China has denied it is increasing combat readiness in response to a territorial row with the Philippines over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. - The tense stand-off, which erupted last month, centres on Scarborough Shoal, a tiny rocky outcrop in the South China Sea about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines' main island of Luzon. The dispute began when Philippine authorities detected Chinese ships fishing there. They attempted to arrest the crew, but were blocked by Chinese surveillance vessels that were quickly deployed to the area. China's defence ministry denied military units were getting ready for war, despite warnings in state media that China is prepared to fight to end the stand-off.

The Telegraph: Chinese media warns of war with Philippines

Volume 'Never Finished' So It Can Stay Secret. - In a ruling that could dramatically change the understanding of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law and historical documents and give the government and easy out for future rejections, Judge Gladys Kessler agreed that the CIA can keep the fifth volume of its history, “Internal Investigations of the Bay of Pigs Operation” secret essentially forever. Kessler agreed with the CIA’s argument that the volume was “never finished” and only exists as a draft, and that draft documents are exempt from FOIA disclosure. She also agreed with the claim that making the volume public would have a “chilling effect” on current historians, who would fear their work might conceivably be read at some future date by someone.

Wikipedia: Bay of Pigs Invasion
National Security Archive: The ULTRASENSITIVE Bay of Pigs

A political analyst says officials of all shades in the UK political spectrum have been “enslaved” by the Rupert Murdoch News Empire which aims to influence the public opinion, Press TV reports.

“[UK Labor leader] Ed Miliband has been desperate to put a line underneath this, but there were extremely close contacts, even more close contacts actually, between former Prime Minister Tony Blair [and the Murdoch empire] than David Cameron,” Chris Bambery said in an exclusive interview with Press TV. “Murdoch describes Tony Blair as a friend and they socialize, holiday together and there are extremely close connections between the two,” he added. Bambery said the trend continued with Blair's successor Gordon Brown, but “subsequently they fell out when News International's media, The Sun, refused to back him (Brown) in the last general election.” “They [UK officials] really believed that these people were decisive in swinging public opinion and therefore would do almost anything to curry favor with the Murdoch and News International,” he added. Bambery noted that the whole scandal is very revealing about the current state of democracy in Britain. [Video]

Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Siguardardottir has said the tiny Nordic country faces a choice between using the Canadian dollar or the euro. - "The choice is between surrendering the sovereignty of Iceland in monetary policy by unilaterally adopting the currency of another country, or becoming a member of the EU," she said in a speech at the Social Democrat Alliance party convention on Saturday (10 March) in Reykjavik. A spokesman for the country's foreign ministry on Wednesday clarified that, for her part, EU membership is the best option. Iceland is expected to hold a referendum on EU membership early next year, but the euro-crisis has shaken confidence in the Union as an economic safe haven.

[Israeli] report says unity government has Washington worried about attack, even before November elections. - US officials fear the unity government established earlier this week signals an impending Israeli attack on Iran, Channel 10 News reported Thursday evening. According to the report, officials are holding marathon talks in Washington out of concern that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program may take place before the US presidential elections in November. Undisclosed Washington sources told Channel 10 that they worry Kadima was offered a place in the coalition to shore up support for a preemptive attack aimed at halting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear drive, and that Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz would approve of such an attack. The report added that the US officials believe early Israeli elections would have kept the F-15s at bay, but are now genuinely concerned that with political backing, there is little to stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from ordering the attack.

Russia Today: US fears Israeli attack on Iran at 'any moment'

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed a device which can be used as a "sonic weapon" will be deployed in London during the Olympics.

[Photo] The American-made Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) can be used to send verbal warnings over a long distance or emit a beam of pain-inducing tones. The equipment was spotted fixed to a landing craft on the Thames at Westminster this week. An MoD spokesman said it would be used "primarily in the loud hailer mode". Royal Marines operating in patrol craft from HMS Ocean are also heavily armed with conventional firearms. The piercing beam of sound emitted by the device is highly directional. Some versions of the LRAD are capable of producing deafening sound levels of 150 decibels at one metre. But the device, which was used this week during Exercise Olympic Guardian, can also be used to broadcast verbal warnings, such as ordering crowds to disperse. The San Diego-based LRAD Corporation has previously sold the device to the US Army, which deployed them in Iraq for crowd control. They have also been bought by the US Navy and Air Force as well as a number of police forces worldwide. It has been successfully used aboard ships to repel Somali pirates.

A group of Turkish policemen have sparked national outrage after they were caught on camera repeatedly slapping a woman in the face, throwing her to the ground and pulling her hair. CCTV footage shows Fevziye Cengiz, who had been arrested after a nightclub raid for not having her ID, being beaten at the Izmir police station even after she had been handcuffed. - A high-ranking Turkish government minister is now calling for the speedy punishment of the officers - who are facing 18 months in prison for 'causing injury through excessive force'. But, in a bizarre twist, Cengiz herself is facing six years in jail for 'resisting arrest and reckless behaviour'. Fatma Sahin, Turkey's family and social policies minister, said: 'The incident in Izmir is unacceptable and we definitely consider this incident as one for which the perpetrators should be punished.

This weekend, more than 200,000 unemployed workers in eight US states will be abruptly cut off from extended federal unemployment benefits, the result of an agreement between President Barack Obama and the Republican Party earlier this year. Many of these workers will be thrown directly into poverty, without even minimal cash assistance. - These ruthless actions occur amidst a continued jobs crisis in the US, with near-record long-term unemployment and stagnating job growth. While the official unemployment rate has fallen—which has been used to justify the elimination of extended benefits—this is due largely to the fact that hundreds of thousands of long-term unemployed are no longer counted as part of the labor force. The biggest cuts will take place in the country’s most populous state, California, where 95,300 people will lose their benefits, according to an estimate produced by the National Employment Law Project. Other states cutting off extended benefits include Texas (22,700), Illinois (26,100), Florida (29,400), Pennsylvania (20,000), North Carolina (20,100), Colorado (11,100) and Connecticut (10,700). Unemployed workers in these states will see the maximum duration of their unemployment benefits cut from 99 weeks to between 73 and 79 weeks, depending on the state.