News Headlines - 17 February 2015

▽UK January inflation falls to lowest since records began | Reuters

British consumer price inflation fell last month to its lowest level since records began in 1989, and it looks set to fall further still, easing a squeeze on consumers just as national elections approach.

▽The only way for Greece is out of the eurozone | Simon Jenkins | The Guardian

Pray for plan B. However many times Greece’s new leaders swear there is none – pacifying their terrified bankers – they must know what to do if last night’s debt renewal disarray continues. They must take the plunge, bite the bullet, face the music, lance the boil. Only by ending the terrible mistake that was Greece’s eurozone membership can its economy hope to recover.

▽Sony to release developer edition smart glasses for $840 | PCWorld

The struggling Japanese manufacturer said Tuesday it will release its Android-compatible smart glasses for US$840 in early March, targeting developers and industrial applications ahead of a commercial release in 2016.
That’s just over half of the $1,500 that Google was asking from early adopters of Glass before it shut down commercial sales of the wearable display last month.

▽Both sides refuse to withdraw heavy weapons as Ukraine cease-fire fails

Ukraine’s military spokesperson shattered remaining hopes for peace in the country’s embattled Donbas region this morning when he announced that Ukrainian forces would not be withdrawing its heavy weapons today in line with the Feb. 12 Minsk agreement. The separatist leadership also said it planned to keep its big guns in place for now.

▽The massive plume on the surface of Mars no one can explain - The Washington Post

Three years ago on March 20, in southeastern Pennsylvania, an amateur astronomer named Wayne Jaeschke turned his telescope to the skies and captured something strange. There was some sort of blob or serpentine vapor-trail emanating off of the surface of Mars. Not knowing what else to call it, he named the phenomenon in a subsequent blog post: “a martian stumper.”