A port official has admitted that a 'weapon of mass effect' has been found by 'partner agencies' in the U.S., raising major questions over a possible government cover-up.

The disturbing revelation came in an interview with San Diego's assistant port director screened by a television channel in the city. The Customs and Border Protection Department tried to dampen speculation over his remarks, but doubts remained over whether he had inadvertently revealed a dirty bomb plot to attack the U.S. mainland. Concern over a secret WMD bust came after U.S. cables made public by the Wikileaks whistleblower website revealed terror groups were plotting a 'nuclear 911.'

In the interview screened by San Diego’s 10News, Al Hallor, assistant San Diego port director, said ‘weapons of mass effect’ had been found, although he did not specify exactly where or what they were. Reporter Mitch Blacher asked Mr Hallor: ‘Do you ever find things that are dangerous like a chemical agent or a weaponised device?’ ‘At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year, but our partner agencies have found those things,’ the customs official replied.

SANTIAGO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake measuring 6.6 magnitude on the Richter scale hit off the coast of central-southern Chile Monday, causing no casualties or material damage. According to the information published by the U.S. Geology Survey (USGS) on its website, the quake took place at 0340 GMT and the epicenter was located offshore Maule. So far there have been no reports of casualties or material damage. The National Office of Emergencies of Chile denied the risk of tsunami soon after the earthquake.

A few hours ago, an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook Bio Bio in central-southern Chile Sunday, leaving no injuries or material damage. Also on Sunday, another two quakes, measuring 5.8 magnitude and 5.6 magnitude respectively, rattled the Bio Bio region.

The northern Chilean region of Atacama was struck by a series of moderate quakes last week, causing panic among the local population as the geologists have been warning of an eventual outbreak of tectonic energy in the region. On Friday a 6.8-magnitude earthquake was registered in Concepcion, capital of the central-southern region of Bio Bio. On Feb. 27, 2010, an 8.8-magnitude major earthquake struck Bio Bio, leaving more than 500 deaths and 30 billion U.S. dollars of economic losses.

'Sometimes I look at my work and its conservatism shocks me' George Shaw makes eerie semi-realist paintings of the Coventry council estate where he grew up. On the eve of a retrospective at Baltic, Gateshead, he talks to Sean O'Hagan.

[February 02] Many European countries are pursuing “excessive austerity,” risking a marked slowdown in economic growth, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said. “There’s this disastrous policy that even in the countries that don’t need to have austerity,” such as the U.K., they “are going for much more excessive austerity than they need,” he said at an investor conference in Moscow today. “We are already seeing around Europe the consequences of this austerity. The clear implication is that growth will be slower.”

European governments are stepping up efforts to narrow budget deficits after the region’s sovereign-debt crisis threatened to trigger defaults and undermine the euro. Leaders are considering boosting the 750 billion-euro ($1 trillion) rescue fund and adopting more stringent deficit rules to avoid the future turmoil after rescues of Greece and Ireland. While both those nations had “no choice” but to tighten fiscal policy, measures adopted by some other countries such as the U.K. aren’t justified, Stiglitz said. Britain, where the economy contracted in the fourth quarter, is already seeing the fallout, he said.

From meeting with Bradley, from getting to know him and from watching his state degrade over time, the only conclusion I can reach is that this is torture.

ABC News: Army private pressured tortured to implicate Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Sunday said his site was "significantly influential" in the fall of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, an event he said "no doubt" sparked a Middle East revolt. Assange, 39, said cables leaked on his whistleblowing site questioning US support for Ben Ali gave citizens the confidence to rise up and influenced the decisions of surrounding nations on whether to intervene.

"It does seem to be the case that material we published through a Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar, was significantly influential to what happened in Tunisia," Assange told the SBS programme Dateline. "And then there's no doubt that Tunisia was the example for Egypt and Yemen and Jordan, and all the protests that have happened there," he added.

Mehalabia.com: بلاحدود – جوليان أسانج – مؤسس موقع ويكيليكس

Anti-government protesters clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said. The clashes occurred while President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks that the government hoped would help avert an Egyptian-style revolt in the Arabian Peninsula state, a vital U.S. ally against al Qaeda. Saleh decided to postpone a visit to the United States planned for later this month "due to the current circumstances in the region," About 1,000 people attended the demonstration shouting "the Yemeni people want the fall of the regime" and "a Yemeni revolution after the Egyptian revolution," before dozens broke off to march to the palace.

WSWS: Thousands protest, clash with police in Yemen and Algeria

[An activist carries a picture of slain Khalid Said with Arabic that reads "Why was Khalid killed?" during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, June 19. Khalid Said was allegedly beaten to death by two plainclothes policemen on an Alexandria street after he posted a video on the Internet of police officers sharing the spoils from a drug bust among themselves, his family said.]

His name is Khalid Said: Egyptian writer killed in 2010 and upheld by Wael as the spark of revolution. His charges? Weed & Videotaping the Police.

More than 11,000 Egyptians have responded to a Facebook call for a Friday protest of police brutality in the death of Egyptian businessman Khalid Said. Egypt’s general prosecutor said Wednesday that the results of a second autopsy uphold the conclusion that a young Egyptian businessman whose death has incited anger and protests died from choking on a bag of drugs – not from a police beating.

Witnesses say that police dragged Mr. Said out of an Internet cafe in Alexandria June 6 and beat him to death in the street. Graphic photos of his facial injuries, circulated on the Internet, support their account. Said was reportedly targeted because he was planning to make public a video that shows police officers dividing the spoils of a drug bust.

The prosecutor general ordered a second autopsy after Said’s case sparked an uproar, with protests in Cairo and Alexandria and international calls for an investigation. The US last week urged Egypt to conduct a “transparent” investigation of Said’s “troubling” death.

WSWS: Egyptian military asserts authority as strikes, protests spread
Xinhuanet: Egypt's army dissolves parliament, pledging elections in 6 months

PressTV: Egypt Army rejects protesters' demands - Egypt's military has rejected the demands of pro-democracy protesters for a swift transfer of power to a civilian administration, saying it will rule by martial law until preseidential election is held in September.

Antiwar: Egypt’s Military Suspends Constitution, Disbands Parliament - Having taken power in the wake of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, the Egyptian military today fulfilled some key demands of the protesters, announcing that they will disband the parliament and suspend the constitution pending its revision. The moves may be welcomed in and of themselves, but the new junta also announced that they intend to rule entirely by decree until elections are held, meaning Egyptians can look forward to a minimum of six months under harsh martial law.

The poor in the Egyptian capital's urban slums live in almost the same manner as they did under the pharaohs, a Press TV correspondent reported Sunday. They live mostly on the charity of those visiting departed relatives. They give the poor what little money they can spare, and food like fruit, rice and flour bread known as “mercy cakes.”

Raw Story: Mubarak regime abused 50,000 homeless children in Cairo

Yemen’s police beat back protesters intent on overthrowing president: Police armed with sticks & daggers on Sunday beat back thousands of protesters marching through the capital in a 3rd day of demonstrations calling for political reforms & the resignation of the president.

PressTV: Police attack Yemeni protesters

Algerian opposition groups have said they will follow up the protests held this weekend by calling a demonstration in Algiers, the capital, every Saturday until the government is changed. "We will continue to march until the regime steps down. Each Saturday we will maintain the pressure," said Mohsen Belabes, a spokesman for the RCD opposition party which helped organised the demonstrations. Elias Filali, an Algerian blogger and activist, quoted Ali Yahia Abdennour, a senior figure and human right activist, as saying: "We should continue protesting every Saturday in the same square, we will gather momentum as we progress we want our dignity back.

"Yesterday the police has brutally beaten many protesters amongst them a pregnant women, old ladies, a journalist, young men and women, we should carry on protesting until we get our rights."

WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices. John Vidal's report on US diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia raises the spectre of premature peak oil: an unexpected deline in global oil production in an oil-dependent world. The US government is among many administrations that routinely reassure the public that supplies of oil can go on growing far into the future. But in private, top diplomats have been telling Washington that they hold deep concerns about supplies from the world's number one supplier. This is an issue that has far-reaching consequences for an oil-importing nation like the UK, and for the global economy.