Turkey is half pregnant with political Islam, if one believes Western foreign ministries and the mainstream press. Its Islamist government last week arrested 82 alleged coup plotters from Turkey’s military and intellectual elite, on the strength of a secret indictment of 2,445 pages. Turkish media have offered fanciful allegations linking the secular leaders of the alleged “Ergenekon” plot to al-Qaeda as well as the violent Kurdish Workers’ Party. Among those detailed are pillars of the secular establishment, including the head of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce and the Ankara editor of the country’s leading daily newspaper, Cumhuriyet. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
An Italian parliamentary panel gave initial approval to a plan to fingerprint everyone in the country, a move that could defuse criticism over a mandatory program to fingerprint Gypsies. The House of Deputies finance commission gave the go-ahead to funding for fingerprinting starting in 2010 for national identity cards, which are required for Italian citizens and foreigners living in Italy. Now, the cards feature the cardholder’s photo. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
The French language will once again become a force to be reckoned with at the Olympic Games, says the head of the Organisation international de la francophonie. Abdou Diouf said the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee accepted earlier this year an agreement signed between the Francophonie and the International Olympics Organization that reinforces French’s traditional status as one of the two official languages of the Olympics. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
After a strong start to the year, German economic growth has lost momentum in recent months, the nation’s central bank said in its monthly report released Monday. While the Bundesbank stepped back from predicting a second-quarter growth rate, the Frankfurt-based bank said it expected a slumping building sector as well as weak private consumption and a fall in exports to have undercut the performance of Europe’s biggest economy. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Even after Barack Obama’s change of venue for his speech in Berlin from Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column, the controversy over his choice of location continues. German politicians from both the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) as well as from the opposition Free Democrats (FDP) critized the Obama campaign’s decision to hold what was billed as a major foreign policy speech at the Victory Column. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Steinmeier is still optimistic about the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty has sent shockwaves across the EU. But the treaty is still no lost cause, says German Foreign Minister Steinmeier in an exclusive essay for DW-WORLD.DE. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
German politicians Tuesday urged Barack Obama not to call for greater troop contributions from Europeans in Afghanistan when he outlines his plans for US foreign policy in a major speech in Berlin on Thursday. “It makes no sense to make demands that partners cannot fulfil,” Rainer Arnold, a parliamentary defense spokesman for the Social Democrats (SPD), told the online edition of Der Spiegel news magazine. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
The Armed Forces’ are less ready to deploy troops to the front line to fight a war than at any time on record as new figures reveal how the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have damaged recruitment. Less than half of all military units are able to deploy on operations in an emergency, the lowest number ever recorded by the Ministry of Defence. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
The possible deployment of Russian strategic bombers in Cuba may be an effective response to the placement of NATO bases near Russia’s borders, a former Air Force commander said on Monday. Russian daily Izvestia earlier on Monday cited a senior Russian military source as saying that Russian strategic bombers could be stationed again in Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S. coast, in response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Russia has finally recovered. It has risen from its knees and is ready for the next stage – forcing the rest of the world to their knees. The new concept for Russian foreign policy was presented last week by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Now Russian diplomats can be mobilized to attain that goal.
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Blasts kill two people, injure 14, and give rise to security questions in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics Two buses were hit by deadly explosions in southwestern China yesterday, sparking new jitters about security in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics next month. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this week signed a decree, which prohibits all Russian fish exports from the Barents Sea starting from 2009. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Don’t bring bags or placards, but make sure to smile for the camera! Barack Obama doesn’t want to let anything steal the show at his Berlin debut, where the streets and the Victory Column are being transformed into a “fan mile” for the US Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Patients are to be refused antibiotics for coughs, colds and ear infections, under strict new guidance to doctors. Last year 38 million prescriptions for antibiotics were written by GPs at a cost to the NHS of 175 million Eurol. The drugs are not necessary in most cases, do not work against many of the infections and contribute to the spread of lethal hospital superbugs like MRSA, experts said. Family doctors routinely prescribe antibiotics for common respiratory infections such as sore throats. But GPs claim they often feel under pressure from patients who are angered if they are refused treatment.
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European politicians are discussing ambitious plans to harvest the energy of the Saharan sun, connecting a vast network of solar panels to electricity grids across the continent. According to The Guardian, the project, estimated to cost up to £35.7 billion, is backed by Gordon Brown and President Sarkozy of France. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
During these turbulent economic times, Gordon Brown is keen for the country to stick by him. However, this probably wasn’t quite what he had in mind. Dan Glass, of the climate change pressure group Plane Stupid, today tried to superglue himself to the Prime Minister at a Downing Street reception. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
When US presidential candidate Barack Obama arrives in Paris on Friday he will be welcomed as a symbol of hope by many members of France’s troubled ethnic minority groups. In a statement issued after Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, the French civil rights organization CRAN asked, rhetorically, ‘What black candidate could stand for the French presidency today with a chance of being elected that is equal to that of a white?’ Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
Airports are at increasing risk from an “internal terror attack” because of lax security arrangements, according to an official report. Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
From Google - In my previous post, I introduced the philosophies behind Google ranking. As part of our effort to discuss search quality, I want to tell you more about the technologies behind our ranking.
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Comments and reports about global warming are getting silly and even ridiculous. Al Gore says we have ten years left. We’re told cooling is due to warming. More rain and flooding and less rain and drought are both due to warming. More hurricanes are predicted while fewer occur. Global temperatures declined as much in the first few months of 2008 as they increased in the previous 100 plus years due to warming. Recently we were told global warming is causing an increase in kidney stones in a travesty of geographic correlation assuming cause and effect Click Here To Read The Complete Article Submitted By The Outlook
