[A tribesman watching a US drone strike in Pakistan. Islamabad says the US has not been given assent to carry out drone attacks on Pakistani soil. ] At least eight people were killed and four injured in two suspected US drone strikes in Pakistan's north-western tribal district of North Waziristan on Sunday, security officials said. An unmanned drone aircraft fired three Hellfire guided missiles into a compound in the Alora Mandi area of North Waziristan, a known safe haven of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants launching cross-border raids on NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan. "The drone attack partly demolished the compound and killed five people. Four more people were injured," said an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Pakistani government routinely protests against the US strikes, saying they violate its sovereignty and complicate its efforts against terrorism by fuelling anti-Americanism. AWIP: 11th Drone Strike of 2010: Latest US Attack Kills Six in North Waziristan: AFP: 11 killed in US missile strikes in NW Pakistan: officials. AntiWar: US Drone Fired Missile Into a Crowd of "Suspects," Killing 13 Afghans. TANSW: Pakistan Taliban deny US drone strike killed top leader. This comes on top of this Nobel Peace Prize winner Kills at Least 15 in North Waziristan and this Civilians Slain as Latest US Drone Strike on North Waziristan, Kills Five and this US Drones Kill 12 in North Waziristan: Third TERROR Strike in 24 Hours in Tribal Area and this U.S. Drones Kill 15 People Near Border in Pakistan and summing up all of 2009, this: 44 US drone hits in Pakistan killed 700 civilians in 2009.

A volcanic eruption has just begun under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier. This has been verified by local authorities in neighbouring Hvolsvöllur. Vísir reports that farms in the Fljótshlíð area and by Markarhlíð are already being evacuated. Locals in the area have confirmed that they are viewing flames and a steady stream of lava from the glacier. Eyjafjallajökull is an active central volcano. There is reportedly no recorded history of catastrophic eruptions in the area. The volcano last erupted 189 years ago and apparently caused a lot of ash fall in the area. Although speculation on the subject is pretty much useless (especially since your loving team of Grapevine reporters isn't really comprised of geologists or anything, although we scored pretty well in the subject in high school), folks are saying that besides the ash fall the greatest danger lies in glacier bursts or runs stemming from all that hot hot heat melting the glacier. There might be a bunch of water flooding the area pretty soon. RUV.is: Eldgos á Fimmvörðuhálsi.

The White House is considering housing international terrorism suspects at Bagram air base, as is done at Guantanamo Bay. 21 Mar 2010 The White House is considering whether to detain international terrorism suspects at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, senior U.S. officials said, an option that would lead to another prison with the same purpose as Guantanamo Bay, which it has promised to close. Although it has been known for some time that the administration was seeking options other than Guantanamo for holding existing prisoners, it has not been reported previously that it was considering Bagram for suspected terrorists that might be captured in the future.

New tax mandates and penalties included in Obamacare will cause the greatest expansion of the Internal Revenue Service since World War II, according to a release from Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas. A new analysis by the Joint Economic Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee minority staff estimates up to 16,500 new IRS personnel will be needed to collect, examine and audit new tax information mandated on families and small businesses in the ‘reconciliation’ bill being taken up by the U.S. House of Representatives this weekend. Scores of new federal mandates and fifteen different tax increases totaling $400 billion are imposed under the Democratic House bill. In addition to more complicated tax returns, families and small businesses will be forced to reveal further tax information to the IRS, provide proof of ‘government approved’ health care and submit detailed sales information to comply with new excise taxes.

Thousands of protesters carried signs that read "Indict Bush Now" and flag-draped cardboard coffins on Saturday urging the immediate withdrawal of all troops sent into combat overseas. Protesters rallied at Lafayette Park across from the White House and then began marching through downtown seven years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Seven protesters, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested after the rally. Stops on the march route include military contractor Halliburton, the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices. PressTV: Anti-war protests held near White House. Truthout: Antiwar Protesters: "Bombs Don't Bring Democracy". Examiner: Iraq war 8th year: All “intelligence” for war proven as Orwellian and treasonous lies. Now what?

The former Prime Minister tried to keep the public in the dark over his dealings with South Korean oil firm UI Energy Corporation. Mr Blair - who has made at least £20million since leaving Downing Street in June 2007 - also went to great efforts to keep hidden a £1million deal advising the ruling royal family in Iraq's neighbour Kuwait. In an unprecedented move, he persuaded the committee which vets the jobs of former ministers to keep details of both deals from the public for 20 months, claiming it was commercially sensitive. The deals emerged yesterday when the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments finally lost patience with Mr Blair and decided to ignore his objections and publish the details. News of the secret deals fuelled fresh accusations that Mr Blair is 'cashing in on his contacts' from the controversial Iraq war in what one MP called 'revolving door politics at its worst'. AWIP: Blair's secret oil links to Mideast revealed. AWIP/Chris Floyd: Blood is His Argument: Tony Blair's Gentle Cuddling at Iraq "Inquiry".

The man once held as a P.O.W. and tortured after his A4E-SKYHAWK jet was shot down during the Vietnam War has authored a bill entitled, “S.3081 – Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010” which thus far has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill outlines the process by which Americans may be held indefinitely, without notice of their Miranda Rights, and without ever being charged with a crime. Worse detainment of an individual according to the legislation is authorized by mere suspicion that the individual did or seeks to harm any asset of the United States government or any civilian target.

Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians near Nablus in the northern West Bank on Sunday. Palestinian security sources identified the victims as 19-year-old farmers Muhammad Faysal and Salah Muhammad Qawariq. Both were from the Awarta village, southeast of Nablus, and were en route to farmland carrying agricultural tools and herbicide, the same sources said. Ma'an News: Live ammunition killed two 16-year-old Palestinian boys in the northern West Bank over the weekend, despite the Israeli military's denials, medical officials and human rights advocates said Sunday.

A Nigerian man on hunger strike has died on the tarmac at Zurich airport after Swiss authorities tried to deport him using a special flight to deport asylum seekers. Switzerland has since halted the use of special flights to deport asylum seekers following the unfortunate incident.

Private banks don't make loans because they have extra deposits lying around:

(1) Each private bank "creates" loans out of thin air by entering into binding loan commitments with borrowers (of course, corresponding liabilities are created on their books at the same time. But see below); then

(2) If the bank doesn't have the required level of reserves, it simply borrows them after the fact from the central bank (or from another bank);

(3) The central bank, in turn, creates the money which it lends to the private banks out of thin air.

It's not just Bernanke ... the central banks and their owners - the private commercial banks - have been running the printing presses for hundreds of years.

UK government in full damage control: members of Parliament caught red handed selling political influence for cash. Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary, today insisted he had complied with the MPs' code of conduct after a group of Labour MPs were targeted in an elaborate sting operation in which journalists set up a bogus lobbying company and offered to pay them in return for political influence.

Tonnes of sand from deserts in China's interior blew into Beijing on Saturday, shrouding China's capital in a yellow-orange haze that authorities warned made the air quality "hazardous". There were few people out on streets where pedestrians could taste the dust. Many of those who had ventured from their homes were wearing facemasks, and some left footprints in the yellow film that had settled on the city's streets. Beijing's weather forecasting bureau gave the air quality a rare "5", or hazardous, rating and added that it was "not suitable for morning exercises". Parks and open spaces are usually packed from early in the day with enthusiasts doing martial arts, ballroom dancing and other activities.

The sandstorms underline the environmental degradation investors identify as one of the long-term constraints on growth in China, and concern about its impact has made a less resource-intensive model of growth a priority for Beijing.