USA/IRAN - The United States, European allies and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran's nuclear program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one, and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead.
UK - British banks need to raise fresh capital as soon as feasible, according to a new Bank of England regulator. Although banks have been bolstering their finances, they still do not have enough funds in reserve to withstand potential financial trouble, the FINANCIAL POLICY COMMITTEE (FPC) said.
UK - The proportion of shops in Britain lying empty has hit a new record of 14.6% in February, according to figures compiled by the Local Data Company. Vacancy rates had begun to stabilise at the end of 2011, but they have risen in January and February, the LDC said.
NASA - A recent flurry of eruptions on the sun did more than spark pretty auroras around the poles. NASA-funded researchers, Martin Mlynczak of NASA's Research Centre and James Russell of Hampton University, say the solar storms of March 8th through 10th dumped enough energy in Earth’s upper atmosphere to power every residence in New York City for two years.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, USA – Texas agricultural losses due to the 2011 drought reached a record $7.62 billion, making it the most costly drought in history, according to updated totals by Texas AgriLife Extension Service economists.
SOUTH AFRICA - The strategic blueprint for the TB vaccine field, published in a special issue of the journal, Tuberculosis, represents consensus reached by the TB vaccine community. The action plan comes at a crucial juncture when scientists await results early next year from the world's most advanced TB vaccine trial in South Africa. It is one of 12 TB vaccines currently undergoing trials.
VATICAN CITY/MILAN, ITALY - JP Morgan Chase is closing the Vatican bank's account with an Italian branch of the US banking giant because of concerns about a lack of transparency at the Holy See's financial institution, Italian newspapers reported.
AUSTRALIA - Women who cut red meat out of their diet are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, according to a study. Those who eat less than the recommended amount of lamb and beef were twice as likely to be diagnosed with the mental health disorders, researchers in Australia have found.
USA - Almost six years ago, I was the editor of a single-topic issue on energy for Scientific American that included an article by Princeton University’s Robert Socolow that set out a well-reasoned plan for how to keep atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations below a planet-livable threshold of 560 ppm [parts per million]. The issue came replete with technical solutions that ranged from a hydrogen economy to space-based solar.
USA - “America’s toughest sheriff” says there is “tons” more potentially shocking information on Barack Obama in connection with his probe into the president’s eligibility, and he calls the media’s suppression of his findings of a likely forged presidential birth certificate and Selective Service Card “probably the biggest censorship blackout in the history of the United States.”
JAPAN - Samsung's latest breed of plasmas and HDTVs may allow hackers, or even the company itself, to see and hear you and your family, and collect extremely personal data. The new models, which are closer than ever to personal computers, offer high-tech features that have previously been unavailable, including a built-in HD camera, microphone set and face and speech recognition software.
BERLIN, GERMANY - The austerity dictate imposed by Berlin and Brussels is driving nearly all indebted southern European countries deeper into the recession, as shown by new data on the economic developments of Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece.
UK - Terrorists could target Olympic venues outside London in a plot to attack spectators and athletes at this summer’s Games, security sources have warned. The head of MI5 took the rare step of briefing the whole Cabinet on the terrorism threat to the UK in the run up to the Olympics.
USA - No matter how often the pretty people on television tell us that the US economy is getting better, it isn’t going to change the soul crushing agony that millions of American families are going through right now. The stock market may have gotten back to where it was in 2008, but the job market sure hasn’t.
EUROPE - A new German initiative to discuss the future of Europe – including better co-ordination of EU finance and economic policy – is in trouble before it even begins this evening in Berlin. Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has invited eight EU foreign ministers to the Villa Borsig, north of Berlin, as part of his new “Future Group”.