Chabadniks in the southern Indian city of Kochi on Tuesday vehemently denied a report that appeared in local media earlier in the day accusing them of being part of an Israeli covert operation. - Rabbi Shneor Zalman and Yaffa Shenoi told The Jerusalem Post they were stunned by a story run by the Times of India in which unnamed Indian security officials said they were secret Israeli agents that would soon be deported from the country.

Argentina says it will file a formal complaint with the United Nations over Britain's “militarization” of the disputed Malvinas (Falklands) Islands. - Amid growing tensions between Buenos Aires and London, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner on Tuesday criticized Britain for militarizing their quarrel over the archipelago, saying she would take the case to the UN. "We will present a complaint to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, as this militarization poses a grave danger to international security,” Kirchner said.

PressTV: UK militarized South Atlantic: Argentina

Scientists, environmentalists and even World War II historians have reacted with a mixture of excitement and concern to news that Russian geologists have drilled through to a huge subterranean lake in Antarctica, some 20 million years old.

It has taken more than 30 years to work through 3,700 meters of thick ice – drilling in temperatures as low as minus 80 centigrade. But it will have been worth it, if even half the claims being made about the lake are true. Sealed off below the ice for millions of years, the lake is a unique environment. “According to our research, the quantity of oxygen there exceeds that on other parts of our planet by 10 to 20 times. Any life forms that we find are likely to be unique on Earth,” says Sergey Bulat, the Chief Scientist of Russia’s Antarctic Expedition to Russian Reporter magazine. But there is one place not on Earth that has similar conditions – Europa, the mysterious satellite of Jupiter.

USA Today: Russian drillers reach huge lake below Antarctica

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a Security Council resolution backing an Arab League peace plan that calls for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down amid escalating violence. - The other 13 members of the council, including the United States, Britain and France, voted in an unusual weekend session favor of the resolution aimed at stopping the ongoing violence in Syria. The rare double-veto was issued following days of negotiations aimed at overcoming Russian opposition to the draft resolution. Several European envoys said before the session that they felt compelled to call for the vote despite Russia's attempts to seek a delay because of the escalating violent crackdown by Assad's regime. The urgency was heightened by an assault by Syrian forces firing mortars and artillerey on the city of Homs. Activists said more than 200 people were killed in what they called one of the bloodiest episodes of the uprising against Assad. The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have been killed over almost 11 months in a government crackdown on civilian protests.

NYT: Deadly Attack on Syrian City Adds to Push for U.N. to Act

A photojournalist wounded when Israeli troops used
force to disperse a peaceful demonstration in Bil’ein
village, west of Ramallah.

Israeli violations of international law and humanitarian law in the OPT continued during the reporting period.

Shooting: During the reporting period, IOF wounded 3 Palestinian civilians, including 2 cameramen, in the West Bank. In the West Bank, during the reporting period, IOF used excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations organized in protest to Israeli settlement activities and the construction of the annexation wall in the West Bank. As a result, Muhib Mohammed Asaad al-Barghouthi, 46, photographer of al-Hayat al-Jadida Newspaper, sustained wounds by two bullets to the feet. Al- Barghouthi was transferred to Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah for treatment. Also Mohammed Ateya al-Tamimi, cameraman of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlement in Nabi Saleh village, sustained wounds by a tear gas canister to the right foot. A third Palestinian demonstrator also sustained wounds by a bullet to the right leg. PCHR fieldworker was unable to get the personal information of the third wounded person as he came from another village and he was not transferred to any hospital or medical center for treatment. On 31 January, Imad Ahed Khalil Abu Hashem, 21, sustained shrapnel wounds by a sound bomb when IOF used excessive force against a peaceful demonstration in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. Additionally, dozens of Palestinian civilians and human rights defenders participating in peaceful demonstrations suffered from tear gas inhalation. [...] Incursions: During the reporting period, IOF conducted at least 56 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, during which they arrested 12 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children and a university professor. In the Gaza Strip, on 29 January 2012, IOF, backed by military vehicles and apaches, moved into Gaza International Airport, in the far southeast of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip amid indiscriminate firing. IOF arrested Hajjaj Yousif Ehmeid al-Soufi, 21, who is a university student and Ahmed Hussein Awad Abu Athra, 20, who is a member of the Palestinian National Security Service. Al-Soufi and Abu Athra are from al-Shouka village in the east of Rafah. Restrictions on Movement: Israel had continued to impose a tightened siege on the OPT and imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

Following Twitter’s decision last month to begin censoring the messages of users based on restrictions of their respective countries, Google has followed suit and announced that it will begin a similar practice with its own blogging service. - Blogger, the web-log service run by Internet giant Google, will begin censoring the personal posts of its users in order to comply with local laws rather than encouraging an internationally open Internet. While the company has previously allowed users of the World Wide Web to post wide-open opinions on its Blogger site, it will now allow individual jurisdictions to govern what can and can’t be posted on the Web. Under Google’s new policies, personal pages hosted on Blogger will be redirected to country-specific URLs, such as “.in” for India and “.au” for Australia. The company writes that “Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law.” By implementing this, adds Google, “content removals can be managed on a per country basis, which will limit their impact to the smallest number of readers." Specifically, they acknowledge that "Content [will be] removed due to a specific country's law.”

A review by Tasmania Police has exonerated the actions of officers who twice strip-searched a 12-year-old girl during a drug raid. - Deputy Commissioner Scott Tilyard has finished a review of police actions during the raid on Wednesday at Rokeby on Hobart's eastern shore. The girl was searched in a bedroom of her house with her mother present. No drugs were found on her. Mr Tilyard says a review was conducted rather than an internal investigation because the facts did not suggest any of the officers involved had acted unlawfully. The review found both searches were justified based on the behaviour of the girl and others in the house at the time. Mr Tilyard says the officers involved have his full support.

Pfizer Inc. is recalling 1 million packets of birth control pills because of a packaging error that could leave women with an inadequate dose of the hormone-based drugs and raise the risk that they will get pregnant accidentally. - The problem affects 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. Both products are manufactured by Pfizer and marketed in the U.S. by Akrimax Rx Products under the Akrimax Pharmaceuticals brand. Pfizer found that some packets of the drugs had too many active tablets, while others had too few. Oral birth control products use a series of 21 drug tablets and 7 inactive sugar tablets to regulate the menstrual period while providing contraception. A company spokeswoman said the problem was caused by both mechanical and visual inspection failures on the packaging line. She said the problem has been corrected.

In a speech Thursday to the Davos World Economic Forum, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged that his Conservative government will pursue a “transformative” big business agenda—austerity and tax cuts, radical regressive changes to public health care and pensions, and deregulation. In short, a social policy counter-revolution. With a significant cross-section of the world’s financial elite in the audience, Harper touted Canada as a haven for investors, where businesses already enjoy the lowest taxes on new investment of any G-7 country. But, he vowed, “We will do more, much more.”

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: A World Heritage Site

Located 18 km north & west of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada at a location where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains meet the great plains, one of the world's oldest, largest, and best preserved buffalo jumps can be found. Head-Smashed-In - a Unesco World Heritage Site - has been used continuously by aboriginal peoples of the plains for more than 5,500 years.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is an archaeological site known around the world as a remarkable testimony of prehistoric life. The Jump bears witness to a custom practiced by native people of the North American plains for nearly 6,000 years. Due to their excellent understanding of topography and bison behavior, native people killed bison by chasing them over a precipice. They then carved up the carcasses in the camp set up below the cliffs.

In 1981, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the Jump as a World Heritage Site placing it among other world attractions such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Galapagos Islands. For more information on UNESCO, go to www.unesco.org

India has reportedly agreed to pay Tehran in gold for the oil it buys, in a move aimed at protecting Delhi from US-sanctions targeting countries who trade with Iran. China, another buyer of Iranian oil, may follow Delhi’s lead.

The report, by the Israeli-based news website DEBKAfile, states that Iran and India are negotiating backup alternatives with China and Russia, should the US and EU find a way to block the gold payment mechanism.

Delhi’s move is seen as surprising, as earlier India and Iran said they would switch to yen and rupees. China, another major importer of Iranian oil, may follow Delhi’s lead, the report adds. India and China need to switch from the dollar in bilateral trade, since the US and EU have issued unilateral sanctions against the Iranian oil industry and financial institutions. The sanctions would ban any bank involved in oil trade with Iran from dealing with American and European counterparts. Both India and China, two major buyers of Iranian oil accounting for 22 and 13 percent of its total export respectively, have refused to join such sanctions. This means they have to establish a reliable way of paying for crude, independently of the parts of the global financial system controlled by New York and London.

Delhi’s current plan is to effect payments through two state-owned banks, India’s UCO Bank and Turkey’s Halk Bankasi, Turkey being another country refusing to join the sanction spree.

PressTV: Algeria defies EU oil embargo on Iran

Police have rescued Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard from angry Aboriginal protesters who were demonstrating on Australia Day against European settlers' “centuries-long persecution of the Aborigines.” - Scores of police escorted Gillard and the leader of the opposition Tony Abbott from the capital Canberra's Lobby restaurant after it was surrounded by around two hundred Aboriginal protesters. Gillard appeared distressed as she was pulled away from the encirclement of protesters but escaped unhurt.

Sydney Morning Herald: Aboriginal protesters torch Australian flag outside Parliament
AWIP: Australian Prime Minsiter Julia Gillard escorted by riot police amid angry Australia day protests in Canberra - Video

Police were forced to escort Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard from a restaurant near Parliament House in Canberra on Australia Day, when protesters surrounded the eatery.

Supporters of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra picketed the Lobby restaurant over comments by the opposotion leader Tony Abbott who was dining with the Prime Minister at an Australia Day celebration. At least 50 police, including the riot squad, were called to the scene shortly after 2.30pm local time. The two leaders, protected security officers, escaped out a side door after about 20 minutes. Protesters chased their car down the road, banging on its roof and bonnet. The mayhem was apparently sparked after Mr Abbott questioned the relevance of a makeshift Aboriginal tent embassy, which was celebrating its fortieth anniversary on the lawns of Federal Parliament. Fred Hooper, an Aboriginal community leader who was at the protest said the event had been peaceful until Mr Abbott made his remarks. "The opposition leader on national television made a comment to tear down something that have built over 40 years, which is sacred to us,'' he said.

Deadly clashes between ethnic Tibetans and Chinese security forces have spread to a second area in southwestern China, the government and an overseas activist group said Wednesday. - The group Free Tibet said two Tibetans were killed and several more were wounded Tuesday when security forces opened fire on a crowd of protesters in Seda county in politically sensitive Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province. It quoted local sources as saying the area was under a curfew. According to the Chinese government, a "mob" of people charged a police station in Seda and injured 14 officers, forcing police to open fire on them.

Too Much Radiation to Cover Up - As I’ve pointed out since day one, the Japanese government and Tepco have covered up the extent of the radiation released by Fukushima and its health effects on the Japanese and others. See this and this. The New York Times notes:

The government inspectors declared Onami’s rice safe for consumption after testing just two of its 154 rice farms. Then … more than a dozen [farmers] found unsafe levels of cesium. An ensuing panic forced the Japanese government to intervene, with promises to test more than 25,000 rice farms in eastern Fukushima Prefecture, where the plant is located. [...]

Montreal Gazette: Radioactive iodine in rainwater: Public was in the dark

Two legal rights groups on Thursday asked the United Nations to investigate allegations that Spanish and U.S. officials collaborated to quash criminal probes into whether the Bush administration authorized illegal killings and torture of terrorism suspects. The request, made to the U.N.'s special rapporteur for judicial independence, accused the United States of interfering with Spain's justice system in three different criminal cases. The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights asked that the U.N. demand that both governments refrain from meddling in court cases.

Iran is suspicious that UN agencies may have given away information which aided the murder of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan on January 11. - Iranian deputy UN ambassador Eshagh Al Habib told the UN Security Council on Thursday that there was “high suspicion” that, in order to prepare the murder, terrorist circles used intelligence obtained from UN bodies. According to him, this included interviews with Iranian nuclear scientists carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the sanction list of the Security Council, Reuters news agency reports.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said Friday that Thailand has informed the Palestinian delegation and all member states at the United Nations in New York that it “has given recognition to the state of Palestine.” - The move comes as Palestine pushes for full membership at the U.N., a bid Washington opposes because it says a political settlement with Israel must be reached first. Thailand has friendly ties with Israel and is a major tourist destination for Israeli travelers. Thai officials have expressed concern that the recent arrest of a Lebanese man allegedly linked to Hezbollah and plotting an attack in Bangkok could hurt ties with Middle Eastern countries.

Syria's powerful allies in Russia vowed Wednesday to block any Western attempts to intervene militarily in Syria as Damascus fights off an increasingly chaotic 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad. - The support came as Assad was showing fresh confidence that he can ride out the uprising with the help of a small — but influential — set of friends in Russia, China and Iran. Iran also gave Syria another boost Wednesday. According to Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency, with the commander of Iran's Quds Force, Brig. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, said Assad's government enjoys public support and won't collapse.

“Betraying” Their Own People … “Akin to Murder”. The New York Times reported last August:

The day after a giant tsunami set off the continuing disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, thousands of residents at the nearby town of Namie gathered to evacuate. Given no guidance from Tokyo, town officials led the residents north [to] a district called Tsushima …. The winds, in fact, had been blowing directly toward Tsushima — and town officials would learn two months later that a government computer system designed to predict the spread of radioactive releases had been showing just that. But the forecasts were left unpublicized by bureaucrats in Tokyo, operating in a culture that sought to avoid responsibility and, above all, criticism. Japan’s political leaders at first did not know about the system and later played down the data, apparently fearful of having to significantly enlarge the evacuation zone — and acknowledge the accident’s severity. “From the 12th to the 15th we were in a location with one of the highest levels of radiation,” said Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of Namie, which is about five miles from the nuclear plant ….The withholding of information, he said, was akin to “murder.”

The bankers made a decision to move the balance of power to the East, led by China. In exchange, China has made some concessions to the bankers pet country? - "Rothschild, the more-than-200-year-old family-controlled banking dynasty, is making a big move in China, and Yu is leading the charge. It plans to add 15 merger advisers there by March, giving it 55 in all, more than any foreign investment bank, says Olivier Pecoux, co-chief executive officer of Rothschild. Today, the merger business in China is still relatively small. So far this year, China has accounted for about 9 percent of the $1.1 trillion in deals around the globe, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The potential, though, is enormous. China has $2.5 trillion in untapped foreign currency reserves and is mandating that state-owned companies expand abroad to secure natural resources such as oil and metals. "The economic balance of power has already changed, and it is moving to the East," says Yu, whose title is head of greater China. "There will be an increasing number of Western companies selling assets to China.""

The Indian foreign secretary says New Delhi will continue to import oil from Tehran and does not seek a US waiver as protection against Washington's sanctions on the Iranian oil sector. - "We have accepted sanctions which are made by the United Nations. Other sanctions do not apply to individual countries," Ranjan Mathai was quoted by Reuters as saying on Tuesday. Implying that India did not see the new US sanctions against Iran's oil as binding, he added, "We continue to buy oil from Iran." US President Barack Obama signed a new law on December 31, 2011, which seeks to impose fresh economic sanctions against Iran's Central Bank and oil sector.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, demanded on Sunday the removal of the Israeli Occupation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, considering that the continuing of the Israeli Occupation blocks the establishing of an Independent Palestinian state, the Maan News Agency reported Sunday afternoon. - Ki-Moon statement came on Sunday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut as he delivered a speech before the International Conference on Reform and Transition to Democracy, according to the Hebrew “Richet Beit” broadcast website. He stated that the Israeli Occupation is an obstacle towards establishing a Palestinian state, calling for halting all Israeli settlement construction in the Occupied West Bank, considering that both “old & new” Israeli settlements are illegal. He also added that it is a real obstacle towards establishing a Palestinian state. The UN chief further said that the two-State Solution is long-awaited and the status quo would inevitably lead to another Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the course due. “It is our duty getting out of this current impasse and bringing in last peace,” he pointed out. The UN Chief is paying a visit to the Lebanese capital of Beirut, attending the UN International Conference on Reform and Transitions to Democracy. The 3-day meeting is discussing how to transition Arab countries to democracy or reform regarding the ongoing Arab Spring.

Twelve Americans have been reported infected with a mutating and now possibly human-to-human transmitted form of the H1N1 Swine Flu virus called H3N2v. - An investigation undertaken by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that human infections of these viruses followed contact with swine as well as through 'limited human-to-human transmission.' 'While there is no evidence that sustained human-to-human transmission is occurring, all influenza viruses have the capacity to change and it's possible that this virus may become widespread,' the CDC explained through their website. According to the report presented by the CDC, the virus has been found in five states sprawled around the East Coast and Midwest since August of 2011, though in a late November report they listed the first as being in July.

Obama has made it clear that China is a threat to the US in more ways than one. The countries are two of the world's largest economies, but some economists believe China's economy will surpass the US' economy in five years. Critics believe that is the motive behind President Obama's announcement to station 2500 Marines in Australia. China considers the shift of power as an attempt to escalate military tension in the Asia-Pacific. Paul Craig Roberts, former Reagan Administration official and columnist, joins us to give us insight on whats going on between the US and China.

PressTV: China rebuffs US over Iran sanctions

Rights campaigners and politicians Wednesday condemned a video showing women from a protected and primitive tribe dancing for tourists in exchange for food on India's far-flung Andaman Islands. - British newspaper The Observer released the video showing Jarawa tribal women -- some of them naked -- being lured to dance and sing after a bribe was allegedly paid to a policeman to produce them. Under Indian laws designed to protect ancient tribal groups susceptible to outside influence and disease, photographing or coming into contact with the Jarawa is illegal. The tribe, thought to have been among the first people to migrate successfully from Africa to Asia, lives a nomadic existence in the lush, tropical forests of the Andamans in the Bay of Bengal.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is investigating after a Quebec mayor called Israel an apartheid regime and a country that doesn’t deserve to exist on his French-language talk show. - Stéphane Gendron, host of Face à Face on V Television Network and mayor of Huntingdon, a small town 75 kilometres southwest of Montreal, made the comments on his show last month. He also said he supports a boycott of a store in Montreal that sells Israeli-made shoes. A Network spokeswoman Diane Patenaude said the point of Gendron's show is to provide strong opinions: "This program is neither a news telecast or a news magazine and its hosts are not journalists." The network will meet with Gendron and the show in the next few days to discuss the situation, she said.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted on Monday in a surprise end to a politically-charged sodomy trial he has called a government bid to cripple his opposition ahead of forthcoming polls. - The ruling by Judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah set off pandemonium in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, with Anwar mobbed by his wife, daughters and opposition politicians in joyous scenes. Thousands of Anwar supporters who gathered outside under heavy security erupted into cheers and raised their fists in the air as news of the verdict filtered out. Shortly afterwards, two small explosions went off in the carpark outside the courthouse, according to a police spokesman. Two people were injured in the blasts. In his brief verdict announcement, Judge Zabidin said he could not rely on controversial DNA evidence submitted by the prosecution.

Indonesians have found a new symbol for their growing frustration at uneven justice in this young, democratic nation: cheap, worn-out flip-flops. - They have been dropping them off at police stations throughout the country to express outrage over the arrest and trial of a 15-year-old boy for lifting an old pair of white sandals outside a boarding house used by police in northern Indonesia. The teen -- who was later interrogated and badly beaten by three of the officers in the Central Sulawesi provincial capial of Palu -- faces up to five years in prison. Thousands of people have dropped off their old shoes at police stations in recent days as a form of protest.

North Korean doctors treating then-leader Kim Jong-Il following his stroke in 2008 were sent to the United States for training, a South Korean doctor said Thursday. - Pyongyang's ambassador to the United Nations had asked the MD Anderson Cancer Center -- based in Houston and part of the University of Texas -- to train three North Korean doctors, Lee Byung-Hoon told AFP. "The chief of the centre contacted the US government after being asked to secretly meet the North's ambassador, and got approval to accept them as exchange scholars," said Lee, an adviser to the Korean Medical Association. He cited unidentified medics at the US centre for his information. The communist North habitually lambasts the United States as "warmongers" and the "imperialist enemy."

The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines must combine resources to thwart any efforts by countries such as China and Iran to block America’s access to the South China Sea, the Persian Gulf and other strategic regions, according to a draft of a Pentagon review.

The U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines must combine resources to thwart any efforts by countries such as China and Iran to block America’s access to the South China Sea, the Persian Gulf and other strategic regions, according to a draft of a Pentagon review.

New York Times: EU Agrees in principle to ban on Iranian oil

China has voiced strong opposition to the US-led push for unilateral sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, reiterating that Tehran's nuclear issue must be resolved diplomatically. - "China has consistently believed that sanctions are not the correct way to ease tensions or resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear program," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. "The correct path is dialogue and negotiations. China opposes putting domestic law above international law to impose unilateral sanctions on another country," he said. Hong also defended China's oil and trade ties with Iran and criticized the Western sanctions that could frustrate such relations.

One of China's best known dissidents, missing for 20 months, is now said to be in a Xinjiang prison - Gao Zhisheng, an attorney who's defended activists & religious minorities, is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government. - Gao Zhisheng, a lawyer, was arrested in February 2009, released briefly in March 2010 and disappeared soon after. The official Xinhua news agency reported last month that Mr Gao had been sent back to jail for three years for violating probation rules. On Sunday his brother said he had received a court document saying his brother was in jail in Xinjiang. Gao Zhiyi said he planned to visit his brother in the Shaya County jail in the western prefecture of Aksu later this month. "I did not know where my brother was for over a year,'' he told AFP news agency. ''I always knew that he was not free and he was under control of the government and state security." In the 1950s and 60s, political prisoners were often sent to Xinjiang. Human rights activists, responding to the news, said that imprisoning Mr Gao in the remote area was an attempt to deter visitors.

Military ruler says emergency laws to be lifted this week and consultations on new constitution to start in February. - Fiji's military ruler Commodore Frank Bainimarama has announced that emergency laws in place since a 2009 political crisis will be lifted this week. In a New Year speech, Bainimarama also said consultations would start in February on a new constitution to replace one annulled in 2009, at the height of a political crisis over his rule. "I will in the next few weeks announce the nationwide consultation process which will commence in February 2012," Bainimarama said on Monday. "To facilitate this consultation process, the public emergency regulations will cease from 7 January, 2012." He said, adding that the new constitution should be based on equal rights for all Fijians, regardless of ethnicity.

Figure jumps to nearly 1,500, and likely to rise further, as many bodies remain buried in the debris in country's south. - The death toll from killer floods in the Philippines has risen by more than 200, more than a week after the disaster struck, with officials expecting more corpses to be found. The confirmed toll reached 1,453 on Tuesday, up sharply from 1,236 the previous day as navy and coastguard ships fished more bodies out of the waters off the southern island of Mindanao, the civil defence office said. The stench of death pervaded the region, a sign that many corpses still remained unrecovered on land, Ana Caneda, the regional civil defence chief, said. Tropical storm Washi brought heavy rains, overflowing rivers and flash floods to the southern Philippines from December 16 to 18, sweeping away whole villages built on sandbars and riverbanks.

Days after a state memorial for late leader Kim Jong Il, North Korea has warned "foolish politicians" that there will be no policy change. Now Pyongyang has thrown even more weight behind its "Dear Leader's" successor. - In a move to further consolidate North Korea's dictatorship, Pyongyang announced Saturday it had bestowed yet another title on new leader Kim Jong Un: supreme commander of the military. Kim Jong Un, son of deceased leader Kim Jong Il, should be the "only center of unity, cohesion and leadership" of the Workers' Party, North Korean state media said, adding that the country should uphold Kim Jong Il's military-first politics. The decision was reached at an unannounced Friday meeting of the powerful Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, one day after Kim Jong Il's memorial ended. Kim Jong Un had already been declared the country's "supreme leader" on Thursday, as the nation concluded 13 days of mourning for his father.

BusinessInsider: Kim Jong-Un Just Issued His First Threat Of War Against South Korea
AFP: North Korea declares Kim Jong-Un military chief

The following were the top 10 news events around the world in 2011 as selected by Xinhua (in chronological order):

Steve Irwin Responding to Distress Call from the Brigitte Bardot. - While fighting heavy seas in pursuit of the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sea Shepherd scout vessel Brigitte Bardot was struck by a rogue wave that has cracked the hull and severely damaged one of the pontoons on the vessel. Captain Paul Watson, onboard the Sea Shepherd flagship Steve Irwin, reports that they are fighting heavy seas to reach the position of the Brigitte Bardot some 240 miles to the southeast. It is expected to take twenty hours to reach the damaged vessel. The Brigitte Bardot is at 51 degrees 42 minutes South and 99 Degrees 21 minutes East, or 1500 miles southwest of Fremantle, Western Australia.

India's homeless are waiting out the biting cold winter, which has already killed over 100 people, mostly in Uttar Pradesh. - Kalyani, 15, refuses to come out her comforter as she snuggles even deeper when her mother, Saraswati Bai, crouching over a cooking fire, calls out loudly that it is time to eat. It is early morning; the diminutive girl has a flyover over head but no protection against the chilly wind. She is asleep on one of the many cold and hard walkways of the capital.

The United States, Japan, South Korea and most leading European countries have boycotted a minute's silence at the United Nations General Assembly for North Korea's late leader, Kim Jong-il. - Australia's representative was in the General Assembly during the tribute. The tribute, demanded by North Korea, was the highest-profile international move yet sought by the government in Pyongyang in its quest for global recognition for the hardline leader, who died last Saturday at the age of 69. The awkward silence was a ''protocol'' move following a North Korean request, according to the UN General Assembly president, Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser. But many diplomats from countries that took part in the protest called the tribute inappropriate. They said the Security Council turned down North Korea's demand for a gesture to Mr Kim. North Korea's UN ambassador, Sin Son Ho, and another diplomat from the North Korean mission stood with their heads bowed during the silence. Barely a third of the General Assembly's 193 members were present.

Photo: Associated Press

A 15-year-old girl who was considered lost in the tsunami that engulfed Aceh in December 2004 proves to be still alive and has found her way back to her home in Lr Sangkis, Ujong Baroh village, West Aceh.

Wati was eight years old when Ujong Baroh village was hit by the tsunami. Her mother, Yusniar, was trying to take her and her two siblings to a safe place but somehow she lost her grip on her mother`s arm and was carried away by the rushing waters, leaving her mother powerless to help her. Yusniar was able to save her two other children but she and the rest of the family eventually had to resign themselves to the notion that Wati was lost as she never returned nor had anybody in the neigborhood seen her again dead or alive.

But on Wednesday, Ibrahim, Wati`s grandfather in Meulaboh city received an acquaintance at his home who was accompanied by a teenaged girl wearing a blue head scarf. The acquaintance said the girl had come to the Simpang Pelor coffee shop where she just sat in silence. People thought she was a beggar and tried to engage her in conversation. She claimed she had come to Meulaboh by bus from Banda Aceh and was trying to find her way back home but did not know how. She also could not remember any of her parents` or relatives` names except Ibrahim.

After listening to the acquintance`s account, Ibrahim immediately sensed the girl could be his long lost grandchild and, after a closer look at the dark-skinned girl, was indeed convinced she was Wati who went missing in the tsunami seven years ago, Ibrahim then sent word to Yusniar and her husband Yusuf to come to his home and meet Wati. The two parents confirmed Wati`s identity after recognizing a small mole and a scar over her eyebrow that Wati got when she was six years old. What had happened to Wati after she was carried away by the tsunami currents was not immediately disclosed to reporters except that over the years she had been to places in other districts in Aceh province.

The Weather Channel: Girl Swept Away in 2004 Tsunami Finds Family
The Telegraph: Indonesian tsunami girl lost for seven years forced to work as street beggar

Chinese writer Chen Wei has been sentenced to nine years in jail for "inciting subversion of state power". - Mr Chen published several essays online calling for freedom of speech and reform of China's one-party system. He was among hundreds of dissidents detained earlier this year after online calls for protests in China inspired by the uprisings in the Middle East. He told the court he was not guilty and that "democracy will prevail" in China, say reports. Mr Chen has always insisted he was simply expressing his opinions as allowed under the Chinese constitution. His wife told the BBC the trial had been "a performance" and that the verdict had been decided before it began. The indictment against Mr Chen listed several essays he wrote for foreign websites on topics including pieces which criticised the political system in China and praised the growth of civil society.

A cargo vessel detained at Kotka harbour has been found to be carrying a shipment of American-made Patriot missiles. According to information received by YLE, the missile shipment originated in Germany and is destined for South Korea. - Onboard the ship are 69 of the surface-to-air missiles with their explosive warheads and propelling charges. The National Bureau of Investigation confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the missiles are onboard the ship. Both the missiles and a cargo of explosives were en route from Germany to South Korea. According to press reports, the ship made port in Finland to pick up a consignment of anchor chain for delivery to China. The ship is registered in the Isle of Man, a self-governing territory under the British Crown. Officials stopped the M/S Thor Liberty last week as its cargo of explosives had been stored incorrectly. The ship is carrying 150 tonnes of the explosive nitroguanidine. The material is in 25 kg packages some of which was found to be damaged. Because of the characteristics of nitroguanidine, the material should be carried in shipping containers. The crystalline compound, used as a propellant, is made from bird or bat guano. In the course of inspection, port authorities found that the cargo also included the shipment of military missiles.

YLE.fi: Shroud of mystery surrounds missile shipment

Top US scientists have defended their bid to stop details of a mutant bird flu virus from being published and called for global co-operation to ward off an uncontrollable pandemic. - Meanwhile, scientists involved in the experiments said they were co-operating with government officials and the editors of the journals Science and Nature to pare down their research for publication in the coming weeks. The controversy arose when two separate research teams — one in the Netherlands and the other in the United States — separately found ways to alter the H5N1 avian influenza so it could pass easily between mammals. Until now, bird flu has been rare in humans, but particularly fatal in those who do become ill. H5N1 first infected humans in 1997 and more than half of those infected died, for a total of 350 deaths. There is concern the virus could mutate and mimic past pandemic flu outbreaks such as the "Spanish flu" of 1918-1919, which killed 50 million people, and outbreaks in 1957 and 1968 that killed three million.

Russia Today: Man-made super-flu formula to be published?

The Independent: Too late to contain killer flu science, say experts - Attempts to censor details of controversial influenza experiments that created a highly infectious form of bird-flu virus are unlikely to stop the information from leaking out, according to scientists familiar with the research. The US Government has asked the editors of two scientific journals to refrain from publishing key parts of research on the H5N1 strain of bird-flu in order to prevent the information falling into the hands of terrorists intent on recreating the same flu strain for use as a bioweapon. However, scientists yesterday condemned the move.

Military chiefs are dusting off their plans for the defence of the Falklands after South American countries banned ships from the islands docking in their ports. - Sources fear Prince William's six-month deployment to the South Atlantic as an air-sea rescue pilot next year could provoke more sabre-rattling. Yesterday Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claimed Britain was ready to use its military to steal natural resources 'anywhere, anyhow'. She said: 'They're currently taking our oil reserves and fish stocks from the Falklands but when they need more natural resources they will come and use force to steal them wherever and however they can.' Mercosur, the South American trading block which also includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay have agreed to ban boats sailing under the Falklands flag from docking at their ports – even though Paraguay does not even have a coastline. The ban affects around 25 ships – some of which are fishing vessels working for a Spanish company.

Was Kim Jong-il murdered in power struggle with North Korean military? - Suspicion of North Korea runs deep in South Korea, so it wasn’t a surprise that within hours of the announcement of Kim Jong-il’s death Monday, some South Korean newspapers were asking if the Dear Leader had been murdered. While North Korea’s Central News Agency reported Monday that Mr. Kim died of a heart attack last Saturday on a train while heading to an unidentified destination, Seoul’s Korea Times newspaper ran a headline, “Suspicions arise over cause of death”. According to the newspaper, North Korean defectors doubt Pyongyang’s state-controlled media reports of Mr. Kim’s death. They cautiously suggested the dictator may have been murdered.

The official death toll from last week's massive flash flooding in two southern Philippine cities topped 1,000 on Wednesday, while authorities said they lost count of how many more were missing in one of the worst calamities to hit the coastal region. - The latest tally showed a total of 1,002 people have been confirmed dead, including 650 in Cagayan de Oro and an additional 283 in nearby Iligan city, said Benito Ramos, head of the Civil Defense Office. The rest came from several other southern and central provinces. A tropical storm swept through the area Friday night and unleashed flash floods in the middle of the night that caught most of the victims in their sleep.

AWIP: Philippines mulls mass graves after typhoon kills hundreds

A deadly strain of bird flu with the potential to infect and kill millions of people has been created in a laboratory by European scientists – who now want to publish full details of how they did it. - The discovery has prompted fears within the US Government that the knowledge will fall into the hands of terrorists wanting to use it as a bio-weapon of mass destruction. Some scientists are questioning whether the research should ever have been undertaken in a university laboratory, instead of at a military facility. The US Government is now taking advice on whether the information is too dangerous to be published.

The body of North Korea’s leader is lying in state in an open glass coffin so that mourners can pay their last respects. His personal armored railway wagon and official Mercedes are on display nearby.

The commemorative events are taking place in Kumsusan Memorial Palace (also called Kim Il-sung Mausoleum) in downtown Pyongyang.

According to official sources, Kim Jong-il died on the morning of December 17 of fatigue and overwork. Reportedly he had been battling heart disease since allegedly suffering a stroke in 2008.

The coffin of the man who guided his country for 17 years now stands on a pedestal completely covered with red and while natural flowers, apparently carnations and chrysanthemums. The body is dressed in Kim Jong-il’s familiar khaki suit, his head resting on a white pillow. The funeral has been scheduled for December 29. There have been no reports as to whether Kim Jong-il will find rest next to his father Kim Il-sung or be buried somewhere else.

On Tuesday, the youngest son and successor of the deceased leader – Kim Jung-un – paid his last respects to his father while being accompanied by the country’s top civil and military officials. So far, access to the body has only been granted to North Korea’s top party officials and military officers, heads of diplomatic missions and foreign military attachés.

PressTV: N Koreans pay tribute to Kim Jong-il

■ So, who’s in charge?
■ What are the immediate concerns about Jong-un?
■ Can we expect major changes in the near future?
■ What happens to the nukes?
■ What role does China play?
■ How about the U.S.?
■ What does Kim's death do for reunification prospects with the South?

Peter Symonds: The death of North Korea’s Kim Jong-il - The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, formally announced yesterday, has produced a mind-numbing deluge of articles in the international press presenting the regime in Pyongyang as irrational and crazed—a dangerous threat to stability in North East Asia, requiring the US and its allies to put their militaries on alert. [...] Far from North Korea being the source of instability and tension in North East Asia, the main danger comes from the aggressive policies of the Obama administration as it seeks to wield its military might to retain the dominant position of US imperialism.