According to the RUV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, FBI agents landed in Reykjavík in August 2011 without prior notification in an attempt to investigate WikiLeaks operations within the country. However, their plan was interupted when Home Secretary Ögmundur Jónasson learned about the FBI's visit and sent them packing. The Icelandic government then formally protested the FBI's activities with U.S. authorities.

Kristinn Hrafnsson. (Photo: Páll
Stefánsson/Iceland Review)

This is not the first time that the U.S. government's hunt for WikiLeaks has involved private individuals and companies in Iceland. In the past, the U.S. has been successful in obtaining account information from Twitter on parliamentarian Birgitta Jónsdóttir, who now refuses to travel outside of Iceland for fear of being arrested for her connections with WikiLeaks. According to the [report from RUV], a private plane landed at Reykjavík airport in August 2011 and onboard were FBI agents who had flown directly from the U.S. to Iceland with the mission to investigate WikiLeaks operations in the country as a part of a larger investigation into the organization. The FBI agents reportedly contacted the head of the national Icelandic police, as well as the head prosecutor in an attempt to gain access to all available information on WikiLeaks. When Home Secretary Ögmundur Jónasson found out about the FBI's visit, he met with the FBI agents, whom he told that the Icelandic government wouldn't permit a foreign power to run their own investigations within the country. Jónasson then ordered the FBI agents to return to the U.S., and after a special meeting of the cabinet about the incident, Foreign minister Össur Skarphéðinsson was then charged with formally protesting against the United States' behavior. The story of the FBI's unannounced visit to Iceland in August 2011 was revealed in an RUV report featured on January 30, 2013.

Iceland Review: FBI Came to Investigate Wikileaks in Iceland - WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson explained: “The FBI came here in a private jet and landed at Reykjavík Airport. According to my information—which is very solid and I have had it confirmed—Minister of the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson was notified of their arrival and reacted angrily because it is unbelievably presumptuous to come here this way,” Kristinn stated. “According to my information, he demanded that these agents pack their bags, embark the plane and leave the country,” Kristinn added. “I know that this was later discussed within the government, which formally objected to U.S. authorities.”

Rixstep: FBI Banned from Iceland
Yahoo: Iceland refused to help FBI on WikiLeaks

An explosion has occurred in front of the US consulate in Ankara, according to reports US citizen security guard and suicide bomber is dead. - Ambulances and fire fighters rushed to Ankara’s central Cankaya neighbourhood where many other institutions and embassies are also located. Contrary to early reports in the Turkish press, the explosion is understood not to have been caused by a suicide bomber. “It was not a suicide bomber or car bomb. Someone left a package or threw a package,” the source said. An Associated Press journalist reported seeing a body in the street at a side entrance. It was not immediately clear what the cause of the blast was. He was driving about 400 metres away from the US embassy when the reported blast happened. Two more people have reportedly been injured.

Al Jazeera: Blast strikes outside US embassy in Turkey

Ten years ago, the idea of the US government spying on its citizens, intercepting their emails or killing them with drones was unthinkable. But now it’s business as usual, says John Kiriakou, a former CIA agent and torture whistleblower. Kiriakou is now awaiting a summons to start a prison sentence. One of the first to confirm the existence of Washington's waterboarding program, he was sentenced last week to two-and-a-half years in jail for revealing the name of an undercover agent. But even if he had another chance, he would have done the same thing again, Kiriakou told RT.

RT: The judge, and your critics all seem to believe you got off lightly. Would you say you got off lightly?
JK: No, I would not say I got off lightly for a couple of very specific reasons. First of all, my case was not about leaking, my case was about torture. When I blew the whistle on torture in December 2007 the justice department here in the US began investigating me and never stopped investigating me until they were able to patch together a charge and force me into taking a plea agreement. And I’ll add another thing too, when I took the plea in October of last year, the judge said that she thought the plea was fair and appropriate. But once the courtroom was packed full of reporters last Friday she decided that it was not long enough and if she had had the ability to she would have given me ten years.

RT: And why did you, a decorated CIA officer, take such a strong stance against an agency policy? Did you not consider that there might be some come-back?
JK: I did. I took a strong stance and a very public one and that’s what got me into trouble. But honestly the only thing I would do differently is I would have hired an attorney before blowing the whistle. Otherwise I believe firmly even to this day I did the right thing.

Oil prices have soared to their highest level over the past three months amid increasing geopolitical tension in the Middle East, particularly the Israeli regime’s recent aerial assault on Syria. - New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March gained seven cents on Friday to hit $97.56 a barrel while Brent crude in Asia trade for March delivery rose by 25 cents to jump to $115.80 a barrel. Brent is set for its biggest weekly gain in two months while US crude is on track to rise for an eight straight week. Experts say the increase in oil prices has been caused by supply worries over growing tensions in the Middle East.

Photo: Goran Tomasevic / Reuters (file photo)

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Thursday lashed out at Israel's recent aggression against a Syrian research center in suburban Damascus, and said the move shows that Israel and terrorists share a single goal in Syria.

The Iranian diplomat called on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to take effective measures against Israel. He also urged the regional states who claim to be concerned over the Syrian crisis to take the necessary action against the Israeli aggression for the sake of regional security. Amir Abdollahian warned Israel not to be fooled by the Patriot anti-missile defense system which is installed in Turkey, and reminded that Patriot proved to be inefficient in Israel's recent 8-day war against Gaza. Today, Russia condemned Israel's unprovoked aggression against Syria, and expressed concern about the regime's irresponsible behavior.

SANA: [Important:] The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry stressed that this aggression comes after the failed attempts of the armed terrorist groups for months to seize the location and after Israel in cooperation with the enemies of the Syrian people used their tools to strike vital and military selected sites in the Syrian state as those tools, and Jabhat al-Nusra on top, managed to attack some of these sites which included air defenses and vital points during the past months and failed to attack many others. The Ministry added these attempts and the direct aggression which followed carried out by Israeli aircrafts on the scientific research center prove that Israel is the motive, beneficiary and sometimes the perpetrator of the terrorist attacks taking place in Syria. [See: When Zionists and “Jihadists” Join Hands: Syria Accuses Israel of Supporting Al Nusra Rebels]

AP/MyWay: Israel may feel "need" to strike Syria again
SANA: Syrian cabinet: Israeli Aggression on Research Center Flagrant Violation of Sovereignty
SANA: People's Assembly: Israeli Aggression Proves Its Direct Involvement in Destroying Syria's Infrastructure
RIA Novosti: Russia’s Forces Are Ready for War - Army Chief [26/01/2013]
PressTV: Syria warns Israel of airstrike ‘repercussions’
PressTV: Syria says UN Security Council must condemn Israeli airstrike
RIA Novosti: Syria Asks UN Security Council to Condemn Israeli Airstrikes
Naharnet: U.N. Leader Has 'Grave Concern' over Reported Israeli Attack
Fars News Agency: Hezbollah Condemns Israeli Strike on Syria
IRNA: 'Muslims will never allow Israeli regime to attack Syria'
AWIP: Israeli warplanes bomb research center near Damascus - Syrian military

A unique show is taking place on Kamchatka these days: Four separate but nearby volcanoes are erupting simultaneously on the Russian peninsula. A Moscow film crew has produced an awe-inspiring 360-degree video of the natural fireworks.

Volcanic eruptions are hardly a rarity. It seems that a new one goes off every few weeks or so somewhere in the world. But a string of four volcanoes erupting in close proximity to one another is virtually unheard of. That, though, is what has taken place in recent weeks on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far east. Four different cones and mountains, all within 180 kilometers (110 miles) of each other, have been active simultaneously since late November. Given that volcano experts don't believe that the four volcanoes are being fed from the same magma source, the parallel eruptions would seem to be the geological equivalent of winning the lottery. And, as a photography team from the Moscow-based Airpano discovered, the phenomenon presented a fantastic opportunity to produce some awe-inspiring images and videos. Indeed, the quartet of lava and ash-spewing peaks are so close to one another -- they lie within 180 kilometers (110 miles) of each other -- that that the film crew recently visited all of them in a single day. That volcanoes erupt in Kamchatka is, of course, hardly news. The peninsula, which has a total land mass that is slightly larger than Germany, is one of the most active parts of the infamous "Ring of Fire," the zone of volcanic and seismic activity that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Three tectonic plates -- the North American Plate, the Okhotsk Plate and the Pacific Plate -- collide beneath Kamchatka, with the peninsula's coastal range boasting 30 active volcanoes.