RBS Chairman Warns Of Euro Split In 2012

The head of Britain's biggest state-controlled bank has warned that a eurozone country could leave the single currency during 2012, sending shockwaves around Europe's banking system.

Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Philip Hampton made the prediction during Jeff Randall's Christmas Dinner, a seasonal discussion between business leaders on Sky News.

He said: "I think it's likely that one country, a small country will drop out.

"It could be any of them because I think that some of these things will be driven by political events, as much as by economic circumstances and social unrest, and all of those sorts of things. But I think there is a very good chance that one country will fall out."

Sir Philip said such an event would "produce massive strains" in Europe's banking system.
"At the more extreme levels of that you would get a wave of recapitalisations of banks by governments throughout Europe," he added.

The chairman of RBS, which came near to bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis and is now 83% owned by the taxpayer, also admitted things could still go horribly wrong in Britain's banking system.

He said: "I don't think the system has been fixed. I think it is very much on the mend."

He then joked: "There is a ghoulish expression used in the City that the British banks are the best looking horse in the glue factory or the best looking pig in the slaughterhouse."

Meanwhile, the boss of Sainsbury's told the group that charity shops can have a detrimental effect on the British high street.

The supermarket giant's chief executive Justin King said: "Ultimately lots of charity shops potentially undermine vibrant new small businesses starting up, so I don't think we should assume that they are necessarily a benign force."

Imperial Tobacco's boss Alison Cooper also attended the gathering for the Jeff Randall Live Christmas special.

She suggested that Chancellor George Osborne may need to be prepared to deviate from his rigid deficit reduction strategy, known as Plan A, during the coming year.

Ms Cooper said: "There will need to be some agility around it if necessary, on the basis of how the world evolves and to make sure that we're responsive to that but the core of it will remain."

Ahmadinejad: US plotting to stop Iran's progress

By JPOST.COM STAFF

"Enemy's moves focused on preventing Iran's development," leader says as pressure mounts over nuclear program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the US was plotting against Iran in order to keep the Islamic Republic from reaching its potential.

"All the enemy's moves are focused on preventing Iran's development and progress," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the FARS news agency. The Iranian president was giving an address to a large crowd assembled in the city of Varamin, according to the report.

They do not want to let Iran blossom and use all its possibilities," Ahmadinejad said of the US which, along with the European Union and other allies, agreed on Tuesday to step up pressure on Iran to force it to resume talks over its nuclear program.

The diplomats from the so-called "group of like-minded nations" met in Rome to discuss further sanctions against Iran, which could include a possible EU oil embargo.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey expressed concern that the US will get drawn into conflict with Iran, and said the United States is collaborating with Israel on the Iran issue during an interview with CNN.

"My biggest worry is they will miscalculate our resolve," Dempsey said, referring to Iran. "Any miscalculation could mean that we are drawn into conflict, and that would be a tragedy for the region and the world."

Dempsey's comments came after US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Monday that Iran would be able to assemble a nuclear bomb within a year, if not sooner.

Speaking during an interview with CBS News, Panetta stated that if intelligence was received that Iran was proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon then “we will take whatever steps necessary to stop it...There are no options off the table.”

Panetta said that while Iran needed a year or less to assemble a weapon, he had no indication the Iranians have made the decision to do so.

Why wait for Apple's voice-controlled iTV? LG brings out its own 'Magic' version

* Speaking works like a 'search' function for shows
* Also controls 'apps' - such as web-TV - built into the TV
* Other rivals will be 'scrambling' to beat Apple - analyst

By Rob Waugh

Apple is reportedly in talks with senior television figures about its Apple iTV product - an voice-controlled all-in-one flatscreen that was the brainchild of late CEO Steve Jobs.

But the release of iTV has prompted a lot of top TV makers to start looking into the idea of voice-control - with or without linguistic skills to match Apple's Siri voice assistant.

LG is leading the charge - with a new voice-enabled version of its 'Magic' gesture-controlled remote. The product should be on show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January - alongside a lot of other iTV wannabes, analysts predict.

'The new Magic Remote will make it easier for users to approach LG TVs - particularly our Smart TV function which now has over 1,000 apps,' said Havis Kwon, president of LG Electronics.

'Talking' to the remote works like an internet search term - so it's ideal for finding shows quickly rather than browsing through a whole TV channel.

Rumours flew that Apple itself would unveil iTV in January - either at CES or to coincide with it (which seems more likely given the electronics giant's usual reluctance to appear).

Analyst Peter Misek at Jefferies predicted that the imminent launch of iTV would have rivals 'scrambling' and reluctant to be caught 'flat-footed.'

So far, LG is the only manufacturer to have let details of its version slip - but many tech insiders suspect that voice control may be as ubiquitous at CES this year as 3D has been in previous years.

Old Testament prophecy fulfilled before our eyes?

Americans scrambling to Bible to see previously untold parallels with today

By Joe Kovacs

What do sycamore and cedar trees have to do with biblical prophecy, the tragic events of 9/11 and the imminent future of the United States?
Everything, according to a new book which says an obscure text from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah is an urgent wake-up call for all Americans in light of what happened on that fateful day in 2001.

"The Harbinger" by Jonathan Cahn, a messianic rabbi from the Jerusalem Center-Beth Israel Congregation in Wayne, N.J., deciphers stunning connections between what some may think is a cryptic biblical prophecy to the news events happening right now, in our current time.

Read "The Harbinger: The Ancient Mystery That Holds the Secret of America's Future" for yourself!
The key verse in question is Isaiah 9:10, which states: "The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars." (King James Version)

These words were first uttered by leaders in ancient Israel and in response to a limited strike by Assyria on the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali – an attack the prophet makes clear is actually part of a limited judgment by God against apostasy. It wasn't meant to destroy the nation, but to awaken it, according to most commentaries.

Historically speaking, the northern kingdom of Israel did not repent of its rebellion against God's commandments, and were eventually conquered and deported from their property by the ancient Assyrians. Eventually, the southern kingdom of Judah was also overcome by the Babylonians after the Jews refused to repent as well.

But in "The Harbinger," Cahn shows uncanny similarities between what's stated in Isaiah 9:10 to the 21st century events of 9/11 and the years afterward, suggesting America is currently under a time of focused judgment by Almighty God.

Cahn claims the part of the prophecy noting "The bricks are fallen down" refers directly to the crumbling of the World Trade Center in New York City, with the verse connoting on an attitude of defiance, a desire to rebuild with stronger materials instead of acknowledging the hand of God and moving toward national repentance.

The verse mentions sycamore and cedar trees, and it's here that things start to get eerie with the terrorist attack involving planes that smashed into the Twin Towers, leading to their eventual crumbling.

"After the cloud of dust began to clear, police officers, rescue workers and onlookers gazed at the little plot of land at the edge of Ground Zero," Cahn writes in "The Harbinger."

"There in the middle of the ash and debris that covered the ground was a fallen tree. It would soon become a symbol of 9/11 and of Ground Zero. And it was a symbol ... but one much more ancient than anyone there could have realized, and one carrying a message no one could have fathomed."
"The tree at Ground Zero that was struck down on September 11 was a sycamore tree."

Cahn notes that in Old Testament times, the Assyrians who attacked the ancient Israelites intended to cut down the sycamore trees belonging to God's people. But the intention was not present with the hijackers of 2001.

"The terrorists had no idea of Isaiah 9:10, no idea of the Harbingers, no idea of the sycamore tree growing at the corner of Ground Zero, and no idea that their attack would cause it to fall or that its fall was connected to an ancient prophecy. They had no idea ... but it still happened."
Not only was a sycamore tree struck on 9/11, but it was replaced in the exact same location by another tree of the type mentioned in the original Hebrew, an "erez" tree, which is the same genus as the cedar.

"The most natural thing to have done would have been to replace one sycamore with another," Cahn writes. "But the prophecy required that the fallen sycamore be replaced with a tree of an entirely different nature. So the tree that replaced the sycamore of Ground Zero was likewise not a sycamore. According to the prophecy, the sycamore must be replaced by the biblical erez. So it must be replaced by a conifer tree."

And that's what took place in 2003, as a conifer tree, the "Tree of Hope" as it was called, was planted in the spot where the sycamore was slammed on 9/11.

"Think about it," says Cahn. "Who could have put it all together? The tower fell because of the terrorists. It happened to fall exactly as it did in order to strike down that one particular tree. The tree just happened to be a sycamore, which just happened to be growing at the corner of Ground Zero.

"The tree that would replace it just happened to be given as a gift from outsiders who had nothing to do with anything else, but who just happened to feel led to give it. Their gift just happened to be the fulfillment of the biblical Erez Tree, which just happened to be the same tree spoken of in the ancient vow – the tree that must replace the Sycamore.

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‘Speed-up conclusion of Altantuya murder case’

by Athi Shankar

Under the law civil proceedings can commence only after the criminal proceedings have been completed in its entirety.

GEORGE TOWN: Senior lawyer Karpal Singh today called on the Attorney-General Chambers to hasten the conclusion of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.

He is frustrated over the prolonged delay of appeal process by the two former police personnel, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri 34, and Corporal Sirul Azhar, 39, who were convicted for Altantuya’s murder five years ago.

Their appeal is up for case management in Court of Appeal on Feb 10 next year and could even end up in the Federal Court.

Altantuya father Setev Shaariibuu has filed a suit on June 4, 2007 against the Malaysian government and those responsible for the gruesome murder of his daughter.

Karpal is representing Setev in the civil case on a pro-bono basis.

He had also held watching brief for the late Altantuya family and the Mongolian government during the murder trial.

Under the law, the Setev’s civil proceedings can commence only after the criminal proceedings have been completed in its entirety.

“I appeal to the AG to quicken the appeal process to enable the civil case to began soon,” Karpal, the DAP national chairman, told newsmen during his visit Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency here today.

After a long hiatus, early this year Setev has appealed to the Malaysian courts to hasten the hearing of the RM100 million civil suit he has filed against the government.

He said he has paid a substantial amount of money, RM60,000 as security bond to the Malaysian court last year.

Azilah and Sirul were sentenced to death by the Shah Alam High Court on April 9, 2009

after being found guilty for Altantuya murder at Mukim Bukit Raja between 9.45pm on Oct 18, 2006, and 9.45pm the next day.

Their trial which commenced on April 9, 2007 and lasted for 159 days.

The duo, commandos with the elite Special Action Squad, subsequently filed their appeals to the appellate court.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak close confidant Abdul Razak Baginda, 50, was also charged with abetting the duo in Altantuya’s murder.

He was freed by the High Court on Oct 31, 2008, without his defence being called.