering, what he referred to as, Washington's policy of "carrot and stick." The senior Revolutionary Guard official made the comments in response to remarks made by US President Barack Obama on Sunday in which he stated that diplomacy and not military action was the "preferred solution" to the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.The White House announced tough new sanctions on Iran Monday, clamping down on the activity of the country’s Central Bank and those who do business with it.In an interview with NBC on Sunday Obama emphasized the goal is to resolve this issue diplomatically, while reiterating that he will not take any options off the table.Asked whether Israel had promised to give advance warning of an attack, Obama declined to reveal the content of diplomatic conversations but said, “We are going to make sure we work in lockstep as we proceed to try to solve this, hopefully diplomatically.”Questioned on whether he supported such a strike, Obama responded, “I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do. I think they, like us, believe that Iran has to stand down on their nuclear weapons program.”Read the full story here.

• The Financial Crisis Of 2008 Was Just A Warm Up Act For The Economic Horror Show That Is Coming.(BS).The people out there that believe that the U.S. economy is experiencing a permanent recovery and that very bright days are ahead for us should have their heads examined. Unfortunately, what we are going through right now is simply just a period of “hopetimism” between two financial crashes. Things may seem relatively stable right now, but it won’t last long. The truth is that the financial crisis of 2008 was just a warm up act for the economic horror show that is coming. Nothing really got fixed after the crash of 2008. We are living in the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world, and it has gotten even bigger since then. The “too big to fail” banks are larger now than they have ever been. Americans continue to run up credit card balances like there is no tomorrow. Tens of thousands of manufacturing facilities and millions of jobs continue to leave the country. We continue to consume far more than we produce and we continue to become poorer as a nation. None of the problems that caused the crisis of 2008 have been solved and we are even weaker financially than we were back then. So why in the world are so many people so optimistic about the economy right now?Just take a look at the chart posted below. It shows the growth of total debt in the United States. During the financial crisis of 2008 there was a little “hiccup”, but the truth is that not much deleveraging really took place at all. And since the recession “ended”, total credit market debt has gone on to even greater heights….So what does this mean for the future?Well, if a small “hiccup” in the debt bubble caused so much chaos back in 2008, what is going to happen when this debt bubble finally bursts?That is something to think about.Sadly, most Americans seem oblivious to all of this.If you go out to malls in the wealthy areas of America today, people are charging up a storm. In all, Americans charged a whopping 2.5 trillion dollarson their credit cards during 2011. Way too many people have already forgotten the lessons that we all learned back in 2008.Read the full story here.

• Israel embassies preparing for Iran strike?(YNet).Preparing for Iran strike? Foreign embassies in Israel have recently started to formulate contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from the Jewish State in case of a missile attack on Israel.Senior officials in Jerusalem said that several diplomatic missions have shown great interest in preparing for various emergency situations, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday.In the framework of the preparations for possible fallout in case of an Israeli strike on Iran, foreign diplomats stationed in Israel requested that the Foreign Ministry equip them and their family members with gas masks. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry has provided foreign embassies in Israel with a list of public bomb shelters across the country, as well as an instructional pamphlet in English produced by the IDF Home Front Command. Diplomatic officials deployed in Israel are particularly concerned about the possibility of a missile offensive on the Jewish State that would prompt thousands of Israeli citizens with foreign passports to seek evacuation from country. A senior European diplomat said that in such case, the European Union does not have the means to undertake a massive evacuation operation within a short period of time. Meanwhile, the Home Front Command is preparing to launch a two-day drill in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday. IDF forces, firefighters, police officers and Magen David Adom emergency services will be taking part in the exercise. Army officials said that heavy military and emergency vehicle traffic is expected in the city's Shimshon neighborhood during the day. The drill marks the latest in a series of Home Front exercises held in Israel in recent months. The Air Force will also be holding major maneuvers Wednesday, in the northern Israel Galilee region.Read the full story here.

• 18 babies killed in Syria’s Homs as power cut.(BM).CAIRO: Activists in Homs have reported that at least 18 premature babies died on Wednesday at a local hospital after electricity was cut, causing their incubators to shut down.“The babies were in al-Walid Hospital in al-Waar neighbourhood near the dissident area of Baba Amr,” an activist told German press agency dpa.It comes as near continuous shelling is being maintained by the security forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the country, which has left hundreds of civilians dead over the past few days of shelling.At least 47 people have been killed on Wednesday morning in the country.“The security forces started to storm the al-Khalidiyeh, al-Inshaat, Bab Amr neighborhoods, targeting residential areas and hospitals,” Omar Idibi, spokesman of the Syrian opposition Local Coordination Committees, told dpa in Beirut.“Initial reports from inside Homs said 47 are killed and scores of people were injured and cannot reach the hospital,” he added.The government troops had arrested several injured people in the hospital where they were being treated, he said.Read the full story here.

• Will China take Stephen Harper to task for Canada’s record on human rights?(Yahoo).It's expected that prime minister Stephen Harper will raise the issue of China's human rights record this week while meeting with government officials in the middle kingdom.But will China take Canada to task for its record on human rights?In an ironic twist, a First Nations group from British Columbia is asking the Chinese government to raise the issue with Stephen Harper.In an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jin Tao, the Yinka Dene Alliance, comprised of five First Nations communities in central British Columbia, suggest their human rights are being violated at the hands of the Canadian government."We are writing to you to request that you raise our human rights concerns with Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. We understand that you will meet with him in China this week. From previous public reports we know that Prime Minister Harper always challenges your country on the human rights record. Open dialogue around human rights is a very positive way to create change and we hope that you to hear our side of the story before this meeting occurs," notes the letter signed by Chiefs from the alliance's five first nations."Aboriginal communities in Canada live at the margins of society conditions. Recently the community of Attawapiskat was highlighted in the news for the extreme conditions with lack of housing, running water and sewage. Attawapiskat is one of more than 100 First Nations communities in Canada that face this reality. These conditions violate the adequate standard of living guaranteed by theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights."The letter, published on the group's website, includes examples of human rights abuses against Aboriginal people: it notes their communities' disproportionate incarceration rates and the high number of aboriginal women that have gone missing or were murdered. The letter also warns the Chinese government of the legal uncertainty associated with the proposed Enbridge pipeline and tankers project:"We have learned that Sinopec, and a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), are among the companies that have signed preliminary, non-binding agreements with Enbridge in relation to this pipeline. The Canadian government's hearing process to review the Enbridge project cannot be relied upon to provide certainty to project investors, because it does not respect our rights to our land," notes the letter."Investors should not place confidence in Canada's system to review oil pipeline projects until the underlying question of our land rights has been resolved."Read the full story here.

• "Bold Alligator 2012" drills 20,000 troops on US East Coast for Persian Gulf action.(Debka). Some 20,000 marines, seamen and air crews from half a dozen countries, a US nuclear aircraft carrier strike group and three US Marine gunship carriers are practicing an attack on a fictitious mechanized enemy division which has invaded its neighbor. It is the largest amphibian exercise seen in the West for a decade, staged to simulate a potential Iranian invasion of an allied Persian Gulf country and a marine landing on the Iranian coast. Based largely on US personnel and hardware, French, British, Italian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand military elements are integrated in the drill. Bold Alligator went into its operational phase Monday, Feb. 6, the same day as a large-scale exercise began in southern Iran opposite the Strait of Hormuz. This simultaneity attests to the preparations for a US-Iranian showdown involving Israel behind the words on Feb. 5 of US President Barack Obama ("I don't think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran") and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 3 ("The war itself will be ten times as detrimental to the US.").Monday, Feb. 6, the US president ordered the tightening of sanctions by freezing Iranian assets in America and blocking the operations of Iranian banks including its central bank.US Rear Adm. Kevin Scott and Brig. Gen. Christopher Owens are coordinating the exercise over large stretches of coastal terrain in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida and Atlantic Ocean from the USS Wasp amphibian helicopter carrier. It is led by the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier with strike force alongside three amphibian helicopter carriers, the USS Wasp, the USS Boxer and the USS Kearsage. On their decks are 6,000 Marines, 25 fighter bombers and 65 strike and transport helicopters, mainly MV-22B Ospreys with their crews. Altogether 100 combat aircraft are involved.US naval officials insist that the exercise has nothing to do with Iran, but the scenario is a giveaway. A mechanized division from the fictitious hostile country of Garnet (Iran) has invaded its neighbor, Amber (Saudi Arabia), which has asked for coalition assistance to halt the enemy's northern advance. Garnet has already mined harbors (Hormuz) and established anti-ship missiles on its coastline.Coalition forces are required to develop strategy for defeating the enemy and carry the combat onto its (Iranian) soil. Hence, the preponderance of amphibian Marines in the exercise.Read the full story here.

• Top U.S. senators see Egypt risking ‘disastrous’ rupture in ties with Washington.(AlArabiya).A trio of leading U.S. senators Tuesday warned Egypt that the risk of a “disastrous” rupture in ties had “rarely been greater” amid an escalating row over the planned trial of U.S. pro-democracy activists.Echoed by a bipartisan chorus of anger from U.S. lawmakers, Republican senators John McCain and Kelly Ayotte, joined by independent Joe Lieberman, also warned that U.S. congressional “support for Egypt -- including continued financial assistance -- is in jeopardy.”Washington currently provides some $1.3 billion a year in aid to its key Arab ally -- one of the biggest aid packages offered to any nation.“The current crisis with the Egyptian government has escalated to such a level that it now threatens our long-standing partnership,” the senators wrote in a joint statement.“There are committed opponents of the United States and the U.S.-Egypt relationship within the government in Cairo who are exacerbating tensions and inflaming public opinion in order to advance a narrow political agenda,” they said, according to AFP. “A rupture in relations would be disastrous, and the risks of such an outcome have rarely been greater,” the senators added.Egyptian justices have announced plans to put dozens of pro-democracy activists, including 19 Americans, on trial over alleged illegal funding to foreign aid groups -- a move that has clearly left U.S. lawmakers seething.The row has led some to openly question the crucial Egypt-U.S. partnership that has anchored America’s Middle East policy for a generation and helped keep the peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.Democrat John Kerry, influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, berated Egypt’s leaders for what he said was a “slap in the face to Americans who have supported Egypt for decades and to Egyptian individuals and NGOs who have put their futures on the line for a more democratic Egypt.”He accused unnamed figures of “engaging in a very dangerous game that risks damaging both Egypt’s democratic prospects and the U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relationship.”Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned that U.S. aid to Egypt could be cut if activists end up being imprisoned.“If anybody goes to jail I think there’ll be a backlash you can’t contain,” Graham told reporters.Asked if that meant scrapping the aid Washington provides to Egypt, Graham replied: “Yes, I think very much at risk.”“The red line for me is incarceration. If any American or NGO (non-governmental organization) staff member is pre-trial confined or post-trial confined, that's just an absolute overreaction,” he added.There was anger in the House of Representatives as well, with congresswoman Kay Granger, who chairs a subcommittee on foreign appropriations, warning that “the harassment of Americans who are in Egypt trying to help build their democracy is unacceptable.”“Not one more dollar should flow to the government of Egypt until the secretary of state can assure the American people that this issue is resolved,” she said.Hmmmm........Come to think of it....How about the U.S. sale of 125 - M1A1 Abrams tanks to Egypt ?Read the full story here.

• Turkey plans conference on Syria, says Assad dares not to use ‘Kurds as a card’.(AlArabiya).Turkey plans an international conference “as soon as possible” with regional players and world powers to solve the Syrian crisis, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.“We are determined to establish a broad-based forum to promote international understanding with all countries concerned” with the developments in Syria, Ahmet Davutoglu said in a televised interview.The planned conference follows on from a series of conferences hosted by Turkey in 2011 to unite various opposition groups into an established coalition opposition movement.Davutoglu, who said that the Assad regime dares not to use Kurdish separatist groups as proxies and as a “card” against Turkey, added that Turkey’s prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, would discuss the situation in Syria in a phone call with Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev later on Wednesday.The conference could take place in Turkey or in another country but it must certainly be “in the region” and “as soon as possible,” he added.Turkey has been trying to create a “new roadmap,” on Syria.Later in the day, Davutoglu will fly to the United States for a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for further discussions on the Syrian crisis.He will also meet U.S. National Security Advisor Thomas Danilon and return to Turkey on Sunday, said a statement from the foreign ministry.Erdogan on Tuesday gave initial signs of a new initiative on Syria after China and Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution backed by the West and the Arab League to stop the months-long bloodshed.Hmmm.....We all know how 'concerned' Erdogan is about the Kurds.Read the full story here.

• Maldives mob smashes Buddhist statues in national museum.(AlArabiya).Police said Wednesday a mob had stormed the Maldives national museum and smashed Buddhist statues, an act of vandalism which former president Mohamed Nasheed blamed on Islamic radicals. “A mob entered the museum yesterday (Tuesday). They smashed many statues. This included some statues of Buddha,” police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam told AFP.In an interview with AFP on Wednesday, Nasheed said a mob including Islamist hardliners had attacked the museum because they believed some of the statues inside were “idolatrous.” Islam is the official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is forbidden and liable to prosecution.Nasheed's resignation came after a small band of policeman mutinied on Tuesday morning and refused to obey an order to break up an anti-government protest where demonstrators were demanding the president step down.Islamist radicals had been used as part of the attack on his record in office, he said, referring to public statements alleging he was under the influence of Jews and was trying to bring Christianity to the Muslim nation.“They (the opposition) feared they had no chance in the election next year,” he said. “There is no reason why people should be toppling the government."Read the full story here.

• Senior Iranian commander: Iran's Air Defense Fully Prepared to Repel Enemy Threats.(Fars). TEHRAN - A senior Iranian commander underlined that the country's air defense unit is fully capable of detecting and repelling all aerial threats. "Iran's air defense will give a tough response to any threat with its various ground-to-air missiles and weapons, most of which have been upgraded or manufactured inside the country," Commander of Northeastern Air Defense Unit Colonel Abdollah Reshadi told reporters on Tuesday. He added that Iran's air defense radar systems can easily detect cruise missiles and drones. In October 2011, Iran equipped its air defense units with advanced radars capable of detecting Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Commander of Khatom ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli said at the time that Iran can trace and shoot down small UAVs over its airspace. Brigadier General Farzad Esmaeili also said that air defense units are closely monitoring overflights of foreign aircraft and are fully prepared to detect and shoot down unauthorized UAVs. Last week, Esmayeeli announced that the country's Armed Forces have launched new radar and missile systems with various ranges. Tens of radar and missile systems with various ranges have been manufactured and deployed in Iran's defense sector so far and new systems are on their way to join the defense network during the 10-Day Dawn celebrations, which began on February 1 to mark the 33th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Esmayeeli said last Wednesday. Iran has recently renewed and upgraded the weapons and defense systems of its air defense units. Late in September, Iran equipped its air defense units across the country with large numbers of the home-made Mersad Air Defense Missile System. Read the full story here.

• Germany - 'Fetih 1453' Turkish Conquest movie continues to anger Europe.(HD).The upcoming Turkish movie “Fetih 1453” (Conquest 1453) has angered Christians in the German city of Cologne, with the Christian association Via Dolorosa boycotting the film. The association said Turks should be ashamed of what they did to Christians in the past instead of celebrating Istanbul’s conquest. The movie, directed by Faruk Aksoy, tells the story of Istanbul’s capture by the Ottomans during the reign of Sultan Mehmed II.“We advise every Christian not to watch this movie. We will distribute brochures in front of the cinemas and inform the Christians who would like to see this movie,” said a spokesperson for the group, adding that the Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest.The movie has also angered Greek viewers after it was released there in January. Greek weekly To Proto Thema described the film as “conquest propaganda by the Turks,” in a story published on its website. “The Turkish invaders present themselves as rulers of the world” and “[fail] to show the mass killings of Greeks and the plunder of the land by the Turks,” the piece said.Read and see (Trailer) the full story here.

• IDF submarine fleet bans dual citizenship.(Ynet).The IDF now demands that new candidates for service in Israel's submarine fleet waive their foreign citizenship in order to join the elite unit. The demand to concede one's dual citizenship is made at certain IDF combat units and for posts requiring high security clearance. Submarine fleet recruits receive a notification stating they must renounce their foreign citizenships in order to qualify for the prolonged training, as part of their security screenings. Submarine fleet recruits who fail to complete the year-long training lose their foreign citizenships nonetheless.The recent move raised strong opposition among fleet reserve officers,who claim that the new requirement will limit the number of volunteers to the unit."This is absurd. Many excellent recruits hold a dual citizenship but wish to serve in an elite unit such as submarine fleet,"an ex-officer said. "In a country that fights for every recruit, especially for elite units, this demand should not be made. Soldiers serve for only a few years, and must not pay by losing the foreign citizenship that can be used later in life." Security officials say that in recent years there was a decline in number of units that demand a foreign citizenship waiver as part of the security clearance process. The criteria for receiving a security clearance are decided by the units, the Shin Bet and the National Security Council, according to the level of exposure to classified materials during one's service. In many combat units, candidates are required to declare any foreign citizenship, but not to renounce it. According to the international media, IDF submarines operate in foreign waters, far from Israel's borders. The IDF Spokesman's Office issued the following statement in response to the story: "For information security purposes, soldiers serving in certain IDF units are required to meet strict criteria". Read the full story here.

• Is your child a devout Muslim or a drug addict?(HD).By Burak.Bekdil.The cliché accusation against the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Islamist policies over the past decade has been an illusionary scenario that the party aims to “make Turkey a second Iran.”This column, since 2002, has repeatedly refuted that claim, instead, arguing that the AKP aimed to “make Turkey somewhere between what is today’s Turkey and what is today’s Egypt” in terms of visible – though not necessarily genuine – devoutness. Therefore, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s now officially proclaimed objective of “raising devout generations… which embrace our historic principles” is no surprise to this columnist.In response to criticism, Mr. Erdoğan asked: “Should we, instead, raise homeless drug addicts?” Sadly, in the prime minister’s world, a non-devout child is a homeless drug addict. But never mind.Mr. Erdoğan’s goal is problematic on two grounds. First, how should the prime minister describe devoutness? Is it simply “what I, the prime minister, understand of devoutness?” But would a lady who abstains from pork, does not wear a headscarf, prays five a day, fasts during Ramadan but drinks alcohol qualify? Or a man who does not drink alcohol but eats pork? Would a Muslim who observes all dietary prohibitions, prays regularly, fasts, has visited Mecca 10 times but cheats, steals and does injustice to others qualify? Who is authorized to judge? Which mortal could have the license to measure other people’s devoutness? How would the Muslim-meter respond to a query that spots no pork but finds immodesty? No alcohol but injustice? Or vice versa? And second, “raising generations that will embrace our historic principles” may be even more problematic. Which historic principles does Mr. Erdoğan want to raise generations to embrace? Military raids and the occupation of other nations’ lands? Making non-Muslims second-class citizens in occupied territories? Sultans with harems? Alcohol-drinking caliphs? Endless wars? Generations who wholeheartedly believe in the supremacy of the Sunni Muslim Turk? How, if Mr. Erdoğan’s declared social engineering works, would the devout generations who embrace our historic principles treat the not-so-devout generations who judge our historic principles in all objectivity? It’s not so hard to guess… It is precisely for these reasons why secular Turks have viewed Mr. Erdoğan and his ideology with deep suspicion.Read the full story here.

• Qaradawi Meets Hamas Leaders, Predicts "Victory".(TIP).A Hamas delegation headed by the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of Gaza met Yusuf al Qaradawi, the highly influential Muslim Brotherhood theologian, in Qatar Saturday. In the love fest which followed, as reported on Qaradawi's website, "His Eminence also gave the people of Gaza and Palestine the good news that victory is near and at the door."Along with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the delegation included Yehya Al-Sinwar, a top security strategist, and his deputy Rawhi Mushtaha, recently released from long terms in Israeli prison as part of the prisoner swap. They invited Qaradawi to visit Gaza, where he could broadcast over Hamas's media outlet, al Aqsa TV. They also prayed that God would extend the Sheikh's life to allow him to pray alongside them in Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque.Qaradawi returned to Egypt from a long exile following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak last year to preach the Friday sermon in Tahrir Square. "A message to our brothers in Palestine: I harbor the hope that just like God allowed me to witness the triumph of Egypt, He will allow me to witness the conquest of the al-Aqsa mosque, and will enable me to preach in the al-Aqsa Mosque."In a 2009 speech before the Arab Spring Qaradawi was less optimistic and merely hoped to die fighting the Jews: I'd like to say that the only thing I hope for is that as my life approaches its end, Allah will give me an opportunity to go to the land of Jihad and resistance, even if in a wheelchair. I will shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews, and they will throw a bomb at me, and thus, I will seal my life with martyrdom."Hmmm.....All he needs is Obama having a second term?Read the full story here.

• If Armenian 'Genocide' Proven, Turkey will Apologize, Bagis Says.(SI).Turkey's Minister for European Affairs and chief European Union negotiator Egemen Bağış on Saturday said if claims that the 1915 deportation of Anatolian Armenians constituted "genocide" could be historically and scientifically substantiated, Turkey would apologize for it.As a guest on "Talk to Al Jazeera," one of the most popular programs on the Al Jazeera English-language news station, Bağış responded to extensive questions regarding whether the Turkish government would recognize the 1915 incidents as "genocide."Bağış said: "If it is recognized as a reality approved both historically and scientifically, moreover, unanimously, then why not?" He noted that every nation has dark moments in its history, asking, "Would you be able to name a nation without any dark chapters or pains in its past?"He also noted that to prove if the incident amounted to "genocide" or not, first the disputed issue needs to be examined objectively. However, he said the Armenian government was not brave enough to confront its own history, as it refuses to disclose its historical archives.Recalling the Armenian government's rejection of a Turkish proposal to publicly discuss the archived documents from both sides and document every historian's discussion about the events and also their research, Bağış said, "Unfortunately, the Armenian government lacks the courage to accept this suggestion."Referring to a bill adopted recently by the French Senate that makes it a crime to deny that the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 in Anatolia amounted to genocide, Bağış said the bill was "null and void" for Turkey.Armenia claims the 1915 deportation of Armenians by the Ottomans was a genocide in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed and says the incident was an act of ethnic cleansing, wanting it to be internationally recognized as genocide. Turkey, which sees the allegations of genocide as a threat to its national honor, meanwhile, says the killings were not intentionally perpetrated to eradicate a particular ethnicity but were the result of the wartime conditions during World War I. Turkey also notes that both Muslim and non-Muslims died during the event.Read the full story here.

• Prelude to a US-NATO Intervention?(AlexanderMunch).Russia and China have vetoed the UN Security Council draft resolution on Syria pointing to the existence of armed groups involved in terrorist acts including the killing of civilians. These armed groups have been involved since the outset of the "protest movement" in Daraa, southern Syria, in March 2011. The statement of Russia's envoy to the UN Viktor Churkin remains within the realm of international diplomacy. It does not mention who is behind these armed groups and the fact that NATO is supporting an armed insurrection. "Churkin said that resolution's Western co-sponsors had not included key proposals such as isolating the Syrian opposition from violent extremist groups or a call to arms for other states to use their influence to prevent such alliances". (Russia Today, February 4, 2012)Ironically, Russia's decision to veto the resolution is consistent with the report of the Arab League's Observer Mission to Syria, which confirms the existence of an "Armed Entity". Unexpectedly, however, neither Washington nor the Arab League, which commissioned the Observer Mission to Syria in the first place, have accepted the interim report presented by the AL Mission.  Why? Because the Mission --integrated by independent observers from Arab League countries-- provides a balanced and objective assessment of what is happening on the ground inside Syria. It does not serve as a mouthpiece for Washington and the governments of Arab states.  It points to the existence of an "Armed Entity"; it acknowledges that "armed opposition groups" including the Syria Free Army are involved in criminal and terrorist acts. Read the full story here.

• Google's HUD glasses have been sighted.(CNet).The prototype for Google's HUD glasses has been seen, according to tech news site 9to5Google. And, supposedly they resemble Oakley's Thump glasses, which makes them look a lot like something the Terminator might wear.But, it's not just how Google's glasses look, their function also mirrors something out of the Terminator trilogy. In December, rumors spread that Google was finishing up a prototype on high-tech glasses known as wearable head-up displays (HUD) that could tap into Google's cloud-based location services and detail users' surroundings. The information would then appear as an augmented reality computer display. According to 9to5Google, these glasses can do all that and more. The glasses will reportedly have an extremely small front-facing camera with a flash to gather information and take photos, a navigation system that is used by head-tilting to scroll and click, I/O for voice input and output, and CPU/RAM/storage hardware nearly equivalent to a generation-oldAndroid smartphone. Read the full story here.