The Department of Veterans Affairs’ new research findings indicate that half of women sent to Iraq and Afghanistan report that they were sexually harassed by male officers and the ratio of one to four were sexually assaulted. The new study that is based on anonymous surveys of female servicemen deployed to war indicate the unceasing number of female sexual assaults against women in war zones.

In February this year, around 20,000 women serving in Afghanistan reported sexual harassment. VA’s PTSD Center deputy director Amy Street stated that the findings show the traumatic strains beyond combat of troops both male and female.

Representative Jackie Speier, who pushed to investigate the cases more promptly, says that women have no safe spots during wartime because the military culture of male dominance has not changed even with the new rules and regulations by secretaries and generals. The sexism has not been scrubbed out of the military. Even with new reforms, the military cannot completely erase this particular culture.

Military academy reports show that from 65 in 2011, numbers of sexual misconduct by instructors have increased by 80 in 2012. Cases of sexual assault by instructors in Lackland Air Force Base in Texas and a brigadier General’s trial for sexual misconduct with lower ranking servicewomen have also received the Pentagon’s attention.

Source: USA Today

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano’s dissolving of the Italian legislature after the austerity budget for Italy has been passed pushes the election date likely on February 17, 2013. However, ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi and the conservatist Freedom Party insists on pushing the date to February 24, arguing that candidates have not drawn up their proper lists for Parliamentary candidates and the party needs time to study the legislation.

Italian Premier Mario Monti will also be resigning after the Italian austerity measures are put in place. He replaced Berlusconi, who left his Premier position after the widespread financial troubles in Italy and his case regarding paying an underage girl for sex. Berlusconi announced that he will not run for premier if Monti would also be running for the position.

Berlusconi stresses that “unnecessary stress due to an inconsiderate deadline” will take its toll on the candidate’s choices for Parliament and may affect many decisions of candidates once election day comes.

In the latest polls of local Italian media, Berlusconi’s popularity is greatly falling. Italians have stated that Berlusconi’s time had already come and gone. However, the Italian media-empire “king” is quite confident that he has gained popularity while watching in the political sidelines and that he could head as much as 40% in the elections.

Aside from his underage legal rap, Berlusconi is also appealing for his sentence from his case in 2009 regarding tax fraud.

Source: USA Today

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North Korea’s rally in celebration of its successful rocket launch last Wednesday indicated the nation’s “saving face” in the midst of a similar attempt to put a weather satellite on orbit in April, which failed due to technical failure. The United States, Japan and South Korea condemned the launch, claiming it to be a demonstration of military strength and the capability of North Korea to launch a rocket at its will.

Governments worldwide are growing worried over the technological developments in North Korea, where nuclear technology is clearly developed. The launch clearly defies the 2009 U.N. restriction of missile testing against North Korea in 2006 and 2009, years in which the country launched its prototype nuclear missiles.

The Japanese government states that it shows North Korea’s ability to attack even the most distant Japanese Islands with their new rocket. Anti-North Korean protests in South Korea wer held in city squares, all in defiance of the nuclear research and technological development that North Korea had developed for state superiority.

The rocket’s parts scattered as it went through its stages to bring the satellite to orbit. Parts landed in the Yellow Sea west of the Korean Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean. Japan also said that it flew over Japanese islands during its launch. The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed the satellites placement into orbit.

The launch also coincides with the events that marked the death of Kim Jong Il on Dec 17 and is clearly the most prominent success of of his governing son Kim Jong Un.

Source: Time

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Financial Ombudsman Chief Natalie Ceeney says that why claims management companies receive at least 50% of the PPI claims compensation package is because banks were not doing their job properly. The Financial Services Authority early this year had tasked banks to call on customers who are potentially mis sold PPI. These includes employees who are protected by employers with sickness repayment funds, not just those ineligible for the insurance policy. However, banks did not perform their job well, having them play into the hands of claims management companies like PPICo.co.uk.

Even if CMCs are subject to public scrutiny, many consumers who were contacted by the companies evaluate if they do have mis sold PPI. About 7 out of 10 cases of mis sold PPI submitted by CMCs to the FOS are claims where the bank’s decision was not satisfactory for the customer. Most people working with CMCs are those who are working or have no time to make a claim, or supposedly those with multiple PPIs sold on loans and mortgages.  The FOS boss sees that CMCs actually help by “alerting all customers” while she discourages “cold” calls and text messages.

Natalie Ceeney states that banks are still “dragging their feet” to address the situation, which prompted the customer-bank relations organization to boost their manpower to 3,000 and expanding their work spaces at Canary Wharf. The FOS has also proposed a no-claim payout to allow customers to receive compensation automatically without having to make a claim.

Confederation of British Industry director general John Cridland called for a deadline for making PPI claims, believing that the scandal can get more expensive and time consuming. However, the proposal is still in debate given that banks have not written to customers who they believe have been mis sold PPI and that the volume of PPI mis sold is estimated by experts to be around 34 million for the entire United Kingdom.