Irrespective of what Mr Holder may or may not respond to these two Senators, and irrespective of the growing concern amongst lucid people inside and outside of the US, the facts are that, as we learn from an article in USA Today published on 5th March – “Holder: Constitution doesn’t cover terrorists” – the Obama Administration is ready to use lethal force against anybody, anywhere and at any time, including US citizens whom they consider might be linked to “terrorism”.

At least, that’s what the Attorney General Holder explained in a speech delivered on 5th March at the Northwestern University Law School in Chicago, when he said that the Government has the right to kill citizens who they believe are “senior leaders in al-Qaeda or affiliate groups” or who may pose an "imminent threat" of attack against the United States and its interests, and whose capture may not be immediately "feasible."

Holder went on to say that, "given the nature of how terrorists act and where they tend to hide, it may not always be feasible to capture a US citizen terrorist who presents an imminent threat of violent attack… In that case, our government has the clear authority to defend the United State using lethal force."

The Attorney General's remarks come as civil rights advocates have condemned such killings, including the fatal military drone strike in September against Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born leader of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen.

Now, this is official US policy regarding its own citizens, so we can all imagine what official US policy regarding non-US citizens is like!

Yet it was also a relief, she says, finally to know what had been making her ill for so long. But when Watterson's infection refused to yield to the three-pronged antibiotic attack doctors prescribed to fight it, her relief turned to dread. After six weeks of taking pills that had no effect, Watterson was told she had multi-drug resistant TB, or MDR-TB, and faced months in an isolation ward on a regimen of injected drugs that left her nauseous, bruised and unable to go out in the sun. "My friends were really shocked," Watterson said. "Most of them had only heard of TB from reading Victorian novels."

Tuberculosis is often seen in the wealthy West as a disease of bygone eras - evoking impoverished 18th or 19th century women and children dying slowly of a disease then commonly known as "consumption" or the "white plague". But rapidly rising rates of drug-resistant TB in some of the wealthiest cities in the world, as well as across Africa and Asia, are again making history. London has been dubbed the "tuberculosis capital of Europe", and a startling recent study documenting new cases of so-called "totally drug resistant" TB in India suggests the modern-day tale of this disease could get a lot worse.

"We can't afford this genie to get out of the bag. Because once it has, I don't know how we'll control TB," said Ruth McNerney, an expert on tuberculosis at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. TB is a bacterial infection that destroys patients' lung tissue, making them cough and sneeze, and spread germs through the air. Anyone with active TB can easily infect another 10 to 15 people a year. The worldwide TB death rate currently runs at between two and three people a minute.

Birthed out of an apparent curiosity as to whether or not heart medications that target areas of the brain responsible for dealing with emotions and fear could also address racism, Dr Sylvia Terbeck and her colleagues decided to conduct a study. Using 36 "white" people as test subjects, Dr Terbeck and her team administered propranolol, a blood pressure and heart medication, to half the group, and a placebo to the other half. From there, the team asked the two groups to fill out a questionnaire about which racial groups they liked and disliked, and also had both groups take an "Implicit Association Test."

This particular test involved evaluating the participants' thought processes, both conscious and subconscious, as they concerned various images, words, and concepts related to racial groups. The results, which were published in the journal Psychopharmacology, revealed that participants' answers to the written test questions were virtually the same in both the propranolol and placebo groups. But for IAT, the propranolol group exhibited far less or even no "fear" compared to the placebo group, which Dr Terbeck believes could imply anti-racist benefits from taking the drug.

While to some it may sound like a good idea in theory, the notion of altering individuals' internal emotional states through chemical inputs is nothing short of mind control, particularly in the way Dr Terbeck and her colleagues suggest it. If such a notion is eventually determined to be in the interests of public health, for instance, it is not far-fetched to assume that "anti-racism" drugs could one day be added to public water supplies in the same way that fluoride is.

In addition to anti-racism drugs, some scientists are actually now envisioning the development of drugs that induce vegetarianism in humans, as well as drugs that create artificial "warm" feelings in response to government tyranny. Once you start toying around with the idea of chemically-altering human minds and emotions for the "public good," after all, there really is no telling where the horrors of such a dehumanizing fantasy will eventually lead.

Senior Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops have already warned that the move will undermine social structures dating back thousands of years. Mr Cameron is facing a backlash from his own supporters, with senior Tory MPs, including several ministers, expected to vote against the reforms. However, he argues that the Conservatives should support gay marriage on the grounds that stability and commitment in relationships of any kind should be encouraged.

Last week, ministers published a consultation on how the changes to civil marriage laws will be introduced. The plans explicitly rule out alterations to religious marriage. However, the Muslim Council of Britain said the case for the government’s proposals was “strikingly weak”. Farooq Murad, Secretary General of the MCB, said: “Whilst we remain opposed to all forms of discrimination, including homophobia, redefining the meaning of marriage is in our opinion unnecessary and unhelpful.

“With the advent of civil partnerships, both homosexual and heterosexual couples now have equal rights in the eyes of the law. Therefore, in our view the case to change the definition of marriage, as accepted throughout time and across cultures, is strikingly weak. In common with other Abrahamic faiths, marriage in Islam is defined as ‘a union between a man and a woman’,” he said. “So while the state has accommodated for gay couples, such unions will not be blessed as marriage by the Islamic institutions.”

The contours of such a society are starting to take shape in this high-tech nation, frustrating those who prefer coins and bills over digital money. In most Swedish cities, public buses don't accept cash; tickets are prepaid or purchased with a cell phone text message. A small but growing number of businesses only take cards, and some bank offices — which make money on electronic transactions — have stopped handling cash altogether.

"There are towns where it isn't at all possible anymore to enter a bank and use cash," complains Curt Persson, chairman of Sweden's National Pensioners' Organization. He says that's a problem for elderly people in rural areas who don't have credit cards or don't know how to use them to withdraw cash. The decline of cash is noticeable even in houses of worship, like the Carl Gustaf Church in Karlshamn, southern Sweden, where Vicar Johan Tyrberg recently installed a card reader to make it easier for worshippers to make offerings. "People came up to me several times and said they didn't have cash but would still like to donate money," Tyrberg says.

The prevalence of electronic transactions — and the digital trail they generate — also helps explain why Sweden has less of a problem with graft than countries with a stronger cash culture, such as Italy or Greece, says economics professor Friedrich Schneider of the Johannes Kepler University in Austria. "If people use more cards, they are less involved in shadow economy activities," says Schneider, an expert on underground economies. In Italy — where cash has been a common means of avoiding value-added tax and hiding profits from the taxman — Prime Minister Mario Monti in December put forward measures to limit cash transactions to payments under 1,000 euros ($1,300), down from 2,500 euros before.

Russia, one of President Bashar al-Assad's strongest allies despite international condemnation of the government's violent crackdown on the country's uprising, has repeatedly blocked the United Nations Security Council's attempts to halt the violence, accusing the US and its allies of trying to start another war.

Now the Russian Black Sea fleet's Iman tanker has arrived in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea with an anti-terror squad from the Russian Marines aboard according to the Interfax news agency. The Assad government has insisted it is fighting a terrorist insurgency. The Russian news reports did not elaborate on the Russian troops' mission in Syria or if they are expected to leave the port. The presence of Russian troops in Syria could be a "pretty obvious" show of support to the regime, according to Russian security expert Mark Galeotti.

"No one thinks of the Russians as anything but Assad's last friends," said Galeotti, professor of global affairs at New York University. Moscow has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Assad regime, to which it sells billions of dollars of weapons. In return Russia has maintained a Navy base at Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean. Last week Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had no plans to send troops to Syria.

Reverting to Hebrew, he said, “It’s not too late to change the corrupt regime and return to your glorious Persian heritage of culture and values, rather than bombs and rockets.”

“Sometimes I wonder,” the president continued, “how such a civilized people could allow such an extreme, blind, and hateful group [of leaders] to shame its historical heritage. I wonder how the nation allows the regime to sow fear, to deny its people freedom, to rock the young generation…” Peres said that Tehran was investing all its money in its nuclear program at the price of letting children starve, adding, “Enriched uranium can’t feed hungry Iranians.”

Iran is controlled by a small group of extremists, he said, and it was time for the people to regain control over their lives. Now was the time for freedom, he said. Just like young Arabs were ousting the old regimes, it was time for Iranians to get rid of theirs. “Have a good holiday,” he ended. “Look back proudly, look ahead wisely.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, by contrast, expressing shock over the attack, said Israel was confident the French authorities would do “everything possible” to bring the perpetrator to justice. Opposition head Tzipi Livni posted on her Facebook page, calling it a sad day. “The state of Israel and the Jewish people are partners in battling anti-semitism and hate crimes,” she said. Livni said France must protect its citizens from events like this one, adding that she trusts the French authorities will find the person responsible.

The UK board of Jewish Deputies issued a press statement, saying the attack is “a terrible reminder of the threat” minorities in Europe face. A rabbi, two of his children and a young girl were killed when a man on a motorbike shot them in front of a Jewish school in Toulouse. The man fled, and French police were searching for him.

In the wake of the deadly attack, MK Danny Danon (Likud), called for an urgent session Tuesday of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, which he chairs, to discuss the attack. “We will not allow the pogroms of the beginning of the 20th century to return to Europe,” Danon said.

In a culinary crisis that has been dubbed "Marmageddon", the country's only Marmite factory in Christchurch closed in November due to earthquake damage and will not resume production of the thick, black savoury concoction until July. Mr Key said the shortage was already impacting on the prime ministerial breakfast. "I'm going to have to go thin I'm afraid. I have a very small amount in my office and once that runs out I'm obviously aware that supplies are very short," he told TV3 on Tuesday.

JUST 10 OF WESTERWELLE'S EUROPEAN COLLEAGUES have apparently been invited to the informal gathering at the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. A diplomatic source in Sweden, which was not among the countries invited, told Spiegel that Westerwelle was not contributing to EU cooperation by leaving some countries out. While the Danish foreign minister did make the cut, Copenhagen reportedly sees Westerwelle's diplomatic initiative as a slight to its position at the helm of the EU's rotating presidency, which Denmark holds for the first half of 2012.

Westerwelle also faces criticism in Ireland, where the recently negotiated fiscal pact still needs to be approved by referendum. From Dublin's perspective, Westerwelle's debate on the future of Europe is seen as unhelpful at the present moment, in light of the currency union's current challenges.

Last week, German news reports quoted sources within the Foreign Ministry saying that they aimed to spearhead a foward-looking strategy "at a time of diminishing enthusiasm" for the European project. They reportedly want the bloc to look beyond Europe's current crisis, and have suggested that the meeting on Tuesday could pave the way for future discussion.

And private companies will be told to overhaul paperwork and computer databases containing the words. Marriage certificates could even be affected by the Coalition proposals, with rules possibly axing terms such as bride and bridegroom.

The reforms – promised by Prime Minister David Cameron last autumn and set out in a consultation paper launched yesterday – intend to open civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples for the first time.

A different category – religious marriage – will be reserved for male and female couples. The proposals have triggered a furious row, with the Church of England accusing the Coalition of misunderstanding the law of marriage. But Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone warned religious leaders not to ‘fan the flames of homophobia’ with ‘inflammatory’ language.

New versions of documents will ‘replace references to husband and wife with the more neutral terms spouses and partners’. The cost of the red tape revolution demanded by the ‘Equal Civil Marriage’ plans will run into millions, according to an official analysis published alongside the consultation paper. Businesses will be given ‘lead-in time’ – a period of grace to change their websites and databases before their failure to recognise same-sex marriage runs foul of the law.

A senior MP who defended the institution of marriage has received death threats and hate mail, it emerged last night. Tory David Burrowes, a ministerial aide to Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, said he has been sent scores of intimidating emails and messages on social networking sites over his opposition to gay marriage. Mr Burrowes, a Christian father of six, was forced to pass on the messages to police. He said he was more worried about the intolerance displayed in the threats than the actual risk to his life.

The proposal, made in a speech that also called for tighter borders to keep illegal immigrants out of Europe, was part of a flurry of promises designed to help Sarkozy catch up with Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande before a presidential vote in late April and May. Sarkozy said European companies should have priority when European states award contracts, but economists warned that the measures, while perhaps smart politics, would face stiff legal and political challenges.

If Europe embraces protectionism "it will be difficult to sustain it against countries like China whose borders we want opened," said Christophe Destais, deputy director of the Paris-based CEPII economic think tank. Measures boosting investment should be "non-protectionist", the EU Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said, while adding that the European Union was working on achieving better reciprocity on investment from trading partners.

Thibault Lanxade from France's MEDEF business lobby supported the idea of an Act but warned that France and other nations had made a commitment to the World Trade Organization in 1994 to compete fairly on public contracts. And preferring Europeans could dash existing efforts towards getting China to join WTO agreements on attributing public contracts, warned Patrick Messerlin, professor of economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.

But WTO or not, Europe would certainly face problems if European companies were officially preferred. And economist Destais wondered whether it was even possible in the 21st century to distinguish local companies from foreign ones. "How can you measure benefits to Europe ... when the manufacturers involved are globalised and use suppliers from all over the world?" Destais asked.

Bailouts for debt-laden countries and a Europe-wide squeeze on public spending are casting doubt over the cost of the whole EU integration project. Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: “The high-handed actions of the European elite are succeeding in turning the entire Continent against them.

“No longer are the British people alone in condemning the project. While taxpayers across the Continent have a greater belief in the dream, even they are beginning to have qualms about the practical costs of that dream in these times of austerity.” The poll, the most in-depth survey of its kind in recent years, was carried out by new think tank YouGov-Cambridge, which questioned more than 11,000 voters across the EU. It reveals that Britain and the eurozone countries are heading in “two starkly different directions”.

While the majority of voters in France, Germany and Italy favour more integration, support for the project in the UK drains away. Six out of 10 Britons want a renegotiation of our relationship with Brussels or complete withdrawal. Six out of 10 also back a national referendum.

In contrast 62 per cent of Germans, 61 per cent of Italians and almost half of French voters want greater integration. There is even a majority in Italy in favour of a United States of Europe, an idea also given the backing of four out of 10 French voters. The vast majority of British voters want to reclaim national control in almost all policy areas.

Members of Unasur, the South American equivalent of the EU, called on the UK to negotiate over the islands. The organisation – whose 12 members include Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay – urged Britain “to restart negotiations as soon as possible with a view to ending the dispute”. Referring to the islands by their Spanish name, it added: “The British military presence in the Malvinas is contrary to regional policy which supports the search for a peaceful solution in the dispute over sovereignty.”

“We reject the development of unilateral activities by Great Britain in the disputed area, which include exploration and exploitation of natural resources as well as military exercises.” Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Maduro said: “What Britain has done in the last few weeks is rude.”

“David Cameron and William Hague’s attitudes are ones of arrogance, high-handedness and scorn towards Argentina. And if it’s towards Argentina, it’s towards all of us.”

The situation will worsen this week as governors in two Argentine provinces discuss banning planes from the islands landing except for humanitarian reasons and stop shops displaying clothes with a Union Flag on them. The UK has accused Argentina of a campaign of intimidation towards the Falkland Islands.

The ministry is considering whether to deploy ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors and Aegis-equipped destroyers carrying Standard Missile-3 ballistic missile interceptors, Tanaka told reporters at the Air Self-Defense Force's Hyakuri air base in Omitama, Ibaraki Prefecture.

"We are currently doing a mental exercise to prepare (for the planned rocket launch), using the previous incident as our guide," Tanaka said, referring to the government's decision at the time of the launch of long-range ballistic missile by Pyongyang in April 2009.

In March 2009, Yasukazu Hamada, defense minister at the time, issued an order for the Self-Defense Forces to destroy a North Korean rocket or its debris in the event that it fell onto Japanese territory.

With the issuance of the order, the ASDF dispatched units capable of launching PAC-3 missiles to Iwate and Akita prefectures in northeastern Japan as well as the Tokyo metropolitan area, while the Maritime Self-Defense Force deployed three Aegis guided-missile destroyers in the Sea of Japan and the Pacific.