Monday, 18. June 2012

Eurozone crisis live: Markets rally on Greece election results


7.52am: There is very little in terms of economic data scheduled for today, so the two-day G20 meeting in the resort of Los Cabos in Mexico will take centre stage. "European leaders are expected to come under increasing pressure to deal more decisively with the financial crisis as many nations outside Europe like China and the US are being negatively impacted ever more by the ongoing turmoil in financial markets," said Mark Huber at ETX Capital.

The first news is expected to come at lunchtime UK time when David Cameron lands in Mexico, having briefed journalists on the plane. Los Cabos is seven hours behind the UK.

guardian.co.uk

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Drogen - nur illegal ein gutes Geschäft?


Beim G20-Gipfel wird er kein Thema sein, obwohl er sich direkt vor der Tür abspielt: Der in Mexiko tobende Drogenkrieg. Sogar der Einsatz der Armee konnte die Geschäfte der Kartelle nicht stoppen. Einige Politiker fordern deshalb ein Umdenken - eine begrenzte Legalisierung von Drogen.

Wenn es um die Sicherheit geht, ist Los Cabos wohl eine gute Wahl. An der Südspitze der Halbinsel Baja California gelegen, lässt sich die Gegend rund um den Badeort komplett abriegeln. An Land sollen Tausende Polizisten und Soldaten dafür sorgen, dass vom Norden her alles dicht ist. Vor der Südküste patrouilliert die mexikanische Marine. Alles bestens also.

tagesschau.de

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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.

france24.com

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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.

dradio.de

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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.

cnn.com

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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.

 Alan Turing

arstechnica.com

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Sunday, 17. June 2012

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.

jungewelt.de

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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.

iol.co.za

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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.

space.com wikileaksnews.net

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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.

telegraph.co.uk austriantimes.at

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Friday, 15. June 2012

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.

20 Years Later, a Look Back at Wired‘s Beginning

wired.com

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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.

fas.org [pdf]

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