satellite proposals gain traction after north korea's launch from wsj: U.S. intelligence agencies are capitalizing on North Korea's weekend rocket launch to advance proposals to deploy two new spy satellite systems estimated to cost a total of about $10 billion, according to government and industry officials. Arguing that the U.S. faces a future gap in advanced, high-resolution imaging capabilities, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week asked the White House to approve plans to build a pair of large, cutting-edge spy satellites along with two smaller, less-expensive models commercially available today, these officials said. The aim is to get the simpler satellites into orbit first to maintain U.S. space surveillance efforts, and then develop and launch the more-capable follow-on constellation.
ahead of g20, council told to switch off illegal £15m cctv from guardian: The security operation at this week's G20 summit was thrown into chaos last night when it emerged that the entire network of central London's wireless CCTV cameras will have to be turned off because of a legal ruling. The Department for Transport (DfT) has ruled that Westminster council's mobile road cameras - a third of the authority's CCTV network - "do not fully meet the resolution standards required" and must be switched off by midnight tomorrow. The blackout begins on the eve of the summit, when world leaders arrive in the capital and protesters take to the streets.
'the beast': obamamobile guards against emp attacks from bbc: You can take the man out of the White House. But you can't take the White House away from the man. And US President Barack Obama has arrived in London for the G20 summit with a large contingent of the White House staff with him. Hundreds of security guards, doctors, chefs and others are accompanying President Obama on his visit, and the entourage includes a number of presidential vehicles - including his new armour-plated limousine, The Beast, and aeroplane, Air Force One. The 4,000 sq ft Boeing 747 is fully equipped for the president to work while he is in the air. The exercise-loving president will even be able to use the onboard gym to keep fit inflight. The plane is fitted with some robust security equipment including shields to protect its instruments from an electromagnetic pulse. The communications equipment is even capable of withstanding radiation from a nuclear attack.
brown invokes 'god' & the new world order in st paul sermon from daily mail: Gordon Brown has made an overtly religious call for a new world order based on the 'deep moral sense' shared by all faiths. Making the first speech by a serving Prime Minister at St Paul's Cathedral in London, he quoted scripture as he urged people to unite to forge a new 'global society'.
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emp dominoes: first throes of soft war* 
from presstv: Iran said Saturday it arrested seven people, including two Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives, who planned to stoke unrest and violence on a march scheduled for February 11. The rally on Thursday will commemorate the 31st victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Intelligence forces, according to Borna News Agency, arrested the men who had plans to leave the country for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and then head to the United States. According to the report, some of those arrested work for the US-backed Radio Farda, a Persian language station based in Prague and Washington.
from afp: The US military on Sunday disputed North Korea's claim that it had launched a satellite into space, saying "the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean... Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan," the North American Aerospace Defense Command and US Northern Command said in their brief account of the North Korean rocket launch. "The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean," the commands said. "No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan." South Korea also said the satellite which North Korea claimed to have launched Sunday did not enter orbit. "All three stages of the rocket fell into the sea. No object entered orbit," South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-Hee said. "It was a failed attempt to put a satellite into orbit."
from wsj: U.S. intelligence agencies are capitalizing on North Korea's weekend rocket launch to advance proposals to deploy two new spy satellite systems estimated to cost a total of about $10 billion, according to government and industry officials. Arguing that the U.S. faces a future gap in advanced, high-resolution imaging capabilities, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week asked the White House to approve plans to build a pair of large, cutting-edge spy satellites along with two smaller, less-expensive models commercially available today, these officials said. The aim is to get the simpler satellites into orbit first to maintain U.S. space surveillance efforts, and then develop and launch the more-capable follow-on constellation.
from guardian: The security operation at this week's G20 summit was thrown into chaos last night when it emerged that the entire network of central London's wireless CCTV cameras will have to be turned off because of a legal ruling. The Department for Transport (DfT) has ruled that Westminster council's mobile road cameras - a third of the authority's CCTV network - "do not fully meet the resolution standards required" and must be switched off by midnight tomorrow. The blackout begins on the eve of the summit, when world leaders arrive in the capital and protesters take to the streets.
from bbc: You can take the man out of the White House. But you can't take the White House away from the man. And US President Barack Obama has arrived in London for the G20 summit with a large contingent of the White House staff with him. Hundreds of security guards, doctors, chefs and others are accompanying President Obama on his visit, and the entourage includes a number of presidential vehicles - including his new armour-plated limousine, The Beast, and aeroplane, Air Force One. The 4,000 sq ft Boeing 747 is fully equipped for the president to work while he is in the air. The exercise-loving president will even be able to use the onboard gym to keep fit inflight. The plane is fitted with some robust security equipment including shields to protect its instruments from an electromagnetic pulse. The communications equipment is even capable of withstanding radiation from a nuclear attack.
from csmonitor: Well, it’s better than giving her a bunch of DVDs that don’t work. President Obama went to the Buckingham Palace today in London where he and first lady Michelle had a lovely tea with the Queen of England. The press corps from both sides of the Pond was paying close attention to this meeting. After all, it was another gift exchange. Something the president didn’t do too well the last time out. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave Obama an ornamental pen holder carved from the timbers of the HMS Gannet — an anti-slave ship from the 1800s. President Obama, on the other hand, treated the gift exchange like a Secret Santa party forking over a bunch of American movies on DVDs. If that wasn’t bad enough, it turns out they didn’t work. They weren’t compatible with British DVD players. Read all about this here.
from daily mail: Gordon Brown has made an overtly religious call for a new world order based on the 'deep moral sense' shared by all faiths. Making the first speech by a serving Prime Minister at St Paul's Cathedral in London, he quoted scripture as he urged people to unite to forge a new 'global society'.
the bear roars, US collapse continues, terror watch +