Japan says any bitcoin regulation should be international

“Any regulation of the bitcoin crypto-currency should involve international cooperation to avoid loopholes, Japanese vice finance minister Jiro Aichi said on Thursday.  Commenting on the closure this week of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once the world’s biggest exchange for the bitcoin virtual currency, Aichi said the ministry would respond to the problems ‘if necessary’, after finding out exactly what happened.  ‘It’s not just the Ministry of Finance; many other agencies are related,’ Aichi told a news conference. ‘As for its legal position, a currency (under Japan’s jurisdiction) would be coins or notes issued by the Bank of Japan. At the very least, we can say bitcoin is not a currency.'”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/us-bitcoin-mtgox-japan-idUSBREA1Q0I520140227

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

Ukraine PM says $37 billion went missing under Yanukovich

“Ukraine’s new prime minister said on Thursday loans worth $37 billion had gone missing from state coffers during ousted President Viktor Yanukovich’s rule, and warned that unpopular measures were needed to salvage the economy.  In addition to the missing $37 billion, Yatseniuk said as much as $70 billion had been sent out of the country during Yanukovich’s three-year rule, although he did not make clear how much of this capital flight was illegal.  ‘I want to report to you – the state treasury has been robbed and is empty,’ he said before the national assembly voted him in as head of a national unity government.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/ukraine-crisis-economy-idUSL6N0LW44M20140227

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

Obama ‘deeply concerned,’ warns Russia against Ukraine intervention

“‘We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine,’ he told reporters.  ‘Any violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing,’ he said in a brief appearance. ‘The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.’  The U.N. Security Council called an emergency session for later on Friday at the request of Ukraine’s new leaders, who warned the country’s territorial intergrity was threatened.  Any armed confrontation in Crimea would have major global repercussions.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ukraine-russia-20140227,0,2508829,full.story

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

Ukraine Pledges to Protect Bank Deposits as Kiev Rally Called

“Ukraine is weighing measures to stem cash withdrawals after as much as 7 percent of deposits were taken from banks during last week’s bloody uprising, underscoring the need for action to fend off a default.  Withdrawals peaked with as much as 30 billion hryvnias ($3.1 billion) Feb. 18-20 as police and anti-government demonstrators fought in the center of Kiev, Natsionalnyi Bank Ukrainy Governor Stepan Kubiv, 51, said in his first interview since being appointed Feb. 24.  The interim administration is trying to secure as much as $35 billion in financial aid.  The IMF will probably send a team to Ukraine as soon as the country seeks financial aid, Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.”

http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/686437?type=bloomberg

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

US prepares for tank battles in Europe

“The newest American tanks arrived at the American military base in Bavaria on January 31. So what? According to the statements made by American military officials, 29 heavy new generation Abrams tanks would be a part of the European Activity Set (EAS). The issue of a military equipment deficit in Europe is naturally an internal issue of the US and Europe’s NATO institutions. But the US has demonstrated a special interest towards a specific part of that ‘spectrum’ – to the NATO Response Force. According to the American military, the ‘European set’ created by them is to ‘give a new life to the US involvement in the NATO Response Force’.”

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_02_04/US-prepares-for-tank-battles-in-Europe-5650/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

Canada Signs U.S. FATCA Deal, IRS To Get Data

“Canadians often feel slighted by their own government when it comes to the big Washington machine down south. It’s about to get worse, now that the two nations inked a tax-information sharing agreement. The broad deal is one of 22 intergovernmental agreements (so-called IGAs) the U.S. has signed to crack down on tax evasion.  FATCA is the U.S. law that requires banks everywhere to pony up information on Americans or face serious sanctions. The sanctions are so bad that virtually every institution or every nation seems to be striking a deal. Indeed, it is not exaggeration to say that banks and countries everywhere are scrambling, trying to appease the U.S. taxing authorities.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/02/07/canada-hungary-sign-u-s-fatca-deals-irs-to-get-data/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

Civilian drone deaths triple in Afghanistan, UN agency finds

“The report, by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), found that drone strikes accounted for at least a third of all civilian deaths in air strikes last year. Unama notes that it is sometimes difficult to establish which type of aircraft carried out a strike, so the true total could be higher.  The UK and US are the only countries to operate armed drones in the conflict. A December 2012 report by the Bureau found that the two forces had carried out over 1,000 drone strikes in the country in the previous five years. British drones have carried out over a fifth of all these strikes, despite having a much smaller fleet.”

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2014/02/08/civilian-drone-deaths-triple-in-afghanistan-un-agency-finds/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

EU neighbours regret Swiss vote for immigration quotas

“The vote invalidates the Swiss-EU agreement on freedom of movement.  German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the vote would cause ‘a host of difficulties for Switzerland’.  France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said ‘it will hurt Switzerland to be inward-looking’.  In a statement, the European Commission said the Swiss vote ‘goes against the principle of free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland.  The EU will examine the implications of this initiative on EU-Swiss relations as a whole.’  Mr Fabius told French radio it was bad news ‘both for Europe and the Swiss’. Europe ‘was going to review its relations’ with Switzerland, he added.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26116648

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

Davos global survey finds growing distrust in government

“Ahead of the gathering of political and business leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos, the public relations firm Edelman found that only 44 percent of university-educated people participating in the survey trusted government, down 4 percentage points from the previous year. As recently as 2011, trust in politicians stood at 52 percent.  The 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer found the largest-ever gap in its 14-year history — 14 points — between trust in government and trust in business.  Agency CEO Richard Edelman  warned that sinking trust in government could stoke a rise in support for more extreme political parties, particularly in May’s election for the European Parliament.”

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/20/davos-global-survey-finds-growing-distrust-in-government/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin

EU has secret plan for police to ‘remote stop’ cars

“The European Union is secretly developing a ‘remote stopping’ device to be fitted to all cars that would allow the police to disable vehicles at the flick of a switch from a control room. Confidential documents from a committee of senior EU police officers, who hold their meetings in secret, have set out a plan entitled ‘remote stopping vehicles’ as part of wider law enforcement surveillance and tracking measures. The devices, which could be in all new cars by the end of the decade, would be activated by a police officer working from a computer screen in a central headquarters.  The engine of a car used by a fugitive or other suspect would stop, the supply of fuel would be cut and the ignition switched off.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10605328/EU-has-secret-plan-for-police-to-remote-stop-cars.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin