Category: Europe

Is Real James Bond On Facebook?

By Sky News SkyNews – Sunday, September 28 01:29 pm

Spies are using social networking website Facebook to try to recruit real-life James Bonds.

The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) has begun advertising on it as part of a campaign to find potential MI6 agents.

The adverts have been launched in an attempt to reach a large and wide variety of people, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

MI6 began recruiting openly in April 2006, using mainly radio and newspaper advertising campaigns.

It also recruits through its website, where candidates can fill out application forms online.

“The Secret Intelligence Service’s open recruitment campaign continues to target wide pools of talent representative of British society today,” the spokeswoman added.

“A number of channels are used to promote job opportunities in the organisation.

“Facebook is a recent example” she went on.

The website, which was launched in 2004, currently has more than 100 million active users worldwide.

Other popular social networking sites include Bebo and MySpace.

Source: uk.news.yahoo.com, 28 September 2008

September 29, 2008
Banking crisis claims Belgo-Dutch giant

LEIGH PHILLIPS

Today @ 09:27 CET

The global banking crisis, born across the Atlantic, again sent waves crashing into Europe on Sunday (29 September) as the Belgian, Dutch and Luxemburg governments partly nationalised Belgo-Dutch banking and insurance giant Fortis in an €11.2 billion bailout.

The move was announced on Sunday evening by Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, following a marathon weekend of talks between the three governments and European Central Bank chair Jean-Claude Trichet.

Belgo-Dutch bank Fortis is the latest recipient of tax-payer bailouts in the financial sector (Photo: Wikipedia)

“We have taken up our responsibility, we did not abandon the savers,” Mr Trichet told reporters.

The deal will see the Benelux governments purchase 49 percent of the bank’s operations in each of the three countries. Belgium is to take on the biggest load, offering €4.7 billion towards the acquisition, with the Netherlands paying €4 billion and Luxembourg €2.5 billion.

The move comes after shares in Fortis plunged sharply in the last two weeks, losing more than a third of their value. Over the past year, shares in the bank – whose assets are many times larger than Belgium’s GDP – have lost some three quarters of their value.

The Belgian and Dutch governments have also said they will guarantee 100 percent the deposits of clients. Normally in the two countries, only an initial €20,000 is guaranteed by the state.

The governments had hoped to avoid any moves towards nationalisation of the bank and were attempting to piece together a purchase of Fortis – or at least part of it – by Dutch bank ING or BNP Paribas in France.

Negotiations broke off with the two banking groups when the Benelux governments refused to accede to demands that they offer guarantees against future losses.

Trouble at mill

Meanwhile in the UK, the government is set to nationalise troubled West Yorkshire-based bank Bradford & Bingley, according to British press reports.

The UK’s finance minister, Alistair Darling, has convinced Spanish bank Santander to purchase some 200 of Bradford & Bingley’s branches and €28 billion (£22 billion) in savings, while the UK government is take over €52 billion (£41 billion) of the bank’s mortgages, according to UK daily the Guardian.

The move significantly expands Santander’s presence in the UK, as it already owns Abbey and is in the process of purchasing Alliance & Leicester.

In Germany, troubles at lender Hypo Real Estate are also the subject of emergency talks between German banks and domestic authorities.

A possible rescue of the Munich-based bank is under consideration, while Reuters – quoting an unnamed source close to the discussions – is reporting that the group has received a credit line of some €35 billion from a consortium of private and public-sector banks in the country.

September 29, 2008
‘Top Syrian officer among bomb victims’

A mysterious explosion near Damascus on Saturday claimed the lives of at least 17 people, including a brigadier-general, further destabilizing the Syrian regime.

A car bomb carrying 200 kilograms of explosives exploded near the Palestine branch of Syrian Military Intelligence, the London-based daily Asharq Alawsat reported.

The identity of the high-ranking military officer, who was reportedly killed as a result of the explosion, had not yet been revealed.

Palestine branch of Syrian Military Intelligence is headed by Gen. Suleiman Dayoub, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brother-in-law, Gen. Asif Shawkat, who heads military Intelligence and is considered one of the strongest men in the Syrian regime.

No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack.

The Media Line’s analysts indicate this was the second incident this year directed against a security target. Earlier this year, Assad’s top security adviser Muhammad Suleiman was assassinated in Tartous. The investigation into his murder was not made public.

Saturday’s attack may be connected to Suleiman’s assassination and to a behind-the-scenes battle within the top Syrian security command. Various unconfirmed reports over the past few months indicated that Assad may have begun to worry about Shawkat’s increasing power.

Syria, of course, is not revealing any such internal disputes, and is trying to place the blame on outside elements.

“Unfortunately, in the years that followed the American war on terror, terrorism has further spread. These kinds of incidents can occur anywhere and are not indicative of security breaches,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told reporters.

Muallem said further that Israel was among the “biggest benefactors” of the attack.

Source: The Jerusalem Post, Sep 28, 2008

September 29, 2008
Clyde sells systems for Turkish satellites

MARK SMITH DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR [email protected]

CLYDE Space, Scotland’s only space industry business, has struck a £150,000 deal to supply two flight model power systems to Turkey’s fledgling satellite programme.

The deal with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tubitak) will see Glasgow-based Clyde provide two flight model battery charge regulator systems for the launch of Rasat, the first Earth-observation satellite to be built and developed in Turkey.

The 120kg spacecraft is to be launched into a “700km sun-synchronous orbit” in late 2009.

Clyde Space, one of the world’s leading suppliers of small satellite power systems, has been capitalising on the growing demand for so-called nano and miniature satellites.

Craig Clark, who set up Clyde Space in 2006 with the help of Scottish Enterprise, said: “We were delighted to be part of the Rasat team and to supply our small satellite battery charge regulator to Tubitak.”

The battery charge regulator is specifically designed for use with lithium ion battery technology, and includes four 85-watt solar panel trackers and digital interface to battery and solar panel telemetry.

Clark added: “Lithium ion is still a relatively new technology to most spacecraft manufacturers, and our knowledge and experience in this area added significant value to the Rasat engineering team.”

Clark, who is based at Glasgow Science Park, last month revealed plans to turn his business into a multimillion-pound venture with the world’s first website selling Earth-orbiting satellites.

The website, which was launched in August, primarily targets the US market and offers credit card sales of satellites for research purposes.

The satellites, which put a futuristic spin on the notion of Clyde-built engineering, are all designed and manufactured at the Clyde Space base in Maryhill. The miniature satellites – most of them as small as 10cmcubed – known as cubesats and microsatellites, unfold in space like pizza boxes. They are launched into space by a rocket, then fired into orbit, where they unfold and begin gathering information.

Source: The Herald, 26 Sep 2008

September 29, 2008
U.S. Ambassadorial nominee for Turkey doesn’t dispute Morgenthau’s record on Armenian Genocide

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ambassador to Turkey designate James Jeffrey, in response to questions from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman and Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Biden (D-DE), affirmed that official U.S. diplomatic reports by Ambassadors Morgenthau and Elkus and other Armenian Genocide-era U.S. diplomats in the Ottoman Empire did, in fact, describe the attempted extermination of the Armenian population, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) told PanARMENIAN.Net.

“Although falling far short of a clear and proper recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Ambassador Jeffrey, in his response to Senator Biden’s questioning, moved U.S. policy in the right direction by publicly agreeing – after long years of official disregard, disrespect, and dismissal of Ambassador Henry Morgenthau’s proud legacy – that our nation’s diplomatic representatives to the Ottoman Empire did, in fact, document the Ottoman government’s clear intent and systematic campaign to destroy its Armenian population,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We want to thank Chairman Biden for his thoughtful inquiries that led to this reaffirmation of the American record, and to, once again, express our appreciation to Senators Menendez and Kerry for their incisive lines of questioning during the Foreign Relations Committee’s confirmation hearing earlier this week.”

In questions submitted to the Amb. Jeffrey, Sen. Biden asked: “Do you dispute that U.S. diplomats serving in the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide documented a systematic, government-sponsored campaign ‘with intent to destroy, in whole or in part’ the Armenian population?”

Ambassador-Designate Jeffrey provided the following response: No. I have read many of the historical records from 1915-1916 related to U.S. diplomatic reporting on these events in Turkey, and I do not dispute that Ambassador Morgenthau, Ambassador Elkus, and other diplomats during that time period reported on what they described as an attempt to exterminate the Armenian population.

Source: www.panarmenian.net, 27.09.2008

September 28, 2008
Orthodox patriarch backs Turkey’s EU bid

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians urged the European Union on Wednesday to take on Turkey as a member if it improves democratic and human rights standards.

“Europe needs to bring Turkey into its project,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I told the European Parliament.

“What I and the majority of the people of Turkey wish is full integration, full membership of the European Union, on condition that the criteria and preconditions that apply to all candidates are abided by,” he told a later news conference.

Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul, Turkey, is the spiritual leader of hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide.

He appealed to the EU not to make religious or cultural differences an obstacle to Turkish membership. Turkey’s population of 70 million is predominantly Muslim.

“But I do not think that should be considered to be a stumbling block,” Bartholomew said. “We must not exclude from the European family somebody who simply has a different belief from us.”

But he said Turkey needs to improve protection for religious minorities as part of wider human rights reforms. Bartholomew called in particular for Turkish authorities to allow the reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary and return Church property.

Turkey’s efforts to join the EU have long been hampered by disputes over democratic standards, human rights and the divided island of Cyprus.

The EU insists religion is not an obstacle to Turkey joining, but opinion polls indicate many Europeans are wary about letting the country into the 27-nation bloc.

Bartholomew gave his backing to talks between the president of Cyprus and the country’s breakaway Turkish north in order to end the island’s 34-year division.

“We are very optimistic and very hopeful that this time the dialogue between the two communities will have a happy outcome,” he said.

Source: International Herald Tribune, September 24, 2008

September 28, 2008