TODAY'S INTEL

Friday, February 3, 2012

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A surge in new jobs, 243,000, last month and the lowest jobless rate, dropped to 8.3 percent from 8.5 percent in December, in three years may give a boost to President Obama’s election-year message that the economy is gaining steam.

Multimillionaire Mitt Romney shared a stage with billionaire Donald Trump as he accepted the backing of the real estate developer and reality television star, the latest sign the Republican presidential frontrunner isn’t shying away from a focus on his wealth.

The Obama administration would cross a “dangerous line” with its plan to facilitate peace talks with the Afghan Taliban by transferring five prisoners from U.S. military detention, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said.

Canada’s unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent, a nine-month high, in January as the trend of sluggish job creation that began in the second half of last year continued.

More people will be making their homes among the banks and insurance companies of central London as a shrinking financial industry and the prospect of leasing out buildings for free prompts landlords to convert offices into luxury apartments.

Eastern Europe’s death toll climbed to about 250 as the region grapples with a Siberian freeze, heavy snowfall and gale-force winds that disrupted traffic, boosted energy use to record levels and sealed off towns. The cold killed 101 people in Ukraine, where 1,248 people were hospitalized with frostbite, the Emergency Ministry said today. In Russia, at least 60 have frozen to death in 50 provinces this month, the Health Ministry said, while Polish police reported eight cold-related deaths yesterday, bringing the toll to 43 since Jan. 24.

Brazil’s central bank bought dollars in the currency market in an effort to slow the real’s 8 percent rally this year that policy makers say could curb exports and undermine the rebound in Latin America’s biggest economy.

The dollar rose against the yen after U.S. employers added more jobs than forecast in January, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will add another round of asset purchases to spur growth.

Investments in commodities are expanding at the quickest pace in six years on signs of rising economic growth, even as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warn that some prices have rallied too fast.

AP Top Stories    

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the key to stopping Iran from getting a nuclear bomb is keeping global support for tough economic sanctions.

A sensitive conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard was recorded by the very people they were trying to catch, the hacking group known as Anonymous claimed. The group released a roughly 15-minute-long recording of what appears to be a Jan. 17 conference call devoted to tracking and prosecuting members of the loose-knit hacking group.

In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, the Obama administration is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands. The administration also will seek more grant money for programs that allow local communities to hire more police officers and firefighters.

Investors are holding more cash than at any time since the Lehman Brothers collapse to protect themselves against volatile financial markets, presenting them with a dilemma - where to hold that money when banks are looking shaky.

Orders to U.S. factories rose 1.1 percent in December, supported by a rebound in business investment in capital goods such as heavy machinery.

Retail sales in the 17 countries that use the euro unexpectedly fell during the crucial month of December, raising fears of a looming recession in the single currency bloc.

BBC    

The US Senate has approved a bill seeking to ban insider trading by members of Congress. Under current rules, lawmakers can trade stock unrestricted even though they may have specialist knowledge.

Gunmen in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula have kidnapped two American women tourists, Egyptian security sources say.

WND    

The family of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry filed a $25 million wrongful death claim Wednesday against the federal government, saying he was killed because U.S. investigators allowed murder weapons into the hands of criminals.

A ruling today from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means that the video recordings of the Perry v. Brown Proposition 8 trial, where a homosexual judge decided to grant “marriage” rights to homosexuals in California, will remain under seal.

Amid crippling sanctions over its nuclear weapons program, Iran is continuing to prepare itself for war against the West, and now is warning of a coming great event.

The head of the Israeli army’s military intelligence branch, Maj Gen Aviv Kochavi, says Iran already has enough enriched uranium to make four atom bombs.

The IDF has significantly increased the number of overseas covert operations it has conducted over the past year, an indication of the growing threats Israel faces in the region. Most of the details about the operations are classified, including the exact number, but according to foreign reports, the IDF has operated in places such as Sudan, Lebanon and Iran.

Afghanistan is bracing itself for a return of the Taliban, a leaked secret US report claimed yesterday. Fanatics working for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency are helping to target occupying troops, it states. And they will help restore the Taliban when NATO pulls out of the country, according to the secret dossier, entitled State of the Taliban.

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