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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Low set for German honour


Germany coach Joachim Low is set to be awarded the country's Federal Cross of Merit for his achievements in the World Cup. Low's young squad saw off Uruguay in a dramatic third-place play-off on Saturday, coming from behind earlier in the match to secure a 3-2 win. Germany President Christian Wulff subsequently announced the honour would be made, with the players set to be decorated with the Silver Laurel. Low's side looked incredible against England and Argentina, putting four goals past their rivals in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively. They crashed out to Euro 2008 champions Spain at the semi-final stage, but still showed an enormous amount of desire to take third, with some 300,000 supporters reported to have cheered them on in various public viewing areas in Germany.

"Irrational" Iran can't get nuclear arms: Netanyahu


"Irrational regimes" like Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear arms and it is a mistake to think Tehran's ambitions can be contained, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on U.S. television. Netanyahu, who met President Barack Obama last week during a visit to Washington and New York, told "Fox News Sunday" that Iran was "just moving on with its efforts" to develop nuclear weapons -- a prospect he called "very, very dangerous." Asked whether a nuclear Iran could be contained, he said: "No, I don't. I think that's a mistake, and I think people fall into a misconception." "I don't think you can rely on Iran," Netanyahu said in a taped interview. "And we should not allow irrational regimes like Iran to have nuclear weapons. It's the ultimate terrorist threat today." Netanyahu declined to say whether he had any deadline for allowing diplomacy with Iran to run its course. "We always reserve the right to defend ourselves," he said, reiterating a core policy of Israel, which does not confirm or deny widely held beliefs that it has the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But the United States and its allies fear Tehran is pursuing an atomic weapons program and have pushed a series of United Nations and unilateral sanctions against Iran.

Pentagon working on hummingbird-sized spy drones

A new Pentagon project aims to produce unmanned nano aerial vehicles that can be launched by soldiers in crowded urban areas to spy on enemy positions. Soldiers fighting future battleble to launch hummingbird-sized uns in crowded urban areas will be amanned nano aerial vehicles — or NAVs – capable of carrying sophisticated sensors and flying through open windows in buildings to report back on enemy positions. A new project partly funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) called the Nano Aerial Vehicle (NAV) program aims to develop an extremely small, ultra-lightweight aerial vehicle for urban military missions that can fly both indoors and outdoors and that is capable of climbing and descending vertically as well as flying sideways left and right. DARPA says the NAV program pushes the limits of aerodynamic and power conversion efficiency, endurance and maneuverability for very small air vehicle systems.

Newest friends on Facebook? Pakistan militants

Pakistan militant groups are using Facebook, Twitter, and text messages to share their views and even incite violence. They are targeting a wider, more educated, and urban, audience. The Pakistan government has "no plans" to block the messages. Extremist groups in Pakistan are joining the social networking site – and tweeting on Twitter and sending text messages – to share notes on upcoming conferences and post videos on the West’s agenda against Islam. They also spread provocative views and encourage attacks against Pakistan’s Ahmadi religious minority. And they often do so without fear of crackdown by authorities. “its now time to implenet islam [sic] and hang black water, rehamn malik and zardari till death,” posts one user, referring to the private American security firm, Pakistan’s interior minister, and Pakistan's president. That post appeared on the page of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a global Islamist party that denounces democracy and campaigns for the establishment of a global caliphate (akin to an empire) based on Islamic Law. The user goes by “Commander Khattab,” the name of deceased Chechen guerrilla leader. “The Ahmadi community is responsible for civil-war within the Muslim community, what do you think?” posts another user on the Facebook page of Khutum-e-Naboohat. The organization, which is dedicated to denouncing the Ahmadi sect of Islam, organized street demonstrations against them ahead of a massacre of 95 Ahmadis in May. Other groups maintain websites dedicated to condemning Shiites.

The new Obama style: cozy up to world leaders

Barack Obama is well known for big speeches, not small talk. But in recent weeks, the president has turned on the charm with world leaders, trying to create warm personal ties for the cold purposes of furthering American interests. The latest example was his cozy hosting of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to the White House. Only a few months ago, the two men were stern and steely toward each other, a result of policy differences and what appeared to be an Israeli slap at Vice President Joe Biden in March. But during a recent White House visit, Mr. Netanyahu was showered with praise. Mr. Obama referred to their “excellent one-on-one.” Perhaps the president now believes that a bit of honey in his communications with Israeli leaders – as well as with many other foreign officials – will achieve more than the vinegar of criticism. Obama’s same glad-hand approach was on display last month with Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev. The two lawyerly leaders, who have already met often, went out for burgers at an American diner, chatting it up like two regular guys. No doubt their newfound trust in each other helped quickly resolve the touchy issue of Russian spies being caught in the United States. The later swap of spies-for-spies on a Vienna airport tarmac did, in fact, go rather smoothly. Obama has also tried to bridge a big communication gap with China’s leader, Hu Jintao – not an easy task for any foreign leader. At the recent Group of 20 meeting in Canada, the two men worked on their relationship as much as they did on issues. The result? An invitation for a state visit to the White House – a sign of closer ties and only the third state visit hosted by Obama.

Survey: Europeans back veil ban, Americans opposed

While most Americans oppose banning face-covering Islamic veils, most western Europeans questioned in a new global poll say the garments should be forbidden — especially in France, where a ban may soon be a reality. Several European countries have been considering bans on such veils, with special attention on France, home to western Europe's largest Muslim community and a strongly secular government. The lower house of France's parliament is expected to approve a divisive bill Tuesday that would make it illegal to wear full-face veils in public. The government says such veils oppress women. Only a very small minority of French Muslim women wear veils such as the niqab or burqa, and many French Muslims fear a ban would stigmatize the whole Islamic community. A survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that an overwhelming 82 percent of French respondents support a ban. The poll found 71 percent support in Germany, 62 percent in Britain and 59 percent in Spain. In the United States, 28 percent of those questioned said they would approve a ban. The pollsters questioned more than 4,000 people by telephone in the five countries as part of a larger poll on global attitudes conducted in April and May. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 or 5 percentage points for the countries asked about the veil. The study was released Thursday. In the United States and Europe, respondents to the poll who were over 55 were more likely to support a ban than those age 18 to 34. Those on the political right were more likely to support a ban than those on the left, except in Spain.

The Amazing Electronic Cigarette Released

Electronic Cigarettes offer consumers to switch over from traditional cigarettes to an e cigarette or commonly known as Electronic Cigarette. Let's face it, smoking can be kind of gross.  It leaves traces of itself all over.  You can always tell who smokes because often their car, house, clothes, breath, and hair all smell like smoke.  This is one of the worst side effects of smoking because you are instantly labeled.  Not only do you start smelling like your habit, you also are subject to all of the nasty side effects that smoke brings with it.  In the traditional method of smoking you actually burn tar, glue, and other additives and then inhale them into your lungs.  This can be dangerous to your health and the to the health of those around  you. In an effort to clean up smoking and make it a healthier practice, the electronic cigarette has been produced.  This product is pretty amazing because it allows you to take part in all of your favorite things about smoking without having any smoke!  The way that this device accomplishes this is by using a unique stem and an e liquid that is made out of a mixture of flavors, propylene glycol, and nicotine.  You can get electronic cigarettes in a variety of different shapes and sizes and you can fill them with e liquids that come in many different flavors and also have differing levels of nicotine.  This is a great way to get rid of many of the bad parts of smoking without having to quit cold turkey and go through the horrible withdrawal process

Lindsay Lohan: Mean girls go to jail


Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail Tuesday for her failure to attend alcohol education classes after a series of drunk driving charges stemming back to 2007. The media orgiastically detailed every look, word and tear the fallen starlet issued in court, just as it has obsessively covered every other mishap in this young woman's excruciatingly public life. There are fights with her father, fights with her former girlfriend, fights with current and former boyfriends, fights with former BFFs like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. She dyes her hair. She loses too much weight. Her boobs may or may not be fake. Her lips may or may not be Restalyne-inflated. She gets kicked out of a nightclub, or not let into a nightclub, or falls down coming out of a nightclub, or passes out in the passenger seat of a car after partying at a nightclub.Meanwhile, badly behaving male celebrities collectively get a media ho-hum. Last month Motley Crue singer Vince Neil was arrested for driving under the influence, despite the fact that in 1984 he killed a rocker friend of his who had the misfortune to be in his car after a night of drinking. For that crime Neil pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 30 days in jail--60 less than Lindsay was just handed. Neil served 15 days and paid out $2.6 million. Chris Klein, star of the popular American Pie movies, was arrested for DUI in June. He too is a repeat offender. In May Hideki Irabu, a former Yankees pitcher, was pulled over for DUI. In all cases, the media shrugged. As for Mel Gibson, one might think he'd been arrested in 2006 for anti-Semitic remarks, not driving while intoxicated. In April, when Michael Douglas' son Cameron was sentenced to five years in jail for dealing drugs, the judge blasted his parents for being "problematic" and "immature" when Cameron was growing up. One could arguably say the same about Lindsay's parents, but her judge made no mention of this.