More banks face interest rate rigging investigation after Barclays is Fined £290 million

A number of banks are being investigated and could face sanctions after Barclays was fined £290m ($450m) for trying to manipulate interest rates at which banks lend to each other.

Regulators in Europe, the US and Asia have said that investigations into other banks are "ongoing".

The UK's Financial Services Authority said the early signs were that Barclays had not been the only firm involved.

Barclays has said its actions "fell well short of standards".

Its traders lied to make the bank look more secure during the financial crisis and, sometimes - working with traders at other banks - to make a profit.

Chief executive Bob Diamond and three other top executives at the bank are to give up their bonuses this year. Read More

Warning As Belfast Floods Cause Chaos

Cars are abandoned and roads are closed after heavy downpours cause flooding in Northern Ireland, with further rainfall expected.

Heavy rainfall has led to severe flooding in parts of Belfast - and people are being urged to brace for further downpours.

Much of the city came grinding to a halt as sheets of brown water were seen coursing down streets, with most main routes - such as the Ormeau Road - left impassable.

Cars were submerged and abandoned, and one police vehicle was stranded after flash flooding in the west of the city.

Police closed off several roads and advised motorists to take extreme care and travel only if necessary as parts of Antrim, Bangor, Dundonald and Lisburn were also hit by heavy rain.

Further rain is forecast, with a risk of flash flooding in places, and the Met Office has issued an amber weather warning valid from 4am to 9pm on Thursday. Read More

John Massey Escapes from Pentonville Prison: Public WARNED as "potentially dangerous" murderer is on the Run

Police appeal for help in tracing a "potentially dangerous" murderer who has gone on the run.

Police have launched a manhunt for a murderer who went on the run after escaping from Pentonville Prison.

John Massey, 64, made off from the jail in Islington, north London at around 6.30pm on Wednesday.

The convicted killer was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a man at a pub in Hackney, east London in 1975.

It has not yet been revealed how Massey escaped from Pentonville, but an investigation into how he managed to elude staff is due to be launched by the the Prison Service.

Scotland Yard have advised members of the public not to approach the "potentially dangerous" offender and instead call 999 if he is spotted.

A police spokesman said: "Police are appealing for help in tracing a convicted murderer who has escaped from HMP Pentonville.

"He is considered potentially dangerous and should not be approached by the public if he is seen." Read More

:: Anyone with information of Massey's whereabouts is asked to call Islington Police on 020 7421 0296, or people can inform Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Oldham Explosion: Man Held After Boy's Death

A man is being questioned by police on suspicion of manslaughter after a child died in an explosion in Oldham.

A 32-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the death of a toddler in an explosion in Oldham.

The suspect was taken into custody following two-year-old Jamie Heaton's death in Shaw on Tuesday.

The child died after what was believed to be a gas blast ripped through three terraced houses and reduced them to rubble.

National Grid has confirmed the blast was not caused by a leak from one of its gas pipes and Greater Manchester Police have launched a "homicide investigation".

Jamie, who was killed while he watched television, was described by his family as "a happy, loving little boy... full of laughter".

Earlier, his relatives visited the destroyed buildings and laid flowers at the edge of the police cordon. Read More

4.8 Magnitude Earthquake LOYALTY ISLANDS - 28th June 2012

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake has struck the LOYALTY ISLANDS at a depth of 17.4 km (10.8 miles), the quake hit at 01:51:55 UTC Thursday 28th June 2012
The epicenter was 106 km (65 miles) ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia
No Tsunami Warning issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

5.2 Magnitude Earthquake TONGA - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake has struck TONGA at a depth of 19.6 km (12.2 miles), the quake hit at 21:20:58 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 98 km (60 miles) NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
No Tsunami Warning issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake TONGA - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake has struck TONGA at a depth of 15.1 km (9.4 miles), the quake hit at 21:14:02 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 96 km (59 miles) NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
No Tsunami Warning issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

5.3 Magnitude Earthquake TONGA - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has struck TONGA at a depth of 23.6 km (14.7 miles), the quake hit at 20:39:18 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 101 km (62 miles) NNE of Hihifo, Tonga
No Tsunami Warning issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

Rugy Eugene's Medical Examiner: Causeway Cannibal Not High On Bath Salts

Rudy Eugene, the Causeway Cannibal who ate the face off a homeless man he attacked along the MacArthur Causeway, was apparently not high on bath salts or any other exotic street drug at the time of the attack, according to a report released Wednesday by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner.

The much-anticipated toxicology report released by Medical Examiner Dr. Bruce Hyma found marijuana in Eugene’s system, but no evidence of any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs. This includes cocaine, LSD, amphetamines (Extasy, Meth and others), phencyclidine (PCP or Angel Dust), heroin, oxycodone, Xanax, synthetic marijuana (Spice), and many other similar compounds.

Hyma’s office also specifically ruled out Bath Salts, a class of synthetic drugs that have been known to cause bizarre behavior and overheating of people who use them, two things that made some believe Eugene’s cannibalistic behavior was to blame on the drugs. more

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Syria rebels attack regime tank Burning Crew Alive

June 27 - Footage posted to a social media website purports to show Syrian rebels after a pro-Assad armoured vehicle was set ablaze, with its crew still on board. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

U.S. zaps target in high-stakes missile shield test

(Reuters) - U.S. forces using a new Raytheon Co interceptor missile downed another missile in space in a high-stakes test of a shield built to thwart growing capabilities of countries like North Korea and Iran.

The mission off Hawaii late Tuesday was against a medium-range, separating ballistic missile, the Pentagon agency responsible for it said. The mock warhead split from the target's booster section, presenting what is supposed to be a more realistic attack scenario.

"Initial indications are that all components performed as designed resulting in a very accurate intercept," the Missile Defense Agency, or MDA, said in a statement Wednesday.

Richard Lehner, an agency spokesman, declined to say whether the drill incorporated decoys or other so-called countermeasures of the type an enemy likely would use to confuse the defense.

"We don't divulge presence of countermeasures in any of our missile defense tests," he said by email.

The United States plans to deploy increasingly capable versions of Raytheon's Standard Missile-3 through 2020 to help counter missiles that might some day be capable of delivering chemical, biological or nuclear warheads from Iran or North Korea. Read More

Furious Turkey mobilizes tanks, troops to Syrian border

The Turkish military mobilized large numbers of reinforcements from its eastern provinces to the Syrian border on Tuesday, amid rising tension with Damascus, after the downing by Syria of a Turkish Air Force jet on Friday, Turkish media reported.

Large numbers of Turkish troops — including at least 15 long-range artillery pieces and tanks – moved to the Syrian frontier from the eastern city of Diyarbakir. A video published by the Turkish Cihan News Agency showed Turkish tanks being transported by carrier trucks toward the frontier.

The mobilization followed statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the Turkish military will respond to any future violation of its border by Syrian military elements.

“As awe-inspiring as Turkey’s friendship is, Turkey’s wrath is equally awe-inspiring,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament on Tuesday.

“The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed,” Erdogan said. “Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria posing a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target.” more

Firefighters struggle to contain Colorado wildfire

(Reuters) - Firefighters struggled on Wednesday against a wildfire at the edge of Colorado Springs that doubled in size overnight and has forced 32,000 people from their homes, prompted evacuations from the U.S. Air Force Academy and consumed an unknown number of homes.

The Waldo Canyon Fire, which has grabbed attention for days because of its proximity to landmarks like the famed mountaintop of Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy, has now burned through 15,375 acres near Colorado's second-most populous city, fire information officer Rob Deyerberg told Reuters.

"That means it made a run of roughly 9,000 acres in a matter of hours yesterday afternoon," he said.

Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown called the firestorm that hit his city - in a metropolitan area of more than 650,000 people - on Tuesday "a monster" and said at this point flames were "not even remotely close to being contained." Read More

Syria might have thought downed jet was Israeli

Istanbul (CNN) -- A Syrian official said his country's forces might have thought the Turkish jet it downed last week was from Israel.

"As you know there is a country called Israel there and as you know this Zionism country's planes are very similar and because they both are from the same factory, from the U.S., maybe Syria thought it was an Israeli plane," Syrian Information Minister Omran Al Zubi told the Turkish A Haber channel on Wednesday.

Israel and Syria are longtime neighboring adversaries and don't have diplomatic relations.

Al Zubi adopted a friendly tone toward Turkey in the interview, which belied the increase in tough rhetoric in recent days over the downing of the jet. Relations between the two neighbors have deteriorated during the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The act drew sharp condemnation from NATO, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday his country is changing its military rules of engagement and will now treat a military approach toward its borders by Syria as a potential threat that "will be dealt with accordingly."

Both sides say the jet strayed into Syrian airspace, but Turkey says the incursion was accidental and quickly corrected. Read More

4.0 Magnitude Earthquake CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake has struck the CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN REGION at a depth of 20 km (12.4 miles), the quake hit at 18:55:08 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 89 km (55.1 miles) Southwest of Valle gran rey, Tenerife
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

Facebook is facing a rebellion by users after it replaced personal emails with its own service on profiles

Facebook has defended itself against accusations of email “hijacking” after a user rebellion over changes to profiles on the site.

The social networking giant has removed personal email addresses displayed for its 900 million users and replaced them with @facebook.com ones.

Although the company says it announced the changes in April, angry users claimed they had not been consulted on the plan.

Hundreds have taken to the web to complain, with more than 600 people signing up to a Facebook protest group called “Leave my email alone Facebook” in 12 hours.

Facebook users also shared tips on how to reset their emails on rival social networks like Twitter, where the firm was branded “lame” and “patronising”.

Facebook said it has been rolling out the change to make user details more “consistent” across the site.

The company first started offering its email service in 2010 but many users preferred to keep existing personal addresses as their primary account.

Encouraging more people to use the @facebook.com address could boost profits by driving more traffic and advertising sales towards the site.

Interactive marketing analyst Anthony Mullen, from Forrester Research, said the plan could backfire over a “lack of transparency.” Read More

Nigel farage being interviewed by a very biased Jeremy paxman on the very biased BBC.

Herman Van Rompuy (He is President of Europe...I know shocking well none of us were given the option to Vote or even know who the hell he is!)

As our Great leader Herman Van Rompuy has been re-elected by some secret group in EU, I thought I would take this opportunity to show you all (especially for those who have never heard of him) what he is like.

He has a specially set up website to answer questions and here in this video he is answering a question from somebody in Stockholm...

Your about to witness Propaganda at its best..

Note how he starts of with war images.



Also Comments have been disabled for his videos which is hardly surprising

Rebels storm pro-Assad TV station killing Unarmed Journalists and Bombing the buildings

June 27 - Gunmen attack a pro-government Syrian TV channel, bombing buildings and shooting dead three employees, state media says. Sarah Sheffer reports.

British take a closer look at EU membership

(Reuters) - Without a coherent plan for going it alone, Britain may be drifting towards its biggest strategic move in a generation: a disorderly exit from the European Union.

Prime Minister David Cameron wants Britain to remain inside the EU, but if the British people ever get a referendum on whether to stay inside a Europe that sees its survival in closer unity then polls suggest they would vote "No".

Even if the politicians, jittery at a stagnant economy before the 2015 election, avoid promising a referendum, attempts to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU are unlikely to be countenanced by Germany, the bloc's dominant power.

Britain might well take the plunge, but beyond exhilaration there is little realistic sense of what may lie below.

"We are sliding towards the exit without any strategizing about what comes afterwards," said Charles Grant, the pro-European director of the Centre for European Reform, an influential think-tank which seeks to make the EU work better.

"(Finance minister George) Osborne and Cameron actually want to stay in the EU so I don't think they have a sort of plan B. There is no strategy and the skeptics can't agree on what to do."

Leaving the European Union was once farfetched: only a decade ago, British leaders were arguing about when to join the single currency and talk of an EU exit was the reserve of a motley crew of skeptics on the fringes of both major parties. Read More

Colorado fire spreads, consumes 15,000 acres

(Reuters) - Firefighters struggled on Wednesday against a wildfire at the edge of Colorado Springs that doubled in size overnight and has forced 32,000 people from their homes, prompted evacuations from the U.S. Air Force Academy and consumed an unknown number of homes.

The Waldo Canyon Fire, which has grabbed attention for days because of its proximity to landmarks like the famed mountaintop of Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy, has now burned through 15,375 acres near Colorado's second-most populous city, fire information officer Rob Deyerberg told Reuters.

"That means it made a run of roughly 9,000 acres in a matter of hours yesterday afternoon," he said.

Colorado Springs Fire Chief Rich Brown called the firestorm that hit his city - in a metropolitan area of more than 650,000 people - on Tuesday "a monster" and said at this point flames were "not even remotely close to being contained."

The fire, which is only 5 percent contained, was not as intense early on Wednesday but would likely build up again as the temperature rises during the day, Deyerberg said. Read More

Microsoft attacked in Athens as Greek tensions rise

(Reuters) - Gunmen driving a van packed with gas canisters firebombed the Athens headquarters of Microsoft on Wednesday, underscoring the threat of instability as Greece asks for more time and less hardship in cutting its crippling debt.

Fire gutted the ground floor of the blue four-storey HQ of the U.S. software giant, blackening its walls with flames, on the eve of yet another European summit seeking a solution to a regional debt crisis first unleashed by Greece.

At least two attackers were involved in the sophisticated assault at 4.45 a.m. (0145 GMT) in Maroussi, a northern suburb of the sprawling Greek capital, police said.

Brandishing pistols and an automatic rifle, they kept security guards at bay and set fire to the van carrying three gas canisters and five cans of gasoline. No one was hurt in the early morning assault.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and police said it was too early to say who was to blame. Suspicion, however, fell on left-wing militants, who have a long and violent history in Greece. Anti-terrorist units were investigating the incident. Read More

4.5 Magnitude Earthquake LUZON, PHILIPPINES - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake has struck LUZON, PHILIPPINES at a depth of 40.9 km (25.4 miles), the quake hit at 15:51:51 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 97 km (60 miles) NNE from Laoag, Luzon, Philippines
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

'Superbug' found in some NWT communities‎, 86 cases of MRSA - Canada

Drug-resistant bacteria have come up in some N.W.T. communities.

The N.W.T. health department says there have been 86 cases of MRSA, which is also known as a 'superbug', this year. Half of them are in the Tlicho region and, in Behchoko, which is the largest community.

MRSA is a common skin bacteria but a certain strain of it is now resistant to many antibiotics. The symptoms are similar to a staph infection and can cause sore skin and swelling. The infection can spread quickly.

"If you have swelling on the skin that doesn’t heal quickly, that gets bigger and hot and painful go see the health centre. The sooner you're diagnosed, the sooner we can figure it out and get the right treatment for it," said Dr. Andre Corriveau, the territory’s chief public health officer.

Corriveau said people should wash their sheets and clothing often to prevent the bacteria from spreading. Overcrowded housing can also help the bacteria spread.

The bacteria were traditionally found in hospitals because of the high use of antibiotics. Read More

Sage St. Clair Attacked by Shark in Hawaii

View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.

A 16-year-old girl from Livermore visiting Hawaii was attacked by a shark Tuesday, according to the Maui Fire Department.

The girl was identified by an acquaintance as Sage St. Clair, a 16-year-old student at Granada High School.

"My husband felt something hit his back, it went quickly, I heard Sage scream," said Sage's mother, Kim St. Clair.

St. Clair says her daughter and husband were swimming not far from shore about 10 to 15 feet in water only three to four feet deep near the Hololani resort when the shark attacked.

"Sage gets out of the water and she says something bit me and I looked at her leg and she had a bite. I wrapped it up in a towel and called 9-1-1.," St. Clair said.

The gash on her lower left calf is about three to five inches deep. Read More

NatWest customers targeted by fraud emails following IT crisis

NatWest customers could face further financial woes as they are being targeted by fake “phishing” emails purporting to be from the boss of their banking group.

Action Fraud said a scam email claiming to be from RBS Group chief executive Stephen Hester apologises for the problems and says a "security upgrade" requires them to update their information.

If customers follow the web link on the email, they are taken to an "incredibly realistic" replica of NatWest's website, Action Fraud said.

It warned that criminals could use any details entered to steal money or commit identity fraud.

Anyone who receives such a scam email should not click on any links or attachments in it and should not try to contact the senders in any way, the body - run by the National Fraud Authority government agency - warned. Read More

Seventy dead, 200000 stranded in Bangladesh floods

(Reuters) - Days of rain in Bangladesh, some of the heaviest in years, have set off flash floods and landslides, killing at least 70 people and stranding about 200,000, police and officials said on Wednesday.

Low-lying and densely populated Bangladesh is battered by torrential downpours during the wet season, which began in the past few weeks.

At least 15 people were killed in and around the southeastern port city of Chittagong, while 30 died in Bandarban in an area known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

"Several more people are feared trapped in hillside homes buried under heaps of mud. Rescue operations are continuing," Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Faiz Ahmed said.

A further 24 died in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar near the Myanmar border, officials and police said.

Most of the deaths were caused by landslides, others by wall collapses, lightning strikes and surges of water. Army, police and fire brigade personnel were helping in rescue efforts. Read More

El Hierro: Yellow Alert Activated 15% Chance of Volcanic Eruption Occurring

The Civil Protection Plan Risk Volcanic Islands (Pevolca) have raised the Alert to Yellow for volcanic risk in two areas of El Hierro, after detecting movement of magma 20 kilometers deep with a ground deformation up to 3 centimeters.

The Acceleration of seismic activity has been observed in the area, with over 650 earthquakes recorded in the past 3 days, 30 of them with a magnitude 3.0 or higher.

The Director General of Security of the Canary Islands, Juan Santana, and the head of IGN in the islands, Maria Jose Blanco, have pointed out that the yellow alert is for information and the establishment of a pre-emergency phase only which only affects two areas of the Island: The Julan and Dehesa.

They also stressed that there is no risk to the population and the available data does not suggest that it will produce an eruption in El Hierro imminently.

A Yellow alert indicates that the possibility of a eruption stands at 15%

4.5 Magnitude Earthquake SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake has struck SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS at a depth of 473.4 km (294.2 miles), the quake hit at 13:55:34 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 391 km (242 miles) NNW of Raoul Island, New Zealand
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

4.5 Magnitude Earthquake SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA - 27th June 2012

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake has struck SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA at a depth of 40.2 km (25 miles), the quake hit at 13:06:34 UTC Wednesday 27th June 2012
The epicenter was 57 km (35 miles) East of Caucete, Argentina
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time

Camden, city of ruins: Depressing images of once-thriving metropolis reduced to decaying, crime-ridden rubble

View entire sobering gallery here.

US Dollar, Euro (DM before 1999), Yen and Sterling Depreciation Against Gold Since 1900

Gold is marginally higher in Japanese yen, flat in U.S. dollars but higher in euros, pounds and other fiat currencies today. Further weakness may be seen in trading today as last week’s 3% fall may lead to follow through selling.

Gold remains higher in all fiat currencies in June and the fundamentals mean that a summer or autumn rally remains likely.

Gold may look for direction from the latest EU summit but financial markets have already toned down expectations of concrete progress and European stock markets are lower and Spanish and Italian debt is again under pressure. The EU meeting will be missed by both Greece's new prime minister and finance minister due to illness.

Speculators Sell While Long Term Store Of Value Buyers Accumulate on Dip

Managed money longs boosted their net longs in gold by 4,962 to 104,646 lots in the week up to June 19 but their positions remain near record monthly lows showing that the speculative froth has been washed out of the market. more

Nigerian Navy Impounds French Ship For Stealing 500,000 Barrels of Crude Oil Per Day

A special naval team has impounded a French ship, MT Vannessa, which has allegedly been stealing 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the country since June 9.

Investigations on showed that six crew members, including two Britons; two Nigerians and two Togolese, were also arrested.

A top naval officer, who pleaded anonymity, said the arrests were made at Brass Loading Terminal, Bayelsa State.

Since June 9, when it had been loading 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Thursday when it was impounded, the naval team suspected that the ship might have stolen 8.5m barrels of crude oil.

It was gathered that the suspects, who had made useful confessional statements, indicted some political office holders, many fuel marketers, some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Department of Petroleum Resources.

It was learnt that security agents had started discreet investigation of those indicted by the suspects.

The indicted officials, investigations showed, had also been put under surveillance.

The special naval team, it was learnt, was assisted by officers of the National Maritime and Administration and Safety Agency and a private security firm, Global West Vessel Specialist.

The impounded ship is currently being anchored at Bonny, Port Harcourt anchorage. more

Note: This is why groups like Boko Haram exist.