Merkel taking Europe in wrong direction: Soros

American billionaire George Soros slammed German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an interview published on Sunday, warning that her policies could lead to a repeat of the Great Depression.

"I admire Chancellor Merkel for her leadership. But unfortunately she is taking Europe in the wrong direction," the financier and philanthropist told the weekly Der Spiegel.

Soros warned against addressing the crisis with spending cuts, urging the injection of funds instead.
"Otherwise we will repeat the mistakes that plunged America into the Great Depression in 1929. That's what Angela Merkel doesn't understand," he said.

US President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the crisis in 1933 with his New Deal, inspired by British economist John Keynes, which combined a reform of the banking system with major infrastructure projects.

Soros also told Der Spiegel, in remarks published in German on the magazine's website, that he thought Europe could handle the crisis without the help of the International Monetary Fund.

He said it was a mistake to offer a bailout to Greece tied to high interest rates. "That's why the country can't be saved today, and the same thing will happen to Italy if we put this country in the straitjacket of paying harsh interest rates," Soros said.

A Greek default would cause an escalation of the crisis and could lead to a run on Italian and Spanish banks, and "Europe would explode," he said.

Whitney Houston death: Bathtub drowning among scenarios probed

Investigators probing the death of Whitney Houston are trying to determine whether she drowned while in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday shortly before she was set to attend a pre-Grammy Awards gala, according to a source who has been briefed about the case.

The source, who spoke to the Los Angeles Times on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing, stressed investigators still have many unanswered questions, particularly about what Houston was doing in the hours before her death. Investigators are also interviewing family members and friends to determine whether Houston had any underlying medical conditions, a practice common in death investigations.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office is expected to perform an autopsy Sunday, but it's likely that a final cause of death will be deferred until toxicology test results come in. The source said drowning is one of several scenarios that investigators are examining as they gather evidence.

Beverly Hills police said there was no indication of foul play in Houston's death but also said it was premature to say that she had died of natural causes.

Houston had drug and alcohol problems for years, and last May her spokeswoman said she was going back into rehab.
The Times reported that days before her death Houston had been acting strangely, skipping around a ballroom and reportedly doing handstands near the hotel pool. According to The Times' Gerrick D. Kennedy, Houston greeted people with a warm smile but appeared disheveled in mismatched clothes and hair that was dripping wet.

Police said that so far they do not have evidence that drugs played a role in Houston's death.

After news of her passing, fans flocked to the hotel, some leaving flowers and tributes.
On Sunday morning, a bleary-eyed Ray J was briefly inside the lobby of the Beverly Hilton surrounded by three companions.

The musical artist, who reportedly had been dating Houston on and off, had his hood on, and was being consoled by others.

"Whitney dead," he repeated multiple times, as one friend grabbed him by the shoulders. "Whitney dead. We all gotta live with that."

A little later, Ray J left the hotel in the passenger seat of a red Ferrari.

Fans have begun assembling a makeshift memorial of flowers, candles and notes for Whitney Houston outside the Beverly Hilton.

"Bittersweet memories that is all we will take us," read one note. "We will always LOVE you."

One woman drove by, turning onto Santa Monica Boulevard from Wilshire Boulevard, asking a reporter on the street corner to add a bouquet to the mix. Another woman snapped a photo with her iPhone on the way to the bus stop.

"Oh there's my bus, I'm always late," she said, running to the stop. "Just hope I'm not late to heaven."

Worshipers at the First A.M.E. Church of Los Angeles held a special moment of silence in honor of Houston at their 10 a.m. service. Their pastor John J. Hunter described Houston as “one of the most dynamic voices of our time,” according to an announcement on the church website. “We are all deeply saddened by her passing and our hearts go out to her family,” he said.

An outdoor candlelight memorial and public gathering is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Monday in Leimert Park and will continue for at least two hours, according to community organizer Najee Ali. Fans will be able to express their grief and their admiration of Houston’s talents while Houston’s recordings play throughout the evening, he added.

Paramedics performed CPR for about 20 minutes before the pop star was declared dead. The Beverly Hills Fire Department said it was called to the hotel about 3:30 p.m. and Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m.

 Beverly Hills police on Sunday said officials would not be making any formal announcements about the case until at least Monday.

 “There may be something at the beginning of the week,” Beverly Hills police Sgt. Brian Weir said Sunday morning about the possibility of a news conference or statement about the probe. "The investigation is pending.”

Houston's death cast a shadow over Sunday's Grammy Awards and brought tributes to the singer from around the world.

Grammys Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich and his team were scrambling Saturday night to find a poignant and proper way to mark her passing, and their plan was to have Jennifer Hudson perform a "respectful musical tribute" on the CBS broadcast on Sunday night.

"It's too fresh in everyone's memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn't recognize Whitney's remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years," said Ehrlich, a key figure in the Grammys since the early 1980s.

Houston had been  planning to attend music industry titan Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammys party Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton.

Late Saturday, Davis told those assembled at the party that he had a "heavy heart" and was "personally devastated" by Houston's death, but "simply put, Whitney would have wanted the music to go on, and her family has asked for us to carry on."

It's unclear how long the investigation of Houston's death will take.

In other cases of high-profile figures dying unexpectedly, the investigations lasted for months and included detailed toxicology tests.

It took nearly three months for the coroner to officially rule on the death of Michael Jackson in 2009. In that case, authorities extensively reviewed the prescription drugs he was taking, interviewed his doctors and examined his medical history. The coroner ultimately determined he died of "acute propofol intoxication."

The coroner's office took about a month to rule that rapper Heavy D's unexpected death last year was caused by a blood clot.

"Bold Alligator 2012" drills 20,000 troops on US East Coast for Persian Gulf action

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

Some 20,000 marines, seamen and air crews from half a dozen countries, a US nuclear aircraft carrier strike group and three US Marine gunship carriers are practicing an attack on a fictitious mechanized enemy division which has invaded its neighbor. It is the largest amphibian exercise seen in the West for a decade, staged to simulate a potential Iranian invasion of an allied Persian Gulf country and a marine landing on the Iranian coast. Based largely on US personnel and hardware, French, British, Italian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand military elements are integrated in the drill.

Bold Alligator went into its operational phase Monday, Feb. 6, the same day as a large-scale exercise began in southern Iran opposite the Strait of Hormuz. This simultaneity attests to the preparations for a US-Iranian showdown involving Israel behind the words on Feb. 5 of US President Barack Obama ("I don't think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran") and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 3 ("The war itself will be ten times as detrimental to the US.").

Monday, Feb. 6, the US president ordered the tightening of sanctions by freezing Iranian assets in America and blocking the operations of Iranian banks including its central bank.

US Rear Adm. Kevin Scott and Brig. Gen. Christopher Owens are coordinating the exercise over large stretches of coastal terrain in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida and Atlantic Ocean from the USS Wasp amphibian helicopter carrier. It is led by the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier with strike force alongside three amphibian helicopter carriers, the USS Wasp, the USS Boxer and the USS Kearsage. On their decks are 6,000 Marines, 25 fighter bombers and 65 strike and transport helicopters, mainly MV-22B Ospreys with their crews. Altogether 100 combat aircraft are involved.

The exercise is scheduled to end on February 14, a week before the winding up of the Iranian drill, after which the participants are to be shipped out to Persian Gulf positions opposite Iran. Altogether three American aircraft carrier strike groups, the French Charles de Gaulle carrier and four or five US Marines amphibian vessels will be posted there, debkafile's military sources report.

On Feb. this site first disclosed a flow in unprecedented numbers of US military strength to two strategic islands, Yemeni Socotra and Omani Masirah, within range of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran.

US naval officials insist that the exercise has nothing to do with Iran, but the scenario is a giveaway. A mechanized division from the fictitious hostile country of Garnet (Iran) has invaded its neighbor, Amber (Saudi Arabia), which has asked for coalition assistance to halt the enemy's northern advance. Garnet has already mined harbors (Hormuz) and established anti-ship missiles on its coastline.

Coalition forces are required to develop strategy for defeating the enemy and carry the combat onto its (Iranian) soil. Hence, the preponderance of amphibian Marines in the exercise.

Successful US-Israel radar test launches US missile shield's operational phase

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

A successful joint exercise carried out Friday, Feb. 10, demonstrated the interoperability of the US Aegis and Israel's Arrow 4 ballistic missile defense systems and, most importantly, of their two radars, the US AN/TPY-2 X-band and Israel's EL/M-2080 Super Green Pine, debkafile's military sources report.

It was a key milestone in the development of the US missile shield's Middle East capabilities ahead of a potential war with Iran and the fourth significant preparatory step taken in the last ten days.
On the East Coast of the United States, the large-scale Bold Alligator 2012 exercise is drilling amphibian landings on a fictitious Iranian shore; in the Middle East, an American airlift this week ferried reinforcements to the Persian Gulf over Sinai; the Iranian army is in the middle of a major war game "under war conditions" opposite the Strait of Hormuz; and Israel is putting the finishing touches to its new Depth Command set up for operations behind enemy lines.

The joint US-Israel radar exercise Friday was a target-only tracking test over the Mediterranean. An attack on Israel was simulated by a Rafael Blue Sparrow 2 target missile launched from an F-15 fighter jet coming in from the east – the presumed direction of Iranian and Syrian missile strikes. The incoming missile was detected and tracked by two US AN/TPY-2 X-band stations and Israel's Super Green Pine radar.

One of the American stations is located on Mount Keren opposite the Egyptian border in southern Israel; the other at a Turkish air base in the southeastern town of Kurecik.

US and Israeli officials said the joint test was successful but offered no further information about the order in which the three stations sighted the attacking "missile" or how they shared the data.
The successful collaboration of these systems has elevated the US missile shield to its operational phase.

debkafile's military and Washington sources report that the test went ahead after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived in Washington Thursday, Feb. 9 to discuss urgent international action for Syria and at the same time notified US officials that his government had withdrawn its objections to the Israel-based US x-band radar station taking part in a joint exercise against a potential Iranian or Syrian missile attack.

This notification was awaited before the test went ahead. It gave the Turkish foreign minister a handle for promoting his mission to gain Obama administration assent to his government's initiative on Syria.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for joint Turkish-Arab military intervention to be launched against Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown under cover of a humanitarian operation. He offered to meet the Americans halfway on the radar station issue to win support for this anti-Assad intervention.

Monday, Jan. 30, debkafile disclosed that a high-ranking US official had arrived in Israel to refute the Turkish claims that the US X-band radar station at Kurecik was Turkish-operated, not aimed against Iranian missiles and committed to withholding data from Israel.

Before he left Israel, the US official put the record straight by stating: "The radar is exclusively operated by US personnel, exactly as it is here. We will control the data and fuse it with data from other radars in the region to generate the most comprehensive and effective missile defense picture."
This assurance was effectively demonstrated by the joint US-Israel detection and tracking test carried out Friday.

Saadi Gaddafi warns of uprising in Libya: TV

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Ali Shuaib

(Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's son Saadi warned on Friday of an imminent uprising in Libya, saying he was in regular contact with people in the country who were unhappy with the authorities put in place after the ousting and killing of his father.

Speaking to Al-Arabiya television by phone - the first time he has spoken publicly in months - Saadi said he wanted to return to Libya "at any minute" after escaping across the border to Niger when National Transitional Council forces captured the capital Tripoli in August.

He said he was in contact from Niger with the army, the militias, the NTC and other members of the Gaddafi family. It was impossible to verify where he was calling from as the station showed only an old still picture of Saadi as a backdrop to his words.

"First of all, it is not going to be an uprising limited to some areas. It will cover all the regions of the Jamahiriya and this uprising does exist and I am following and witnessing this as it grows bigger by the day," he said, referring to Libya.

"There will be a great uprising in the south, in the east, in the centre and in the west. All the regions of Libya will witness this new popular uprising."

A transitional government appointed in November is leading the country to elections in June but is struggling to restore services and impose order on myriad armed groups.

These groups fought hard in the campaign to topple Gaddafi but still refuse to hand in their weapons.
The government lost control of the former Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid last month after local people staged an armed revolt, posing the gravest challenge yet to the NTC's authority.

However elders in the desert city dismissed accusations they wanted to restore the late dictator's family to power or had any ambitions beyond their local area.

Saadi told Al-Arabiya: "The Libyan people should revolt against these militias and against this deteriorating situation. The NTC is not a legitimate body ... and is not in control of the militias," he added. "We call on all to be ready for the coming uprising."

"We have to exert pressure to change this situation and to remove this evil doing that exists in Libya. We do not know any such thing as elections. We are a Muslim nation," he said.

ANNIVERSARY

Government officials were not immediately available for comment. Mohammed al-Alagy, former interim justice minister and who now heads the human rights council, told Al-Arabiya Saadi's comments were "an attempt to drive a wedge between the Libyan people."

Saadi, a businessman and former professional footballer, said he was in contact with people in Libya. Interpol last year issued a "red notice" requesting member states to arrest Saadi with a view to extradition if they find him in their territory.

"I have daily communications with Libya from Niger and these contacts are not just to start the uprising but also to follow up the status of our tribes, our relatives and the people," he said.

"The situation of the people is deteriorating. I am in contact with the militias, the tribes, the NTC and the national army. I can confirm that more than 70 percent of those who are in Libya now whether they support the February 17th (revolution) or not, all are not satisfied with the situation and are ready to cooperate to change this situation."

Libya is preparing for the first anniversary of the start of the February 17 uprising which began in the eastern city of Benghazi. Libyan armed forces chief Yousef al-Mangoush this week said there were concerns for potential sabotage of the anniversary by Gaddafi loyalists.

"A large number of February 17th members do regret this and we are now in full cooperation with the February 17th and our supporters to change this deteriorating situation," Saadi said. "As for my return, yes I must return to Libya and this will happen at any minute. If I do return I will prevent any revenge."

Saadi said he was also in contact with his family members. Gaddafi's wife Safiya, his daughter Aisha and his sons Mohammed and Hannibal fled to Algeria in August. Saadi's brother Saif al-Islam was captured in the Sahara desert in November and is now being held in the town of Zintan.

"I am in contact with my family inside and outside Libya and in the neighboring countries and in Europe," Saadi said.

"I call on all the elders, the youth, the militias and the tribes to come and to sit with each other and to negotiate with each other and to come up with a true reconciliation."

Mexican authorities said in December they had uncovered and stopped an international plot to smuggle Saadi into the country using fake names and false papers.