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U.S. Miffed As Israel Hints At Unilateral Strike On Iran

LONDON: Israel could launch a unilateral strikeon Iran's nuclear facilities without much prior notice to its closest ally for over 60 year, US, according to information reaching here fromTel Aviv.

Barak's message to Dempsey followed what Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had told Obama: that an early warning of Israel's intentions would not be available to the US. The Israeli army's elite 35th Paratroopers Brigade is training for a longrange operation for some time, so as to be prepared for military action against Iran's nuclear plants.

On Monday, foreign ministers of the EU are expected to ban Iranian oil imports as part of efforts to tighten sanctions on Tehran.

Warships Heighten Tension With Iran

Britain has joined the United States and France in sending a flotilla of warships through the sensitive Strait of Hormuz in a pointed message to the Iranian regime.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, HMS Argyll, was part of the US-led carrier group to pass through the waterway, as tensions continued to escalate over Tehran's nuclear programme.

European Union foreign ministers are expected to announce an embargo on Iranian oil exports, ratcheting up the pressure on the regime to abandon work which the West believes is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.

The six-strong flotilla was led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with up to 90 warplanes on board.

The departure of the USS John C Stennis had prompted the head of the Iranian armed forces, General Ataollah Salehi, to warn the Americans not to send any more carriers to the region. "We don't have any intention of repeating our warning and we warn only once," he said.

Christians In Iran, Syria Face Rising Persecution

There has been a wave of violence targeting Iranian and Syrian Christians over the past month, say Christian news reports.

In addition, Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who has been on death row since 2010 for seeking to register his home-based church, refused to renounce his Christian beliefs in exchange for his release from prison. He was also jailed for questioning the role of Islam as the dominant form of religious instruction in his children’s school.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Christian Post wrote last week on its website, “The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began. A reliable source in the country, who cannot be identified for their own safety, told Barnabas Aid that children were being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim.”

The Pakistan Christian Post website noted “Two Christians were killed on January 15 as they waited for bread at a bakery. Another Christian, aged 40 with two young children, was shot dead by three armed attackers while he was driving a vehicle.”

Meotti, the Italian Journalist who has written extensively on Christians in the Mideast region, told the Post “In Syria Christians will be persecuted after Assad’s eventual fall, since they were the most loyal allies of the Baathist regime. Christians will be slaughtered or squeezed. From Cairo to Damascus, Arab Christian era is near to its end everywhere.”

Syria Purchases 36 Fighter Planes From Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in January that Russia has no intention to justify its arms sales to Syria.

"We don't consider it necessary to explain ourselves or justify ourselves, because we are not violating any international agreements or any (UN) Security Council resolutions," he told an annual news conference.

Davos Elites To Seek Reforms Of 'Outdated' Capitalism

Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as "outdated and crumbling."

"We are in an era of profound change that urgently requires new ways of thinking instead of more business-as-usual," the 73-year-old said, adding that "capitalism in its current form, has no place in the world around us."

Some 1,600 economic and political leaders, including 40 heads of states and governments, will be asked to come up with new ideas as they converge at eastern Switzerland's chic ski station for the 42nd edition of the five-day World Economic Forum which opens Wednesday.

More Quakes Follow 5.0 Shaker On Big Island

VOLCANO, Hawaii Island (HawaiiNewsNow) - A series of earthquakes shook an area of southeast Hawaii island Sunday afternoon, one of them a 5.0 magnitude quake.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, all of the quakes were centered in an area about eleven miles southeast of the town of Volcano on the Big Island. The first quake occurred at 4:35 p.m. with a magnitude of 4.1. That quake was followed a minute later by one with a 5.0 magnitude.

Five more smaller quakes followed at 4:43, 4:44, 4:45, 4:51 and 4:52 p.m., with preliminary magnitudes of 2.5, 2.3, 3.0, 1.8 and 2.0