[Google Translate:] An internal WikiLeaks documents that Expressen noted the Wikileaks threatens to publish a previously unknown American diplomats report that Foreign Minister Carl Bildt pointed out as an informant for the U.S. since the 1970s. - He will be forced to resign. It may mean the end of his political career, says a person familiar with the Wikileaks material and planning. Carl Bildt, who yesterday was in London, did not respond to Wikileaks accusation. Carl Bildt himself has never made any secret that he knows Karl Rove, they tend to "meet regularly" and Bildt has described Rove as one of "my oldest friends." But Wikileaks internal memo goes further: The documents list clear what kind of "services". The person identified as Bildt's initial contact is Karl Rove, American political consultant, for the chief adviser and deputy chief of staff of former U.S. President George W. Bush. Carl Bildt made the USA, says Expressen's source familiar with the Wikileaks planning. [Source]

Australia's Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has resigned amid widespread reports of a leadership tussle between him and Prime Minister Julia Gillard. - He made the announcement at a press conference in Washington DC, where he had earlier met US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. There has been ongoing tension in the Labor Party in recent weeks over the leadership. Ms Gillard ousted Mr Rudd as prime minister in June 2010. Amid the leadership wrangling she had faced calls from backbenchers to sack Mr Rudd - who said her failure to defend him from these attacks had helped him come to a decision. He did not say if he would be challenging Ms Gillard for the leadership, but confirmed that he would leave the US the next day, arriving home in Brisbane on Friday morning. He said he would not be involved in a "stealth attack on a sitting prime minister". "We all know that what happened then was wrong and it must never happen again," he said, referring to how he was ousted. Mr Rudd said he would consult his family and community before making an announcement about his future. He would do so before parliament returned next week, he said.

[Vincent Di Stefano:] We have in the present age become desensitised to violence. It is glorified in movies, simulated in computer games, sanctioned in contact sports and casually glossed over in the blur of daily news broadcasts. Yet every act of violence can create psychic and emotion shock-waves that reverberate thereafter in the lives of those affected by it.

A Beautiful Bohemian. Remembering Darren Jones offers a sixth anniversary remembrance of the death by knifing of Australian musician Darren Jones who was killed in an unprovoked attack while returning home from the Victorian College of the Arts in the early afternoon of February 23rd 2006.

[An] audio presentation was developed through a series of depth interviews with 11 people - many of them fellow musicians - who were part of Darren Jones' intimate circle. It explores the effects of this shocking event on the lives of a community of artists and reflects the slow and painful process of healing that follows such an existential collapse.

The music heard in this program is drawn from recordings of several bands in which Darren Jones participated as guitarist and vocalist. It also includes three musical tributes composed and performed by Nico Di Stefano, Ben Kelly and Dan Licht . The track Blood Stain was composed and performed by fellow musician and friend, the late Heath King who was himself tragically killed in a road accident in September 2008. A Beautiful Bohemian can be downloaded here. A shorter half-hour version was broadcast on 360 Documentaries (ABC Radio National) in September 2010. It can be heard here.

An ambassador of Abkhazia says Nauru, Vanuatu and Tuvalu face economic sanctions by the West for recognising Abkhazia as an independent country. - Juris Gulbis has told the Voice of Russia that the United States and Britain intentionally disrupt the recognition of Abkhazia’s independence. He says countries beginning to establish ties with the breakaway Georgian republic are simply told not to do so. Those who don’t obey, Mr Gulbis says, face tough economic sanctions, adding that as a result the West has stopped the financing of vitally important projects in some countries. The Russian-backed area declared independence from Georgia in 1999 and is recognised by Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as the three Pacific countries. Last week, Georgia cut diplomatic ties with Tuvalu - a year after setting them up.

Georgian Daily: Georgia cuts Tuvalu links in row over rebels

Colombia, the host country for this April’s Summit of the Americas, will decide whether Cuba is admitted to the conference, according to the Organization of American States [OAS] Secretary of Legal Affairs. - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has found himself in the middle of a political tug-of-war between the United States and the the left-leaning bloc of ALBA countries, who have insisted Cuba be admitted. ALBA’s political council—made up of Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, the Commonwealth of Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—has threatened to boycott the summit if Cuba is not invited. The U.S. said that Cuba should not be included because it is not a democracy.

A Palestinian prisoner on Tuesday agreed to end his 66-day hunger strike after reaching a "deal" with Israel that will free him in April, the Israeli Justice Ministry said. - The agreement ended a tense standoff that had drawn attention to a controversial Israeli policy of holding suspected Palestinian militants without charge. Under the deal, Khader Adnan, a 33-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad militant group, agreed to resume eating immediately, the Justice Ministry said.

Toronto Star: "Deal" frees Palestinian hunger striker
Reuters: Palestinian prisoner ending hunger strike after "deal"

BBC: Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan 'ends hunger strike' - A Palestinian prisoner has ended his 66-day hunger strike over his detention by Israel in a "deal" that will see him released in two months, officials say. The Israeli justice ministry announced that Khader Adnan would remain in custody until 17 April, when his "administrative detention" would end. Mr Adnan has not eaten since December, when he was arrested in the West Bank. He is widely believed to be a leader of Islamic Jihad, which Israel has designated a terrorist organisation. The Israeli military has said that Mr Adnan - a 33-year-old baker - was arrested "for activities that threaten regional security". Earlier this month, an Israeli military court ordered that Mr Adnan be placed for four months in administrative detention. Under Israeli law, such prisoners can be held indefinitely without trial or charge.

In 1980, Irish man Tommy McKearney went 53 days on a hunger strike in the H Blocks. Tommy sends out a message of support for Khader, and for his family. Please support Khader in any way you can, and demand the Israeli Government release Khader who is been held without charge.

Stephen Lendman: Solidarity with Khader Adnan
Anna Baltzer: Urgent Call to Action on the 65th Day of a Hunger Strike by Khader Adnan

Bill to Split Pakistan 'A Violation of International Law'. - For the second time in a week, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has summoned the US Charge d’Affaires to protest over Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R – CA) and his efforts on Pakistan’s Balochistan Province. The previous summons was to protest Rohrabacher’s hearings on Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, and today’s was to protest Rohrabacher’s subsequent introduction of a bill calling for Balochistan’s independence from Pakistan. The Foreign Office warned US envoy Richard Hoagland that the resolution was a “violation of international law and the recognized norms of inter-state conduct,” adding that the resolution was of “serious concern.” Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar spoke to Pakistan’s “The News” newspaper today, cautioning the government not to take the resolution lightly, and warning that the government should focus on winning back “alienated people in Balochistan,” saying that the US effort could quickly be replicated across the EU.

If in the year 2000 the U.S. president had told the American people that the government would soon begin using robot planes to track people, including U.S. citizens, all over the world, and would reserve to itself the right to kill them without trial, it is safe to say there would have been an enormous uproar. But that is exactly what is happening today, and nobody cares. The majority of Americans, including those who were opposed to the war in Iraq, have no problems with their government killing at will, so long as the killing is done in the name of “national security.”

Stephen Lendman: Selling War
Lichanos: Authoritarian Followers
Bob Altemeyer: The Authoritarians
Glen Greenwald: America's regression

Julian Assange has been held without charge for over 400 days. His case before the Supreme Court on 1 and 2 February 2012 is of ’great public importance’ in the words of the UK Supreme Court.

Philosophically, the significance of the case lies in the robustness of the separation of powers in the UK and the power of the UK courts to invalidate a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) that would be considered unlawful if it were issued in the UK. The case tests the basic legal principle that an individual’s liberty may only be deprived as a result of due process authorised by a court of law, or in its absence, an independent and impartial judicial authority. This is a basic principle of fairness. The impartiality of the decision and the separation of powers intersect in this case where a Swedish partisan prosecutor has issued the EAW for Julian Assange.

Politically the case is significant because it highlights the differing tendencies of the UK common law system, which traditionally provides strong due process safeguards and upholds individual liberties, and the more centralising, executive tendencies of EU countries such as Sweden, within the context of the ’harmonisation’ of a common EU extradition regime.

The visit of a top Obama administration official was supposed to ease tensions between the countries but instead it might have only widened the gap regarding attitudes toward the Iranian "nuclear problem". - President Obama's National Security Adviser Tom Donilon arrived in Israel this week and sat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for two hours to warn Israel against unilateral attack on Iran. According to the Israeli news outlet Debka, however, this message didn't sit well with the hawkish leader. To military sources that have spoken to Debka, Netanyahu is believed to be upset that the US is willing to work with Iran in terms of a possible nuclear program, giving them the go-ahead as long as they promise to avoid enrichment that will lead to them developing nukes. Iran has long insisted that any nuclear related efforts are in the work for energy procurement, although the US and Israel have been called this into question.

John Glaser: Israel to US: Talk of Avoiding War Helps Iran

After halting oil flow to Britain and France, Iran threatens to stop oil sales to other European Union member states if the EU continues its hostile policies. - Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani on Monday hinted at the possibility of a halt in oil exports to Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Italy and Portugal. “Undoubtedly if the hostile actions of certain European countries continue, oil exports to these countries will be stopped," said Qalebani, who is also the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company. On Sunday, Iran’s Oil Ministry announced that it has cut oil exports to British and French firms.

PressTV: India importing Iran oil, slap in face for US: Ex-US Official
PressTV: Japan moves to secure waivers from US sanctions on Iran

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors arrived in Iran yesterday for a critical two-day visit. If Iran fails to satisfy the inspectors over its nuclear programs, the way is open for a negative IAEA report, due later this month, and escalating sanctions and military threats by the US and its allies. - The Iranian regime has repeatedly declared that it has no plans to build nuclear weapons. It has branded IAEA evidence of alleged military aspects of its nuclear programs as fabricated. The IAEA has few independent sources of information and relies heavily on foreign intelligence agencies, including those of the US and Israel. Most of the allegations relate to programs that the IAEA itself acknowledges ended almost a decade ago.

Fars News Agency: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman: IAEA Delegation Not to Inspect N. Sites in Iran
AWIP: US Gen. Dempsey: Iran rational actor, not after nukes

It’s the calling card that Anonymous has signed-off their online assaults with since the start of their Internet crusades. As the hacktivists continue to come down hard on the websites of corrupt corporations and governments, they’re offering the warning once more. - Anonymous is cautioning future targets something that they think should have been clear of awhile ago: they’re serious. Following a series of highly-publicized attacks on the websites and computer networks of government and private sector entities across the globe, operatives allegedly involved in the hacking collective Anonymous announced that their ruthless assaults and raids will not cease. Campaigns will continue, says the group, and they will carry on with revealing the results of their handiwork every week.

US Stuxnet sociopaths planning their next false flag to blame Anonymous: NSA: Al Qaeda, Foreign Governments Might Hire Anonymous. - The director of the National Security Agency has warned that the hacking group Anonymous could have the ability within the next year or two to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack. Gen. Keith Alexander, the director, provided his assessment in meetings at the White House and in other private sessions, according to people familiar with the gatherings. While he hasn't publicly expressed his concerns about the potential for Anonymous to disrupt power supplies, he has warned publicly about an emerging ability by cyberattackers to disable or even damage computer networks.

Pastor Chuck Kopp examines a spray-painted wall
of a Baptist church in West Jerusalem.

"Jesus is the son of a whore,” “we will crucify you,” “Jesus is dead” and “death to Christianity” were the messages left behind by vandals who attacked the Baptist Narkis Street Congregation in West Jerusalem today. The tires of several cars parked in the compound were slashed as well.

The phrase “price tag” was spray-painted on the property several times, referring to “retribution settlers say they will exact for any attempt by the Israeli government to curb settlement in the occupied West Bank,” as Reuters reported today.

Reuters added, “Two weeks ago, similar graffiti was scrawled on the 11th-century Monastery of the Cross which is also in west Jerusalem,” but no one had been apprehended for that attack.

The Electronic Intifada has reported on such attacks; last month a woman in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron went on hunger strike to protest settler violence against her family and their property.

Such attacks happen on both sides of the Green Line — the 1949 armistice line marking the boundary between Israel and the West Bank. Last year Jillian Kestler-D’Amours reported for The Electronic Intifada that Palestinian community leaders in Israel were protesting the Israeli government’s failure to deal with increasing attacks against Palestinians in Israel.

Occupy’s mission includes public education and civic participation to reveal the 1%’s crimes centering in war and money, end the crimes through arrests of the criminals, and enact policies for 100% of Earth’s inhabitants. This brief explains, documents, and proves objective and independently verifiable facts of the 1%’s crimes that kill millions , harm billions, and loot trillions of our dollars every year. Importantly, Occupy and the 99%’s victory annually saves millions of lives, helps billions of people, and redirects trillions of our dollars for constructive and literal Earth-changing transformation.

Santo Domingo.– Dominican Navy Chief of Staff Nicolas Cabrera announced yesterday that the U.S. Southern Command is planning to build a naval base and a deck in Catuano, in Saona Island, aimed at strengthening maritime surveillance in the Dominican East. - Vice Admiral Cabrera said the work will be coordinated through the delegation of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) in the Dominican Republic. During the ceremony, U.S. Embassy Public Affairs advisor Todd Haskell, on behalf of ambassador Raul Yzaguirre, highlighted "the importance of building a naval base and a deck in such a vulnerable area of the Dominican Republic."

Dear friends,

A Palestinian man named Khader Adnan is now on his 65th day of a hunger strike since December 18th, 2011. He could die at any moment--he is in "immediate danger of death." Yesterday, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association published this update . Here is one exerpt:

Israel's High Court of Justice has today scheduled a petitions hearing regarding the case of Khader Adnan to take place Thursday, 23 February 2012 at 11:30am. The petition was filed by Khader Adnan's lawyers on 15 February. The High Court of Justice was provided with a detailed medical report prepared on 14 February by an Israeli-accredited doctor on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel). Despite the elaborate medical report, which confirmed that Khader Adnan "is in immediate danger of death," and that "a fast in excess of 70 days does not permit survival," the Israeli High Court appointed the petition session for 23 February with no guarantees that a decision will be made on the same day. By then, Khader Adnan—if alive—will have reached the 69th day of his ongoing hunger strike.

My Palestine: Khader Adnan; Ledendary Steadfastness from Palestine
alakhbar english: Israeli official: hunger striker is a "terrorist"
Jason Ditz: Israeli Court to Hear Appeal of Dying Hunger Striker on Tuesday
PCHR: PCHR Calls upon the International Community to Save the Life of the Palestinian Detainee, Khader Adnan, Who Is on Hunger Strike

Israeli Ynet admitted today that an Israeli air force attack on Iran is unrealistic. - The Israeli paper quoted a New York Times article that described such an attack as ‘highly complex operation’. It would require at least 100 planes. Israeli jets would have to refuel in the air en route, fight off Iran’s air defenses and attack multiple underground sites simultaneously. American military experts seem to agree amongst themselves that Israel doesn’t necessarily has the means to accomplish such an operation.

NYT: Iran Raid Seen as a Huge Task for Israeli Jets
The Nation (Pakistan): Pakistan won’t help US attack Iran, says Zardari
Russia Today: US, UK warn Israel against ‘premature’ attack on Iran
Jason Ditz: Israel ‘Will Make Own Decision’ on Attacking Iran

A top US military official has described Iran as a rational actor in the international arena, stating that the Islamic Republic is not after producing nuclear weapons. - Speaking in a nationally televised interview with the CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” show on Sunday, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said, “We are of the opinion that Iran is a rational actor.” Dempsey pointed out that US officials aren't convinced Iran has decided to build atomic armaments. “We also know, or we believe we know that Iran has not decided to make a nuclear weapon,” General Dempsey said.

The Oslo-based European Network to support the rights of Palestinian Prisoners-UFree said many Israeli doctors covered up torture incidents that happened to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. - According to a report by UFree based on testimonies from prisoners, the doctors inside Israeli jails did not report about injuries and bruises inflicted on prisoners by Israeli interrogators and instead they wrote false medical reports in order to expose the detainees to more torture sessions. The report also said the Israeli courts deliberately approve confessions which are taken under torture and abuse and use them as evidence against Palestinian detainees. These courts also accept secret intelligence files of alleged charges against detainees and deny their lawyers access to them and prevent them from defending their clients.

Thailand’s Shia leader Syedsulaiman Husaini says the suspects detained by Thai authorities with the alleged Iranian passports are members of the terrorist anti-Iran Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO).

Husaini said on Sunday that the attack was orchestrated by the MKO with the aim of tarnishing Iran’s reputation. The cleric added that Bangkok and Teheran enjoy good bilateral relations.

Iran Interlink: When the News Media Erases US-Israeli Terrorism - Today it was revealed that Israel has been funding, arming, and training the Mujahedeen e-Khalq (MEK), designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, to conduct terrorist attacks killing Iranian nuclear scientists. Anonymous U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News that allegations of this Israeli-MEK connection are accurate. This is a story of national and international significance and, while it was published by NBC, it has been completely absent from the mainstream media. The U.S. has supported terrorism (and conducted its own state terrorism) innumerable times in the past without appropriate coverage in the news media.

Iran Interlink: Bangkok bomb suspects were members of Mojahedin Khalq

A London judge has ruled against a billionaire member of the Rothschild banking family who sought huge damages because a newspaper reported he was the "puppet-master" of a leading European Union (EU) leader. Reports of their relationship created a scandal in the UK by illustrating the tight ties between globe-trotting billionaires and the regulator. In a ruling of global importance to preserve the slender media scrutiny of the powerful that exists today, the judge rejected Nathaniel "Nat" Rothschild’s $1.5 million pound lawsuit. Rochschild claimed the Daily Mail libeled him by reporting on his 2005 trip to Russia with two rich business partners and then-EU Trade Minister Peter Mandelson.

The British government is in the process of developing a scheme whereby all phone companies and broadband internet providers will be required to store customer transaction data for a year and hand it over to security services upon request. - The databases would also include Facebook communications, Twitter posts — including direct messages between subscribers — and even communications between players in online video games. The information to be stored would [allegedly] not include the content of calls or emails but would consist of phone numbers and email addresses. These would would who was communicating with whom on what occasions and could also make it easy for police to track the movements of cellphone and computer users. The Open Rights Group has an anti-CCDP petition at its website, which describes the plan as “pointless,” “expensive,” and “illegal” and expresses the intention of forming a mass movement to oppose it.