ITALY - A former Communist from a staunchly Catholic family, the son of a petrol station attendant. The 61-year-old leader of the Italian Left, Pier Luigi Bersani is the only larger-than-life element of the centre-Left Democratic Party, whose decent and calm image is a far cry from the over-the-top personality of his main challenger, Silvio Berlusconi. Bersani has pledged to continue the agenda of outgoing prime minister Mario Monti’s fiscal programme, but he wants to introduce more pro-growth measures in an attempt to blunt Mr Berlusconi’s persistent claims that austerity has halted economic recovery. He is a staunch Europhile, calling for the creation of a United States of Europe, he is also the front runner in opinion polls ahead of the Italian election.

EUROPE - The euro crisis may have dropped out of the headlines recently, but Spain and Italy would seem to be doing their best to bring it back. Real estate giant Reyal Urbis' bankrupcy has raised fresh concerns about Spanish banks and many fear that a Berlusconi election victory could drive Rome to seek emergency aid.

VATICAN - Pope Benedict may change rules governing the conclave that will secretly elect his successor, a move that could move up the global meeting of cardinals who are already in touch about who could best lead Catholics through a period of crisis.

USA - History may not repeat itself, but the parallels between the world economy in the 1930s and the world economy today are becoming hard to ignore. Then, as now, the world was in the grip of a severe economic downturn and painfully high unemployment. Then, as now, governments tried to restore growth and exports by devaluing their currencies and carving out trade blocs, risking a chain reaction around the world. Then, as now, the system was rudderless, unstable, and insecure – which persuaded countries to protect their own national interests, even at the expense of the collective good.

USA - The US Treasury just released a new report claiming to have performed an audit of US gold held by the Federal Reserve. To be blunt, the report is a complete joke. The report says that the Treasury’s Office of Inspector General performed an audit of the US Treasury’s schedule of US gold reserves held by the Federal Reserve. In other words the report states that they performed an audit of a paper trail and not the actual gold itself. What good is this so-called audit if all they did was check some numbers listed on a schedule? There is little doubt that this report is part of a deliberate disinformation campaign to mislead people into believing that a real audit of US gold reserves was performed.

USA - The US Air Force is developing tiny unmanned drones that will fly in swarms, hover like bees, crawl like spiders and even sneak up on unsuspecting targets and execute them with lethal precision. The Air Vehicles Directorate, a research arm of the Air Force, has released a computer-animated video outlining the future capabilities of Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). The project promises to revolutionize war by down-sizing the combatants. 'MAVs will become a vital element in the ever-changing war-fighting environment and will help ensure success on the battlefield of the future,' the narrator intones. 'Unobtrusive, pervasive, lethal - Micro Air Vehicles, enhancing the capabilities of the future war fighter.'

USA - The Navy plans to shut down four of its active aircraft carriers in one of the worst-case scenarios presented to Congress by the service since the debate on budget cuts heated up this winter.

USA - The Pentagon notified Congress on Wednesday it will be furloughing its civilian workforce of 800,000 employees if sequestration goes into effect March 1. Defense officials have warned lawmakers that sequestration will devastate the military and lead to a hollow force, but the civilian furloughs will be one of the first major impacts felt by the across-the-board cuts. The Pentagon furloughs will affect civilians across the country. Pentagon officials have said that civilians could face up to 22 days of furloughs, one per week, through the end of the fiscal year in September. The employees would receive 30 days' notice before being furloughed.

UK - Something quite remarkable happened in London in the first decade of the new millennium. The number of white British people in the capital fell by 620,000 - equivalent to the entire population of Glasgow moving out. The consequence, as revealed by the latest census, is that white Brits are now in a minority in London, making up just 45% of its residents.

UK - Households must prepare for a sharp rise in energy bills within two years as Britain comes “dangerously” close to power shortages, the chief executive of Ofgem has warned. The country would become more reliant on foreign gas to generate electricity as European Union pollution laws meant the dirtiest coal-fired stations had to shut, said Alistair Buchanan, the regulator’s outgoing head.

UK - When Costa Coffee advertised eight vacancies at a new branch of the café on a jobs website, managers expected a strong response. But even they were surprised when 1,701 applications poured in. Some of the applicants included vastly over-qualified former retail managers, a dire indication of the troubled high street. A Costa spokesman said managers were shocked at the response to the advertisements for three full-time and five part-time posts at the café, to open in Mapperley, Nottingham, on Friday. The jobs pay between £6.10 and £10 an hour. The unsuccessful applicants included senior retail managers with more than 15 years’ experience. Several graduates also applied, apparently struggling to find suitable employment after leaving university.

RUSSIA - From amateur astronomers to space junk traders to Canadian satellite makers to dashboard cam enthusiasts, the flaming Russian Meteorite has captivated the whole planet by offering a little something for everyone. Never in the history of things falling out of the sky, have people been so excited about a simple chondrite that's 10 percent metallic iron and nickel alloy. If nothing else comes out of the meteorites' one shining moment, at least most people now know (or should know) the difference between a meteoroid (a particle that's still hurtling through space), a meteor (the burning particle as it flies through the atmosphere), and meteorite (the leftover rock that actually hits the ground). Finally, some news you can use.

NORTH KOREA - North Korea threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a debate at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a nuclear test last week. Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of UN resolutions, its southern neighbor has warned it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent. Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defenses given the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose sanctions on North Korea.

TUNISIA - Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has resigned after failing to reach agreement on forming a new government. Mr Jebali had been trying to form a new coalition in response to the political crisis sparked by the killing of opposition leader Chokri Belaid. He had said he would quit if his Islamist Ennahda party did not back his plan for a cabinet of technocrats. Mr Belaid's assassination on 6 February provoked mass protests and resignations from Tunisia's coalition government. It was the first political assassination in Tunisia since the popular unrest in 2011 forced the country's autocratic leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power and also inspired the so-called "Arab Spring" uprisings across the region.

USA - At a recent Washington climate change rally, who is demanding action? Demanding action from whom? What action? In reality, the diminutive, corporate-media inflated rally in DC was organized by the very corporate-financier special interests that have been wreaking terrible havoc on both the human population and the environment of this planet for decades.