– Czech leader attacks EU (Independent):
The Czech Republic President said the EU was undemocratic, elitist and reminiscent of Soviet-era Communist dictatorships in an attack which provoked an angry response from EU legislators.
– Binyamin Netanyahu to be Israel’s next Prime Minister (Times Online):
(I am sure Iran has raised the threat level to ‘blood’ red already.)
– Gold rises over $1000 on haven buying (Reuters):
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Gold rose above $1,000 an ounce on Friday for the first time since March last year as nervous investors piled into the yellow metal to preserve wealth amid a tumbling stock market.
– Police documents linking New York governor Eliot Spitzer to prostitutes to be released (Telegraph):
A US federal judge ordered the release of documents from the investigation that linked former New York governor Eliot Spitzer to a prostitution ring.
– White House says world can’t delay on Iran (AP):
WASHINGTON — The White House says the international community must work together to urgently address Iran’s uranium enrichment activities.
– Iran has enough uranium ‘to build a nuclear bomb’ (Telegraph):
(Iran’s uranium is enriched at 3%, for a nuclear weapon Iran needs 95% enriched uranium. Still a looong way to go. I just saw a documentary (aired by a big German TV station) that for only $ 5 million you can get a suitcase nuke. Besides everything that Iran does is “perfectly legal” says Ron Paul.)
– Official: Pentagon report says Gitmo is humane (AP):
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says the Guantanamo Bay prison meets the standard for humane treatment laid out in the Geneva Conventions, according to a report for President Barack Obama, who has ordered the terrorist detention center closed within a year.
– Former RNC director convicted in phone jamming case gets off without penalty (Raw Story)
– AP IMPACT: Jobless Hit With Bank Fees on Benefits (ABC News):
First, Arthur Santa-Maria called Bank of America to ask how to check the balance of his new unemployment benefits debit card. The bank charged him 50 cents. He chose not to complain. That would have cost another 50 cents. So he took out some of the money and then decided to pull out the rest. But that made two withdrawals on the same day, and that was $1.50.
– US bank stocks fall to 17-year low (Financial Times):
US banking shares hit their lowest level since 1992 on Thursday as fears mounted that the government would be forced to nationalise a key institution.
– No TARP Can Mend the Economy Now (International Forecaster):
The collapse we see in the distance will bring about social dislocation and Martial law.
– Russians Retrench as Crisis Evokes Memories of 1998 ‘Nightmare’ (Bloomberg)
– Qantas Rating Cut to Baa2 at Moody’s on Travel Plunge (Bloomberg):
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) — Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest carrier, had its credit rating cut for the first time in more than 15 years by Moody’s Investors Service as the global recession hammers demand for air travel.
– Anglo American to shed 9,000 jobs (Financial Times)
– Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks (New York Times):
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Once a crutch for the most needy, food pantries have responded to the deepening recession by opening their doors to what Rosemary Gilmartin, who runs the Interfaith Food Pantry here, described as “the next layer of people” — a rapidly expanding roster of child-care workers, nurse’s aides, real estate agents and secretaries facing a financial crisis for the first time.
– Saab seeks bankruptcy protection in battle for survival (Times Online)
– Japan turns to ‘work-sharing’ to avoid layoffs (AP):
Work-sharing is the latest buzzword in Japan Inc. Proponents say it’s a good way to avoid American-style layoffs in a society that has long fostered lifetime employment. Toyota Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Fujitsu Inc., have all taken up some kind of work-sharing. Nissan Motor Co. and others are considering it.
– Highland Capital CDO Fund Is Insolvent, Wiping Out Investors (Bloomberg)
– Obama Picks Bilderberger for Health Secretary (Prison Planet):
Obama has picked a Bilderberger to be his choice for health secretary — Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Obama initially picked former Senate Democrat leader Tom Daschle for the position, but Daschle “withdrew because of personal tax issues,” in other words he didn’t bother to pay any taxes because minions of the elite are not required to do so, except for public relations reasons. (Obama has also given 10 key positions to members of the Trilateral Commission. Obama is a New World Order puppet.)
– GM shares hit 74-year low (AP)
– Berkshire stock hits 5-year low below $74000 (BusinessWeek)
– Sun-powered device converts CO2 into fuel (New Scientist):
Powered only by natural sunlight, an array of nanotubes is able to convert a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapour into natural gas at unprecedented rates.
– China recalls more than 320000 doses of flawed rabies vaccine: official (Xinhua)
– Drinking two cups of coffee a day ‘cuts stroke risk by 20 per cent’ (Telegraph):
A study involving more than 80,000 women over a period of more than 20 years showed those who consumed several cups a day were much less likely to suffer a clot on the brain.
– Texans to shoot wild pigs from helicopters (Telegraph):
Texans may be allowed to take to the air in helicopters to gun down the millions of pigs that are running wild in the state’s countryside.
– Brian Eno: The well of freedom is running dry (Independent):
Nobody bothers about civil liberties until they’ve gone. As the old country song warns: “You don’t miss your water till your well runs dry.”