The leaders of the European Union have agreed to a deal that would allow bailout funds to go directly to struggling banks instead of the governments of member nations.
They also created a joint banking supervisory board after meeting for 13 hours. Continue reading
UN envoy Kofi Annan has developed a new plan for Syria which includes a national unity government aimed at bringing political change to the war-torn nation. Russia, a key opponent to military intervention in the nation’s civil war, is reportedly in favor of Annan’s proposal.
According to western diplomats who have seen the plan, a cabinet will be made of members of the opposition and the current government but no one would who undermine the credibility of the body. Continue reading
Car bombs in and around Baghdad killed 14 and wounded over 50 on Thursday.
A car bomb at dawn targeted a government building in Taji and at least 8 of the dead were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a crowded market. The market bomb is responsible for 30 of the wounded. Continue reading
JPMorgan Chase, which had reported a $2 billion dollar loss betting on credit derivatives that caused the resignation of key staffers, reportedly grossly understated the loss.
Internal models at the bank are telling the corporate officers to expect losses of as much as $9 billion due to the failed trades. The bank is exiting as fast as it can from the money-losing trade but the losses continue to mount. Continue reading
Over 15,000 acres of land has burned in central Colorado as an out of control wildfire is threatening the city of Colorado Springs. The fire doubled in size overnight.
Over 800 firefighters are fighting the blaze which is considered only 5% contained. Much of the city is under a mandatory evacuation order due to the threat. The US Air Force Academy has also been evacuated due to the smoke and fire. Continue reading
A massive cyber bank raid has stolen over 60 million euro from various bank accounts around the world according to software security firms McAfee and Guardian Analytics.
“The fraudsters’ objective in these attacks is to siphon large amounts from high balance accounts,” the report stated. Continue reading
The 2009 swine flu pandemic killed an estimated 284,500 people. The total is more than 15 times the number confirmed by laboratory tests at the time, according to a study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
The study indicates the toll could be as high as 579,000. The original count from the World Health Organization was 18,500. The WHO had initially warned the count would be low because deaths of people without access to health care does not get counted and that the virus cannot always be found in the body after death. Continue reading
The head of Britain’s intelligence agency, MI5, said in his first public speech in two years that his group is fighting an “astonishing” level of cyber-attacks.
Jonathan Evans warned of “internet vulnerabilities” that are being exploited not only by individual cyber-criminals but also by foreign governmental agencies. Continue reading
A creation of a European treasury is one of the key components of a new plan to create a monetary union for the members of the euro zone. The European treasury would have power over the budgets of individual countries.
“[This is] a defining moment for European integration,” European Commission President Jose Manuel told reporters. Continue reading
The head of US Africa Command (Africom) is warning that three of Africa’s largest Islamist groups are coordinating efforts and materials.
General Carter Ham, commander of Africom, cited the North African al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is sharing explosives and money with Boko Haram, the Islamic terrorist group slaughtering Christians in Nigeria. Continue reading
