April 9 - Now Your iPhone Can Read Fingerprints, Scan Irises and ID Your Face
 Article: Miscellaneous

Cops and soldiers may soon be able to pull out their iPhones to track the eyes, facial features, voice and fingerprints of suspected criminals and combatants.

The California-based company AOptix rolled out a new hardware and app package that transforms an iPhone into a mobile biometric reader. As first reported by Danger Room in February, AOptix is the recipient of a $3 million research contract from the Pentagon for its on-the-go biometrics technology

Read Full Article.... 

 April 12 - North Korea states 'nuclear war is unavoidable' as it declares first target will be Japan
 Article: Wars And Runors Of Wars

In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist country lashed out at Tokyo's standing orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, threatening such actions will result in a nuclear attack against the island nation.

If Japan executes its threat to shoot down any North Korean missile, such a "provocative" intervention would see Tokyo - an enormous conurbation of 30 million people - "consumed in nuclear flames", KCNA warned.
"Japan is always in the cross-hairs of our revolutionary army and if Japan makes a slightest move, the spark of war will touch Japan first," the report added.

An official at Japan's defence ministry said that the country "will take every possible measure to respond to any scenario", while the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that a North Korean missile launch would be a "huge mistake". The United States, South Korea and the entire international community    are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power," Kerry added.

Read Full Article.... 

 April 17 - Global economy faces 'chronic' crisis if reforms are not completed, warns IMF
 Article: One World Government

The IMF said that while near-term risks had abated in response to loose central bank policies, reforms to repair ailing banks were not yet complete and could pose a threat to future stability, particularly in Europe.

"While major UK and core euro area banks have been actively de-risking and deleveraging . . . more needs to be done to complete the repair of their balance sheets," the IMF said in its half-yearly Global Financial Stability Report.

It came as Jens Weidmann, Germany's central bank chief, warned that Europe could take ten years to recover from the crippling debt crisis. "Overcoming the crisis and the crisis effects will remain a challenge over the next decade," Mr. Weidmann told the Wall Street Journal. "The calm that we are currently seeing might be treacherous [if countries delay reforms]."

The IMF said that recent events in Cyprus were an "important reminder of the fragility of market confidence". It urged governments to make "sustained progress" with implementing a banking union.

The IMF called for greater co-ordination to address bank weaknesses, and said that progress so far had been "uneven". "Without greater urgency towards international co-operation and comprehensive bank restructuring, weak bank balance sheets will continue to weigh on the recovery and pose ongoing risks to global stability," the IMF said.

Read Full Article....