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with rebels near Misrata in the first apparent confirmation that foreign special forces are playing an active role in the Libyan conflict.

Eight generals from embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s armyhave defected to Italy, the Italian Foreign Ministry told CNN Monday.

An Israeli Cabinet minister says the civilized world must take joint action to avert the Iranian nuclear threat,including a pre-emptive strike if necessary.

The Muslim Brotherhood claims that it wants a diverse parliament after elections in Septemberand is not seeking to impose Islamic law on Egypt, the head of the group’s newly formed political party said in an interview.

On Saturday, before Songda degraded into a tropical storm, TEPCO said some reactor buildings were uncovered andradiation would spread due to the storm. “We have made utmost efforts, but we have not completed covering the damaged reactor buildings,” said an official at that time.

Within a 20 km radius around the stricken plant at Fukushima,a Chernobyl-style dead zone is developing, with levels of 1.48 million becquerels a square meter measured within that area.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March appears to have damaged the U.S. economymuch more than expected.

High input prices, supply chain disruptions from the tsunami disaster in Japan and slowing demand from Chinahave combined to brake manufacturing momentumin Europe, the United States and Asia in recent months.

Reports that Greece has not met any of the fiscal targets set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) as part of its 110 billion euros ($157 billion) bailoutknocked down the euro Monday, as other countries in the euro zone are threatened with being dragged into the Greek morass.

The European Union is racing to drafta second bailout packagefor Greece to release vital loans next month and avert the risk of the euro zone country defaulting, EU officials said on Monday.

It is being reported that if a new Greek bailout package is approved, outside authoritieswill take over various functionsrelated to tax collection (a big time problem in Athens) and privatizations.

The ECB owns50 billion EUR worth of Greek bonds, and has loaned 90 billion EUR to Greek banks. A Greek default would compromise the balance sheet of the ECB.

Tens of thousands of Greeksvented their angerat the nation-s political classes in Athens on Sunday, staging the biggest in a week of protests as the government seeks backing for yet more austerity.

Irelandmay have to ask for another loanfrom the European Union and International Monetary Fund because it will struggle to return to debt markets to raise funds next year, a government minister said on Sunday.

The Bank of England’s chief economist has admitted that the UK facestwo «bleak» yearsas it grapples with inflation and economic adjustments.

Chinais stepping up buying in Japanese government bonds, particularly notes with less than one year to maturity, market players say, in what looks like a fresh drive to diversify its ballooning foreign reserves.

In a move that is certain to be detrimental to the American economy, President Barack Obamais personally pushingfor Russia-s entry into the World Trade Organization, even working behind the scenes to resolve some of the outstanding issues.

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal said Sundaythat he wants oil prices to dropso that the United States and Europe don’t accelerate efforts to wean themselves off his country’s supply.

A weak dollar, mounting inflationary fears and skyrocketing gold and silver prices are prompting some states to convert precious metalsinto legal currencies.

The cost of airline travelhas increased exponentially, mostly due to surcharges and fees which can add $500 or more to the price of round-trip airfare.

Sometimes controversial trends analyzer Gerald Celente is forecasting that a return to the gold standardwill not be enough to save the U.S. economy from collapsing.

Sarah Palin told CNN on Monday that she plans to take her «One Nation» bus tourto Iowa, the state that votes first in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Iraqi cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr has threatened to take up arms against U.S. troopsunless they leave the country by the end of the year.

An internal bulletin from the Kenyan National Security Intelligence Service, or NSIS, states that the Kenyan government in 2009 commissioned a cultural museum in the Obama home village of Kogeloto honor the «birthplace of President Barack Obama»and rededicate the tomb of his father, Barack Obama Sr.

African swine fever (ASF), a viral disease harmless to people but lethal to pigs, is likely to spread beyond Russia and the Caucasus region into Europe,the United Nations- food agency said on Thursday.

The Church of Scotland is preparingfor dozens of ministersto come out as homosexuals following a historic vote to allow practicing gay clergy.

Chilling technology straight out ofMinority Reportthat would subject Americansto pre-crime interrogations and physiological scansto detect “malintent” at sports stadiums, malls, airports and other public places has moved closer to being implemented after Homeland Security-s FAST program passed its first round of testing.

Lastly, starting next year all new cellphones will be required to contain a chip that will allow the president to broadcast «emergency alerts» to the cellphones whenever the president wants.

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