Czech plane crashes in Moskow

http://rt.com/news/plane-vnukovo-airport-moscow-073/


A passenger jet crashed after making a hard landing at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. At least four people were killed and four critically injured, says the Interior Ministry. Officials believe the cause could be pilot error.
Two people were reportedly found dead at the scene, while a 27-year-old woman died on the way to hospital. Whether the fourth person died at the scene or in the ambulance remains unclear. Those killed are the captain, the co-pilot, the flight engineer and a flight attendant, the Emergencies Ministry declared.
Four people taken to Moscow hospitals – three flight attendants and a technical staff – remain in a critical condition. They have sustained traumatic brain injuries, say medical officials.
The plane was flying in from Pardubice, the Czech Republic, and was carrying eight to twelve people according to various reports. Vnukovo Airport says that everyone onboard were the crew. Pardubice Airport confirms that:
“There was only the crew aboard. No Czech nationals were among them. Before taking off the operating company checked all the plane’s systems and said they were functioning normally,” Pardubice's press-service told Gazeta.ru. The service added the plane, tail number RA-64047, had taken tourists to Pardubice and was going back without any passengers.
Two more people might have been on board the crashed plane as ten people had registered for the flight, reports Interfax citing sources. But as emergency crews wrapped up their search operation, they failed to find anybody else. It appears that passers-by could have rushed at least one injured person to hospital on their own car.
Two black boxes were recovered from the scene of the passenger jet crash, according tot he Investigative Committee.
“Both flight data recorders have been found. Investigators are examining them. Then they will be handed over to decoding experts,” the official spokesman of Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said.
A criminal case over possible flight safety violations has been opened in connection with the Vnukovo plane crash. The preliminary cause of the TU-204 accident is pilots’ error, Markin added.
The incident took place at around 16:35 local time (12:35 GMT). Preliminary reports say the jet, which belongs to Russian low-cost airline Red Wings, crashed after taking a second landing attempt. It rolled out from the runway into Kievskoye Highway, fell into three pieces and caught fire. The fire area of 100 square meters was extinguished by firefighters, officials said.
Media allege that Vnukovo firefighting cars were on repair so the first emergency crews appeared on the scene no earlier than 50 minutes after the blaze broke out.
The circumstances of the incident are being clarified. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered to set up a special investigation group to look into the accident.
Earlier, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry confirmed that the plane had to make a forced landing.

Adolf Hitler praying statue causes controversy in Warsaw

VoidSnake: Now back to my hibernation...zzzzzzz

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/9770081/Adolf-Hitler-praying-statue-causes-controversy-in-Warsaw.html

The work, "HIM" by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, has drawn many visitors since it was installed last month. It is visible only from a distance, and the artist doesn't make explicit what Hitler is praying for, but the broader point, organisers say, is to make people reflect on the nature of evil.

One Jewish advocacy group, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, this week called the statue's placement "a senseless provocation which insults the memory of the Nazis' Jewish victims."

"As far as the Jews were concerned, Hitler's only 'prayer' was that they be wiped off the face of the earth," the group's Israel director, Efraim Zuroff, said in a statement.

However, many others are praising the artwork, saying it has a strong emotional impact. And organisers defend putting it on display in the former ghetto.

Fabio Cavallucci, director of the Centre for Contemporary Art, which oversaw the installation, said, "There is no intention from the side of the artist or the centre to insult Jewish memory."

Russia puts end to U.S. adoptions

CNN on the Russian bill

President Putin has signed a bill preventing American families from adopting Russian children. According to CNN, the new legislation may be seen as a retaliation for the so called "Magnitsky Act", which was signed by President Obama on December 14. The Magnitsky Act is designed to impose "U.S. travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia", and is named after a Russian lawyer who died 2009 in a detention center in Moscow. Russian officials however, are citing concerns over maltreatment of U.S.-adopted Russian children as the cause for signing the new bill. Meanwhile, UNICEF are stressing the importance of finding alternatives to the institutionalization of Russian orphans; "'including permanent foster care, domestic adoption and inter-country adoption'". It is unclear whether children already selected for adoption will be allowed to move to the U.S.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Polandball News!

S&P cuts Cyprus rating to CCC+

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/327305/s-p-cuts-cyprus-rating-to-ccc

Standard and Poor's slashed Cyprus' credit rating Thursday by two notches to CCC+, saying the eurozone member was facing increasing financial pressure, with bailout negotiations still unfinished.

"With the government's financing options increasingly limited -- coupled with what we view as the hesitant attitude of Cyprus' eurozone partners toward sharing the cost of a severe banking crisis -- we view the risk of a sovereign debt default as considerable and rising," the ratings agency said.
The S&P downgrade puts Cyprus even further into junk territory. It also issued a negative outlook.

Drugged bears used as test pilots during Cold War

io9 on the flying bears

The "science" blog io9 has exposed information about testing practices used by the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War. When developing the B-58 Hustler, a supersonic jet bomber used between 1962-70, black bears from the U.S. and the Himalayas were used to test the functionality of the plane´s capsule ejection system. The bear, presumably not actually piloting the plane, would sit in the capsule which would then be ejected from the plane with a rocket engine and subsequently fall to the ground with a parachute. Having first used unemployed people as test subjects in ground-based trials, drugged bears and chimps were used for high altitude testing, some of them suffering fractures and other internal injuries.

Russia demands action over UN helicopter downed in South Sudan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20824750

The helicopter was apparently shot down on Friday while on a reconnaissance mission in eastern Jonglei state.
The UN strongly condemned the "shooting down... of a clearly marked UN helicopter" by South Sudanese forces.
South Sudanese officials have given conflicting accounts of why the helicopter may have been downed.
"We call on the government of South Sudan to carry out the necessary investigation, punish the guilty and take every measure to guarantee that this never happens again," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Wallpaper: Nordic Christmas

Hello, readers! Here is another wallpaper for you to enjoy, hopefully you'll do so even if you're from Estonia. They can not into Nordic, but were happy to be invited to their Christmas party. I've made a few different versions based on the requests made to VoidSnake, if you want some other obscure aspect ratio, go ahead and ask. Downloads are beneath preview.

~ CineHeathen

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Wallpaper: Holiday Mayhem

Greetings everyone, as a bonus for the PolandBall News audience I have created a special holiday themed wallpaper for you to enjoy. A lot of effort and caffeine went into this and I hope you find it to your liking as much as I enjoyed creating it. A preview is shown at the end of this post with a link to download it, the resolution is 1920x1080, requests for other sizes can be made.

In terms of regular comic posts, my output will return to normal some days after Christmas day.

CineHeathen has also created one for you guys, so be expecting it.

-- VoidSnake

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Dozens dead, including 20 children, in one of the worst massacres in US history

http://rt.com/usa/news/shooting-reported-connecticut-school-085/


More than two dozen people, including as many as 20 children, have been killed during a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut outside of New York City early Friday.
Follow live updates here.
The total death toll now stands at 28, police say. This includes 20 children and six adults killed at the school, the suspected attacker and his mother killed at the second scene.
According to preliminary reports, a gunman opened fire inside of an office at Sandy Hook Elementary at around 9:40 a.m. Friday. Police have verified that the suspected shooter has been found dead on the scene.
Three weapons have been recovered from the slain gunman, reportedly identified by law enforcement as 20-year-old, Adam Lanza. Police say the suspect was the son of Nancy Lanza, a kindergarten teacher at Sandy Hook, who was also among the dead. Her body was found in their residence in Newton, a law enforcement source told CNN. The suspect’s older brother, Ryan, is being questioned by the authorities.
There also have been reports that guns used in the rampage were legally purchased and registered to the suspected shooter's mother.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that the school’s principal and psychologist are also among the deceased.

Both state and local police are still on the scene at Sandy Hook and the superintendent has ordered all schools in the district, both public and private, to be placed on lockdown. Lt. J. Paul Vance of the state police department said that both on-duty and off-duty officers responded to the emergency.
Sandy Hook, around 12 miles from the town of Danbury, CT, normally has around 600 students in grades kindergarten through four.
Mark Boughton, mayor of Danbury, tells CNN three victims have been sent to a hospital in his city in “very serious” condition, though he declined to comment on their age or identity.
Upon being appointed as principal of Sandy Hook in 2010, Dawn Hochsprung told the Newtown Bee, "I don't think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day.”
In an emotional statement on the shooting President Obama said the country's leaders must "take meaningful action" regardless of politics, in response to the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. The president had apparent difficulty speaking and used his index finger to wipe tears away from the corner of his eyes.
"The majority of those who died were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old," Obama said. "They had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of their own…"

North Korean satellite in orbit after rocket launch

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/13/north-korea-rocket-satellite.html

A satellite North Korea launched aboard a long-range rocket is orbiting normally, South Korean officials said Thursday, following a defiant liftoff that drew a wave of international condemnation.
Washington and its allies are pushing for punishment over the launch they say is nothing but a test of banned ballistic missile technology.
The launch of a three-stage rocket — similar in design to a model capable of carrying a nuclear-tipped warhead as far as California — raises the stakes in the international standoff over North Korea's expanding atomic arsenal. As Pyongyang refines its technology, its next step may be conducting its third nuclear test, experts warn.

Also in relation to:
http://polandball-news.blogspot.de/2012/12/americans-sign-petition-to-build-killer.html

Large goat burns in Sweden

The Local on the burning goat
Also: video

Last night (at midnight, local time) a straw goat was burned down in Gävle, Sweden. A big straw goat has been erected in the small town at Christmas every year since 1966. 35 of those goats, including the first as well as the latest one, has been burned down or otherwise sabotaged by citizens. The burning of the goat in Gävle is seen as something of a Christmas tradition by many, and its fate is a matter of national interest each year. This year´s goat survived an attempt to torch it the day it was inaugurated, but came to an unfortunate end on the late Wednesday evening at the hands of unknown arsonists.

EU Receives Nobel Peace Prize

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-receives-nobel-peace-prize-17922360

The European Union has received this year's Nobel Peace Prize in the Norwegian capital for promoting peace and human rights in Europe for six decades following the devastation of World War II.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and president of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz collected their Nobel diplomas and medals at a ceremony in Oslo's City Hall.
Prize committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland cited the 27-nation bloc for helping "a continent of war to becoming a continent of peace. In this process the European Union has figured most prominently."

Nurse who took prank call about royal Kate found dead

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/08/britain-royals-hospital-idUSL5E8N7A7O20121208

A nurse who answered a prank call at the London hospital that was treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate for morning sickness has been found dead, the hospital said on Friday, in a suspected suicide.

The death comes days after the King Edward VII hospital apologised for being duped by an Australian radio station and relaying details about Kate's condition which made headlines around the globe.

"It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha," John Lofthouse, the King Edward's chief executive told reporters outside the central London hospital.

"We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time."

Police said they had been called at 9:35 a.m. (0935 GMT) about a woman found unconscious at an address near the hospital. The woman was pronounced dead after ambulance staff arrived.

London Blitz: Bomb Sight interactive map created

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20637222

An interactive map showing the location of bombs dropped on London during World War II has been created.
It reveals the devastation caused by the Blitz over eight months.
The year-long project, called Bomb Sight, was devised by a team from the University of Portsmouth using data from the National Archives.

Dr Kate Jones, the University of Portsmouth geographer who devised the project, said: "When you look at these maps and see the proliferation of bombs dropped on the capital, it does illustrate the meaning of the word Blitz, which comes from the German meaning lightning.
"It seems astonishing that London survived the onslaught."

‘Tintin in the Congo’ not racist, Belgian court rules

http://www.france24.com/en/20121206-tintin-congo-not-racist-belgian-court-rules


“Tintin in the Congo” - a classic 1920s comic strip about Belgium's celebrated fictional boy reporter - is not racist, a Brussels court ruled on Wednesday.
The Brussels Appeals Court upheld a 2011 ruling against Congolese immigrant Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo and the Belgian Council of Black Associations, who wanted the book banned.
In 2010 Mbutu, who lives in Belgium, Congo’s former colonial ruler, said Tintin employed a little black helper who was seen as “stupid and without qualities”.
“It makes people think that blacks have not evolved,” he said.
In one scene, a black woman prostrates herself before Tintin, saying: “White man very great. White mister is big juju man.”
Alain Amici, lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the court in 2011: “The negative stereotypes portrayed in this book are still read by a significant number of children. They have an impact on their behaviour.”
Not so, said Brussels judges, for whom “Tintin in the Congo” is full of “gentle and candid humour”.

Swedish artist uses 'ashes from Holocaust victims'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20622289

Artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff said that he stole the ashes from the Majdanek camp during a visit in 1989.
The camp, now a museum in Poland, has called the alleged theft an "unimaginably barbaric act".
The artist said the ashes were mixed with water and used to paint a series of grey streaks in the small painting.
[...]
Salomon Schulman, a key figure in Sweden's Jewish community, told Swedish television that the art was "repulsive in the extreme", according to news website The Local.
Writing in the Sydsvenskan newspaper, Mr Schulman questioned whether it should be called art.
"Who knows, some of the ashes might come from some of my relatives," he wrote.

NATO occupies health clinic in Afghanistan

The Guardian on the hostile takeover
SR International; shorter article by Swedish public service radio

NATO-led ISAF troops invaded and vandalised a health clinic in Afghanistan in late October, before occupying it for several days. According to the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (which runs the clinic together with the Afghan health ministry), the American and Afghan soldiers held the staff captive and used the clinic as jail and for interrogations, among other things. The Swedish Committee are now accusing ISAF for breaking international law and acting in violation of the Geneva conventions. ISAF, on the other hand, are claiming that the takeover was "unintentional", to which the Swedish Committee are expressing disbelief as the signs around the clinic are "too clear for a mix-up to happen".

Americans sign petition to build killer ‘Star Wars’ space station

http://rt.com/usa/news/us-petition-death-star-418/


Marijuana, secession and now ‘Star Wars’: Thousands of Americans have signed yet another bizarre online White House petition, this one to “secure funding and resources” to build the ‘Death Star’ space station from the popular sci-fi film.
­“By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense,” the petition on the White House website reads.
The document, created on November 14 by a resident of Colorado, has already collected over 5,000 signatures. The petition needs around 20,000 more by December 14 for it to be formally reviewed by the White House staff.
The Death Star is the planet-destroying space station built by the Galactic Empire in the wildly popular sci-fi movie saga ‘Star Wars,’ directed by George Lucas. The franchise is adored by millions of fans around the world.
Earlier this year, students at Lehigh University in the US calculated the hypothetical cost of building a Death Star at $8.52 quadrillion – roughly 13,000 times the world’s GDP.
The White House’s petition platform, which allows anyone to offer suggestions to the government, is relatively new and was created to provide citizens with “new way to create or join the petition encouraging government to take action on the range of issues.”
The move has resulted in a cornucopia of bizarre petitions: Adopting the Gray Wolf to join the Bald Eagle as the national mascot; legalizing the use of magic mushrooms and mescaline; even to “shut down White House petitions, since they never get a sincere response… and are ultimately worthless.”
The most popular petition on the website so far calls for the peaceful secession of Texas, which has collected over 110,000 signatures.

Tycoon's builders knock down chateau 'by mistake'

http://www.smh.com.au/world/tycoons-builders-knock-down-chateau-by-mistake-20121206-2awwc.html

With its twin outside staircase and arched entrances, the Chateau de Bellevue was one of the most eye-catching sights in Yvrac, a wine-making village nestling among the famous vineyards of Bordeaux.

Beautiful, but tired and in need of repair when bought by Dmitry Stroskin, a Russian millionaire, the chateau received a renovation permit and was due to be restored to its former glory.

Instead, it was razed by a Polish building firm. Workmen were supposed to demolish only a separate smaller building in the grounds of the estate, but that is the only one still standing.

Villagers are furious about the "accident" and local authorities have opened an investigation.

Ex-Greek PM's mother linked to $550m Swiss account

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/03/greece-margaret-papandreou-swiss-account-allegations

Greece's civil war over naming and shaming suspected tax evaders intensified following the claim by police that former prime minister George Papandreou's octogenarian mother was behind a Swiss bank account of mutual funds worth $550m (£342m).
Allegations that US-born Margaret Papandreou was on the so-called "Lagarde list", identifying Greeks who had stockpiled fortunes in Switzerland, provoked uproar after two popular newspapers published the claims on Sunday.
Citing high-level officials at the crisis-hit country's financial crime squad, SDOE, the two weeklies, To Vima and Proto Thema, named Papandreou as the primary beneficiary of one of the biggest accounts on the list of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks with deposits in the Geneva branch of HSBC. The American issued a vehement denial. "Why such lies? Why such attacks? Is it because my family never served this country's interest groups?" she asked.

US Marines in Japan banned from drinking outside bases

http://www.china.org.cn/world/2012-12/03/content_27297331.htm

A severer ban on off-base drinking issued Sunday by U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) has now applied to all U. S. Marines across Japan, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Monday.

The U.S. forces in Okinawa said Monday that the order, which originally applied to bases in the Japan's southernmost prefecture, has now covered all U.S. Marine Corps personnel throughout the country, including bases in western Japan.

According to the order, all U.S. servicemen in Okinawa are banned from drinking at any hour of the day outside bases with the only exception of staying in their own homes.

Drinking and selling liquor are also banned within U.S. bases from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. local time, and anyone who leaves bases after sunset and is found to have drunk will be prevented from leaving their bases.

On Nov. 30, a U.S. serviceman was arrested by Japanese police for drunk driving which injured two people as his car crashed into three other vehicles in Okinawa.

As of now, drinking has become a troublesome issue of the U.S. forces in Japan as increasing crimes and offenses have been committed by drunken U.S. soldiers.

Rocket rethink: Moscow advises Pyongyang against launch

http://rt.com/politics/moscow-north-korea-russia-missile-pyongyang-116/


Russia has urged North Korea to revise its decision on a satellite rocket launch scheduled for later in the month, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement says.
While acknowledging the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s right to “peaceful space exploration,” Moscow has called on the DPRK to “revise its decision on the rocket launch," according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry on Monday.
The Foreign Ministry said Russia “regretted” the announcement by the North Korean Committee for Space Technology that it would launch a satellite rocket in the period December 10-22, the statement says.
"We have drawn the attention of the North Korean side many times to the impermissibility of ignoring UN Security Council Resolution 1874, which unequivocally prohibits the DPRK from launching rockets employing ballistic technology," the ministry said on its webpage.
As a member of the United Nations, North Korea is obliged the fulfill UN Security Council resolutions that are mandatory for all member-nations of the international body, the Foreign Ministry stressed.
The Russian statement took a diplomatic approach to Pyongyang’s determination to test rockets, holding out promises of “international cooperation” in the event that North Korea canceled rocket launches.
"Russia, together with its partners in the six-party talks, is ready to continue efforts to settle problems of the Korean peninsula,” the statement read. Talks with the international community could “result in the cancellation of sanction restrictions with regard to Pyongyang,” as well as “the establishment of conditions for the full-scale involvement of DPRK in international cooperation in various spheres.”
North Korea could benefit from “peaceful space exploration and nuclear power engineering cooperation” if it agrees to cooperate with the international community, the ministry said.

Vatican unveils Pope's Twitter account @pontifex

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20581755

A spokesman said Pope Benedict XVI wanted to "reach out to everyone" with tweets translated into eight languages.
The first tweet from his account, whose name means both pontiff and builder of bridges, is expected on 12 December.
Last year, the Pope sent his first tweet last year from a Vatican account to launch the Holy See's news information portal.
"We are going to get a spiritual message. The Pope is not going to be walking around with a Blackberry or an iPad and no-one is going to be putting words into the Pope's mouth," Greg Burke, senior media advisor to the Vatican said.
"He will tweet what he wants to tweet," he added, though the leader of the world's 1.2 billion or so Roman Catholics is expected to sign off, rather than write, each individual tweet himself.

Unicorn lair 'discovered' in North Korea

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/30/unicorn-lair-discovered-north-korea

In what appears to be a genuine world exclusive, the inimitable Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has now broken the incredible news that archaeologists in Pyongyang have discovered a unicorn's lair.
Or rather, the report says that they have "recently reconfirmed" the lair of one of the unicorns ridden by the ancient Korean King Tongmyong, founder of a kingdom which ruled parts of China and the Korean peninsula from the the 3rd century BC to 7th century AD.
The KCNA goes on to state that the location happens to be 200 metres from a temple in the North Korean capital, adding: "A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair."

Spain reveals shipwreck treasure

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20561014

Spanish authorities have revealed some of the treasures from a ship that sank more than 200 years ago.

The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes galleon sank off Portugal's coast near the straits of Gibraltar in 1804 with more than 500,000 silver coins.
Spain won a five-year legal dispute to claim ownership for the treasures found by a US firm.
Only a small portion of the treasure, estimated to be worth $500m (£310m; 385m euros) has been displayed.

Building tensions: Israel authorizes construction of 3,000 new settlements

http://rt.com/news/israel-settlement-expansion-palestine-991/

Israeli authorities will allow the construction of 3,000 new settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The decision follows Thursday’s UN General Assembly vote to upgrade Palestinians’ diplomatic status to ‘non-member observer state’.
Celebrations within Palestine that the UN has implicitly recognized its right to statehood might be short-lived according to the latest Israeli media reports.
Apart from approving construction on 3,000 new housing units in the occupied territories, Israel’s “security cabinet,” a forum of nine top Israeli ministers lead by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will also go ahead with planning procedures for another 1,000 housing units in the area E1 that connects Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim.

Advent calendar: 1st of December

The advent calendar updates daily at this page.

Japanese PM cancels trip to Russia because ‘Putin not feeling well’

(this is the true reason why polish president crashed in Smolensk)

http://rt.com/politics/putin-health-problems-peskov-985/

The Kremlin has denied rumors about President Putin’s ill health and said the visit by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was not delayed since its date has never actually been determined. However, the trip might take place in January.
“We hope that the visit will take place and proceed from the assumption that it will take place in the second half of January," Vladimir Putin’s press-secretary Dmitry Peskov told Itar-Tass.
After Putin’s meeting with Noda in Vladivostok at the APEC summit, several options for the visit were considered.
"As far as I know, until the last moment the opportunity for making the visit in the second half of January has been discussed," Peskov added.
Earlier on Friday, the Japanese PM said he postponed his trip to Moscow over Putin’s “health problems.”
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov called such “leaks” from the Japanese side about the trip dates “unethical”.
“It’s not appropriate to talk about this,” he stated. He said he has been dealing with organization of the visit since October, but the agreeing of possible dates is a closed diplomatic process. But since there was a “leak” anyway, he said, the sides have so far agreed about January.
The talks about Putin’s health started earlier this week after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko unexpectedly decided to dwell on this subject in his interview with Reuters news agency.
"I know he has this problem. He loves judo. He lifted a guy, threw him, and twisted his spine," Lukashenko said. He added that he had suggested Putin play ice hockey with him, but Putin had to refuse.
Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on Lukashenko’s statement, but earlier he acknowledged that Putin really had had “an ordinary sports trauma,” without specifying when and where it had been received.
The head of the Kremlin Administration, Sergey Ivanov, confirmed on Friday that the Russian president had “a light” sports trauma.
“Don’t worry, he is in good physical condition, and he will continue to do sports,” Ivanov told journalists. “The president’s schedule for December, I think, proves that everything is fine with his health,” he added.
Dmitry Medvedev stressed earlier that the rumors were greatly exaggerated.
“He takes a lot of physical exercise. This is what he does in fact. So he is alive and well, and thank God everything is fine with him,” the prime minister stated in an interview with Finnish media.

Immigrants Help Drunk Politician off the Ground, Then he Calls Police on Them for Stealing a Backpack That he Left at the Bar

Disclaimer: Comic drawn by another artist who might join us soon.

http://theintelhub.com/2012/11/30/immigrants-help-drunk-politician-off-the-ground-then-he-calls-police-on-them-for-stealing-a-backpack-that-he-left-at-the-bar/

This week in Sweden, a politician named Lars Isovaara has come under media scrutiny after a binge drinking episode where he called the police on a group of immigrants who helped him back into his wheelchair when he fell down drunk on the sidewalk while on his way home.  In reality, the politician had left his things at the bar in his stupor and he also seems to have some deep seeded animosity towards immigrants, which may be the reason behind the call to police.
Much to his dismay one of the police who arrived on the scene was actually an immigrant, and they [the police] were treated very harshly by him as a result.  The police reported that Isovaara was insulting the officer that he took issue with, even spitting at him and making growling noises.

Soviet soldiers' botched re-burials 60 years ago 'monstrous', claims Russian TV

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/120002,Soviet-soldiers-botched-reburials-60-years-ago-monstrous-claims-Russian-TV

The Vremya news magazine on Channel One in Russia reported on Wednesday evening that when Polish authorities decided to dig up the remains of Russian soldiers who died fighting Nazi German forces in Kostrzyn nad Odra western Poland, at the end of WW II, so as to re-bury them in large cemeteries around the country, they did so by only partially removing all the body parts.
A research dig in October this year found that 102 out of 110 bodies had been re-buried with their skulls or other parts missing.
“On the first day [of the dig] we found 30 bodies. In total, there were 110, of which only eight were complete,” Polish researcher Zbigniew Romanowski told Russian TV.
The Russian news programme claimed the “barbaric” exhumations showed a “monstrous lack of respect for the dead” and reported that Russian authorities had called on Poland to give a full explanation as to why the bodies of “soldiers who liberated Poland from Nazi Germany” were shown so little respect.

French students sue Twitter, call to name and shame anti-Semitic users

http://rt.com/news/french-students-sue-twitter-750/


A French Jewish student union has opened a lawsuit against Twitter that could force the site to hand over the names of anti-Semitic tweeters. Recently the social forum has increasingly been used as a platform to disseminate extremist views.
The Jewish Student Union of France (UEJF) has taken legal action to discover the identity of those social media users who had posted tweets under the hashtag #unbonjuif (#agoodjew) in October.
They seek to prosecute the offending parties under anti-hate speech laws over thousands of offensive images, holocaust jokes and inflammatory messages. A court hearing has been scheduled for January 8 in Paris to deal with the lawsuit.
Although Twitter emphasized that it does not mediate content, the social media site caved under pressure from the student group and consented to remove anti-Semitic tweets flagged by the UEJF. Additionally, it wiped tweets with similar offensive messages about Muslims.

“If we are alerted to content that may be in violation of our terms of service, we will investigate each report and respond according to the policies and procedures outlined in our support pages,” said Twitter in a statement.
At the same time, the company underlined that “we reserve the right at all times (but will not have an obligation) to remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services.”
The tweets in question are thought to have been sent from around 60 different computers last month.
The UEJF’s lawyer decried Twitter for not taking the matter seriously when it was initially raised back in October. The association’s president, Jonathon Hayoun, attacked the social media site for “not taking the necessary measures against racism and anti-Semitism when the situation in France has never been so serious.”

Hungary anti-Semitism: MP condemned over 'list of Jews'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20510648

During a debate on the conflict in the Gaza Strip, Mr Gyongyosi, deputy group leader of Jobbik, said it was time to "assess how many MPs and government members are of Jewish origin and who presents a national security risk to Hungary".

Jobbik, an opposition party purporting to protect Hungarian values and interests, also has three MEPs in the European Parliament. The party has been linked to uniformed vigilantes who say they are safeguarding public order in areas with large Roma (Gypsy) communities.

The statement from a government spokesman on Tuesday said the government took "the strictest possible action against every form of racism and anti-Semitic behaviour" and did "everything in order to ensure that malicious voices incompatible with European norms are driven back".

Floods sweep UK, killing 4 and damaging hundreds of homes

Snake: Welcome CineHeathen, and I cannot draw ducks orz

https://rt.com/news/floods-hit-britain-damage-610/

Four people were killed and 901 homes were damaged by raging floodwaters across Britain. The country’s south has been spared the worst of the heavy rains and high winds, as the midlands, west and north brace for the brunt of the storm.

Over 500 flood alerts were issued during the last few days for England, Wales and Scotland.

Four people died over the weekend, and one person was declared missing.

A 21-year-old woman, reportedly homeless, was killed in Exeter on Saturday when a tree fell on her tent. Two other men were injured in the incident. In Cambridgeshire, a 70-year-old man was pulled underwater when his car plunged into a swollen river that evening. A bystander dragged him to the shore, but the man was later pronounced dead by paramedics.

After nearly 200 years, Mexico may make the name official

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/22/world/americas/mexico-name-change/index.html

It's the one fact about Mexico that you probably didn't know. The country's name is not really Mexico, at least not officially. After gaining independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico officially became the "United Mexican States."

The American independence movement had inspired Mexican leaders of that era and since Mexico, in fact, also was a territory composed of states, the name stuck and became official in 1824.

But the reality is the official name is used only by Mexican officials who deal with diplomatic protocol and official documents pertaining to international relations. For the rest of Mexicans -- and the world -- the country is simply known as Mexico.

That's why outgoing Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday sent to the Mexican Congress a piece of legislation to change the country's name officially to simply Mexico.

UN says Japan is underestimating nuclear fallout risks

http://rt.com/news/un-fukushima-underestimate-nuclear-626/

A UN official charged with investigating Japan’s handling of the health risks from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 says the authorities are not doing enough to protect the population from effects of the accident.
Anand Grover, a UN special rapporteur on the right to health, says the Japanese government is not screening enough of its people, and is being overly optimistic with radiation exposure thresholds.
Grover has just conducted an independent on-site report for the government.
Currently, only residents of the Fukushima area surrounding the power plant that failed after the tsunami and earthquake caused its reactors to melt down in March 2011 are given medical screening. Only a quarter of the region’s 2 million people have been tested so far.
Grover believes that the check-ups should be extended throughout the North East of Japan, as radiation may have spread in an unpredictable pattern.

Fire kills 14 at German workshop for disabled

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20494988

The blaze occurred at the centre run by the Caritas charity in the Black Forest town of Titisee-Neustadt, some 40km (25 miles) east of Freiburg.
About 50 people were believed to be in the building when the fire started.
The cause is unclear, but local media reports that there may have been an explosion in a store room.
[...]
More than 100 firefighters backed by helicopters tackled the blaze - some, wearing breathing apparatus, braved the thick smoke to rescue a number of people trapped inside.
But police confirmed that not every one made it out.
"We can tell you that we have 14 dead. The process of identification is ongoing," local police spokesman Karl-Heinz Schmid told N24 television. He said it would "take days" for the investigation to get to the cause of the fire.

Update 27 Nov: Fire was apparently caused by a gas stove.

North Korean Assassin Armed With Unconventional Weapons

CNN on the North Korean weaponry.

A South Korean activist was targeted for assassination by North Korea for sending anti-NK propaganda over the border, with balloons. The assassin was found out before he could complete his task and his weapons have now been revealed to the public; two poison pens and a flashlight loaded with three bullets.

Dhaka Bangladesh clothes factory fire kills more than 100

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20482273

The blaze broke out late on Saturday in the multi-floor Tazreen Fashion factory in the Ashulia district on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.
Some people died after jumping from the building to escape the flames.
It is unclear what caused the fire, which started on the ground floor trapping many victims in the factory.

Wealthy Singapore ranks as world's most stoic nation

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/23/world/asia/singapore-emotions-gallup/index.html

The most emotionless society is Singapore's despite its reputation for being among the world's richest, a new survey has revealed.

Gallup looked at 150 countries where about 1,000 residents were asked whether they experienced five positive and five negative emotions a lot during the course of a day. The results were based on interviews taken over a three-year period.

Questions included whether people felt well-rested or enjoyment, smiled and laughed or felt worry, sadness, stress or anger.

The 36% in Singapore who reported feeling anything is the lowest in the world, the Washington-based research and analytics organization found. This figure is an aggregation of data from 2009-2011; in Gallup's latest measure taken last year, just 30% of those surveyed in Singapore felt anything at all.

Deaths in dumpster expose plight of China's street kids

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/21/world/asia/china-boys-dead-dumpster/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Eight Chinese officials have been fired or suspended after five boys died in a rubbish bin after suffocating on fumes from charcoal they burned to stay warm, according to state-run media.

The bodies of the boys, aged between 9 and 13, were found by a trash collector on Friday in Bijie in China's southwestern Guizhou province, Xinhua reported.

They are believed to have died the night before, as rain fell and temperatures plunged to as low as six degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit).

First toilet theme park opens in South Korea

http://www.3news.co.nz/First-toilet-theme-park-opens-in-South-Korea/tabid/420/articleID/277909/Default.aspx

There's a theme park for everything. What Disneyland did for mice, Napoleonland did for Napoleon, and you can even watch the crucifixion of Jesus at Holy Land in Florida.

But here's one to rival them all.

At the theme park in South Korea, they don't just love the humble toilet; they've gone completely potty for it.

“I think it could change someone's perception, particularly if they're a little uptight or embarrassed about toilets or because it makes them laugh,” says American tourist Malissa Sheets-Nygard.

According to the internet, we'll all spend around three years of our lives sitting on the can – this being the longest relationship many of us will ever have.

Thieves Steal 18 Tons of Chocolate

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/thieves-steal-18-tons-chocolate-17793857

Thieves with a huge sweet-tooth have driven off with 18 tons of chocolate in Austria.
State broadcaster ORF says on its website that the driver of a Slovak tractor trailer loaded the 33 pallets of milk chocolate onto his vehicle from the producer in the western town of Bludenz earlier this week — supposedly to deliver an order from a company in the Czech Republic. But, police in the westernmost province of Vorarlberg say that the license plates and papers of the Slovak truck and driver were apparently counterfeit.
The trip should have taken less than a day, but as of Friday — four days after the truck was loaded — the delivery was still outstanding.

EU nations far apart on budget as summit rolls on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20459398

The talks had continued late into Thursday night.
A revised proposal from summit chairman Herman Van Rompuy keeps the spending ceiling in place but reallocates funds.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters in Brussels on Friday it was not "a time for tinkering" with the EU's 2014-2020 budget, and "unaffordable spending" should be cut.
He held talks with French President Francois Hollande and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she doubts the summit will reach a deal and Mr Hollande has also cautioned that an agreement might not be possible.
The chances of success do not look great, the BBC's Matthew Price reports from Brussels.

Spoof charity single asks Africans to donate radiators to Norway

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/19/radi-aid-charity-single-africa

Who ever said Norwegians don't have a sense of humor? Just in time for the holidays, a Norwegian group calling itself Radi-Aid has launched an appeal to ship radiators from Africa to Norway. Their cause is the plight of freezing children during Norway's harsh winter months. It's complete with a new music video, and incorporates all the right tropes (see here, here and here) — some people might miss the satire.

These people aren't playing around though. Their effort is a serious critique of misguided development, and of the Western media coverage which often accompanies it.

FBI had a 'classified investigation' open on PETA

http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-fbi-investigation-peta-093/

The FBI conducted a top-secret investigation into the People for Ethical Treatment for Animals, or PETA, according to the Stratfor intelligence agency.
In emails sent through Stratfor in 2009 and compromised last year by hacktivists aligned with the loose-knit Anonymous movement, Fred Burton, the vice president for intelligence at Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, acknowledges that the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation has waged a clandestine probe into the animal rights group.
The PrivacySOS.org website published a blog last week shining light on one of those Stratfor emails hacked by Anonymous that has since been published by the WikiLeaks whistleblower site. In it, Burton cites a classified investigation carried out by the FBI in reference to an email from Coca Cola asking for intelligence about PETA that could be put to use.
“Coca-Cola just sent me a long list of questions regarding PETA/Animal Activism and the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver,” Stratfor’s Anya Alfano writes in an email from June 2009. “I'm not entirely clear on how much we can task the public policy group at this point--is there any guidance you can give me
on that front? Coke has asked for a short teleconference with one of our analysts to discuss this issue…”
According to Alfano’s email, representatives for Coca Cola were curious about any methodology and planning behind PETA-led activism and even inquires as to if anarchical “non-PETA hangers-on” from others groups, such as the Animal Liberation Front, could pose a problem.
Responding to Alfano’s email, Burton writes, “The FBI has a classified investigation on PETA operatives. I'll see what I can uncover.”

'Ice cream' murder woman gets life sentence in Austria

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20453491

Estibaliz Carranza, who has joint Spanish-Mexican citizenship, will now be put in a secure mental institution.
The 34-year-old shot dead her ex-husband in 2008, and killed her lover while he slept two years later.
She cut up the bodies with a chainsaw and buried them in concrete in the shop's basement in Austria's capital.

Chinese company plans to build world's tallest building in only 90 days

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-06/15/chinese-skyscraper-built-in-90-days

Broad Sustainable Building (BSB) claims the 838m-tall SkyCity One will be assembled in the southern Chinese city of Changsha from prefabricated materials built offsite. The building will be 10m taller than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the tallest manmade structure on earth.
SkyCity One, with a rather imposing design, will contain 1,610,000m² across 220 storeys, containing a mix of residential, commercial and retail space and capacity for between 70,000 to 120,000 people.

Polish man 'planned to blow up parliament'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20405741

A 45-year-old academic researcher has been arrested on suspicion of planning to detonate four tonnes of explosives in a vehicle at the parliament building during a budget debate, they say.
He has been charged with planning a terrorist attack and faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

[...]
The man's motives were described however as "nationalistic, xenophobic and anti-Semitic" in character.
He is described by Polish officials as having been inspired by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway last year, most of them teenagers at a Labour Party youth camp.

Moody's downgrades France's credit rating

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20408406

Senior Economist Diego Iscaro from IHS Global has said Moody's downgrading of France's debt was not unexpected.
Speaking to the BBC he said, "It's obviously not good news but i don't think it's terrible news either."
Moody's downgraded France's debt from Aaa to Aa1, and kept its negative outlook, meaning it could be cut again.