Germany denies US spy project

Germany denies secret spy project with US
Germany's aerospace centre has denied it is working with the US on a $US270 million ($A266 million) high-tech secret spy program, insisting that its plans for a high-resolution optical satellite have purely scientific and security uses. US State Department cables obtained by Wikileaks and revealed by Norwegian daily Aftenposten say Germany joined a partnership with the US to create a satellite spying program that was presented as a commercial enterprise, but is actually run by the German intelli...

Aftenposten: Germany, U.S. plan secret spy project
Source: CTV Oslo, Norway — Wikileaks documents published by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten say that Germany and the U.S. are engaged in a $270 million satellite spying program that is causing friction in the European Union. Citing diplomatic cables sent from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the newspaper said Monday that the project was presented as a commercial enterprise but is actually run by the German intelligence service. Aftenposten cites cables revealing that the HiROS venture -- a network o...

Germany-U.S. Secret Spy Project Denied
Berlin — Germany's aerospace center denied Monday that it is working with the U.S. on a $270 million high-tech secret spy program, insisting that its plans for a high-resolution optical satellite have purely scientific and security uses. U.S. State Department cables obtained by Wikileaks and revealed by Norwegian daily Aftenposten say Germany joined a partnership with the U.S. to create a satellite spying program that was presented as a commercial enterprise, but is actually run by the G...

Germany denies it plans secret spy project with US
Berlin — Germany’s aerospace center denied Monday that it is working with the U.S. on a $270 million high-tech secret spy program, insisting that its plans for a high-resolution optical satellite have purely scientific and security uses. U.S. State Department cables obtained by Wikileaks and revealed by Norwegian daily Aftenposten say Germany joined a partnership with the U.S. to create a satellite spying program that was presented as a commercial enterprise, but is actually run...

Iran nuclear invitation draws Western skepticism (Reuters)
Tehran/VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran invited Russia, China, the European Union and others on Tuesday to visit key nuclear plants, but left out Britain, France, Germany and the United States -- the countries most opposed to its Nuclear Program. Iran's surprise invitation to ambassadors accredited to the U.N. nuclear Watchdog in Vienna was a bid to show openness before Tehran and six world powers are due to meet in Istanbul later this month to discuss its disputed atomic activities. The West...

Guarding the Pork Barrel: Germany Resists Attempts to Reform EU Agricultural Subsidies
The European Commission wants to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, which eats up almost half of the EU's Budget and which primarily benefits large farms in "old" Member States. But Germany and France are resisting moves to change the system so it favors smaller, organic farms. The status quo suits them very nicely. An old cobblestone road leads to Carl-Albrecht Bartmer's property. Small, detached houses line Lindenstrasse in the village of Löbnitz an der Bode, near Magdeburg in eastern

France heads industrial espionage: WikiLeaks cables
Source: Herald Sun France is the country that conducts the most industrial Espionage on other European countries, even ahead of China and Russia, said leaked US diplomatic cables quoted today by Norway's Aftenposten. "French Espionage is so widespread that the damages (it causes) the German Economy are larger as a whole than those caused by China or Russia," an undated note from the US Embassy in Berlin said, according to a Norwegian translation by Aftenposten. The Norwegian daily of reference s...

Aftenposten: Germany, US plan secret spy project
OSLO, Norway - Wikileaks documents published by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten say that Germany and the U.S. are engaged in a $270 million satellite spying program that is causing friction in the European Union. Citing diplomatic cables sent from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the newspaper said Monday that the project was presented as a commercial enterprise but is actually run by the German intelligence service. Aftenposten cites cables revealing that the HiROS venture — a network of...

Aftenposten: Germany, US plan secret spy project
WikiLeaks documents published by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten say that Germany and the U.S. are engaged in a $270 million satellite spying program that is causing friction in the European Union. Citing diplomatic cables sent from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, the newspaper said Monday that the project was presented as a commercial enterprise but is actually run by the German intelligence service. Aftenposten cites cables revealing that the HiROS venture — a network of highly precise satel...

Iran snubs main critics as it invites western diplomats to tour disputed nuclear sites
Iran has snubbed Britain, France, Germany and the United States in a surprise invitation to Diplomats to visit its Controversial nuclear plants. Ambassadors from Russia, China and the European Union were invited by Tehran to tour the sites, but the nations most opposed to its nuclear programme were excluded. Iran's surprise invitation yesterday to several ambassadors accredited to the UN ADVERTISEMENT nuclear Watchdog in Vienna was a bid to show openness about its disputed atomic activities,...

Hungary unmoved by EU criticism over media law (AFP)
Budapest (AFP) – Hungary's government insisted Tuesday it would not bow to outside pressure and rethink its disputed media law, even after the European Commission expressed concerns and said it would sanction Budapest if necessary -- even during the nation's EU presidency. "It isn't necessary to change a Hungarian law just because it is subject to criticism from abroad," Zoltan Kovacs, state secretary for communication, told national radio. "Before criticising,...

Netanyahu appeals to Obama to free convicted spy Pollard
A photo of Jonathan Pollard is held at a demonstration in Jerusalem in 2008. Israel is seeking the convicted spy's release from U.S. Prison. ( AFP/Getty Images file photo ) JERUSALEM — Israel's Prime Minister Tuesday made a public appeal for the freedom of an American who spied for Israel, asking in a letter to President Barack Obama for Clemency after the spy has spent 25 years behind bars. The case of Jonathan Pollard "unites us all," Benjamin Netanyahu told his parliament, before readi...

Ambassador to Libya returns to US following leaked cable
WASHINGTON -- In what appears to be the first diplomatic casualty from the latest Wikileaks revelations, the U.S. ambassador to Libya has returned to Washington and is likely to leave his post, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Ambassador Gene Cretz, a Veteran U.S. Diplomat, authored several secret cables to Washington that speculated on longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's health, and described his personal proclivities, including his reliance on a "voluptuous" Ukrainian nurse. The documents a...

Fake White House holiday e-mail is cyber attack
WASHINGTON (AP) — It looked like an innocent e-mail Christmas card from the White House. But the holiday greeting that surfaced just before Christmas was a ruse by cybercriminals to steal documents and other data from Law Enforcement, Military and government workers. It seemed to target those involved in computer crime investigations. Analysts who have studied the malicious software say Hackers were able to use the e-mail to collect sensitive law enforcement data. But so far there has been...

WikiLeaks: 'Voluptuous' nurse cable costs diplomat his job
Warren P. Strobel McClatchy WASHINGTON — In what appears to be the first diplomatic casualty from the latest Wikileaks revelations, the U.S. ambassador to Libya has returned to Washington and is likely to leave his post, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Ambassador Gene Cretz, a Veteran American diplomat, authored several secret cables to Washington that speculated on long-time Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's health, and described his personal proclivities, including his reliance on a "voluptuous...

U.S. envoy to Libya in Washington for talks on ties
ALGIERS (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Libya has returned to Washington for consultations on bilateral ties including the question of when he will return to Tripoli, an Embassy spokesman said Tuesday. "Ambassador (Gene A.) Cretz is in Washington for consultations ... The question of when Ambassador Cretz returns to Libya will be one of the many subjects of his consultations," the spokesman said, adding that Cretz had gone to Washington at the request of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Th...

US, EU regret OSCE office closure in Belarus (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States and the European Union on Tuesday both slammed Belarus for ordering the closure of the OSCE office in Minsk, and urged it to release hundreds held for protesting December Elections. The joint statement issued by the State Department served to ratchet up the pressure on the Belarusian government after the United States issued its own separate condemnation on Monday. Belarus on Friday ordered the closure of the Organization for Security and Cooperation ...

Bond crisis on the way?
With strong Christmas sales and the Stock Market surging to a two-year high, talk is spreading that the long-awaited recovery is at hand. But gleaning the news from Europe and Asia as U.S. cities, states and the Federal Government sink into Debt, it is difficult to believe a worldwide Financial Crisis that hammers governments, banks and bondholders alike can be long averted. Consider. Fitch and Moody's have just downgraded the debt of Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Hungary. In Budapest, the poli...

LEAK: US, Germany in joint spy satellite project...
The United States and Germany are jointly developing secret spy satellites under the guise of a commercial programme despite opposition from France, leaked US diplomatic cables showed Monday. The project, named HiROS, envisions the construction of an undetermined number of high-resolution observation satellites capable of spotting any object on the planet down to a size of just 50 centimetres (about 1.5 feet), according to classified cables from US Embassy in Berlin leaked to Wikileaks and obta...

US and Germany in joint spy satellite project: cable
Stumble This! Oslo (AFP) - The United States and Germany are jointly developing secret spy satellites under the guise of a commercial programme despite opposition from France, leaked US diplomatic cables showed Monday. The project, named HiROS, envisions the construction of an undetermined number of high-resolution observation satellites capable of spotting any object on the planet down to a size of just 50 centimetres (about 1.5 feet), according to classified cables from US Embassy in Be...

EU may shift bank failure costs: official
By John O'Donnell Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force those that lend to troubled banks to shoulder more of the cost of winding them up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. The... Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force those that lend to troubled banks to shoulder more of the cost of winding them up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. The proposal to pass the pain of a b...

David Isenberg: Armed Humanitarians: Part 3
It's time for the third and final excerpt from the forthcoming book Armed Humanitarians by Nathan Hodge, formally published next month. Click here for the first excerpt and here for the second. Here Hodge reviews the recommendations of a panel ordered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the aftermath of the killing of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater guards at Nisoor Square. The panel was led by Patrick F. Kennedy, a career minister in the Foreign Service. About that time he was confirmed b...

Israel said would keep Gaza near collapse: WikiLeaks
Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to Wikileaks, showed that Israel kept the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized Blockade of the Gaza Strip. The territory, home to 1.3 million Palestinians, is run by the Islamist Hamas group, which is shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence or accept existing interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals. "As part of their overall emba...

Vatican official tamps down perceived OK to GMOs
VATICAN CITY — A Vatican cardinal backed off the Holy See’s perceived approval of Biotech crops Tuesday, saying farmers in the developing world shouldn’t be dependent on foreign multinationals for their seeds. Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, a Ghanian who heads the Vatican’s office for justice and peace, likened such economic dependence on big corporations to a new form of Slavery. It was the second time in a month that the Vatican has made clear that while it’s not ...

Israel said would keep Gaza near collapse: WikiLeaks
Jerusalem | Wed Jan 5, 2011 5:12am EST Jerusalem (Reuters) - Israel told U.S. officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza's economy "on the brink of collapse" while avoiding a Humanitarian Crisis, according to U.S. diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday. Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to Wikileaks, showed that Israel kept the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized Blockade of the...