News Headlines Feb. 28, 2013

• China fires back at hacking claims: ‘144,000 hacks a month, mostly from US’  In a fresh round of cyberwarfare accusations, the Chinese Defense Ministry said two of the country’s major military sites endured about 144,000 hacking attacks a month last year, two-thirds of which originated in the United States. 

• Belgian Islamophobia: MPs vow to ‘impeach’ Muslim extremists  Belgian politicians have submitted a proposal to impeach or limit the influence of Muslim extremists in power. MPs fear that Muslim politicians do not shake hands with women and are creating an isolated community. 

• Gaza blackout: Press ban breeds mistrust between Israelis, Palestinians Truth is the first casualty of war, and that’s equally true for people whose job is to speak the truth. Journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict often face pressure and obstruction, preventing the two sides from understanding each other.

• Budget Buster: UK Defense Ministry slammed for wasting billions in public funds Over £1 billion in public money was spent by the UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) on unused equipment and spare parts between April 2009 and March 2011, the Public Accounts Committee said. A further £3.4 billion in gear was stored and went unused.

• MiniDuke: New cyber-attack 'hacks governments' for political secrets The governments of at least 20 countries may have fallen victim to a sophisticated new cyber-attack. Security experts believe the hackers are attempting to steal political intelligence.

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS PROPHETIC EVENTS FEBRUARY 2013

'US in era of whistleblower hunt, ignores mercenaries & banksters'

After over a thousand days of detention without trial, the US Army has finally given a first glimpse into the proceedings against Bradley Manning. The Pentagon gave in to the pressure of numerous Freedom of Information Act demands and published documents related to the case. The 25-year-old army private faces numerous charges, including 'aiding the enemy' - for allegedly leaking thousands of diplomatic cables to Wikileaks. For more RT talks to Kevin Gosztola, a journalist covering Manning's case.

Dolce Vita Finita: 'Hard life looms for Italy with austerity in air' - YouTube

Dolce Vita Finita: 'Hard life looms for Italy with austerity in air' - YouTube

Italy's looking for a way out of its election limbo after a hung parliament put Europe on tenterhooks and raised fears of fresh financial turmoil. No parties won a parliamentary majority and the results showed Italian voters strongly reject the austerity policies of Mario Monti's government. Investment adviser Patrick Young talks to RT.

Class Divide: UK masses slide into poverty as austerity ramps up - YouTube

Class Divide: UK masses slide into poverty as austerity ramps up - YouTube

Britain's squeezed middle classes are bearing the brunt of the country's struggles to revive the economy. A study shows tax hikes are leaving them 280-pounds a year worse off - and more than half of them have no savings to fall back on. It means major lifestyle changes for many, as Sara Firth explains. 

News Headlines Feb. 27, 2013

• US, EU may start training and equipping Syrian rebels The US and Europe may begin equipping the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) with vehicles, body armor, night vision gear and binoculars, as well as military training. The decision is expected after a key conference on Syria in Rome.

• CYBERWARS / Stuxnet origins: US targeted Iran's nuclear research facility before its erection The first potentially explosive cyber-weapon used to attack Iran's nuclear research infrastructure was developed before Iran even started enriching uranium at the Natanz facility, researchers at the security company Symantec have discovered.

• 125,000 doses of lethal cyanide leak in Japanese spill Five tons of liquid waste, including the toxic chemical sodium cyanide, leaked from a Japanese plating factory after a snowplow accident. An estimated 125,000 lethal doses of the poison soaked into the surrounding snow.

• FORCED VACCINATIONS - ‘No shot, no ticket’: Ethiopians decry Israeli birth control policies Ethiopian women have told RT that Israeli medics forced them to take the controversial Depo-Provera birth control vaccination without explaining the severe side effects of the drug, which can leave a woman unable to become pregnant for up to two years.

• EU report slams Israeli settlements, calls for economic sanctions An internal report by the European Union has come down hard on Israel’s decision to continue settlement construction in occupied East Jerusalem, threatening to end economic projects that involve the Jewish settlements.

• Investors fear Italy may undermine ECB support By Mike Dolan LONDON - The clearest signal from Italy's muddy election was its rejection of the additional austerity that any ECB backstop would require, casting doubt on central bank's ability to support debt markets.  Full Article

• It's Back - The return of jumbo mortgages By Linda Stern WASHINGTON - Jumbo loans are returning to the mortgage market after almost disappearing in the wake of the credit crisis of 2008. These loans, typically upward of $417,000, are being offered at interest rates that are barely higher than conventional mortgages.  Full Article

• Emotional farewell brings crisis-hit papacy to an end  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience, saying he understood the gravity of his decision to become the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, but that he had done it for the good of the Roman Catholic Church.  Full Article 

• Pope praying, packing ahead of move out of Vatican
• Sex, power scandals to loom over Vatican pre-vote talks
• Special Report: The loneliness of the short distance pope

• Slow Strangulation: 'Iran sanctions a war on ordinary citizens' 

It's ordinary Iranians who are bearing the brunt of Western-imposed sanctions. Lack of proper medicine and food shortages, are affecting thousands of people on a daily basis.

• Mexican Farmers Protest The Entrance of GMO Corn

 

Thousands across Mexico demand their government reject permits for GMO Corn while Monsanto defends their patent on life in U.S. Supreme Court

News Headlines Feb. 26, 2013

• Germany doubles arms supplies to Persian Gulf nations - report German military exports to Persian Gulf nations doubled in 2012 amid repeatedly-voiced international concerns over gross human rights violations in the region. The German government has been fiercely accused of unscrupulousness in arms sales. 

• Five injured, at least 20,000 evacuated after China chemical plant blast 

• Magnitude 5.7 earthquake hits near Tokyo

• Berlusconi bloc neck and neck with center-left coalition in crucial Italian election Italy's parliamentary elections are heading towards a stalemate as initial results show the center-left forces of Pier Luigi Bersani and the coalition of former premier Silvio Berlusconi locked hand in hand in a crucial race.

• Car blast rocks central Damascus, casualties reported A suicide bomber has detonated a vehicle in the Al-Qabun area of Damascus, state media reports. Several people have been killed and injured according to preliminary reports.

 

•  What European Recovery? Unemployment at record high and debt only keeps reaching more unsustainable levels. Italy’s Debt to GDP crosses 125 percent. I never understood why so many people bought into the notion that the European Union was recovering.  If recovery means that a handful of well-connected bankers are bailed out with financial smoke and mirrors instead of facing reality while placing crushing austerity on the public, then yes, maybe a recovery is what was experienced.  As of the writing of this article the EU is facing its highest unemployment rate on record.  How is this even remotely positive or perceived as a recovery?

In Japan, The Matrix Is Now Reality As Humans Are Used As Living Batteries

In Japan, The Matrix Is Now Reality As Humans Are Used As Living Batteries | Zero Hedge

Who says necessity is not the mother of invention in the New Normal. While a tiny fraction of the Japanese population is enjoying the transitory effects of Abe's latest reflating "wealth effect" policy (even as China has made it clear said policy will end quite soon), the bigger problem for Japan is that even sooner, more and more of it will be reliant on hamster wheels to generate electricity, as LNG prices have just hit a record high and are rising at a breakneck pace, and as local nuclear power generation has collapsed to virtually zero. Which means one thing: electricity will soon become so unaffordable only those who are invested in the daily 2% Nikkei surges will be able to electrify their immediate surroundings.

So what is Japan's solution? A quite ingenious one: as Geek.com and ASR both report, Japan's Fujifilm has created organic printed sheet that harvests energy from body heat, or in other words, converts body heat to electricity. Finally, at least one key part of the Matrix "reality" is now fully operational - the use of human beings as batteries.

News Headlines Feb. 25, 2013

• Damascus ready for talks with armed groups, rebels demand Assad’s resignation The Syrian government is ready for negotiations with the opposition, including armed groups, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said while in Moscow for talks. The opposition is divided with rebels refusing to talk until President Assad steps down. 

• Foreign powers send heavy weapons to 'moderate' Syrian rebels - report Outside powers have reportedly supplied heavy weapons to ‘moderate’ Free Syrian Army fighters, The Washington Post reports. Allegedly the arms have been delivered to Syria to counterweight radical Islamists high-jacking the rebel movement.

• Magnitude 5.7 earthquake hits near Tokyo A magnitude 5.7 earthquake has hit near Tokyo, shaking buildings in the Japanese capital. No tsunami risk is reported.

• Karzai orders US Special Forces out of two provinces, citing torture and murder The Afghan government has demanded the withdrawal of all US Special Forces on Sunday from the Wardak and Logar provinces within two weeks, accusing them of “harassing, torturing and murdering innocent civilians.”

• Israel demands Palestinian leaders quell unrest following prisoner death (PHOTOS) Israel has sent an “unequivocal demand” to the Palestinian Authority to reduce tensions after thousands of detainees staged hunger strikes in Israeli prisons and violent protests erupted in the West Bank following the death of an inmate.

•   Canada to launch asteroid-hunter satellite Canadian Space Agency is launching a satellite size of a large suitcase to track down dangerous asteroids passing nearby our planet. The recent meteor explosion above Russia’s Urals sparked hot debates on how to protect Earth from space threats.

• UK onshore wind farms to create more carbon dioxide - report Thousands of Britain’s onshore wind farms will create more greenhouse gases than they save because many of them are built on peatland, a new study claims.  

• Protest votes increase uncertainty in Italy election By James Mackenzie and Gavin Jones ROME - Italians voted for a second and final day in a general election with a surge in protest votes increasing the risk of an unstable outcome that could undermine Europe's efforts to end its three-year debt crisis.  Full Article | Live Coverage 

• Italy urges high turnout in key election for euro zone
• Election stalemate worst option for markets
• Bersani on anti-glamour quest for power
• Factbox: How Italy's election works

• Cyber Arms Race: US, China in full-scale web war?                                                                                          

The rivalry between the U.S. and China has gone digital - and is threatening to turn into full-scale cyber war. A recent scandal involving a Chinese military unit allegedly engaged in cyber theft from American companies has put Washington on the defensive. But it might not be long before Washington makes its move in this new-era cyber arms race, as RT's Marina Portnaya reports - READ MORE bit.ly/V027Uf