UK Police Probe Death of Exiled Russian Oligarch Berezovsky

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British police said Saturday they have launched an investigation into the “unexplained death” of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who was found dead at his home in southeast England on Saturday.

“His death is currently being treated as unexplained and a full inquiry is under way. The area around the property has been cordoned off in order to allow the investigation to take place,” police said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

The statement did not directly identify the 67-year-old businessman, but Thames Valley police said they were investigating the death of a man of the same age at a property in Ascot, a town 25 miles west of London.

Boris Berezovsky, a self-exiled and outspoken oligarch, had a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In recent years, the one-time Kremlin powerbroker-turned-thorn in Putin’s side fended off verbal and legal attacks in cases that often bore political undertones — and bit into his fortune.

Lawyer Alexander Dobrovinsky told Russian state TV that his client — who had survived assassination attempts in the past — lately had been in “a horrible, terrible” emotional state.

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Bolton: Iran Planning ‘Whole Arsenal’ Of Nukes

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President Obama went to great lengths to convince Americans and Israelis that we stand should-to-shoulder with Israel but the private talks were just another round of demands for Israeli concessions, according to former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton.

“This is a trip that’s very rare in the sense that the public opportunities that the president has are about as divorced from the real substance of the private conversations as you can imagine,” Bolton told WND. “Publicly, there’s no doubt that the president wanted the photo opportunities and the appearance of smoothing over the difficulties that he’s had in his personal relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu and also trying to smooth over some of the difficulties in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.”

According to Bolton, the president still favors returning to pre-1967 borders and agreeing with the Palestinians that settlement construction in the disputed territories must stop before any peace talks are renewed. He also says the fact Obama never publicly called for a new round of peace talks shows how futile that is in the current climate.

“I think where Obama is really tilting is toward both reality and his own reputation. You don’t want to call for a new round of peace talks that are destined to run into to the ground, said Bolton.

Another telling development from the trip is Obama’s repeated assessment that Iran is at least a year away from a nuclear bomb. Bolton says the message behind that estimate is crystal clear.

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In First Diplomatic Address, Pope Francis Decries ‘Tyranny Of Relativism’

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In his first address on the world’s affairs to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis was very clear about one thing: no one should assume that because he is devoted to the poor and the goal of peace in the world, that he deviates from the substance of the message of his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

On Friday, the newly elected pontiff expressed serious concern for the “spiritual poverty” of the world as represented by a rejection of both God and objective standards of morality.

Borrowing a phrase from Benedict, Pope Francis told representatives from 180 nations that he rejects the “tyranny of relativism,” which, he said, “makes everyone his own criterion and endangers the coexistence of peoples.” Francis said that while he praised the efforts of those who “dedicate themselves to helping the sick, orphans, the homeless and all the marginalized,” he was equally concerned about the “spiritual poverty of our time, which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously.”

The pontiff asserted that the world cannot attain the goal of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, to build world peace, without truth. Referring to the “dictatorship of relativism,” and the importance of clear moral standards, Francis said, “There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion.”

Francis said that in choosing his new name he was evoking St. Francis of Assisi, a familiar figure to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Reminding the diplomats that the word “pontiff” means “bridge-builder,” the pope said that he hoped to create “real spaces of authentic fraternity” between peoples and cultures. “In this work, the role of religion is fundamental,” Francis said.

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Number Of Dead Pigs Found In Chinese Rivers Rises To 16,000

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The number of dead pigs recovered in the last two weeks from rivers that supply water to Shanghai has risen to more than 16,000.

The government in China’s financial hub said 10,570 carcasses had been pulled from its Huangpu river. That is in addition to 5,528 pigs plucked from upstream tributaries in the Jiaxing area of Zhejiang province.

Authorities give daily updates, telling the public that tests show Shanghai’s water is safe, but no official has given any full explanation about the massive dumping of pig carcasses.

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Kerry Wishes ‘Prosperity’ For This Islamic Regime

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Secretary of State John F. Kerry exchanged pleasantries with Iran, wishing “health and prosperity” even though it was revealed at virtually the same time that the rogue Islamic regime has a secret plant where scientists are working on nuclear weapons that could be aimed at the U.S.

The United States, Kerry said in a statement issued this week, is “strongly committed to resolving” differences with Iran.

“Despite the difficult history of the last decades between the United States and Iran, there is an opportunity to work diplomatically to reduce tensions and address the mistrust between our two countries, to the mutual benefit of both of our people,” Kerry said in a statement reported by the Washington Times.

The statement was released Wednesday, the same day WND reported Iranian scientists are working on nuclear warheads at an underground site previously unknown to the West.

The source is a high-ranking intelligence officer of the Islamic regime, according to the report by Reza Kahlili, an Iranian insider turned CIA spy who has written “A Time to Betray.” Kerry’s comments, on the occasion of the Iranian-Persian new year, were a continuation of a traditional statement to the Iranian people.

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China ‘To Overtake America By 2016’

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China’s economy expanded last year at 7.8pc – its slowest pace in more than a decade – and recent data has fuelled concerns that any rebound in the country’s growth is losing steam.

However, the OECD was upbeat, predicting in a new survey of China’s prospects that the country’s economy could expand by 8.5pc this year and by 8.9pc in 2014.

While the OECD noted the slowdown in China’s aggressive expansion, it nonetheless predicted that growth should average 8pc in this decade at current rates of investment and reform.

After allowing for price differences, it forecast that China could become the world’s largest economy, overtaking America, around 2016.

Fuelling the OECD’s positive prediction was an optimistic outlook for investment spending in the world’s second-biggest economy. It pointed to substantial deficits in rail and road capacity relative to other major economies at similar stages of development, as well as to sub-standard housing as offering scope for more profitable spending on infrastructure.

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Syrian With Direct Ties To 9/11 Hijackers Still In US, Apparently Immune From Deportation

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Free to do as he pleases, living out his days in the suburbs of northern New Jersey, a Syrian national who is a known associate of the 9/11 hijackers never has to worry about deportation by the U.S. government, according to an investigation by Fox Files.

With nearly 400,000 people waiting for U.S. citizenship, Daoud Chehazeh last November received political asylum for a third time after a series of bureaucratic screw ups at the federal level, according to a review of court documents and interviews with former federal and state investigators.

“It’s a slap in the face to Americans, especially the victims of 9/11 and the families,” said Jim Bush, who as a New Jersey state criminal investigator was part of the 9/11 investigation code-named PENTTBOMB. His partner in the investigation was Bob Bukowski, a now-retired FBI special agent.

“Three thousand people were murdered,” Bukowski said. “(Chehazeh) was definitely part of that conspiracy. … He facilitated the moves and protection up to the whole flight, basically, of Flight 77. Could we prove that in a court of law? No. But there are other remedies. Deport him. That’s what should have been done in this case.”

“This is an example of our national security policy gone mad,” Debra Burlingame, the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, said. Fox Files’ findings and the connection between Chehazeh and the Flight 77 hijackers were especially disheartening because Burlingame’s brother, Charles, was the pilot of Flight 77, which was hijacked and slammed into the Pentagon.

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‘Most Palestinians Hate Obama’; US President Gets Heated Reception In West Bank

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John Kerry, the US secretary of state, hit the red carpet first, followed by Barack Obama. The welcome ceremony lasted five minutes, with time for only solemn-faced handshakes and a reedy rendition of the Star Spangled banner before presidential entourage disappeared into Muqata’a building. The red carpet rolled up promptly behind them.

The pageant of love Mr Obama has engaged in with Benjamin Netanyahu may have won over several Israeli hearts, but it may have caused considerable damage to his relationship with the Palestinians.

The first 24-hours of Obama’s visit was marked with early morning rocket fire from Gaza towards Sderot, violating ceasefire agreed with Israel in November.

In Ramallah, empty streets were dotted with truculent Palestinian soldiers deployed to prevent violent protest at the president’s visit. Ramallah’s major thoroughfare, running from the presidential compound to Qalandiya checkpoint, was lined with posters censored with black paint. Their slogans had read: “Mr President, don’t bring your smart phone to Ramallah, there is no 3G in Palestine!”

Just 100 metres away from the Muqata’a, a small crowd of angry demonstrators gathered outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken, contained by flanks of riot police. “Obama get out”, they chanted in the direction of the president.

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Obama Quotes Alinsky, is Heckled in Israel; Huckabee Says Palestinians Don’t Want Peace

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Obama Heckled in Israel

By Susan Crabtree. President Obama was heckled Thursday during a speech to an audience that included scores of university students in Jerusalem.

About 15 minutes into his remarks, a man standing in the crowd started shouting in Hebrew. Citing a reliable Hebrew speaker, the White House pool reporter said the shouting was about Jonathan Pollard, an American who was found guilty of spying for Israel and is serving a life sentence for the crime.

Mr. Obama took the interruption in stride.

“This is part of the lively debate we talked about,” he said. “This is good.”

As the shouting continued, Mr. Obama added: “You know, I have to say, we actually arranged for that because it made me feel at home. You know, I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I didn’t have at least one heckler.”

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Huckabee to Obama: Palestinians Have ‘Zero Interest’ in Mideast Peace

By Jim Meyers. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tells Newsmax that President Obama won’t succeed in restarting peace talks in the Middle East because the Palestinians have “zero interest” in negotiations.

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate also says the administration’s dealings with Mohammed Morsi and Egypt are “foreign policy gone wild,” and warns that the United States will be viewed as a “toothless tiger” if Obama doesn’t respond as promised to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Huckabee is now the host of “The Mike Huckabee Show,” broadcast on 227 radio stations in 48 states, and a Fox News contributor. His latest book is “Dear Chandler, Dear Scarlett: A Grandfather’s Thoughts on Faith, Family and the Things That Matter Most.”

President Obama is making his first official trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories this week. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV, Huckabee was asked if Obama will be able to get the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

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Obama Quotes Alinsky In Speech To Young Israelis

By Aaron Klein. In his address in Jerusalem today, President Obama channeled Saul Alinsky, citing the radical community organizer’s defining mantra as he urged young Israelis to “create change” to nudge their leadership to act.

Obama told a crowd of college students at Jerusalem’s main convention center that Israel “has the wisdom to see the world as it is, but also the courage to see the world as it should be.”

One of Alinsky’s major themes was working with the world as it “is” to turn it into the world as “it should be.” In his defining work, “Rules for Radicals,” which he dedicated to “the first rebel,” Lucifer, Alinsky used those words to lay out his main agenda. He asserted radical change must be brought about by working within a system instead of attacking it from the outside.

“It is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be. That means working in the system,” wrote Alinsky.

Obama related his Alinsky quote to a suggestion that “peace” begins with the people and not just the leadership – a statement some may relate to community organizing.

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North Korea Vows Nuclear Attack On US, Saying Washington Will Be ‘Engulfed In A Sea Of Fire’

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North Korea amplified its threatening rhetoric as the U.N. Security Council approved new sweeping sanctions, vowing to launch a first-strike nuclear attack against the United States and threatening to engulf Washington in a “sea of fire.”

An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for “a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.

At a mass rally in Pyongyang on Thursday, Army Gen. Kang Pyo Yong told the crowd that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington.

“Intercontinental ballistic missiles and various other missiles, which have already set their striking targets, are now armed with lighter, smaller and diversified nuclear warheads and are placed on a standby status,” Kang said. “When we shell (the missiles), Washington, which is the stronghold of evils, …. will be engulfed in a sea of fire.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing that the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself after a North Korean missile attack.

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