Solar Impulse plane postpones night record attempt
BBC.,05:06 GMT, Thursday, 1 July 2010 06:06 UK
The HB-SIA aeroplane will eventually give way to an even bigger vehicle
Pilot Andre Borschberg has announced he is postponing an attempt to make aviation history.
He had planned to take off from a Swiss airfield in a solar-powered plane and fly through the night.
Robotic craft have achieved this feat before now, but never a manned one.
Borschberg's HB-SIA aeroplane will need to generate enough energy through its 12,000 solar cells during the day to sustain its battery-driven engines during the dark hours.
It was to have taken off from Payerne in the west of Switzerland in an attempt to fly for 24 hours.
The was the latest step in the Solar Impulse project, which Mr Borschberg leads with his business partner and fellow adventurer Bertrand Piccard.
Dr Piccard famously made the first non-stop circumnavigation of the globe in a balloon in 1999.
Andre Borschberg (L) and Bertrand Piccard (R) have worked on the project for seven years
The pair want to prove that solar power has a practical future in aviation and, more generally, in powering society at large.
The HB-SIA has the look of a glider but is on the scale - in terms of its width - of a modern airliner.
The aeroplane incorporates composite materials to keep it extremely light, and uses super-efficient solar cells, batteries, motors and propellers to keep itself in the sky.
The vehicle was unveiled last year and has since been undergoing daylight trials. The first full day flight was completed on 7 April.
The HB-SIA will be succeeded by HB-SIB. It is likely to be bigger, and will incorporate a pressurised capsule and better avionics.
The group plans to use this vehicle in two years' time to make the first manned transatlantic solar flight, followed in 2013 by an even more daring circumnavigation of the Earth.
BBC Page last updated at 17:02 GMT,.. Wednesday, 30 June 2010 18:02 UK
Leviathan was an aggressive 17m-long predator which may have preyed on other whales
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
Researchers have discovered the fossilised remains of an ancient whale with huge, fearsome teeth.
Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists have dubbed the 12 million-year-old creature "Leviathan".
It is thought to have been more than 17m long, and might have engaged in fierce battles with other giant sea creatures from the time.
Leviathan was much like the modern sperm whale in terms of size and appearance.
At the same time in the same waters was another monster... they might have fought each other
Dr Christian de MuizonNatural History Museum, Paris
But that is where the similarity ends. While the sperm whale is a relatively passive animal, sucking in squid from the depths of the ocean, Leviathan was an aggressive predator.
According to Dr Christian de Muizon, director of the Natural History Museum in Paris, Leviathan could have hunted out and fed on large sea creatures such as dolphins, seals and even other whales.
"It was a kind of a sea monster," he said.
"And it's interesting to note that at the same time in the same waters was another monster, which was a giant shark about 15m long. It's possible that they might have fought each other".
The researchers speculate that Leviathan was able to feed on very large prey up to 8m long. It would catch the prey in its huge jaws and tear it apart quickly and effectively with its giant teeth.
The Leviathan skull was discovered in 12 million year-old sediments in Peru A 3m-long fossilised skull of the creature was discovered by researchers in southern Peru in 2008. Dr de Muizon's student, Olivier Lambert was among them.
"It was the last day of our field trip when one of our colleagues came and told us that he thought he'd found something very interesting. So we joined him and he showed it to us," he said.
"We immediately saw that it was a very large whale and when we looked closer we saw it was a giant sperm whale with huge teeth."
The teeth were more than twice the length and diameter of those found in modern sperm whales and they were on the upper and lower jaws.
Dr Christian de Muizon compares the giant's teeth with those of a sperm whale
Sperm whales only have teeth on their lower jaw.
Dr Lambert and his colleagues had speculated that such a fierce creature might once have existed on the basis of discoveries of individual teeth.
Now, the discovery of the skull means that the Leviathan is not merely the stuff of myth and legend.
"Finally we found it," said Dr Lambert. " It was a very exciting moment".
The researchers do not know why this ancient whale died out. They speculate that the ecology and environment changed so that the creature had to change its feeding habits.
That may have led to the emergence of today's much gentler sperm whales, with the carnivorous niche filled by killer whales as conditions swung back again.
The authors of the report in Nature, who are all whale experts, are fans of the novel Moby Dick, which involves a ferocious white sperm whale.
So taken are they with the novel that they decided to dedicate their discovery to the author, Herman Melville, and give the creature its full scientific name of Leviathan melvillei.
Italy Appeals Human Rights Court Ruling Banning Crucifix From Schools
AP2009
A crucifix hangs from the wall of a Naples elementary school's classroom, Italy, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. Europe's court of human rights ruled Tuesday the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates religious and education freedoms under the continent's rights convention. The ruling, which could force a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols in government-run schools, rejected arguments by Italy's government that the crucifix was a national symbol of culture, history and identity, tolerance and secularism. A seven-judge panel sided with a complaint filed by Soile Lautsi, a parent of two children, who claimed public schools in her northern Italian town eight years ago refused to remove the Roman Catholic symbols from classrooms. The ruling awarded euro 5,000 (US$ 7,390) in damages to Lautsi, which the Italian government will pay her. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
FoxNews.com., Published June 30, 2010
| NewsCore
Italy on Wednesday began its appeal against a European Court of Human Rights ruling condemning the display of crucifixes in Italian schools in a case that could affect all of Europe.
The court's ruling in November found the display of crucifixes in Italian schools breached the rights of non-Catholic families, drawing howls of anger from Church and political leaders in the staunchly Roman Catholic country.
Italy's education minister attacked the initial ruling that crucifixes "restrict the right of parents to educate their children in conformity with their convictions," insisting the crucifix was a "symbol of our tradition."
Italian mother Soile Lautsi, whose two children attended a state school near Venice, took her case to the European court after a long battle pitting her against Italy's Catholic establishment.
Catholicism was the state religion in Italy until 1984, and a 1920s ruling ordering the presence of crucifixes in schools was never abolished.
The court's final ruling could be applicable to schools in all the Council of Europe's 47 member states.
Lautsi first brought the case eight years ago when her children, Dataico and Sami Albertin, aged 11 and 13, went to the state school in the northern Italian town of Abano Terme.
She was unhappy crucifixes were present in every classroom and complained to the school.
After education chiefs refused to remove the crosses, she spent several years fighting the decision through the Italian courts before taking the case to the Strasbourg court.
A dozen other countries, including Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania, Malta and Russia, are so-called third parties in the case and can present written observations.
Their lawyer, American law professor Joseph Weiler, warned against "an Americanization of Europe with a single rule that goes against the multiplicity of constitutions."
"Countries also have the right to define themselves in relation to their religious heritage," he said, noting that Christian crosses feature on national flags and money.
"All children in Europe, atheist or believers, learn that the right to believe and the right not to believe are realities," he said, pointing out that not all Britons who say "God save the queen" are believers.
Lautsi's lawyer, Nicola Paoletti, stressed that her client was "secular" and not "atheist."
"She has never said anything against the Catholic religion, she wants her two children to be educated according to the principle of secularism," Paoletti said.
"And yet, children in public schools think that the state identifies with this religion, and if they're not Catholic, then they can feel a minority and suffer as a result," he said.
The Italian government's lawyer, Nicola Lettieri, described the crucifix as "a passive symbol with no relation to teaching, which is secular."
"Where is the indoctrination, we're not distancing children from their parents' convictions," he said, adding that "the crucifix may be the expression of a Christian tradition, (but) Italy does not proselytiz
Anna Chapman: Barclays reveals alleged spy was London employee
Alleged member of Russian spy ring worked for bank's small business division and private plane hire firm
Anna Chapman on Westminster Bridge, London. Photograph: Facebook
The Guardian June 30,2010,,
The British connections of the alleged Russian spy, Anna Chapman, strengthened today when Barclays Bank confirmed that she had worked in its London office before moving to the United States.
Barclays had earlier denied knowledge of Chapman, who is accused by the FBI along with 10 others of being part of a "deep cover" spy ring operating since the 1990s.
But after a more extensive search by the bank, a spokesman confirmed to the Guardian that an Anna Chapman did work in its small business banking division between 2004 and 2005.
On her LinkedIn profile, Chapman claimed she worked for the investment banking section.
The discrepancy helps explain why it took Barclays so long to confirm her employment history. It is also understood that she worked at Barclays for six months, not the year claimed on her profile.
Chapman's extensive online presence, including more than 90 photographs posted to Facebook and an apparently glamorous lifestyle as a property millionaire, has made her the focus of much of the media coverage of the case.
Earlier another British based company, the private plane hire firm NetJets Europe, confirmed that she worked in the UK, but not for as long as the CV claimed, or at such a senior level.
"Ms Chapman was employed by NetJets Europe from May to July 2004, as an executive assistant in the sales department," a spokesman said.
Her CV claims that she worked for a year at NetJets and was "primarily involved in selling private jets to companies and individuals in Russia".
A spokesman for the company said that he was "not aware" whether the company had been contacted by the FBI. He added that none of the current employees remembers working with Chapman. "It was six years ago, no one is talking about it," he said.
Chapman's CV also claimed that she worked for a hedge fund in London called Navigator. No record has yet emerged that such a fund existed, according to the specialist hedge-fund website, FINalternatives.
She is also said to have been married to a British citizen, but this has not been confirmed.
The Associated Press reported today that she was arrested in a New York police station after handing in her passport.
Chapman was arrested by the FBI along with nine others, including Tracey Lee Ann Foley, who allegedly held a fake British passport.
The ten accused were arrested in the US and charged with failing to register as foreign agents, a crime that is less serious than espionage, and which carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. Some also face money laundering charges.
An 11th suspect, Christopher Metsos, was arrested in Cyprus, accused of passing money to the other 10 over several years. To the surprise of the Cypriot police, he was released on bail.
The FBI moved in to break up the ring because one of the suspects – apparently Chapman – was thought to have been on the point of leaving the country, bound for Moscow, according to court papers.
At a federal court hearing on Monday in Manhattan, where Chapman was jailed without bail, her attorney described the case against her as weak.
He said she had visited the United States on and off since 2005 before settling in Manhattan to start a business.
Chapman apparently took an apartment near Wall Street and began using online social networks, including LinkedIn and Facebook, to develop business contacts and to market her skills.
On her LinkedIn page, she is listed as the chief executive officer of PropertyFinder Ltd, which maintains a website featuring real estate listings in Moscow, Spain, Bulgaria and other countries.
In court, Chapman's lawyer said the business was valued by his client at $2m (£1.3m).
In more than 90 photos posted on Facebook, Chapman is pictured in various countries, including Turkey, where she is in one of the rooms of the luxurious Hotel Les Ottomans in Istanbul.
There is also a photo of her posing with a glass of wine between two men at the Global Technology Symposium at Stanford University in March, which costs more than $1,000 to attend.
Details have been emerging of the other accused. One, Vicky Peláez, was a journalist for a Spanish-language newspaper in New York and earned about $50,000 a year, according to a court affidavit she filled out.
Another, Cynthia Murphy, reported an annual income of $135,000 as a financial planner, her affidavit says.
In Montclair, New Jersey, Murphy's neighbours said that they detected an accent. When they asked where she was from, she said Belgium.
"We're from a generation where everyone was afraid of the Red Menace, of 007 and hiding under desks during drills – all of that stuff. There was real fear, so it's shocking to see something like this," said Alan Sokolow, a neighbour of Cynthia Murphy and her husband, Richard. "I can see it happening in the mid-1950s, but now, in 2010, it comes across as more comical, with the lo-tech stuff they said they were using."
The arrests raised suggestions that Moscow has planted other couples in the US. Federal prosecutor Michael Farbiarz said the allegations are "the tip of the iceberg" of a conspiracy by Russia's intelligence service, the SVR.
Yesterday, the foreign ministry in Russia said the charges were "baseless". Today, it took a more emollient tone. It said it had taken note of the White House's comments last night that the scandal should not derail US-Russian relations.
"We hope that the incident linked to the arrest of a group of people in the US on suspicion of spying for Russia will not have a negative impact on Russian-American relations," a Russian foreign ministry spokesman told the news agency Interfax.
