Editor’s Note: John Xenakis will be writing a regular column titled “Word View” to keep you up to date on the news headlines around the world. You can visit his website here.

Gaddafi using cluster bombs on residential areas in Misrata, Libya

Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya have been using cluster bombs on residential areas of the rebel-held city of Misrata, according to accusations by human rights groups. Cluster bombs are banned by more than 100 countries. BBC

Israel Air Force strikes Hamas military bases in Gaza City

The Israeli air force (IAF) attached two Hamas military bases on Friday overnight, with no reported casualties. The strikes were in response to Grad rockets fired from Gaza into southern Israel earlier on Friday. Jerusalem Post

Saudis sign nuclear cooperation pact with China

Saudi Arabia announced plans to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with China. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have had a very public cooling in relations, and this new agreement puts the Saudis closer to China’s camp, along with Pakistan. This development is consistent with the expectation that China, Pakistan and the Sunni Muslim countries will be opposed to America, India and Russia in the coming Clash of Civilizations world war. Arab News

Putin-Medvedev tandem ruling relationship disintegrates

Russia’s tandem rulers — President Dmitry Medvedev and former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — are increasingly at odds as the 2012 election approaches. Jamestown

Survey: Financial newsletter writers rush to become bullish

The number of financial newsletter writers who were bearish plunged dramatically within one week, according to a survey released on April 5. This flood in the bullish direction is the biggest since the survey began in 2003. Bears are now just 15.7% of those surveyed, down from 23.1% a week earlier. This happened despite a deluge of recent bad news — Mideast turmoil, Irish bailout, and fears of a municipal bond crisis. If you want to understand why analysts in the 1930s kept saying that prosperity was just around the corner, even though stock prices kept falling, then just look at this survey. CNBC.

Cyber crime ‘botnet’ of 2 million PCs shut down

U.S. authorities scored a major victory against a major cyber crime ring. A computer virus, known as Coreflood, has infected more than 2 million PCS, enslaving them as “zombies” into a “botnet” that allowed foreign criminals to take control of the infected computers and steal funds via fraudulent banking and wire transactions. Once US officials took control of the botnet, they were able to command the zombies to stop sending stolen passwords and financial data. However, the foreign criminals are probably a Russian crime ring, and they have not been caught. Reuters.

You may be chatting with a ‘social bot’

If you’ve never had a chat with Eliza, you should go here and try her out. Eliza was a computer program written in 1967, and although it was extremely primitive, it still fooled some people into thinking that they were communicating with a real person. Today’s “chatbots” are far more sophisticated, and they’re being used as “social bots.” A computerized social bot can take on multiple personalities and post messages on many Facebook accounts, for commercial or political purposes. The Atlantic.