Today, Nokia announced that it’s going to cut 4,000 more jobs at its factories in Hungary, Mexico and Finland in an effort to improve the production efficiency of said plants. The company plans on moving a larger part of the production of its smartphones to Asia, which it says will help reduce the time it takes for its products to reach the market.

As Nokia continues to suffer the effect of the transition of its smartphone portfolio to Windows Phone, the company is looking for ways to cut costs until the huge investments start paying off. The cheaper labor cost in Asia should help the Finns reduce their production costs and, hopefully, go back in the black.

We are not exactly sure that moving your production thousands of kilometers from the actual markets will really improve the speed, but maybe Nokia is now more focused on reaching the rapidly expanding Chinese market instead of Europe and America.

Still, the company desperately needs to buy some time, until Windows Phone gets competitive enough to allow it to price its smartphones as high as Android and iOS top-dogs and, obviously the guys over at Espoo decided that this is what it takes.

Personnel reductions are planned to be phased through the end of 2012, so we will only see if Nokia made the right decision come the first 2013 financial result.

Source

Related posts:

• Nokia lose huge market share in their homeland
• Why gadget makers wield a ‘kill switch’
• Nokia to cut 4,000 jobs worldwide
• Nokia Windows Phone 7 concept revealed
• Samsung Shows Off Video of Transparent and Flexible 3D Screen

Iran test firing some of its missiles.

The news media in Israel this evening reports foreign embassies are organizing contingency plans for the evacuation of their nationals and diplomats and are requesting gas masks from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Diplomats and their families are worried about a missile strike that may prompt a mass evacuation of Israeli citizens with passports. The European Union does not currently have the resources to undertake an evacuation of its citizens in a short period of time.

Israeli officials have provided embassies with a list of public bomb shelters in the country and an instructional pamphlet produced by the IDF, Ynetnews.com reports.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said Iran will not ask the group to retaliate if Israel strikes Iran. He said by video link to supporters that Hezbollah would make the decision in the event of an Israeli attack.

“There is speculation about what wound happen if Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities,” Nasrallah said. “I tell you that the Iranian leadership will not ask Hezbollah to do anything. On that day, we will sit, think and decide what we will do.”

According to estimates, Hezbollah has more than 40,000 rockets in its arsenal. Most are of the Katyusha variety with a range under 100 kilometers. It also possesses several hundred Iranian Zelzal-2 missiles with a range between 100 and 400 kilometers.

In 2010, the Pentagon reported the Shi’ite group also has 40 to 50 Fatah-110 missiles and 10 Scud-D missiles. The Fatah can be accurately target and reach most of Israel, including Tel Aviv.

In November 2009, it was estimated that if war broke out, Hezbollah would launch 400 to 600 rockets a day and would be able to sustain the attacks for at least two months.

During the 2006 Lebanon War Hezbollah fired about 3,699 rockets into Israel.

Source

Related posts:

• Syria threatens to attack Israel in case of NATO strike
• Israel attacks Southern Lebanon over al-Qaeda rocket attack
• Israel to issue gas masks to entire population
• Netanyah urges Likud ministers to avoid anti-Iran remarks
• Iran has uranium for 4 nukes, builds US-reach missiles – Israel

Advocating: Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, appeared in a commercial supporting same-sex marriage for the Human Rights Campaign

Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein, one of Wall Street’s most powerful figures, has become the first major business leader to join a national media campaign in support of same-sex marriage.

Gay rights advocacy group Human Rights Campaign published a video on Sunday in which Mr Blankfein, who has headed investment bank Goldman Sachs since 2006, asks viewers to join a ‘majority of Americans who support marriage equality.’

‘America’s corporations learned long ago that equality is just good business and it’s the right thing to do,’ Mr Blankfein, 57, said in the video, which was posted on popular video website YouTube.

Mr Blankfein, who is married to Laura Jacobs Blankfein and has three children, had already made his views on the issue known.

Last year he was one of the financial industry executives to sign an open letter calling on New York state lawmakers to legalize same-sex marriage.

‘Our campaign is all about recruiting unexpected spokespeople so Americans can connect the dots and realize that on an issue like this there can be agreement,’ Human Rights Campaign spokesman Fred Sainz said.

Besides Mr Blankfein, the Americans for Marriage Equality campaign has attracted a dozen personalities on similar videos, including Senator Al Franken, Cleveland Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique.

‘The fact that we have Mo’Nique and Lloyd Blankfein campaigning on this should show that we can have commonality on the issue,’ Mr Sainz said.

‘We approached Lloyd Blankfein and literally within hours he had said yes, he would do it.’

Gay marriage remains outlawed in more than 40 of the 50 U.S. states and the issue promises to surface in the 2012 presidential election even as economic woes seem to take priority in the minds of voters.

President Barack Obama has supported rights for same sex couples but has stopped short of endorsing marriage, while most of the Republicans seeking to challenge him in November have come out against it.

Mr Blankfein has long been a supporter of the Democratic party, and before Mr Obama was elected to office, he contributed to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Clearly the two have overcome their differences as Mr Blankfein has made at least 10 visits to the Obama White House, a number of which were to discuss possible solutions to the country’s economic crisis.

Source

Related posts:

• Goldman Sachs facing a U.S. criminal probe into fraud on a historic scale
• Goldman Sachs: We Run Wall Street
• Gillard backs vote on gay marriage
• OWS plans anti-foreclosure protest rally
• New York remembers victims of 9/11 attacks

In the fourth part of his pre-election manifesto published in Kommersant daily on Monday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin touts the internet as an electronic means for making democracy more responsive to the people.

The premier is running for president in next month’s election.

Expressing the importance of “indispensable” democratic principles, Putin stresses at the same time that democracy-building is not just a matter of “copying and pasting” Western values into Russia.

“Genuine democracy cannot be produced overnight,” Putin states in the article. “You cannot just copy it by reproducing somebody else’s model; society has to be ready for democratic mechanisms.”

The Prime Minister recalls what transpired in the turbulent 1990s, when “democracy” was hastily introduced following the collapse of the Soviet Union.“What we got in the 1990s with the supposed coming of democracy was not a modern state,” writes Putin.

“What we got was turf wars between various clans and…semi-feudal fiefdoms.” By comparison, Russia’s political landscape today – with its more politically informed electorate – faces new challenges that demand new solutions.

“Today, the quality of the state does not match civil society’s readiness to participate in it,” Putin admits, in a nod to the opposition. “Our civil society has become much more mature, active and responsible – they should have the capacity to match increased public activism.”

­Spin doctors and image makers need not apply

In an apparent swipe at Western-style democracy, where, he suggests, substance has taken a back seat to sensationalism, Putin warns of the threat of democracy becoming just another form of cheap entertainment.

“We do not need the circus of various candidates competing with each other to give more and more unrealistic promises,” he says. “We don’t need a situation where all that is left of democracy is the facade, where democracy is understood as a one-time entertaining political show…where substance is forgotten for the sake of shocking statements and mutual accusations.”

Putin goes on to chastise the “spin doctors” and “image makers” who are attempting to “control politicians.”

What modern Russia needs, Putin says, is a “clear, quick and transparent mechanism for preparing, making and implementing both short-term and long-term decisions,” which will promote “constructive dialogue and mutual trust between society and the government.”

Putin advocates the active use of Internet technologies for building the foundation of responsible democratic institutions.

­Downloading Democracy

Russia, with its millions of regular internet users, has the means to overhaul its political system, right at its fingertips.

“Democracy should have mechanisms for direct and constant action… and efficient channels for dialogue, public oversight, communication and feedback,” Putin advises, offering examples as to how to use the available technology.

“It is important to create user-friendly, interactive interfaces for public authorities’ web portals, so that their plans and programs can be fully available, publicly discussed, and their implementation monitored,” he writes.

The top contender in next month’s presidential election says he will “ask web designers to assist the state” with implementing this proposal.

Putin then discusses how the internet can give voters direct participation in the democratic process, while also breaking down the mountain of red tape.

“I suggest introducing a rule for a mandatory review in Parliament of initiatives that collect one hundred thousand or more signatures on the internet,” Putin writes, citing a similar law in the UK. “Certainly the anonymous internet cannot serve this purpose, even though in a number of instances it helps reveal the mood of society… [Therefore] a procedure should be developed for the official registration of those who want to participate in this system”.

Putin believes that a widely available “internet democracy” would give citizens at the city and municipal levels “the opportunity to vote and introduce topical problems at local referendums or Internet polls.”

By way of example, Putin says residents of a given locale “should be given an opportunity to express their opinion on the performance of the head of the district police…after his first year on the job.”

The PM’s plans for promoting “internet democracy” are part of his Electronic Government project, scheduled to be completed by July.

“At present, our citizens have access to all information on political debates in Parliament, on world markets, and on the marriages and divorces of Hollywood celebrities,” Putin muses. “What they can’t do over the internet, however, is retrieve data on their utility bills, review their medical files, or find the name of their district police officer…

“Many state services are now available online… But most people need information that’s relevant for them: on their homes, nearby areas, neighboring parks, schools, and their municipalities.”

“The Electronic Government project should be aimed more precisely at the needs and requirements of the people,” Putin says, summing up his plans. “By means of information technology, state mechanisms should be made comprehensive and accessible to the public.”

­Corruption: the new cool

Addressing Russia’s perennial problem of corruption, Putin cited a conversation between Tsar Nicholas I and his chief of secret police Alexander von Benckendorff, when the former announced he wanted to stamp out graft, and got the following question in return, “Do you think there will be anyone left around you?”

The Prime Minister then quotes a recent poll on the aspirations of Russian children.

“In the turbulent 1990s teenagers dreamed of becoming oligarchs,” Putin said. “But now they want to be state officials; many view public service as a source of fast and easy cash.”

When discussing ways of dealing with individuals in high places fattening their wallets, Putin talks tough.

“The fight against corruption must become a national course, not a matter for political speculation… political exploitation,” he cautions. “We offer real, systemic solutions that will ensure a far more effective rehabilitation of state institutions and the use of new principles in our staff policy – eventually, our goal is to make reputational, financial and material losses so great, that corruption would no longer pay.”

“We will act consistently, reasonably and with determination. We will remove the fundamental causes for corruption and punish particular officials. We will boost motivation for those who want to serve Russia in good faith. We have always had plenty of such people, and they will be given a chance.”

“We have defeated oligarchy, and we will defeat corruption.”

In conclusion, Putin says that his solutions will help to make the power of the people – democracy – a genuine one.

“It’s these solutions that make public service function in the interests of people,” Putin writes. “And together, they ensure that Russia and its people enjoy sustainable and successful growth.”

Source

Related posts:

• Rogozin calls on Russian nationalists to assume rightful role
• Any conflict on Iran is a direct threat to Russia’s security
• Gorbachev urges Russia’s Putin to quit
• US Caught Meddling in Russian Elections
• Russian Leader Tells Top Generals, “Prepare For Armageddon”

A plane being unloaded at Rafiq Hariri International Airport in the Lebanese capital city, Beirut.

Lebanon’s security officials say a suspicious cargo containing huge amounts of US dollars, guns, special passports and credit cards have been seized upon arrival in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, from the US and Brazil.

The items, packed in a number of chests and delivered via airmail, were discovered at Beirut’s airport, the Lebanese security officials said.

The chests also contained a list of both well-known and ordinary Lebanese citizens including a figure related to Salafi extremist groups. The security officials have summoned a number of the individuals, whose names were on the list, arresting some of them.

Beirut has redoubled security surveillance across the country following remarks by some Lebanese factions as well as widespread rumors about the presence of al-Qaeda in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese defense minister earlier confirmed that members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group, fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have entered Syria through Lebanon.

Over the past few months, reports have circulated that caches of weapons have been smuggled to armed gangs in Syria through the Lebanese border.

Source

Related posts:

• US Troops surround Syria on the eve of Invasion
• Israel attacks Southern Lebanon over al-Qaeda rocket attack
• EU rejects French call for intervention in Syria
• CIA spies ‘caught’ in Iran, Lebanon
• US Hardens Tone Against Bashar al-Assad

Long-term risks: Researchers found that smoking in men appears to be associated with more rapid cognitive decline

Those searching for another reason to stick to their resolution to give up cigarettes need look no further. A new study has warned that men who smoke are more likely to suffer dementia in later life.

Researchers found that smoking in men appears to be associated with a greater and more rapid cognitive decline.

Smoking is increasingly recognised as a risk factor for dementia in the elderly. And the number of dementia cases worldwide – estimated at 36 million in 2010 – is rising and is projected to double every 20 years.

Doctor Severine Sabia, of University College London, and her colleagues used the Whitehall II cohort study, which is based on employees of the Civil Service.

They examined the association between smoking history and cognitive decline in the transition from midlife to old age.

Data was obtained from 5,099 men and 2,137 women in the Whitehall II study, with an average age of 56 at the first cognitive assessment.

In the study, researchers analysed data using six assessments of smoking status over 25 years and three cognitive assessments over 10 years. They made four key findings.

The results suggest smoking in men is associated with more rapid cognitive decline, and men who continued to smoke over the follow-up experienced greater decline in all cognitive tests.

In addition, men who quit smoking in the 10 years preceding the first cognitive measure were still at risk of greater cognitive decline, especially in executive function – an umbrella term for various complex cognitive processes involved in achieving a particular goal.

However, long-term ex-smokers did not show faster cognitive decline.

Dr Sabia said: ‘Finally, our results show that the association between smoking and cognition, particularly at older ages, is likely to be underestimated owing to higher risk of death and dropout among smokers.’

She added that the results show no association between smoking and cognitive decline in women, although the underlying reasons remain unclear.

One explanation for the difference they observed between men and women might be the greater quantity of tobacco smoked by men.

The findings were published online in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Source

Related posts:

• Cannabis joints can bring on Schizophrenia and Memory Damage
• UK Sends Nuclear Submarine to Falkland Islands
• Britain to send war message to Argentina
• Sarkozy attacks UK in fresh outburst
• UK Cannot Confront Argentina

Iran is ready to complete and inaugurate the proposed Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project ahead of the due date, the vice president for international affairs said in Islamabad today.

In a meeting with Pakistani finance officials, Ali Saeedlou said that Iran is prepared to help Pakistan establish the pipeline ahead of the date the two sides have agreed upon, IRNA news agency reported.

Despite the threat of sanctions from the United States, Pakistan refused to abandon the multibillion-dollar Iran gas pipeline project, saying the project between the neighboring states was beyond the scope of U.S. sanctions imposed against Tehran.

“Pakistan is committed to the Pak-Iran gas pipeline and sanctions do not cover this project. There is no change in our stance and we are working to complete the project by 2014. We believe that this project is beyond the scope of the relevant UN resolutions which we are obliged to comply with like all other member states,” said Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit on January 27.

Source

Related posts:

• Ahmadinejad new speech to U.N. 2009
• West could target Russia, China next
• EU Adopts oil Embargo on Iran
• China, India brush aside Iran oil ban
• IAEA Leaked Secret Info About Iran

President of the Somali Red Crescent Society has expressed gratitude to Iran for Tehran’s significant contribution of humanitarian aid to the famine-stricken African nation, Press TV reports.

“[We are here] to express our appreciation and thanks to the Iranian Red Crescent for the assistance they have provided for the Somali people,” Ahmad Mohammad Hassan told Press TV after a meeting with the president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society in Tehran.

Hassan added that, “They (Iranian Red Crescent) played a major role in controlling hunger and famine. They were among the first ones to come to Somalia to provide this humanitarian assistance such as food, shelter and medical assistance.”

The UN declared famine in Somalia last July owing to the worst drought in decades. Hundreds of thousands of people fled to the refugee camps in Kenya, Ethiopia and the Somali capital Mogadishu in search of food.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society is now planning to start a new phase of activities in Somalia.

“I think healthcare is the most needed thing there at the moment. It is also important for us to enable people to help themselves and to help create jobs for them. This is one of the general policies of the Islamic Republic,” Abdolhassan Faqih President of the Iranian Red Crescent Society told Press TV.

Iran’s Red Crescent Society currently has a permanent medical center and five makeshift clinics in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, where Iranian physicians provide treatment for the people.

East African countries, including Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, have experienced a crippling drought over the last year, but the crisis turned into famine only in Somalia, where aid groups have reduced access due to persisting violence between government forces and al-Shabab forces.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society has expressed hope that the upcoming elections in Somalia would lead to the establishment of a government, which can provide enough security and make the job easier for all aid organizations in the African country.

Source

Related posts:

• Iran’s IRCS to send aid to Somalia
• UN warns that Cholera epidemic is spreading in Somalia
• Iran donates USD 25 million to Somalia million
• Obama says attack on Iran risky, urges diplomatic fix
• Iran Threatens to Attack any Country that Assists ‘Enemies’

Syria could get another chance at a diplomatic escape route from its continuing political crisis as the Russian delegation has arrived on Tuesday to hold talks with President Assad.

A last-ditch delegation to Damascus bearing a personal message for Bashar al-Assad from President Medvedev has been welcomed by thousands of people lining the streets of the Syrian capital.

Russian FM is holding talks with Assad in what many see as the Syrian president’s last opportunity to establish an internationally recognized diplomatic mechanism for resolving the violence that is tearing the country apart.

“It is in Russia’s interest that the Arab nations live in peace and accord,” remarked Lavrov opening talks with Assad. “Every leader in every country must realize his share of responsibility. You do realize yours.”

Amid speculation that the message Lavrov carries may include a suggestion that Assad resign, FM Sergey Lavrov stressed asking a president of a sovereign country to step down is not a Russian profession.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev did not exclude the possibility that his letter may include a mechanism for President Assad to relinquish power, in case the violence from both sides does not stop.

The visit comes amid international anger over Russia & China’s veto of what they saw as a “premature” UN Security Council vote. The UK and US simultaneously withdrew their ambassadors to Damascus Monday, with the UK Foreign Secretary calling Assad’s regime “murderous and doomed.” Italy’s Foreign Ministry has allegedly recalled its ambassador from Syria on Tuesday, reports Al Arabia.

The Russian FM dubbed the resolution draft text “one-sided” and international reaction to the veto “hysterical”.

Source

Related posts:

• Will Russia Stand Up to Syrian Challenge?
• Russia rules out UN resolution on Syria
• US asks Russia for UNSC action on Syria
• Russian warships dock at Syrian port
• Russian navy in Syria is thorn in US’s side

US President Barack Obama

US President Barack Obama has warned against the serious risks of a military campaign against the Islamic Republic and underlined diplomacy as the favored solution to the impasse over Iran’s nuclear issue.

Speaking in an interview with the NBC television network on Sunday, Obama said he did not believe Tehran had the intentions to attack the United States, dismissing Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s earlier claim that Iran is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) that could reach the US East Coast.

“Any kind of additional military activity inside the Persian Gulf is disruptive and has a big effect on us. It could have a big effect on oil prices. We’ve still got troops in Afghanistan, which borders Iran. And so our preferred solution here is diplomatic,” Obama said.

The remarks come as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged Western powers to make greater efforts to negotiate a solution to Iran’s nuclear case, warning that a military strike would result in a “disaster.”

“A military option will create a disaster in our region. So before that disaster, everybody must be serious in negotiations. We hope soon both sides will meet again, but this time there will be a complete result,” Davutoglu said during a speech at the 48 Munich Security Conference in Germany on Sunday.

“If there is strong political will and mutual confidence being established, this issue could be resolved in a few days,” he said, adding that, “The technical disputes are not so big. The problem is mutual confidence and strong political will.”

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid Mohamed al-Attiyah also urged the West to refrain from launching an attack on Iran, stressing that the Iranian nuclear dispute should be settled through dialogue and negotiations.

“[An attack] is not a solution; and tightening the embargo on Iran will make the scenario worse. I believe we should have dialogue,” al-Attiyah said.

“I believe that with our allies and friend in the West we should open a serious dialogue with the Iranians to get out of this dilemma. This is what we feel in our region,” he added.

Despite the widely publicized claims by the US, Israel and some of their European allies that Iran’s nuclear program may include a military aspect, Iran insists on its civilian nature, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran’s civilian nuclear program has diverted towards nuclear weapons production.

This is while the Israeli regime is widely known to possess between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads. Furthermore, Tel Aviv refuses to allow its nuclear facilities to come under international regulatory inspectors and rejects any international nuclear regulatory agreements.

Source

Related posts:

• BP exempted from US ban on Iran oil
• Obama tells Venezuela to Cut its Ties with Iran and Cuba
• Obama Asks Iran to Give Back Captured US Spy Drone
• Americans to rally against war with Iran
• Israel ‘master of puppets’ in US Iran onslaught

It took researches 30 years of drilling through a four-kilometer-thick ice to reach the renowned subglacial lake. Most importantly, million years-old secrets will be unveiled without causing harm to the lake’s ecosystem.

­“Yesterday [on Sunday] our scientists at the Vostok polar station in the Antarctic completed drilling at depths of 3,768 meters and reached surface of the subglacial lake,” RIA Novosti quoted unnamed Russian scientist.

Lake Vostok is a unique aquatic ecosystem hidden under some four kilometers of ice. Its water has been isolated from the atmosphere – and therefore from the outer biosphere – for millions of years. Scientists believe that surveys of the lake can provide invaluable details on past and future climate changes.

It is not yet known whether the lake’s waters are inhabited – certain bacteria and, perhaps, more complex creatures, could potentially live – but scientists have everything now to find this out. The importance of such potential discovery is difficult to overestimate.

Drilling works around Vostok Station in the Antarctic began in the 1970s, at a time when scientists still had no idea that a lake lay under the four-kilometer-thick ice shield. It was only in 1996 that Russian specialists, supported by their British counterparts, discovered what later proved to be one of the world’s largest freshwater reservoirs.

However, in 1998 drilling was halted only 130 meters from the lake’s surface when the international community voiced concerns that its ancient waters risked being polluted if special precautions and technologies were not employed.

The relevant technology was developed in 2003 in St. Petersburg, and the international working group conceded that it was now safe to continue drilling.

Work resumed in 2005.

Source

Related posts:

• Arrests in Moscow as nationalists protest the Mirzayev case
• Russia charged to enter hybrid market
• From Moscow to St. Petersburg in 2.5 hours
• Russians want Lenin removed from Red Square
• Putin plugs Internet Democracy to pack popular punch

UK foreign secretary William Hague speaking in Parliament on Monday

The United States has shut down its embassy in Syria. The announcement comes amid mounting reports of lethal government attacks. The UK has followed the suit, summoning their ambassador from Damascus.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says the British ambassador has been recalled from Syria for consultations. The Secretary has also summoned Syria’s representative in London to the Foreign Office so that he could express his “abhorrence” at the violence in the Arab country.

Hague accused China and Russia of “betraying the Syrian people,” saying their blocking a UN resolution on Syria was a “grave error.” The UK Foreign Secretary pledged to increase pressure on the Syrian government through the UN and other bodies.

“This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime,” Hague told British lawmakers on Monday. “There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally.”

Russia says the West is overreacting to the veto Moscow and Beijing used in the UN to block the resolution on Syria, which the two countries perceive as unbalanced. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called such remarks “almost hysterical.”

Earlier, officials said US Ambassador Robert Ford and other diplomats had left Syria on Monday. However, their departure did not come out of the blue. In January, Washington warned it might close its embassy in Damascus, citing concerns over staff safety.

On Monday, the Syrian opposition reported new assaults from government forces, claiming 50 had been killed in Homs city alone. The government, however, denies the accusations, saying the attacks were staged.

US President Barack Obama has said the ongoing conflict in Syria should be resolved without foreign military interference.

Obama said he believed a solution for Syria could be found through negotiations, adding that not every situation allows for the type of military action taken in Libya.

This weekend an American-backed UN Security Council resolution on Syria was vetoed by Russia and China, with both countries citing its unbalanced approach to the Syrian government and the opposition. Russia’s envoy to the UN also said that the draft did not reflect Russia’s proposals on Syria.

Source

Related posts:

• Armed gangs kill Syrian army general
• Will Russia Stand Up to Syrian Challenge?
• Syria protests: 48-year state of emergency lifted as thousands demand Bashar Assad ousted
• Russian Foreign Minister in Damascus seeking hope for Syria
• UN: Assad must go, no foreign forces in Syria

Gendarme forces move toward protesters in Piata Universitatii square, Bucharest January 19, 2012.

Romania’s Prime Minster Emil Boc has resigned following weeks of public protest against IMF-backed austerity measures amid the debt crisis sweeping the European Union.

Announcing his resignation on Television on Monday, Boc said that he wanted to “defuse political and social tension” and to protect the stability of the country.

“We made this decision in order to alleviate the social and political situation in the country, but to not lose what Romanians have won with so much suffering, the country’s economic stability,” Boc said.

The resignation comes after three weeks of public demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Traian Basescu and the Boc government for imposing harsh austerity measures including a 25 percent cut in public sector wages, 24 percent increase in sales tax and a freeze on pensions.

Romania needed to implement the measures to qualify for the next installment of a 20bn euro bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Boc’s resignation makes Romania the sixth European country to see a prime minister fall to the debt crisis.

Basescu has nominated former Justice Minister Catalin Predoiu as interim Prime Minister on Monday.

The European debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, triggering incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.

There are fears that more delays in resolving the eurozone debt crisis, which began in Greece in late 2009 and infected Italy, Spain and France last year, could push not only Europe but also much of the rest of the developed world back into recession.

Source

Related posts:

• Romanian Anti-Government Rallies in Day 10
• Romania Police Fire Teargas at Rally
• Romania Anti-Austerity Protest Turns Violent
• Hundreds of Romanians call on President to Quit
• Euro debt crisis hangs over EU summit

Federal agency would be forced to consider applications to remove TSA screeners.

Following House approval of the measure on Friday, the Senate is set to vote today on legislation that would allow U.S. airports to replace TSA workers with screeners from private companies, a move that could spell the beginning of the end for the highly unpopular federal agency’s role in airport security.

“The U.S. agency must allow airports to switch to private companies for screeners unless it can show the move wouldn’t be cost-effective and would be detrimental to security, according to the legislation, which if passed will go to President Barack Obama for his signature,” reports Businessweek.

“They’ve been trying to force the door open for several years,” Jeff Price, a Denver-based consultant who has written a textbook on aviation security, said of U.S. lawmakers. “It reverses the burden of proof. It is definitely trying to checkmate the TSA.”

At the height of the anti-TSA drive in late 2010, which coincided with a national full body scanner opt out day, a growing number of airports such as Orlando Sanford International began to exercise their right to replace TSA workers with private screeners.

The TSA soon put a stop to this in January 2011 by freezing the number of airports that could use private screeners, a figure that had climbed to 16. Orlando Sanford is one of the airports whose vetoed application to remove TSA screeners will have to be reconsidered under the new legislation.

More private security companies are expected to start up if the legislation passes, providing the additional benefit of adding tens of thousands of private sector jobs to the economy.

“You’ll see companies make themselves known,” said Price. “They’ll make sure every airport operator knows the rules have changed.”

The TSA’s involvement in airport security has become highly unpopular over the last two years, with the federal agency mired in one controversy after another, from its agents constantly caught stealing from travelers, to its mistreatment of children and the elderly, to its habitual lies about the safety of naked body scanners.

In September last year, a petition on the White House website that called for abolishing the TSA received almost 32,000 signatures, forcing TSA chief John Pistole to issue a response.

When Texas lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would have outlawed the TSA’s “advanced pat down” procedures last year, the feds threatened to impose a no fly zone over the state and the measure was ultimately defeated.

Congress recently gave the green light for $24 million dollars in extra funding for the TSA’s VIPR program, which was responsible for conducting 9,300 unannounced checkpoints last year alone.

For anti-TSA activists, kicking the federal agency out of the nation’s airports will merely be the first step given that TSA workers have now been deployed to staff a network of internal checkpoints. The TSA is now conducting searches of Americans at train stations, bus depots, ferry ports, on highways and even at high school prom nights.

The federal agency was also responsible for training hot dog sellers and other vendors to spot terrorists at the recent Super Bowl, a story that attracted yet more derision from the national media.

Source

Related posts:

• Ron Paul starts campaign to end the TSA
• Occupy Congress: Money out of US politics!
• Obama Signs NDAA Citizen Detention Bill
• Obama’s change: From kidnapping and torture to assassination
• Congressmen’s incomes triple while America gets poorer

A Britain Royal Navy submarine

The UK is sending a nuclear submarine to the Falkland Islands (also known as Malvinas Islands) amid growing tensions between Britain and Argentina over the disputed territories.

According to media reports on Saturday, British Prime Minister David Cameron has personally approved the deployment of the Trafalgar-class vessel, believed to be either HMS Tireless or HMS Turbulent, in the South Atlantic.

However, a British Ministry of Defense (MoD) spokeswoman said, “We do not comment on submarine deployments.”

The heavily-armed submarine is set to be in the Malvinas waters in April for the 30th anniversary of the 1982 war which the two countries fought over the islands also known as the Falklands.

The Royal Navy has already revealed it is sending HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, to the Falklands.

Britain’s Prince William arrived in the Malvinas on Thursday for a six-week training mission as a search and rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Buenos Aires has strongly condemned Britain’s “provocative” move to post Prince William, likening it to that of a “conqueror.”

“The Argentinean people regret that the royal heir is coming to the soil of the homeland with the uniform of the conqueror and not with the wisdom of a statesman who works in the service of peace and dialogue between nations,” read an Argentine Foreign Ministry statement.

Situated about 250 nautical miles from Argentina, Malvinas has been a British colony for over 180 years.

Argentina claims sovereignty and the two countries fought a destructive 74-day war over the islands in 1982.

Source

Related posts:

• UK Cannot Confront Argentina
• Britain to send war message to Argentina
• Brazil backs Argentina over Malvinas
• Britain mulls banning social media
• Somalia Next UK’s Oil War Target