Iran's army chief has warned the US to keep its aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, which recently left the Persian Gulf during Iranian military exercises, away from the area.

"We recommend ... to the American warship that passed through the Strait of Hormuz and went on to the Gulf of Oman, not to return to the Persian Gulf," The Associated Press cites Gen. Ataollah Salehi as telling Iran's official IRNA news agency. "We don't have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once," Salehi was quoted as saying in comments also posted on the Iranian armed forces website, AFP reported.

Salehi did not give details of the action Iran might take if it returned, nor did he name the carrier, Reuters reported. The carrier — one of the US navy's biggest vessels — reportedly passed through the key Gulf oil supply route of the Strait of Hormuz last week. It was heading east across the Gulf of Oman, after a visit to Dubai's Jebel Ali port, through a zone where the Iranian navy was holding its maneuvers. It left the area because of 10 days of Iranian naval exercises in which they fired a number a new missiles.

CBS: Iran warns U.S. to keep ship out of Gulf
Haaretz: Iran threatens to take action if U.S. carrier returns to Persian Gulf

A former CIA analyst says the notion that stirring up hostilities towards Iran will make Israel more secure will prove to be “the big mistake of the century.”

“If this rhetoric spins out of control, if there are incidents in the Persian Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz that lead to wider hostilities, as night follows the day, this could spin not only into a regional war but even farther; and... of Israel, I fear, may cease to exist,” Ray McGovern told Press TV US Desk. “If they impose sanctions on Iran's oil, not even a drop of oil will be allowed through the Strait of Hormuz,” he warned.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi warned on December 27 that imposing sanctions against the country's energy sector will prompt Tehran to prevent oil cargoes from passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari also said on December 28 that Iran has complete command over the strategic waterway and that “closing the Strait of Hormuz is very easy for Iranian naval forces.”

AhlulBayt News Agency: Former CIA analyst: Israel can cease to exist if Iran attacked

Ray McGovern & Elizabeth Murray: Urging Obama to Stop Rush to Iran War - A torrent of war propaganda against Iran is flooding the American political scene as U.S. neocons and Israeli hardliners see an opening for another war in the Middle East, a momentum that ex-CIA analysts Ray McGovern and Elizabeth Murray urge President Obama to stop.

Spain’s new government has wasted no time in approving tough new legislation to combat unauthorized file-sharing. After less than two weeks in power, the Partido Popular government has fully implemented the so-called Sinde Law. Spaniards can look forward to previously legal sites being blocked by ISPs or shut down completely, all within 10 days of a rightsholder complaint. - In the last decade Spain has truly emerged as one of file-sharing’s safe-havens. Countless court decisions have affirmed that P2P indexing sites operate legally, with most cases against site operators going in favor of the defendants. This state of affairs led to huge pressure on Spain from the United States, and behind closed doors the two countries drafted new laws in preparation for a time when Spain was ready to clamp down on file-sharing. That time has come. After taking power in mid-December, Spain’s incoming Partido Popular (People’s Party) government has now fully approved their pending Sustainable Economy Law (LES), legislation designed to stop Spanish Internet users from accessing file-sharing sites. Deputy Prime Minister Maria Soraya Saenz de Santamaria announced at a press conference that the so-called Sinde Law, named after outgoing Minister of Culture Ángeles González-Sinde, will now be fully implemented. The legislation, which will give the authorities the power to swiftly close file-sharing sites or have them blocked at the ISP level, was actually passed by the Spanish Parliament in February 2011, but the former government failed to enact a supporting regulatory framework and it has laid dormant since.

The U.S. Library of Congress reports that Belarus, a former Soviet Republic, has now essentially outlawed its citizens from browsing foreign websites. The law, which goes into effect on January 6th, puts severe restrictions on visiting or using foreign websites, the violation of which will be a misdemeanor. - Moreover, the law also requires that all businesses in Belarus conduct their transactions using “providing online services, conducting sales, or exchanging email messages.” The owners of internet cafes and other such sites are liable for the internet use of their customers – even to the point of being shut down if they don’t report violations. Moreover, even the individual owners of a computer are liable if they allow someone else to use their computer, and that person accesses an illegal website.

Tens of thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest on Monday against the government and its new Basic Law in a show of anxiety over what they see as the ruling Fidesz party's moves to weaken democratic institutions and cement its powers. - Centre-right Fidesz, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, won a two-thirds majority in elections in 2010 and has rewritten a large body of law since, drawing accusations at home and abroad that it has undermined democratic checks and balances. The Basic Law, which replaced the previous constitution as of January 1, recasts rules governing many walks of life in what Fidesz calls a completion of a democratization process that started in 1989 when communism collapsed. Parliament forged ahead with the legislation despite a plea from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a rethink and a letter from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso asking Orban to withdraw two key bills. The dispute has cast doubt over talks with the European Union and IMF about a new financing agreement, seen as crucial for Hungary to shore up market confidence.

Markus Salzmann: Thousands protest austerity measures in Hungary
Markus Salzmann: Authoritarian regime takes shape in Hungary
BBC: Hungary outlaws homeless in move condemned by charities
EU Observer: EU slams Hungary for power-grab on central bank

Photo: Molly the dog walks around dead herring on a beach at Kvennes in Nordreisa, northern Norway. Photograph: Scanpix Norway/Reuters

Norwegians have been left puzzled at the sight of thousands of dead herring carpeting a beach in the northerly district of Nordreisa with some wondering if a predator had driven them to their death or a storm had washed them ashore.

Scientists were hoping to test the fish to see if they could ascertain the cause of death. Locals had more pressing concerns: how to clean up the 20 tonnes of dead creatures before they decay.

For doom-mongers, the fish were the second a sign in as many days that 2012 would live up to the apocalyptic prediction of the ancient Mayans, after hundreds of blackbirds reportedly dropped dead in Arkansas.

Someone went into a large roost of blackbirds in Beebe, Arkansas, as the clock struck midnight Saturday and set off fireworks, contributing to the deaths of scores of blackbirds, a state wildlife spokeswoman said. - Last New Year's Eve, roughly 5,000 birds were found dead in a square-mile area in Beebe, a central Arkansas town about 35 miles northeast of Little Rock through which birds migrate and that is home to a large roost for the birds. Fireworks last year caused otherwise healthy birds to become disoriented and "fly all over the place" into stationary objects, such as trees and buildings, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokeswoman Ginny Porter said.

For most of her 100 years, Minka Disbrow tried to find out what became of the precious baby girl she gave up for adoption after being raped as a teen. She hoped, but never imagined, she'd see her Betty Jane again. - Betty Jane grew up to be Ruth Lee of Viroqua. Lee started her search suspecting it was too late to actually meet the woman who gave birth to her more than seven decades earlier. But Disbrow's love for a child she couldn't keep endured all those decades. She kept a black and white photograph of the baby bundled in blankets and tucked inside a basket. It was the last she saw of the girl - until the phone rang in her California apartment in 2006 with the voice of an Alabama man and a story she could have only dreamed.

Daily Mail: Reunited after 77 years: Woman meets the daughter she gave up for adoption after she was raped as a teenager

The rise of neo-Nazism across Europe has been progressing steadily, with Germany in particular seeing more and more young people being drawn to extreme-right groups. RT’s Egor Piskunov has been examining what is driving this dangerous trend. - With a population of only 6,000, Zossen is a typical small German town, remote from large industries and financial centers. Life here is calm and peaceful – or at least it used to be, before 2009. It all started with Nazi symbols appearing around the town. Then a local social center was torched. A young man who openly identifies himself as a neo-Nazi, and who admitted encouraging a teenager to set the center on fire, is now being prosecuted and faces up to two years behind bars.

Der Spiegel: Secret Report on Investigators' Failures - How Neo-Nazi Terror Cell Gave Authorities the Slip

Swaziland's King Mswati III accused by activists of human rights abuses and of looting national wealth. - Coca-Cola has been accused of propping up one of Africa's most notorious dictators. The multibillion dollar beverage company owns a concentrate-manufacturing plant in Swaziland, an impoverished kingdom ruled by Africa's last absolute monarch, Mswati III. The king has travelled to Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta in the US, much to the disgust of Swazi political activists who blame him for human rights abuses and looting the nation's wealth. Mary Pais Da Silva, co-ordinator of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign, called for Coca-Cola to pull out of the country immediately.