White smoke poured from the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday and the bells of St. Peter's Basilica pealed, signaling that cardinals had chosen a new pope to lead the troubled Roman Catholic Church after only five ballots. - The decision by 115 cardinal electors came sooner than many faithful expected because of the large number of possible frontrunners identified before the vote to replace Pope Benedict, who resigned in February. The name of the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics was expected to be announced in around half an hour from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. The secret conclave began on Tuesday night with a first ballot in the Renaissance splendor of the chapel and four ballots were held on Wednesday. The white smoke indicated the new pontiff had obtained the required two thirds majority in the fifth ballot. Following a split ballot when they were first shut away amid the chapel's Renaissance splendor on Tuesday evening, the cardinal electors held a first full day of deliberations on Wednesday. Black smoke rose after the morning session to signal no decision. Cheers arose from hundreds of people sheltering from incessant rain under a sea of umbrellas in St. Peter's Square as the white smoke billowed from the narrow chimney.

The head of the United States Cyber Command says the US is developing 40 new teams of cyber-agents that will both protect America’s critical infrastructure from hackers and as well as launch attacks against the country’s adversaries. - Gen. Keith Alexander, who leads both the Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the 40 online support teams should be ready for action by 2015, with 13 of those units existing specifically to attack other countries. Alexander has been reluctant to go into detail about how the newly-designed teams will engage in cyber battle with America’s enemies, but he did say that the 13 squads of offensive fighters won’t be sitting around waiting for hackers from abroad to strike first. The NSA chief described the groups as ‘‘defend-the-nation’’ teams but also stressed that their role will be one that puts them on both sides of the action.

A speech freedom advocacy group has released audio of Bradley Manning’s testimony about his motives for leaking secret US government documents to WikiLeaks. It marks the first time the public has heard Manning's voice since his 2010 arrest. - Defying the military's ban on making recordings at Manning’s pre-trial tribunal at the military court at Fort Meade, the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) has released Manning’s February account to the judge explaining why he exposed military secrets. "We hope this recording will shed light on one of the most secret court trials in recent history, in which the government is putting on trial a concerned government employee whose only stated goal was to bring attention to what he viewed as serious governmental misconduct and criminal activity," the FPF said in a statement. While unofficial transcripts of the statement are available, this is the first time anyone outside the court has heard Manning’s own explanation of how and why he gave the Apache helicopter video, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars Logs and State Department Diplomatic Cables to WikiLeaks. Manning justifies his actions with a firm belief that what he identifies as US government wrongdoings need to be exposed in order to “spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan.”

John Glaser: AUDIO: Bradley Manning’s Court Statement

The director of Press TV’s Newsroom says the latest move by the European Union to impose travel ban on a group of Iranian officials, including himself, lacks legal basis and shows that Press TV has been successful in spreading truth to the world. - On Tuesday, the European Union blacklisted Press TV CEO Mohammad Sarafraz and Newsroom Director Hamid Reza Emadi for airing a 10-second interview with Iranian-Canadian journalist, Maziar Bahari, in 2009, following post-election riots in Iran. When contacted by Emadi, Michael Mann, the spokesman for the EU Foreign Policy chief, Catherine Ashton, evaded any clear answer. Press TV has talked to Hamid Reza Emadi to discuss the issue. He is joined by two additional guests on Press TV’s Debate: Scott Rickard, an ex-American intelligence linguist from Florida, and Charlie Wolf, writer and broadcaster from London. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

PressTV: EU in deep confusion over bans on Press TV directors
Richard Edmondson: Iran Speaks the Truth About Israel and the US Gets Angry

Almost 21 tons of heroin have been seized in an operation in eastern Afghanistan , the head of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) said on Tuesday. “An operation was carried out yesterday in the province of Nangarhar, during which several drug production labs were destroyed and almost 21 tons of heroin seized,” FSKN head Viktor Ivanov said. He said FSKN officers had taken part in the “unique operation.” “Twenty-one tons is, in essence, the annual volume of drugs brought into Russia,” Ivanov said. The Pajhwok Afghan News agency said five heroin producing laboratories were destroyed by security forces during an operation in the Sherzad district of eastern Nangarhar province on Monday. Several people were arrested, the agency said, citing officials.

Google has agreed to pay a $7m (£4.6m) fine for collecting people's personal data without authorisation as part of its Street View service. - In a settlement with 38 US states, the internet giant agreed to destroy emails, passwords, and web histories. The data was harvested from home wireless networks as Street View cars photographed neighbourhoods between 2008 and 2010. Google said it was pleased to have resolved the issue. "We work hard to get privacy right at Google. But in this case we didn't, which is why we quickly tightened up our systems to address the issue," the firm said in a statement. "The project leaders never wanted this data, and didn't use it or even look at it. We're pleased to have worked with Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen and the other state attorneys general to reach this agreement."

Japan says it has successfully extracted natural gas from frozen methane hydrate off its central coast, in a world first. - Methane hydrates, or clathrates, are a type of frozen "cage" of molecules of methane and water. The gas field is about 50km away from Japan's main island, in the Nankai Trough. Researchers say it could provide an alternative energy source for Japan which imports all its energy needs. Other countries including Canada, the US and China have been looking into ways of exploiting methane hydrate deposits as well. Pilot experiments in recent years, using methane hydrates found under land ice, have shown that methane can be extracted from the deposits.

At their meeting last week, European Union (EU) finance ministers agreed in principle to examine ways to restructure the bailout programmes of Ireland and Portugal. - A statement declared that the troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) would work out the “best possible option” to allow for the extension of the repayment of the emergency loans given to Dublin and Lisbon. A final decision could be made next month. Despite all evidence to the contrary, the statement insisted that the move was not a sign of the failure of the bailout programmes to prevent the economic crisis from deepening in both countries. “Both programmes are on track and performing well despite challenging macro-economic circumstances,” the statement claimed. In fact, the decision came in the same week as figures confirmed that the contraction of the euro zone economy as a whole had accelerated at the end of 2012. Growth projections for 2013 from the ECB suggest a contraction of 0.5 percent. If realised, this would mean that for the first time since the introduction of the currency in 1999, economic growth would have declined for two consecutive years.

Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to be a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge. Philip Zimbardo was the leader of the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment -- and an expert witness at Abu Ghraib. His book The Lucifer Effect explores the nature of evil; now, in his new work, he studies the nature of heroism.

Wall Street Journal: CIA Ramps Up "Role" in Iraq...
John Glaser: CIA Boosts Support for Iraqi Militias
Chris Floyd: A Low, Dishonest Decade: New Details for the Iraq War Crime Mosaic
Naomi Spencer: Guardian/BBC report lays out US policy of torture, murder in Iraq