www.independent.ie Despite claiming to have driven down the cost of its foreign junkets by 31 per cent since Mr Cowen took office in May of last year, the Department of the Taoiseach still expects the taxpayer to sign a cheque for €500,000 to pay for first-class flights, five-star hotels, chauffeur-driven limousines and fine dining in 2009, [...] Related posts:

1. Revealed: John O'Donoghue's six-day odyssey on state jet by Ken Foxe www.tribune.ie * Overall cost to taxpayers...
2. Cowen hung out to dry in National Gallery hijack Anonymous nude portrait of taoiseach at National Gallery drives gardaí...
3. Cowen and Lenihan at odds over IMF rebuke www.independent.ie Tension has developed between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and...
4. Cowen's loyalty card Junior ministers 'sacked' to ensure backing for tough Budget TAOISEACH Brian Cowen last night effectively sacked 20 junior...

www.irishtimes.com THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) told the Government that the definition of "long-term economic value" on bank loans in the draft Nama Bill was "masterful" as it was "sufficiently specific" and "sufficiently vague" to allow "appropriate flexibility". Steven Seelig, an adviser at the IMF, made the comments in an e-mailed response to a request by the [...] Related posts:

1. Economists warn against Nama www.irishtimes.com A group of 46 economists has signed an...
2. NAMA could acquire €30bn in foreign loans By Paul O'Brien Political Correspondent www.irishexaminer.com THE State may...
3. Ireland: Most small firms now expect Nama to fail www.independent.ie ALMOST two-thirds of Ireland's small business owners are...
4. GREEN senator Dan Boyle: Party lacks confidence in NAMA solution www.irishexaminer.com GREEN senator Dan Boyle has admitted his party...

dailystar.com.lb BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed as "mercenaries" those who criticize his party's possession of arms. "Has it become a shame to possess the power of resistance and defense, and own the ability to harm the enemy and create the right balance?" the secretary general of Hizbullah asked during a speech to mark the [...] Related posts:

1. Hezbollah denies arms ship claims news.bbc.co.uk Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has denied Israeli allegations...
2. United Nations chief says Hezbollah in Lebanon must be immediately disbanded MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – The UN secretary...
3. Six more Israeli 'spies' caught in Lebanon Lebanese authorities have arrested six more people accused of...
4. Hezbollah denies any involvement in Hariri's assassination   BEIRUT, May 24 (Xinhua) — Lebanese Shiite armed group...

www.nytimes.com NEW DELHI — Nepalese riot police officers wielding batons and firing canisters of tear gas clashed Sunday with Maoist sympathizers in Katmandu, as the Maoists staged their largest protests since abandoning the government seven months ago. The violence was a new sign that the stalled peace process was unraveling altogether. It started as Maoists blocked roads [...] Related posts:

1. United Kingdom; Police Taser gun use 'up by nearly a third' www.dailymail.co.uk Police use of Taser stun guns has increased...
2. Report: UK police categorize political activists as 'domestic extremists' rawstory British police inspectors have been building a massive,...
3. South Russian police officer fired after posting corruption video MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) – A police officer...
4. Protester 'had miscarriage' after being struck by police riot shield as 'kettling' tactic is criticised www.dailymail.co.uk A protester struck by a police riot shield...

www.jpost.com Education gaps in Israel were the highest in the Western world in the last decade, according to a study released on Sunday by the Jerusalem-based Taub Center for for Social Policy Studies in Israel. The failure of Israel's school system to grant children tools to be used later in life "will put them at a [...] Related posts:

1. Protesting parents who took pupils from school may be prosecuted www.independent.ie PARENTS of 14 children who have been withdrawn...
2. U.K. – Lecturers warn "DONT' TRUST" data on schools exams results www.thelondondailynews.com A' level results which are due to be...
3. Israeli youths reject army call-up antiisgood.wordpress.com Some Israeli youth see conscription as a tool...
4. Israeli Organizations Call on Norway to Divest from the Israeli Occupation Twenty different Israeli organizations send an appeal to the Norwegian...

www.ft.com France said on Sunday that it had committed no crime in using a stolen list of Swiss bank accounts to track French tax evaders as a row between Bern and Paris over banking secrecy intensified. "France is committing no fraud, the tax evaders are," said Eric Woerth, budget minister, in an interview on Canal Plus. "What [...] Related posts:

1. Switzerland Vows To Block U.S. Authorities' Demand For Private Bank Account Data CNBC Switzerland has vowed to prevent UBS from handing...
2. BNP Paribas bonuses spark anger in France sg.news.yahoo.com PARIS (AFP) – French bank BNP Paribas said...
3. Scientologists convicted of fraud news.bbc.co.uk A French court has convicted the Church of...
4. Man held in France over 'Qaeda links' released: official sg.news.yahoo.com PARIS (AFP) – – The younger of two...

By Lewis Page www.theregister.co.uk US arms globocorp Boeing has announced yet another military robot demonstration – but this time, one with a difference. Rather than spying on meatsacks or mowing them down with the traditional array of automated weaponry, the war-bots in this trial sought to win over their fleshy opponents using psychological warfare. The demo was carried [...] Related posts:

1. China considering manned lunar landing in 2025-2030 SHANGHAI, May 23 (Xinhua) — A space scientist has said...
2. Robots are increasingly being used in conflicts posing ethical questions as killing becomes remote-controlled www.7days.ae Going off to war has always meant risking...
3. Robot teacher conducts first class in Tokyo school A robot schoolteacher developed by Japanese scientists has taken a...
4. Throwable robot and remote-controlled mini-helicopter unveiled as latest battlefield surveillance technology www.dailymail.co.uk Soldiers on the battlefield could soon benefit from...

By Adrian Douglas for Gata.org On October 10 I published an article that postulated that the gold market is a Ponzi scheme because it sells gold that doesn't exist by implementation of the principles of fractional reserve banking. (See http://www.gata.org/node/7887.) Since writing that article further information has come to light that supports this claim and allows [...] Related posts:

1. IMF Sells Gold to India, First Sale in Nine Years www.bloomberg.com Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fund...
2. Desmond sells off shares in top banks www.independent.ie BILLIONAIRE Dermot Desmond sold a substantial amount of...
3. International Forecaster: Gold To Stand Against Big Devaluations What we are about to tell you may be...
4. Banks loaned 100pc as market collapsed www.independent.ie BANKS continued to sell 100pc mortgages throughout last...

www.independent.co.uk The Independent wins three-year battle to publish secret correspondence with Government over spiralling cost of maintaining royal palaces. Secret correspondence between the Government and Buckingham Palace concerning the growing public cost of the Royal Family is to be released to The Independent after three years of campaigning. In a far-reaching ruling, the Government must disclose more than [...] Related posts:

1. Scotland Yard advertises for 'gay, lesbian or transgender' bodyguards for the Queen www.dailymail.co.uk You must be a hotshot with a weapon,...
2. €600,000 spent on reminding us we're in the EU www.independent.ie THE Government spent almost €600,000 on an ad...
3. Provisional IRA commandos aimed to bomb Buckingham Palace www.independent.ie IRA commandos behind a two-year bombing campaign in...
4. Binyam Mohamed: MI5 officer gave false evidence in Guantánamo detainee case Lawyers for the government have admitted that a senior MI5...

www.thelocal.de The German Interior Ministry confirmed on Monday that new identification cards containing radio-frequency (RFID) chips will be introduced starting November 1, 2010 – but some data protection experts are critical of the decision. "It's smaller than the old one, but can do a lot more," Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said in a statement. The information on [...] Related posts:

1. Nokia to build radio ID chips into phones for inventory control Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, plans to...
2. Ex-IBM Employee reveals TV Abandoned Analog Band to Make Room for RFID Chips According to a former 31-year IBM employee, the highly-publicized,...
3. Hitachi Develops RFID Powder RFID keeps getting smaller. On February 13, Hitachi unveiled...
4. Report: Apple testing RFID swipe support in iPhone prototypes www.appleinsider.com A site focused on Near Field Communications has...