Bomb to German bank...[ 2555 ]

Bomb sent to German bank was real, authorities say

By Frederik Pleitgen, CNN

December 8, 2011 -- Updated 1229 GMT (2029 HKT)

Investigators in Germany are examining a bomb sent to Deutsche Bank executive Josef Ackermann

Berlin (CNN) -- A suspicious package sent to the chief executive of Deutsche Bank in Germany contained a functioning bomb, law enforcement officials in the state of Hesse announced Thursday.
The package addressed to Josef Ackermann, the bank's top executive, in Frankfurt, Germany, was intercepted Wednesday, police in New York said earlier.
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Criminal investigators in Germany are pursuing the case, they said in a statement Thursday.
The device, which contained shrapnel, was detected in the bank's mail room around 1 p.m. local time, said New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne.
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It did not detonate.

"The return address was listed as a European central bank, which would likely increase the chances of him opening it," said Browne, who urged a general increase in mail room security.
"A suspicious letter was received today at Deutsche Bank, addressed to Dr. (Josef) Ackermann," bank spokesman Ronald Weichert said Wednesday. "In-house departments concerned alerted the police," who then launched an investigation.
Browne said the incident prompted New York authorities to increase security around Manhattan's Deutsche Bank offices.

Polar bear 'cannibalism' ...[ 2554 ]

Polar bear 'cannibalism' pictured

By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, San Francisco

8 December 2011 Last updated at 09:56 GMT

It is an image that is sure to shock many people.

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An adult polar bear is seen dragging the body of a cub that it has just killed across the Arctic sea ice.
Polar bears normally hunt seals but if these are not available, the big predators will seek out other sources of food - even their own kind.
The picture was taken by environmental photojournalist Jenny Ross in Olgastretet, a stretch of water in the Svalbard archipelago.
"This type of intraspecific predation has always occurred to some extent," she told BBC News.
"However, there are increasing numbers of observations of it occurring, particularly on land where polar bears are trapped ashore, completely food-deprived for extended periods of time due to the loss of sea ice as a result of climate change."
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The journalist was relating the story behind her pictures here at the 2011 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the largest annual gathering of Earth scientists.
A paper describing the kill event in July 2010 has just been published in the journal Arctic. It is co-authored with Dr Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist from Environment Canada.
Ross had approached the adult in a boat. She could see through her telephoto lens that the animal had a meal, but it was only when she got up close that she realised it was a juvenile bear.
The kill method used by the adult was exactly the same as polar bears use on seals - sharp bites to the head.
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"As soon as the adult male became aware that a boat was approaching him, he basically stood to attention - he straddled the young bear's body, asserting control over it and conveying 'this is my food'," the journalist recalled.
"He then picked up the bear in his jaws and, just using the power of his jaws and his neck, transported it from one floe to another. And eventually, when he was a considerable distance away, he stopped and fed on the carcass."
Ross said there was another bear in the area and she speculated that it might have been the mother of the dead juvenile.
Olgastretet is a passage of water that divides the two main islands of Svalbard. Traditionally, it has been an area that has stayed ice-covered throughout the year.

BBC Nature - Polar bears

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But the recent dramatic retreat of Arctic sea ice in summer months has seen open water appear in the area for extended periods.

And without their customary platform on which to hunt seals, bears have gone looking for alternative sources of food, says Ross.
"On land, they're looking for human garbage and human foods; they're starting to prey on seabirds and their eggs.
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"None of those alternative foods can support them, but they are seeking them out.
"Predating another bear is a way to get food; it's probably a relatively easy way for a big adult male. And it seems that because of the circumstances of the loss of sea ice - that kind of behaviour may be becoming more common."

Greece-.Fyrom and the ICJ's decision..[ 2553 ]

Greece sees win-and-worry over ICJ's Fyrom-Macedonia decision

07/12/2011

What's in a name? Greece and Macedonia have been arguing since the 1990s.

The Hague-based court ruled that Greece was wrong to veto Macedonia's bid for NATO membership.However  the court did not prevent Greece from exercising its right to block Fyrom with the name Macedonia again,  - By Andy Dabilis for Southeast European Times in Athens -- 07/12/11   * The 2 charts, 1 additional photo, one note  and the word Fyrom have been  added  in order to make the text more comprehensive.- *

The International Court of Justice's (ICJ) 15-1 finding that Greece was wrong to block Fyrom-Macedonia's entry into NATO in 2008 in a long-running dispute over the country's name has brought some howls of indignation from the Greeks, but also a claim of victory because the court said it would not bar Greece from doing it again.
The name battle, which has dragged on for more than 15 years, since Greece allowed its northern neighbour to adopt the name the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia -- derisively known as FYROM in Greece -- is far from being resolved. 

 Although some Greeks fear the court ruling could lead to official recognition of the name Macedonia, to which they fiercely object because Greece's northern abutting province bears the same name Macedonia ("ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑ").

blogger's note: France also not accepted UK to enter EU as "Great Britain" bcause a providnce exists already  in France with the name "Bretagne"

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Greece's legal counsel, Maria Telalian, told the court in March that Athens did not break the 1995 interim agreement between the two countries -- which prevented it from blocking Skopje joining international organisations -- but that Fyrom broke the deal when it asked to join under its Republic of Macedonia. 
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The ruling could add weight to Fyrom-Macedonia's protests that Greece is unfairly blocking entry to international bodies, but the court steered clear of that.
George Tzogopoulos, a research fellow at the Athens-based Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, said Fyrom-Macedonian leaders should not gloat yet. 
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"It could be conceived as a victory [for them], but if you read the decision you realise Greece can veto them again," he told SETimes.
He said Greece made a mistake in allowing the word "Macedonia" to be included in the composite acronym, and that the court decision could open the door for total international recognition of that name over Greece's objections.
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While the EU and UN recognise FYROM as the official name, more than 100 countries accept Republic of Macedonia.
Tzogopoulos said that while the court ruling was a split decision that could let Greece bar Fyrom-Macedonia entry into the EU or NATO, it nevertheless creates a dilemma. 
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"Greece has already accepted the word 'Macedonia' to be part of a composite name … now that most countries have started to recognise the constitutional name de facto, they [Macedonia] believe that in a few years everyone will be using that term. They don't want to compromise. There's a lot of pressure on Greece because we don't have many countries on our side now." 
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Greece wants a geographical distinction, and UN negotiator Matthew Nimetz has been working with a series of Greek administrations and Fyrom-Macedonian officials to find a resolution.
Little progress, however, has been made, especially as Greece has been agitated by Fyrom naming its airport after Alexander the Great, whom Greece claims as its own. 
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Greece also fears that Fyrom-Macedonia harbours territorial ambitions, especially towards its second largest city, Thessaloniki, where about 150 members of an ultra-right group held a demonstration after the decision, shouting "Greece belongs to the Greeks". 

 Previous popular demonstrations for MACEDONIA  in Thessaloniki

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Nationalists, especially the far right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) led by George Karatzaferis that is part of a temporary coalition government ruling Greece until elections early next year, were angered by the decision. Karatzaferis said his party would leave the government if Fyrom ultimately wins the Macedonia-name battle. 
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Greek interim Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said that "reaching a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue is a condition for the full normalisation of relations," but said what it called "continuing provocation" by Macedonia was an obstacle. 
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Outside the courtroom, Greece's Dutch Ambassador Ioannis Economides urged Fyrom "to resist using today's decision to subvert the negotiations", and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels that Fyrom  will not be admitted to the Alliance until the name Macedonia issue is resolved, leaving some Greek analysts less anxious over what they called a technical knockout for Macedonia. 
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"Some people here seem happy in the sense that this is now done so we can work on the name issue because it wasn't so bad for Greece," Alex Giannoulias, a senior research fellow at the Athens-based Research Institute for European and American Studies, which specialises in security issues, told SETimes. 
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"There is no fear, although some political parties are afraid," he said. "The only concern from this whole issue is that some people are concerned about the ability of the government to negotiate something," he added.
There was little opposition from Athens to the former Yugoslav republic using the name Macedonia until it declared independence in 1991. 
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The country occupies some of the territory in the region that was known as Macedonia after the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, and Greece is fiercely protective of him and what it claims is historical evidence proving Macedonia is Greek, a view vehemently disputed in Fyrom .
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University of Athens International Relations Associate Professor Kostas Ifantis, a former Fulbright Scholar at Harvard who is associated with the Hellenic Centre for European Studies, said he was not surprised by the court's outcome. 
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"It was a decision to be expected; it was balanced," he told SETimes. "There is a political element in it. It's a signal by the courts that the issue should be solved and shouldn't be elevated to legal decisions." 
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He said while the court did not prevent Greece from exercising its right to block Fytom as Macedonia again, "I don't think it's an invitation to veto again; … the issue is ripe for a compromise."

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

The "Echo II ", a Balloon Satellite ...[ 2552 ]

Image of the "Echo II ", a Balloon Satellite

Echo II, a Balloon Satellite

Echo II is shown here undergoing a tensile stress test in a dirigible hanger at Weekesville, North Carolina. A dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air" aircraft. The 135-foot rigidized balloon satellite was sent into orbit as a passive communications experiment by NASA on January 25, 1964.

When folded, the satellite was packed into the 41-inch diameter canister shown in the foreground.

Image Credit: NASA

Greece , election date ...[ 2551 ]

Greece election date may be changed - opposition leader

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras
© AFP/ Louisa Gouliamaki

04:39 04/12/2011

ATHENS, December 4 (RIA Novosti)

The date of the early parliamentary elections in Greece, tentatively scheduled for February 2012, may be changed, a leader of the conservative New Democracy party said.
The elections were tentatively scheduled for February 19, 2012. Under the Greek law, the elections should take place no later than in October 2013.
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"If the events develop slower or faster, the elections may take place a bit earlier or later," New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said in an interview with the To Vima daily.
Members of the center right New Democracy along with the leftist Pasok and the small far-right Laos party comprise the country's transitional coalition government, which took oath in November. The previous government had to resign amid a political crisis sparked by an idea to hold a referendum on further domestic spending cuts.
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In the interview, Samaras reiterated his support for the coalition government led by Lucas Papademos.
"I want this government to be successful in its mission. Let Papademos do his job and then Greece will move forward with the government vested with full legitimacy confirmed in a popular vote," Samaras said.
Opinion polls show Samaras and his party currently have the highest rating among all political forces in the country.
The IMF and the European Union approved a 110-bln euro ($150 bln) bailout loan for Greece in May 2010.
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At the end of October, eurozone leaders clinched a deal with private banks and insurers to write off 50 percent of Greece's debt, which currently stands at over 360 billion euros or 160 percent of the country's GDP, in exchange for a new austerity program, which Greece must implement in the next few years to get financial aid and prevent a default.

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