For the second day in a row, Egyptians battled police forces in cities
around the country. In Cairo, thousands of protesters took on the police
in front of the hated Interior Ministry, blamed for being responsible
for the deaths of 74 people killed when a major soccer match erupted in
violence on Wednesday. Protesters threw rocks at police, who fired back
with tear gas, buckshot and rubber bullets. More than two thousand have
been injured and nine killed in two days of fighting, according to the
Health Ministry. The violence took place one block from the now infamous
Mohamed Mahmoud Street, where similar street battles took place less
than three months ago. Then, thousands were injured and 40 people were
killed by security forces, many by asphyxiation from tear gas. The
Military Council installed a new cabinet, and the new Interior Minister
vowed not to use tear gas on protesters again. That promise was not
kept. But protesters have proven more resilient than ever, tearing down
an enormous concrete block wall erected by the military after the
Mohamed Mahmoud battle, and occupying a government tax building.
Withstanding a steady barrage of tear gas and buckshot, the protesters
continued fighting into the night and the next day.
Link to Video
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist
A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists basic tools used for online privacy as potential signs of terrorist activity. The document, part of a program called “Communities Against Terrorism”, lists the use of “anonymizers, portals, or other means to shield IP address” as a sign that a person could be engaged in or supporting terrorist activity. The use of encryption is also listed as a suspicious activity along with steganography, the practice of using “software to hide encrypted data in digital photos” or other media. In fact, the flyer recommends that anyone “overly concerned about privacy” or attempting to “shield the screen from view of others” should be considered suspicious and potentially engaged in terrorist activities.
US attacks Iran and Saudi Arabia? Malware spreads via Facebook status updates
Beware of malware lurking on news websites claiming to containing breaking news stories. Naked Security has seen a worrying number of Facebook users posting the same status messages today, claiming that the United States has attacked Iran and Saudi Arabia in a move heralding the beginning of World War 3. Well, that would certainly get your attention, wouldn't it? A typical status message looks like the following:
U.S. Attacks Iran and Saudia Arabia. F**k :-( [LINK] The Begin of World War 3?If you visit the link mentioned in the status update, you are taken to a fake CNN news webpage which claims to contain video footage of conflict.
Clicking Links Can Auto-Opt You in to Anonymous’s DDoS Attacks
In the past, Anonymous has encouraged supporters to install a program called LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) which allows computers to join in an attack on a particular website, blasting it with unwanted traffic. This time, things are slightly different: you only have to click on a web link to launch a DDoS attack.
UN Praises Venezuela’s Gun Control and Disarmament Policies
A United Nations (UN) official praised Venezuela’s gun control and disarmament efforts as the government proceeds with several policies aimed at countering violent crime and guaranteeing citizen security. Meanwhile, government officials have condemned photographs showing children posing with assault rifles and launched an investigation to find those responsible for the act. William Godnick, coordinator of the UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean said, “There are several disarmament commissions in different countries in the region, but none of them have the human and economic investment of Venezuela’s”. He made his comments while participating in an international conference on gun control and disarmament held in the Caracas last week, where Venezuela’s Presidential Commission for Gun Control and Disarmament shared experiences of firearm control policies with other groups in order to further develop its strategies. The Venezuelan government has made an impressive investment in this issue, proportionate to its needs,” stated Godnik.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Espionage gang made illegal recordings of staff at TÜBİTAK
An espionage gang that used blackmail to extort intelligence on Turkey's security projects installed secret cameras all over a facility of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and illegally videotaped most of the agency's employees for blackmail purposes. An investigation began into allegations that a military espionage gang catalogued 1,048 people working at TÜBİTAK on the basis of their religious beliefs, ideological outlook, sexual orientation and other personal data after an anonymous tipster wrote a letter to prosecutors in 2010. The investigators have recently found that bugs, cameras hidden from view and other recording devices were installed in various places in TÜBİTAK's Marmara Research Center (MAM) facility, located near İstanbul in Gebze, to make illegal recordings. Detectives have established that the MAM facility, which also includes a 157-bed hotel and a 150-bed guesthouse, had gang-installed microphones, bugs for eavesdropping and hidden cameras in almost every room. A list of the 1,048 people catalogued by gang members confirms this, as some people have the note, “We have recordings on him made at the institute.”
2 Chileans detained in Peru for being found near military bases: Innocents or spies?
A piece of advice for Chilean visitors to Peru: It's best not to pitch your tent next to a military base, especially if you're carrying a camera. Two Chileans found themselves arrested this week and under investigation for possible espionage. One is 34-year-old Maximilano Serain, a bicycle trekker who has apparently been roaming South America and set up camp near the perimeter fence of Peru's El Pato air base in the northern city of Talara. The other, 19-year-old Nicholas Pizarro, was arrested in the border city of Tacna. Peruvian media said he was taking photographs of the Gregorio Albarracin military base. It's not unusual for Chileans to draw suspicion or worse in Peru. Many Peruvians, especially in the military, can't forgive their southern neighbors for annexing a big chunk of Peru after winning a bitter border war in the late 19th century.
Protests in Bamako and Southern Mali
Protests yesterday in Mali’s capital Bamako showed that the ongoing Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali is seriously affecting politics and interethnic relations in the southern part of the country. Reuters describes the scene:
Hundreds of Malians set up barricades and burned tyres in the streets of Bamako on Thursday, shutting down the capital in the latest protests against a rebellion that has seized several northern towns, and the government’s handling of it.[...]A Reuters reporter in Bamako said shops were shuttered early in the afternoon and smoke hung over parts of the city after tyres had been set on fire.The centre of town was largely deserted except for groups of youths wandering around, the reporter said.
SYRIA: Who is Behind The Protest Movement? Fabricating a Pretext for a US-NATO "Humanitarian Intervention"
There is evidence of gross media manipulation and falsification from the outset of the protest movement in southern Syria on March 17th. The Western media has presented the events in Syria as part of the broader Arab pro-democracy protest movement, spreading spontaneously from Tunisia, to Egypt, and from Libya to Syria. Media coverage has focussed on the Syrian police and armed forces, which are accused of indiscriminately shooting and killing unarmed "pro-democracy" demonstrators. While these police shootings did indeed occur, what the media failed to mention is that among the demonstrators there were armed gunmen as well as snipers who were shooting at both the security forces and the protesters.
The death figures presented in the reports are often unsubstantiated. Many of the reports are "according to witnesses". The images and video footages aired on Al Jazeera and CNN do not always correspond to the events which are being covered by the news reports.
Côte d'Ivoire: Hackers Threaten Intelligence Agency Upon Arrest of Journalist
Managing editor of Ivorian newspaper Le Patriote, Charles Sanga, was arrested on January 31, 2012 after his newspaper revealed that the Constitutional Court of Côte d'Ivoire decided to annul results of the recent Parliamentary Electionsin 11 districts. Ivorian newspaper Nord-Sud say he was released after 24-hours of detention by the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DTS).
The intelligence agency have also demanded that the journalist who wrote the story, Jean-Claude Coulibaly, reveal his sources.
Before his release, Reporters without Borders said:
If Le Patriote broke the law by pre-empting a state entity’s prerogative to publish information, then it may be punished, but not by jailing its editor or the reporter who wrote the story (…) Under Côte d’Ivoire’s 2004 media law, journalists cannot be detained for media offences, so Charles Sanga must be released. Furthermore, the DST’s attempt to force him to reveal his sources violates a basic principle of media freedom.
Kuwait: Parliamentary Election Marred by Violence
Today, 3 February, 2012, Kuwait will hold its parliamentary elections divided by five electoral districts, a system that was only passed in 2006 in response to blogger-led protests.
At the beginning of December 2011, two year-long protests previous led to the replacement of Prime Minister Nasser Al-Mohammed with his cousin Jaber Al-Mubarak and to the dissolution of the parliament for the fourth time since Al-Mohammed was first appointed. Since then, candidates have been working their ways towards reaching voters.
Iran Seen Easing Restrictions on al-Qaeda Operatives
Iran is suspected by some U.S. officials of relaxing restrictions on the movement al-Qaeda members who have been in custody in the country for years and might have delivered tangible support to the terrorist organization, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Up to five operatives have been held in Iran since 2003. They are al-Qaeda's management wing and include formerly close advisers to Osama bin Laden and a bomb specialist who is seen to have the capacity to take a leading role in the network. Tehran refutes accusations it has any ties with al-Qaeda.
Some U.S. officials see signs that Iranian officials have supplied al-Qaeda members with aid in the form of organizational support, funds and vehicles, said an anonymous source who has been apprised of recent events. Others caution that intelligence from inside Iran is particularly spotty.
South Korea Hopeful North Can be Induced to Return to Nuke Talks
South Korea's senior nuclear negotiator is hopeful that delivery of assistance can induce North Korea to return to long-dormant negotiations aimed at its permanent denuclearization, Bloomberg reported on Friday. "The prospects of the normalization of the relationship between Pyongyang and the international community, and eventually a lifting of sanctions, all those benefits will be a strong incentive for the new leadership,” South Korean nuclear envoy Lim Sung-nam said. The six-party talks encompass China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia, and the United States. They propose to reward North Korea's phased denuclearization with timed infusions of economic assistance and international security guarantees. Pyongyang abandoned the negotiations in April 2009 and one month later conducted its second nuclear test -- an action that was swiftly penalized by heightened U.N. Security Council sanctions against the already impoverished nation.
NATO Sees Preliminary Ballistic Missile Shield Capability by May
NATO is expected to announce in May a preliminary capacity to protect Europe from feared ballistic missile attacks, Wired magazine reported on Thursday. The regional antimissile capability will be comprised of U.S. Standard Missile 3 interceptors based on the Aegis-equipped USS Monterrey from its location in the Mediterranean and an X-band radar unit established in Turkey's Kurecik province, a high-ranking NATO official told journalists. The Western military alliance is to officially declare the new capability at a high-profile summit in Chicago.
U.S. Tactical Nukes in Europe Not Worth the Cost, Watchdog Says
The increasing cost of maintaining an aging force of U.S. tactical nuclear bombs in Europe is not matched by the defense value the weapons provide, particularly in light of the United States' massive budget problems, a government watchdog said in a Wednesday letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The United States is broadly believed to maintain approximately 200 B-61 gravity bombs at six bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey as a holdover from the Cold War.
The continued presence of the weapons in Europe has repeatedly been called into question by nonproliferation advocates, military analysts who question their utility as tensions cooled in the post-Soviet era, and now fiscal hawks. "Continuing to spend billions of dollars on weapons whose military efficacy is questionable at best and whose security is not assured is not justifiable," the Project on Government Oversight told the Pentagon chief.
Why Many Fear Regime Change in Syria
The Middle East’s despots and the push for democracy synonymous with the Arab Spring make curious bedfellows. And yet, as an Arab League delegation presses the United Nations to support the league’s latest roadmap to peace in Syria, all overt signs suggest that the Arab world’s most ardently anti-democratic leaders have re-cast themselves as champions of Western-style liberal democracy, at least in appearance. But for all the right sounds the Arab League has been making with regards to Syria, and earlier in Libya for that matter, the Arab League’s newfound respect for human rights should be approached with considerable scepticism – scepticism that should also be levelled at many of the more vocal critics of the Syria’s Assad regime.
War with Iran Unlikely
The recently passed economic sanctions on Iran will do nothing to force the hand of the Iranian regime with respect to its nuclear program and will not provoke a military response precipitating conflict in the region. It is quite unlikely that we are on the brink of a catastrophic showdown between the West and Iran. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. imposed sanctions on foreign countries and institutions that conduct business with the Central Bank of Iran. Considering the severity of these new sanctions, many observers are convinced that Iran’s threats to close the Strait of Hormuz will be soon followed by military provocation.
US China Energy Trade War?
Washington loves free trade – if it produces a surplus for the U.S. In an election year, with a modest economic recovery underway, American politicians are trumpeting their credentials in saving and creating jobs and protectionism sentiment against foreign products is rising. And the number one target? China.
Nigeria/Terrorism: 6 alleged Boko Haram members killed in Maiduguri
Nigerian media reported on Friday that six people allegedly belonging to the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram were killed on Thursday in Maiduguri, Borno State capital. The incident has been confirmed by military spokesman, who stated that the men were shot dead in their homes in Kawar Mala and Shehuridistricts of the city. So far investigation, consider that the murders could be “a result of division among the sect members”.
Local citizens revealed that numerous explosions have been heard on Thursday afternoon in Maiduguri. The series of blasts started at about noon and lasted for about an hour. Meanwhile no further information over the incident and its casualties has been reported so far.
Syrian Muslim Brotherhood Secretary General Al-Shaqfa: “We Don’t Trust Hezbollah And Reject Iranian Offers”
The Syrian issue entered a critical juncture after the Syrian government refused the solution offered by the Arab League in order to put an end to the killing machine and stop the situation from moving further toward a full scale war. This development came along with the regional and international efforts to convince Russia to change its position on Syria after the failure of all previous initiatives to contain the situation under the Arab League umbrella.
In Turkey, the foreign minister of which stated “Should the Syrian regime continue to kill its people and refuse all the Arab solutions, the door to intervention by the United Nations will certainly open, which Turkey will then not hesitate to support,” USAK expert Ali Hussein Bakeer conducted an interview with the Secretary General of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Riad al-Shaqfa, who is currently staying in Istanbul.
Henry Kissinger, China And Third Indo-China War
“Ideology had disappeared from the conflicts. The communist
power centres were conducting a balance-of –power contest
based not on ideology, but on national interest.” – Kisssinger, On China
power centres were conducting a balance-of –power contest
based not on ideology, but on national interest.” – Kisssinger, On China
“There had been an amazing cynicism and duplicity on the Chinese
side. And they preach against imperialism and act themselves
in the old imperialist and expansionist way. Altogether their policy
seems to be one of unabashed chauvinism.” - Jawaharlal Nehru, Speech in Lok Sabha, December 10, 1962
side. And they preach against imperialism and act themselves
in the old imperialist and expansionist way. Altogether their policy
seems to be one of unabashed chauvinism.” - Jawaharlal Nehru, Speech in Lok Sabha, December 10, 1962
The much awaited book, On China, written by scholar diplomat Henry Kissinger, not only makes fascinating reading, it is an invaluable reference material for students of international relations. From July 1971, when Kissinger made his first secret visit to China, he has maintained excellent equations with successive generations of Chinese leaders. He views contemporary history of China as a continuation of the past and describes the rationale behind Chinese thinking, diplomacy, strategy and negotiations.
Short-Term Outlook For Non-OPEC Production Growth
Markets often focus on anticipated crude oil production from members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as a key driver of supply/demand tightness. Such attention is particularly understandable now, given the return of Libyan production, reports of record-high Saudi production, mixed news from Iraq (strong production growth recently and projections of more to come, tempered by political uncertainty), and now further sanctions against Iran by the United States and other countries.
However, crude and liquid fuels production (crude oil, lease condensates, natural gas plant liquids, biofuels, other liquids, and refinery processing gains) in countries outside of the OPEC accounts for most of the world’s production (59 percent in 2011), making prospects for non-OPEC production critical to the outlook for world oil markets.
Understanding India
Within a shifting world order, an emerging India is searching for its footing in international relations. Expectations of nascent global influence are high. But the country still falls short of a proactive role in international affairs. At times, India comes across as a difficult partner. For the West to develop a more harmonious relationship with the Asian power it must better understand India and the factors behind the country’s external policies. First, it is necessary to identify the differences between its worldview and that of established powers. The European Union (EU) would err in thinking India is simply part way along a path of convergence towards Western norms and standards. Appreciating the deeply embedded causes of India’s worldview can help the EU mitigate the reserve in its relations with the Asian power.
India’s foreign policy is still relatively embryonic, prudent and constricted. It is driven by self-interest and a policy of non-interference. India is incredibly wary of the tag of hypocrisy often attached to the West. India must not be expected to mould its policies entirely around the norms set by declining Western powers. The new multipolar world order is clearly attractive to India. It allows for more inclusivity, greater equality and a larger say for emerging powers. India increasingly realises that in this new order silence and abstention reverberate loudly. The new order will be strongly conditioned by emerging nations’ own search for new identities. Here are the factors that can help to understand and react productively to India’s evolving foreign policy.
Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei’s Advances Toward The Artesh
To truly appreciate the political standing of Iran’s regular armed forces in today’s Islamic Republic, the key is to take into account the impact of the ongoing and unparalleled internal feud in the top ranks of the regime. The feud, pitching the factions of Supreme Leader Ayatollah ‘Ali Khamenei and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad against one another in a bitter contest for power, has turned the Artesh into an inescapable entity that neither faction can afford to ignore. Given, however, that Ayatollah Khamenei is the ultimate Commander-in-Chief in Iran’s constitutional setup, he appears to be succeeding in his attempts to shape the Artesh with the aim of further consolidating his grip on power in Iran.
Top secret FBI and Scotland Yard call ‘tapped’ by Anonymous
'What about McDonald's in the Pentagon?: Extraordinary top secret call between FBI and Scotland Yard 'tapped' by Anonymous. Hacking group made extraordinary recording of January conference call Included discussion about prosecution of hackers linked to Anonymous They published top secret email 'sent by FBI agent' giving call passcode Also take over Boston police dept and Greek Ministry of Justice website Shows growing influence of group making fools of law enforcement.
Law enforcement websites under attack by hackers
Saboteurs have hacked into the websites of several law enforcement agencies worldwide in attacks attributed to the collective called Anonymous, including in Boston and in Salt Lake City, where police say personal information of confidential informants and tipsters was accessed. The Utah hackers gained access this week to sensitive data, including citizen complaints about drug crimes, including phone numbers, addresses and other personal information, police said.
"We're still knee deep in trying to get a feel for the extent of the problem," Salt Lake City police Detective Dennis McGowan said. The group claimed responsibility for an attack on the website of a Virginia law firm for a U.S. Marine convicted in a deadly 2005 attack in Haditha, Iraq. The attacks come after Anonymous published a recording of a phone call between the FBI and Scotland Yard early Wednesday, gloating in a Twitter message that "the FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now."
Iran Blocks U.N. Nuclear Inspectors
Iran denied United Nations inspectors access to a suspected nuclear site, scientists and documents during a visit to Tehran this week, dimming already scant hopes for a breakthrough to end a standoff over Iran's nuclear work, said diplomats briefed on the International Atomic Energy Agency's mission.
In a sign the visit did little to ease international condemnation of Iran, on Thursday the U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved a sanctions bill to further curb Iran's access to high technology and munitions, intended to help cripple Tehran's energy sector and the businesses of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's elite military unit.
An amendment to the bill provides for possible sanctions against the management and ownership of the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or Swift, which facilitates the flow of electronic financial transactions globally.
U.S.-Israeli-NATO Attack On Iran: Threat To International Stability
“A military conflict [in Iran] may well be in cards, [Professor Sergei Druzhilovsky of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations] says, referring to Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya where the US military practiced military aspects of blitzkrieg and pinpoint attacks. The problem, however, is that unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran has no fifth column, a group of people who are, along with America, ready to topple the regime.
“If these hotheads ignore warnings by Russia, China and other responsible members of the international community and decide on military intervention against Iran, the consequences will be serious. This is fraught with not only a regional conflict but a humanitarian catastrophe in the entire Middle East as well. This is a threat to international stability.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that as of March 2012 Tehran will increase its military spending by more than two-fold. Meanwhile, US strategic bombers have already been deployed in Qatar in a sign that a military operation of Western countries and Israel against Iran may be in cards. Its regional and global repercussions will be unpredictable, experts warn.
Israeli claim: ‘Iran has uranium for 4 nukes, builds US-reach missiles’
Iranian scientists have already managed to enrich enough radioactive material to successfully produce not just one, but four nuclear bombs, Israel’s military intelligence chief has announced.
General Aviv Kochavi broke the news at a security conference on Thursday. The intelligence chief says he believes Iran would need a year from the word go to actually producing a crude device, and another year or two to manufacture a nuclear warhead that can be installed on a ballistic missile.
Kochavi also claimed that “Iran is very actively pursuing its efforts to develop its nuclear capacities, and we have evidence that they are seeking nuclear weapons.”However, no actual evidence was produced or even referred to at the conference.
US Warns Iran Not To Fight Back Against Israeli Attack
The USS Abraham Lincoln warship has remained stationed in the Strait of Hormuz despite an Iranian threat that no more aircraft carriers should transit the sensitive oil choke point as tensions in the Persian Gulf continue to simmer with Washington warning Tehran it will join an Israeli attack if Iran dares to fight back in any way.
Stratfor’s latest naval update map shows that the USS Lincoln has not moved from its position having transited the Strait almost two weeks ago. Similarly, the USS Carl Vinson has also remained in its position, suggesting US Naval officials are satisfied with the strategic position of the two warships as Israel prepares to launch an attack on Iran in which the US could quickly become embroiled.
The Coming Collapse of the Chinese Economy
Can Beijing rescue the Chinese economy? No
one would have asked this question in September. Just a few short
months ago, analysts were competing to give us the earliest date that
China, with its double-digit growth, would overtake America to become
the world’s largest economy. Now,
the global narrative has changed as we see signs the Chinese economy
is faltering. There is, for example, overinvestment in infrastructure
and industrial capacity, an accumulation of local government debt, a
consequent buildup of questionable loans in the banking system, a
slowing of growth, a precarious property bubble, and persistent
inflation. And
the worst sign of all? In November and December, China’s foreign
reserves decreased by $92.7 billion, the result of Chinese businesses
and people smuggling money out of the country.
The 5 Stages of Collapse: Where Are We Currently?
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross defined the five stages of coming to terms with grief and tragedy as:
-
denial,
-
anger,
-
bargaining,
-
depression and
-
acceptance,
Applying the Kübler-Ross Model to Economic Collapse
Several thinkers, notably James Howard Kunstler and, more recently John Michael Greer, have pointed out that the Kübler-Ross model is also quite terrifyingly accurate in reflecting the process by which society as a whole (or at least the informed and thinking parts of it) is reconciling itself to the inevitability of a discontinuous future, with our institutions and life support systems undermined by a combination of:
Who Will Fill the Power Void in Colombia's Eastern Plains?
A power void has emerged in
But after the group's top command surrendered en masse to the government in December, the question now is whether an outsider group like the Rastrojos or Urabeños will try to move into the territory, or whether an offshoot of the ERPAC will step up and reassert themselves. The other scenario is that rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), once the ERPAC's primary supplier of coca base, will use this opportunity to reoccupy their former territory.
Drug Fight Builds US-Cuba Bridges
Fighting drug trafficking is one of the few issues where the US and Cuba actually collaborate, albeit on a small scale, though the true extent of drug smuggling on the island remains shrouded in mystery.
At a Senate hearing on international drug trafficking this week, lawmakers voiced concerns about the potential for ·
Since the 1959 revolution,
The Iron Fist Returns to El Salvador
In November, Mauricio Funes -- the first president elected under the banner of guerrilla group-turned-political party FMLN since the civil war ended in 1992 -- named David Munguia Payes, a retired general and former defense minister, as security minister. On January 23, Funes selected as head of the police (PNC) Francisco Ramon Salinas Rivera, a former army general who had handed in his resignation just days before.
Since he took power two and a half years ago, Funes has also expanded the army by some 57 percent to more than 17,000 people, and has periodically deployed the military onto
The trend began prior to Funes' term. As El Faro reports, the defense budget has risen 32 percent in the last 10 years. And Funes is also following a region-wide pattern. Former General Otto Perez was elected
Thursday, February 2, 2012
China buying Gold like cheap cabbage, COMEX Gold speculator positions surge
The spot market price of buying Gold climbed to $1728 an ounce Monday morning London time – a slight drop from last week's close – while stock markets, commodities and the Euro all fell and government bond prices rose as European leaders met for their latest summit in Brussels. The cost of buying Silver fell to $33.08 at one point – a 2.6% drop from where it ended last week. Gold fell as low as $1718 per ounce Monday morning, dropping steadily during Asian trading, though this represented a loss of only 1% on Friday's closing price.
CHINA
"Everybody seemed to be expecting profit taking out of Shanghai after the two Chinese bourses came back online," said one Hong Kong dealer. "As far as we can see, there wasn't much of that." During last week's Lunar New Year holiday, China saw a "gold rush", with consumers spending more on buying gold than during the 2011 festival, according to a China Daily report.
Venezuela Announces “Irrevocable” Withdrawal from World Bank’s Arbitration Body
The Venezuelan government has announced Venezuela’s “irrevocable” withdrawal from the World Bank affiliated arbitration body the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). According to an official statement released by Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday this week, the move has been taken on the grounds of defending national sovereignty and “to protect the right of the Venezuelan people to decide the strategic orientation of the social and economic life of the nation”. The communication criticises the ICSID for being biased toward transnational corporations, citing that of the 234 cases handled by the arbitration body during its history, 232 were decided in favour of transnational.
US Adds $120 Billion In Debt Since Debt Ceiling Hike On Friday, $310 Billion More On Deck In Next Two Months
Remember when the US hiked its debt ceiling on Friday courtesy of a formulaic 52 affirmative votes in the Senate, giving the Treasury $1.2 trillion in dry debt powder to attempt to grow the economy one more time according to the algorithmic fantasies of voodoo priests with pieces of Ivy League parchment on their walls? Well, two days later, the dry powder is less than $1.1 trillion. In other words, in the past two days, total US debt increased by $120 billion, along the lines of our expectations, as the Treasury filled up all the G-fund cash it had pillaged to continue issuing debt throughout the month of January even though it was formally above the debt ceiling. What is more concerning, is that as the chart below shows, the trendline of US debt since the beginning of 2011 is no longer a straight line, but has slowly transformed into a parabola, the very same word used as the root in such other infamous words as, for example, parabolic.
Secret NYPD Document Describes Which Muslims to Spy On
Details of the NYPD's widespread surveillance of local Muslim communities after 9/11 are now widely known thanks to an ongoing Associated Press investigation of the secretive programs, and the material just keeps mounting. The latest info comes from a confidential NYPD intelligence report, entitled, "US-Iran Conflict: The Threat to New York City." Recommendations include, "Expand and focus intelligence collections at Shi'a mosques," but as noted by NBC New York, none of the dozen mosques listed in New York and nearby states "has been linked to terrorism, either in the document or publicly by federal agencies."
Google to allow censorship of Blogger content
Google quietly revealed earlier this month it will allow censorship in some countries of content on its Blogger service. The move came shortly before Twitter announced it will allow foreign governments to censor specific Tweets. On Jan. 9, Google said that users in some countries accessing the Blogger latfoprm will be redirected to a country-specific Web addresses. "For example, if you're in Australia and viewing [blogname].blogspot.com, you might be redirected [blogname].blogspot.com.au," Google explained. The change will allow Google to comply with censorship requests on a "per country basis." "Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law," Google wrote. The censored content will still be accessible from other countries. The policy change went mostly unnoticed until TechDows and Wired reported on it Tuesday.
Banques internationales : l’Afrique à tout prix
Poussés hors de leurs marchés domestiques par la crise de la dette, les établissements bancaires européens, américains, mais aussi chinois et qataris multiplient les initiatives pour se renforcer en Afrique. Identifié par les analystes comme l’un des secteurs prioritaires de l’intelligence économique en Afrique depuis 2009, le secteur bancaire est parti pour être l’un des plus rentables du continent.
L’Afrique n’a jamais autant suscité l’intérêt des banques internationales. Avec la crise de la dette en Europe et la récession qui guette les économies développées, le continent au milliard d’habitants et à la croissance économique de 5,8 % en 2012 (prévision) devient une destination privilégiée des investissements étrangers. Et donc une terre d’opportunités pour les établissements financiers mondiaux.
After a Delay, MF Global’s Missing Money Is Traced
Investigators have determined what happened to nearly all of the customer money that disappeared from MF Global around the time of its bankruptcy last Oct. 31, but have not publicly disclosed their progress, fearing that doing so might cripple efforts to recover the cash and pursue potential wrongdoing, people briefed on the investigation said. While authorities have traced hundreds of millions of dollars to banks, MF Global’s trading partners and even the firm’s securities customers, investigators remain uncertain about whether they can retrieve the money.
Qaradawi Wants Islamic Law Gradually Implemented In Egypt
MEMRI has published a translation of comments from an interview with Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi in which he calls for the gradual implementation of the Shariah (Islamic law) in Egypt. According to the translation:
U.S. National Intelligence Director Cites Muslim Brotherhood As Bulwark Against Al-Qaeda
In his statement for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper appears to endorse the concept Muslim Brotherhood involvement in the Mideast political process will serve as some kind of bulwark against Al-Qaeda and other such groups. He writes:
If, over the longer term, governments take real steps to address public demands for political participation and democratic institutions—and remain committed to CT efforts—we judge that core al-Qaeda and the global jihadist movement will experience a strategic setback. Al Qaeda probably will find it difficult to compete for local support with groups like the Muslim Brotherhood that participate in the political process, provide social services, and advocate religious values. Nonviolent, pro-democracy demonstrations challenge al Qaeda’s violent jihadist ideology and might yield increased political power for secular or moderate Islamist parties.
Syria: Russia Takes Care Of Its Own
Government violence against
demonstrators and armed rebels continues. On most days, there are
several hundred casualties country-wide. Pictures get out to the world
media, but this has been going on for a year now and no outside nation
has been able to aid the opposition. The majority of Syrians want a new
government, but the dictatorship has powerful foreign friends,
especially Iran and Russia. Iran provides cash, weapons and terrorism
specialists. Russia provides a veto in the UN, to prevent the
organization of a UN military aid operation for the Syrian opposition.
This prevents the kind of aid that the Libyan rebels got. The Russians
lost a lot of money when the Libyan dictatorship was overthrown. For
decades, Libya had been a major customer for Russian weapons. The new
Libyan government will not buy any more Russian weapons and will not
honor unpaid bills for past deliveries. Russia is determined not to lose
Syria in the same way. This Russian opposition sends a message that a
dictatorship can openly (via the Internet and cell-phone photos)
slaughter their people and maintain tyrannical rule in spite of most UN
members condemning this sort of misbehavior. If a tyrant has one of the
few UN nations with a Security Council veto on their side, bloody
repression can be used without fear of armed intervention. Most of the
world doesn't like this, but Russia is a nuclear power and determined to
use its veto to serve Russian interests. For the moment, the Syrian
majority are under fire and on their own. But not entirely; because this
is seen as a battle between Shia (the ruling minority in Syria and
their Iranian patron) and Sunni (most of the Moslem world, led by Saudi
Arabia), the Sunni neighbors (especially mostly Sunni Turkey and largely
Sunni Western Iraq) are quietly providing weapons and sanctuary for
Syrian Sunnis fighting the Shia Syrian dictatorship. But the Sunni
nations are unwilling to do more without the blessing of the UN.
Uzbek-Tajik Relations at a New Low
The permanently tense Uzbek-Tajik
relations sank to a new low in November 2011 – January 2012. Clearly
being in the position of strength vis-a-vis its fairly poor neighbor,
Uzbekistan makes use of its advantageous geographic location to exert
pressure on Tajikistan, provoking serious socioeconomic problems in the
republic.
Rail traffic stoppages resulting in delays of cargo supplies to
Tajikistan began in Uzbekistan in November, 2009. In January, 2010, the
Uzbek railroad company disallowed under various pretexts the passage of
around 150 railcars bound for Tajikistan, and by February the number
rose to 400. Tajik premier's conversation with his Uzbek counterpart
Shavkat Mirziyoyev helped clear the way for 178 of the railcars stuck in
Uzbekistan, but the overall situation with the transit between the two
Central Asian republics remained essentially the same. According to
Tajik officials, around 2,000 railcars carrying freight to Tajikistan
were delayed by the Uzbek authorities since June, 2010. No railcars
heading for Tajikistan's southern Khatlon province got the greenlight in
early March – early May, and the total volume of freight transit via
the Tajik railroad dropped by 40% over the first half of 2010. In
Tajikistan, the fuel shortages which ensued put in jeopardy the sowing
campaign, exposing to a critical risk the republic with a predominantly
agrarian economy.
Under the Jackboot of an American Secretary General, INTERPOL Now Tracking Dissidents
Welcome to the new INTERPOL – the
International Criminal Police Organization -- a carbon copy of the
INTERPOL that was briefly headquartered in Berlin under the Nazi regime.
Today, INTERPOL, an international law enforcement agency composed of
190 members nations, INTERPOL, headquartered in Lyon, France, is under
the control of Secretary General Ron K. Noble, a former Undersecretary
for Enforcement of the U.S. Treasury Department. Under Noble, INTERPOL
is tracking political dissidents while leaving gangsters and other
criminals, especially those wanted by Russia, remain at large.
Noble was the head of the Treasury Department’s “Waco Administrative
Review Team,” which covered up the actions of his Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms in their siege of the Branch Davidian compound in
Waco, Texas. That siege resulted in the deaths of 84 members of the
separatist Seventh Day Adventist sect, including their leader David
Koresh, and four of Noble’s BATF agents in a deadly shootout that was
followed by the burning down of the sect’s compound.
TeleSur closely watched by U.S.
The Latin American TV channel
TeleSur (The New Television Station of the South) was launched in July
of 2005. It became the first project of television broadcasting
suggested by President Hugo Chavez. It took TeleSur nearly two years to
have its own network of correspondents and develop a unique manner of
informative journalism. From the very start, the Latin American audience
was the channel’s key target group. Objective coverage of the region’s
political, economic and cultural life has always been a priority for
TeleSur. Very soon it became not just a catalyst for the integration
process in the region but also a source of reliable and most up-to-date
information about the situation in the neighborhood.
TeleSur is headquartered in Caracas. The company is sponsored by
Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela,
which views its spending on TeleSur as part of ‘international
obligation’. President Chavez has repeatedly stressed that he would not
tolerate any dictatorship imposed on the channel: “The channel does not
depend on any government of political party, and independently decides
on its information policy.” Alternative coverage of the current affairs
is a key task for TeleSur as means to oppose to the U.S. propagandistic
information warfare. TeleSur reporters demonstrated high-quality
journalism during tensions in Honduras, Egypt and Libya. They were
detained by the police, and had their passports, cameras and other
equipment seized. This was done to oust TeleSur from ‘hotspots’ and help
CNN, Fox, NBC, BBC, France 24 and other channels maintain their
information monopoly.
Middle East: strategic impact of United States defence strategic review 2012
Introductory Observations
The Middle East right from the 1990s had
figured significantly in the strategic focus
of United States strategic planning,
deployment and security architecture. In the
last two decades, the United States has
fought two major wars in the region. Gulf
War I IN 1991 and Gulf War II fought in 2003
basically revolved around the subjugation of
Iraq to pre-empt its emergence as the
dominant regional power, its nuclear weapons
potential and thereby posing a security
threat to United States regional interest
and to the security of Israel. In the second decade of the 21st
Century the United States is beset with a
repeat strategic dilemma of pre-empting the
emergence of yet another regional power in
the shape of Iran, its advanced nuclear
weapons capabilities and its more potent
security threats to the United States and
Israel.
The Middle East strategic landscape in 2012
stands drastically changed with traditional
US allies in the Middle East embarking on
different trajectories of “hedging
strategies”, unsure of United States
strategic blueprint in the region and a
strategic perception weighing that United
States power was on the decline.
In 2012 the drumbeats of war to strike at
Iran’s nuclear enrichment complexes are
becoming more strident within the United
States and Israel. Positions are hardening
with US imposing additional economic
sanctions against Iran and Iran on the
rebound threatening that it would blockade
the strategic choke-point of Hormuz Straits.
Sahel : jonction opérée entre Aqmi et Boko Haram?
La contagion d’Aqmi est-elle en train de
faire tache d’huile dans toute la région ? Les attaques du mouvement
armé Boko Haram au Nigeria semblent accréditer ce qui n’était qu’une
hypothèse il y a encore peu de temps.
La stratégie de déstabilisation du Sahel
suivie depuis plusieurs années par les jihadistes d’Aqmi, a été payante
et fait des émules au-delà de l’aire géographique d’Al Qaïda au Maghreb
Islamique. C’est ce mode opératoire consistant à semer la terreur qui a
inspiré au Nigeria le mouvement islamiste extrémiste Boko Haram. Sa
folie meurtrière a fait des centaines de morts en moins de deux mois
dans plusieurs villes du pays. L’usage d’explosifs par les groupes de
Boko Haram n’est pas sans lien avec la prolifération des armes et,
surtout, du puissant Semtex après le pillage des stocks libyens. La
guerre en Libye et la situation chaotique qui y a prévalu pendant des
mois d’affrontements, a été particulièrement propice pour les réseaux de
trafic dans le Sahel.
Glimpses of the Political Maneuvers Surrounding Mali’s Tuareg Rebellion
Beginning on January 17, Tuaregs in northern Mali under the banner of the National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad (NMLA) launched an armed rebellion against the government. As of last Friday they had attacked five towns, and yesterday they descended on a sixth, Niafunke.
The rebellion is a sequel of sorts to earlier conflicts in Mali in the 1990s and from 2007-2009. Causes include longstanding feelings of marginalization among the Tuareg, but the current conflict also reflects the political changes that have shaken the Sahel in the past year, especially the fall of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, who had deep ties to Tuareg communities and helped broker the ceasefire of 2009. The NMLA reportedly includes fighters who were part of Qadhafi’s security forces.
Two recent news reports provide further insights into the politics of the rebellion.
Magharebia reports on Algeria’s role in the crisis:
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