Drug firms 'drove swine flu pandemic warning to recoup £billions spent on research' 27 Jan 2010 Drug companies manipulated the World Health Organisation into downgrading its definition of a pandemic so they could cash in on a swine flu outbreak, it is claimed. An inquiry heard yesterday that the WHO allegedly softened its criteria for declaring a H1N1 flu pandemic last spring - just weeks before announcing there was a worldwide outbreak. Critics said the decision was driven by pharmaceutical companies desperate to recoup the billions of pounds they had invested in researching and developing pandemic vaccines [not to mention, the pandemics themselves] after the bird flu scares in 2006 and 2007.
Ex-Prime Minister Blair Faces Iraq Inquiry --Mr Blair, who has been called "Bush's poodle", will also be questioned about whether he gave the US President [sic] an early assurance that British troops would join the invasion without consulting Parliament or the public. 28 Jan 2010 Tony Blair will be questioned for six hours tomorrow on his decision to take Britain into war with Iraq in 2003. The former Prime Minister's testimony is expected to be the highlight of the Iraq Inquiry. The audience will include family members of soldiers and civilians killed or missing in the country. Mr Blair is expected to be quizzed about accusations that he and his inner circle were so determined to topple Saddam Hussein that they exaggerated intelligence reports about Iraqi weapons and pressured the then-Attorney General to conclude that the invasion would not be a violation of international law.
Pakistan seeks role as mediator in possible Taliban-Afghanistan peace talks 28 Jan 2010 Pakistan, which once sponsored Taliban forces but turned against them under American pressure [bribery, threats] in 2001, now hopes to play a role as a broker in proposed negotiations among Taliban leaders and the Afghan government, with support from the United States. As leaders of 60 countries meet in London on Thursday to discuss how to help Afghanistan stop its [US-engendered] downward spiral into instability, the possibilities for reconciliation and talks with both Taliban leaders and foot soldiers will top the agenda.
'Even those who took part in attacks involving the deaths of British or US soldiers would be rehabilitated.' The new Afghan plan: buy off Taliban --Leaders back multimillion-pound fund and consider an olive branch for leadership 28 Jan 2010 Britain and the US are backing a new strategy to buy off "soft" supporters of the Taliban in a radical attempt to end nine years of war in Afghanistan. The plan, to be approved at a 60-nation conference in London today, comes amid unexpected signs of growing political support for the equally high-risk idea of talks leading to a political settlement with the Taliban leadership. The multimillion-pound "peace and reintegration" [aka Stimulus] fund would seek to lure low ranking Taliban fighters, who join out of poverty rather than ideology, by giving them jobs, schooling or land for farming. An effective amnesty for these men, now believed to make up 75 per cent of the insurgency's ranks, means that even those who took part in attacks involving the deaths of British or US soldiers would be rehabilitated.
The Taliban Stimulus: Nato says Afghanistan conference will raise millions to pay off Taliban --The Nato Secretary General has said the London Conference on Afghanistan will be used to raise millions of pounds to pay off bribe the Taliban leadership. 26 Jan 2010 Anders Fogh Rasmussen said it was necessary to "establish a trust to finance the reintegration programme" that would persuade the militants to lay down their weapons. The Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who will pledge to tackle government corruption [LOL!], will present a plan to reconcile senior Taliban leaders at tomorrow's meeting. But the proposals will require huge amounts of money to pay for new jobs, pensions, land and even fund the relocation of senior militants abroad. [The GOP is thrilled. They're thinking: Thank *God* the money won't be spent on jobs and pensions (or health care) in the US! This way, many of the Taliban can take the $$$ and raise arms against the US invaders, and the war can continue for eons! Think of how much Blackwater and DynCorp can make!
Obusha opens new, illegal secret war front: US runs 'secret' military operations in Yemen 27 Jan 2010 Washington has involved in secret joint operations in Yemen after President Barack Obama approved US military and intelligence teams to be dispatched to the country, the Washington Post revealed Wednesday. The operations begun six weeks ago, involving troops from the US military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists, the Post reported. The American agents are helping the Yemeni army develop tactics and providing Sana'a forces with electronic and video surveillance, as well as three-dimensional terrain maps, the report said.
American added to 'shortlist' of U.S. citizens targeted for killing or capture by JSOC --U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes 27 Jan 2010 U.S. military teams and intelligence agencies are deeply involved in secret joint operations with Yemeni troops who in the past six weeks have killed scores of people, among them six of 15 top leaders of a regional al-Qaeda affiliate numerous civilians, according to senior administration officials. The operations, approved by President Obama and begun six weeks ago, involve several dozen troops from the U.S. military's clandestine Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), whose main mission is tracking and killing suspected terrorists... As part of the operations, Obama approved a Dec. 24 strike against a compound where a U.S. citizen, Anwar al-Aulaqi, was thought to be meeting with other regional al-Qaeda leaders. Although he was not the focus of the strike and was not killed, he has since been added to a shortlist of U.S. citizens specifically targeted for killing or capture by the JSOC, military officials said.
UN removes Taliban officials from blacklist 27 Jan 2010 The United Nations has removed five former Taliban officials from its blacklist as part of reconciliation efforts in war-weary Afghanistan. The de-listing, which came on Wednesday, was approved by a special Security Council committee. The UN said in a statement that the five Afghan nationals would no longer be subject to a freeze on their assets and a travel ban.
Al-Qaeda seeks WMD, US unprepared: reports 26 Jan 2010 The United States has not done enough to protect the country against the threat of weapons of mass destruction even as Al-Qaeda [al-CIAduh] appears intent on staging a large-scale attack, reports said. A bipartisan panel warned that the government had failed to adopt measures to counter the danger posed by extremists using WMD, saying the administration lacked plans for a rapid response to a possible biological attack.
Trial date set for former Xe worker charged in Kabul shooting 28 Jan 2010 A federal magistrate judge today set a Sept. 14 trial date for a former Xe worker charged in the shooting deaths of two Afghans in a case that could carry the death penalty. Chris Drotleff pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. The Virginia Beach man has been in jail without bond since his arrest earlier this month on charges of killing two Afghan civilians during a traffic incident in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital. Justin Cannon, a second security worker with Drotleff that day last May, remains in Texas awaiting extradition to face the same charges.
NATO-led air strike kills 20 in Afghanistan --NATO air strikes against suspected Taliban militants have killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan over the past few months. 28 Jan 2010 A NATO-led air strike in Afghanistan's northern province of Baghlan has killed up to 20 people. The Western military alliance claimed in a statement that the dead were all militants. NATO forces had to call in air support after coming under attack from what they allege was a large number of militants.
NATO troops shoot cleric in Afghanistan 28 Jan 2010 A convoy of troops from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has shot dead a Muslim cleric in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Muhammad Yonus, the prominent imam of a mosque in central Kabul, was killed in a morning shootout on Thursday.
Gunmen murder cleric outside Baghdad mosque 28 Jan 2010 Unidentified armed men [Blackwater terrorists] have opened fire on a cleric outside a mosque in a Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad, killing him on the spot. "Militants on Thursday afternoon killed a clergyman in a shooting outside a mosque in Baghdad's western Sunni neighborhood of al-Adl," an anonymous Iraqi police source was quoted as saying, according to Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Israeli tanks target Gaza homes, farmlands 28 Jan 2010 Israeli army Tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands in the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). A number of Israeli Tanks invaded lands located near al-Shojayia district and fired at Palestinian farmers near the northern Gaza-Israeli borders on Thursday afternoon, reported IMEMC.
South and North Korea exchange fire along sea border 27 Jan 2010 North and South Korea have engaged in a short artillery duel along their disputed western sea border as efforts continue to restart the stalled six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament. No casualties or damage were reported after the exchange in which the two sides fired into the air, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Secretary of State Says No to Second Term 28 Jan 2010 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she will not serve a full eight years in her position if President Barack Obama is elected to a second term. In a nationally televised interview with PBS television's Tavis Smiley Wednesday, Clinton she could not imagine serving a full eight years. She told her interviewer that, considering the demands of the job, she would find that extremely challenging.
Obama Vows to Restore a 'Tested' Nation 28 Jan 2010 President Obama said Wednesday night that leaders in Washington face a "deficit of trust," as he used his first State of the Union address to try to restore public confidence in his administration and to convince the American people that he is intensely focused on the issues that concern them most: jobs and the economy. In a nationally televised speech before a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama appealed for an end to the "tired old battles" that have divided the country and stalled his legislative agenda.
Text: Obama's State of the Union Address 28 Jan 2010 Following is the prepared text of President Obama's State of the Union address, delivered Jan. 27, 2010, as released by the White House.
Bad news for polar bears: Obama: We 'need' offshore drilling, nuclear power plants 28 Jan 2010 'But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. That means building a new generation of safe, clean [sic] nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development.'
Feinstein says Obama should move terror trials from NYC 28 Jan 2010 President Barack Obama should order the trial for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other accused terrorists moved out of New York City, Sen. Dianne Feinstein ('D'-Calif.) said Thursday. Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is the highest-ranking DemocRAT to urge the administration to reverse course on its decision to bring the terror leaders to Manhattan for trial.
House Homeland Security Committee blasts AG Holder for terrorist handling 28 Jan 2010 A member of Michigan's congressional delegation accused U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday of treating the war on terrorism "like a simple police action" as the Obama administration came under more fire for treating the man accused of trying to blow up Flight 253 like a criminal [as Bush did with Richard Reid] with rights rather than an enemy combatant. "I was stunned that this terrorist wasn't turned over to the military," said U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Hypocrite-Mich., a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, which held a hearing on the Dec. 25 incident at Detroit Metro Airport.
Chicago man pleads not guilty to Mumbai terrorism charges 27 Jan 2010 A Chicago man who’s accused of helping to plot the deadly 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India, pleaded not guilty this morning to terrorism charges. David Coleman Headley entered the formal plea in federal court in Chicago even as he continues to cooperate with authorities in the investigations into the Mumbai attack and also a plot to assassinate a Danish newspaper cartoonist.
Air Terminal at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Busy in Haiti Relief Effort 26 Jan 2010 As U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay and Joint Task Force Guantanamo continue support of disaster relief efforts following the devastating earthquake in Haiti Jan. 12, a joint logistics hub at the naval station and the air terminal has been established to coordinate and lead humanitarian relief efforts to the island. During operations, the air terminal tempo is practically non-stop.
Vaccination Without Doctor Approval In a US Hospital By S. Humphries, MD 22 Jan 2010 H1N1 and seasonal influenza vaccines are now being given to sick hospital patients with or without their doctor’s consent. This is being done despite there being no data on the safety of doing so. I am a licensed, board-certified nephrologist, otherwise known as a kidney specialist, working in a large, city-based hospital. Because I rarely admit patients to the hospital other than for specific procedures, such as a kidney biopsy, I only recently became aware of my hospital’s policy regarding flu shots for sick people. Waking up to this new rule made me realize that Big Pharma is getting closer and closer to bypassing doctors completely to deliver direct patient "care".
Canada donates excess swine flu vaccines to WHO 28 Jan 2010 Canada announced Thursday it has donated five million swine flu vaccine doses and six million Canadian dollars (5.6 million US) to the World Health Organization for its pandemic relief efforts. The doses, which represent 10 percent of Canada's total H1N1 flu vaccine order, are intended to support immunization programs in developing countries.
Howard Zinn, author of 'People's History' and left-wing historian, dies in California 27 Jan 2010 Howard Zinn, an author, teacher and political activist whose leftist "A People's History of the United States" became a million-selling alternative to mainstream texts, died Wednesday. He was 87. Zinn died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, Calif., daughter Myla Kabat-Zinn said. The historian was a resident of Auburndale, Mass.
4 Arrested in Phone Tampering at Landrieu Office 27 Jan 2010 Federal officials charged four men on Tuesday with plotting to tamper with the telephone system in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana. One of the men was a conservative activist who gained fame last year by secretly recording members of the community group Acorn giving him advice on how to set up a brothel. All four of the men arrested Monday in New Orleans, each in his mid-20s, were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Pennsylvania Capital Should Weigh Bankruptcy, Controller Says 26 Jan 2010 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the capital of the sixth-largest U.S. state by population, should skip a $2.2 million debt service payment due Feb. 1 and consider bankruptcy, City Controller Dan Miller said. Harrisburg faces $68 million in payments this year in connection with a waste-to-energy incinerator and should weigh Chapter 9 protection from creditors or state oversight through a program known as Act 47, Miller said today.
Previous lead stories: Iraq war was a crime of aggression: The damning verdict of top Whitehall lawyers which No. 10 refused to accept 27 Jan 2010 Tony Blair and Jack Straw brushed aside repeated warnings from Government lawyers that they would not have a 'leg to stand on' if Britain invaded Iraq. Devastating evidence at the Iraq inquiry yesterday revealed that every senior legal adviser at the Foreign Office believed the conflict was in breach of international law. Astonishingly, Downing Street asked lawyers to assess what the consequences would be if Britain toppled Saddam Hussein without legal authority. When they received the lawyers' memo, No.10 demanded: 'Why has this been put in writing?' Sir Michael Wood, then the Foreign Office's senior legal adviser, warned ministers again and again that to go to war without approval from a UN Security Council resolution would constitute a 'crime of aggression' in international law.
Mission accomplished! ExxonMobil to redevelop, expand Iraq's West Qurna 1 field 25 Jan 2010 ExxonMobil Iraq Ltd. signed an agreement with the Iraq Ministry of Oil to redevelop and expand West Qurna 1 field in southern Iraq. The agreement was signed in Baghdad in the presence of the Iraq Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani and Rob Franklin, president of ExxonMobil upstream ventures. The consortium members are ExxonMobil as the lead contractor with 60% interest, Oil Exploration Co. (owned by the Iraq government) with 25% interest, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC with 15% interest.
