Topic: POLITIK - on June 18, 2012 at 9:27:00 AM CEST
Sarkozy comes under the radar of French prosecutors
Nicolas Sarkozy loses his judicial immunity on Saturday. France's former president may soon face an embarrassing grilling by French prosecutors over a series of party funding allegations that had dogged his term in office.
France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy would be forgiven for having a sleepless night on Friday.
After losing out to François Hollande in May’s presidential run-off vote, Sarkozy has kept a low profile.
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Topic: POLITIK - on June 18, 2012 at 9:26:00 AM CEST
Niebel: Teppich war nicht zollpflichtig
Bundesentwicklungsminister macht auf Sonderregelung der Europäischen Union für Afghanistan aufmerksam
Die sogenannte Teppich-Affäre von Bundesentwicklungsminister Dirk Niebel (FDP) nimmt eine neue Wendung. Wie Niebel gegenüber Deutschlandradio Kultur sagte, war der Teppich, den er vor drei Monaten in Afghanistan gekauft hatte, "überhaupt nicht zollpflichtig".
Als eines der "am wenigsten entwickelten Länder" unterliege Afghanistan einer Sonderregelung der Europäischen Union, wonach auch Privatpersonen Gegenstände wie Teppiche zollfrei nach Deutschland einführen dürfen.
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Topic: POLICE REPORT - on June 18, 2012 at 9:25:00 AM CEST
Rodney King dead at 47
Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday, authorities and his fiancee said. He was 47.
Police in Rialto, California, received a 911 call from King's fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, about 5:25 a.m., said Capt. Randy De Anda. Responding officers found King at the bottom of the pool, removed him and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, police said.
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Topic: Bdays - on June 18, 2012 at 9:20:00 AM CEST
The highly productive habits of Alan Turing
On the week of his 100th birthday, we celebrate the mathematician's life
June 23 marks the 100th birthday of Alan Turing. If I had to name five people whose personal efforts led to the defeat of Nazi Germany, the English mathematician would surely be on my list. Turing's genius played a key role in helping the Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic—a naval blockade against the Third Reich that depended for success on the cracking and re-cracking of Germany's Enigma cipher. That single espionage victory gave the United States control of the Atlantic shipping lanes, eventually setting the stage for the 1944 invasion of Normandy.
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Topic: POLICE REPORT - on June 17, 2012 at 1:44:00 PM CEST
Spitzel außer Kontrolle
Bundesregierung mußte zu internationalen Polizeinetzwerken Stellung nehmen. Details bleiben geheim
Seit dem Mauerfall 1989 befassen sich das Bundes- und das Zollkriminalamt in einer internationalen Arbeitsgruppe mit dem Einsatz von Polizeispitzeln. Das erklärte die Bundesregierung jetzt in ihrer Antwort auf eine kleine Anfrage des Linkspartei-Abgeordneten Andrej Hunko. Neben Vertretern fast aller EU-Staaten arbeiten auch solche aus Südafrika, Kanada, Israel und der USA in der Gruppe mit. Details sollen aber unter Verschluß bleiben. Deshalb dürfen eine Reihe von Antworten auf die Anfrage Hunkos nur nach einer besonderen Geheimschutzüberprüfung eingesehen werden. »Selbst auf wessen Veranlassung das informelle Spitzelnetzwerk gegründet wurde«, soll nicht öffentlich werden, kritisiert der Parlamentarier.
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Topic: SECURITY - on June 17, 2012 at 1:40:00 PM CEST
South African intel officials faked threats to increase spy budget
SENIOR crime intelligence officials planted paid informers to make fake right-wing-related threats against the government.
This was allegedly part of a wider strategy to loot the unit’s Secret Service Account for personal benefit.
Law enforcement agency sources allege that spy bosses worked their way into the R600 million-a-year slush fund by fabricating information to create a false impression of imminent, unprecedented attacks on black people and ANC members.
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Topic: NASA - on June 17, 2012 at 11:22:00 AM CEST
Air Force's Secret X-37B Space Plane May Land This Weekend
A robotic Air Force space plane that has spent more than a year in orbit on a mystery mission is slated to come back down to Earth this weekend, perhaps by Saturday, Air Force officials say.
The Air Force is aiming to land its secret X-37B space plane, which has spent 15 months in space, on Saturday (June 16) at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. But that timeline is dependent on the weather and other considerations, officials said.
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Topic: AUSTRIA - on June 17, 2012 at 10:46:00 AM CEST
Wildlife camera catches Austrian politician having sex in forest
An Austrian politician is in line to get up to £16,000 in compensation after a hidden camera used for snapping wildlife photographed him having sexual intercourse in a forest.
The politician, who has not been named, will get the money if a court rules the photographs violated his privacy.
Carefully concealed, placed well away from areas frequented by people and packing motion sensors the camera was designed to record the wildlife of the forest in the Austrian region of Carinthia but instead caught the politician's physical liaison.
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Topic: COMPUTER - on June 15, 2012 at 10:48:00 AM CEST
Storyboard: 20 Years Later, a Look Back at Wired‘s Beginning
The first issue of Wired hit newsstands almost two decades ago. This inaugural edition is now available digitally on tablets, complete with behind-the-scenes notes and pop-up annotations—even for the ads. (Beware the crowded, multi-font design of the early ’90s.) Plus: An oral history that interviews people who played a key role in getting that first issue out the door.
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Topic: Drone - on June 15, 2012 at 10:46:00 AM CEST
Pentagon Lists 110 Potential Drone Bases in U.S.
The Department of Defense has identified 110 sites in the United States that could serve as bases for military unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones. A new report to Congress lists each of the 110 sites “and the UAS likely to fly at that location.” See “Report to Congress on Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability,” Department of Defense, April 2012 (pp. 9-12).
The newly disclosed DoD report was first reported by InsideDefense.com.
The actual or potential drone bases are located in 39 of the 50 states, from Fort McClellan in Alabama to Camp Guernsey in Wyoming, as well as Guam and Puerto Rico.
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Topic: POLICE REPORT - on June 15, 2012 at 10:44:00 AM CEST
Former Federal Judge Calls US Prosecution Of Megaupload 'Really Outrageous'
To hear folks in Hollywood talk about it, the US's indictment and prosecution of Megaupload are a done deal. Without any actual trial, people have decided that the company is clearly 100% evil and guilty. Yet, as we keep noting, the details of the indictment and prosecution keep turning up significant errors on the part of the US, as well as questions about the legality of what the US did. And plenty of people who really understand this stuff deeply are speaking out in agreement. The latest is a former federal judge, Abraham David Sofaer, who found the whole situation so troubling that he's helping the EFF -- for free -- with its efforts to get Megaupload users' data back.
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Topic: MAKE - on June 15, 2012 at 10:41:00 AM CEST
Redbull Creation Contest 2012
Calling all hackers, builders and inventors in between! Red Bull Creation, the 72-hour themed innovation competition, is returning for its second year with a new digital format, upgraded technology and higher stakes. Last year's marathon brought the best groups of four to Brooklyn to create side-by-side. This year, the competition goes TO the top makers, individually or in teams across the country...taking place in their own domain, using their own tools. The possibilities are endless.
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