Al-Qaeda: the second coming
The News Review:
- Al-Qaeda: the second coming
- Expert View: Iran’s talk is full of fire but its economy is…
- How does the biotech garden grow? Not well
- Hitting all the right buttons
- Grounds for optimism
- Cisco increases its network coverage
Al-Qaeda: the second coming
Guardian Unlimited – Mar 11, 2007
‘It’s still amateur. ‘But it can be horribly effective. According to France’s Chaboud, the largest source of danger ‘is the home-grown extremist’. Belgian officials point to a recently arrested teenager who had ‘gone from no engagement at all to full commitment to a suicide attack’ in the space of a few weeks ‘alone with a computer in his bedroom’. British officials talk of suspects so young that ’11 September is virtually a childhood memory’ being radicalised by ‘slick, effective’ propaganda and contacts with older people. ‘Teenagers’ bedrooms are difficult to penetrate,’ said one UK official. Group thinking plays a major role.
Expert View: Iran’s talk is full of fire but its economy is…
The Independent – Independent – Mar 11, 2007
9 per cent but the current rate is thought to be at least 20 per cent, and rising. In certain foods it is closer to 40 per cent and some fresh vegetables are disappearing in Tehran. A large part of this economic crisis is home-grown but the tightening of American sanctions must give the economic planners even greater head-aches. The US has become much more adept at using its financial muscle to persuade non-American banks to withdraw financing from its chosen enemies. This is what lay behind the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, being caught bringing $35m across the Egyptian border into Gaza. Since September, the US has gradually cut off access to the American financial system for the two leading Iranian banks, Sederet and Sepha. Germany’s Commerzbank suddenly announced it would stop handling Iranian dollar transactions.
How does the biotech garden grow? Not well
The Independent – Independent – Mar 11, 2007
“The fact that we can get the best people in from around the world to work in the UK is an enormous strength,” Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the opening of a new research centre by American giant Amgen earlier this month. “Now is the moment for a big push” to improve the environment for this vital industry, he added. But Sir Chris argued: “You are not going to see [home-grown] Amgens in the UK. It’s just not going to happen. There’s no point in flogging a dead horse. “The dearth of early-stage funding – vital in the creation of new companies as others go out of business or are bought – starts a vicious cycle which leads to companies being starved of the funds needed to develop. That decreases investor returns and leads to the abandonment of the sector as venture capitalists look for more hospitable places to plant their money.
Hitting all the right buttons
Telegraph.co.uk – Mar 11, 2007
Six months ago, no one could have envisaged that two European fighters would capture the attention of the Western Hemisphere. Yet a Dane and a Welshman will have America watching with bated breath when the fight is televised live on cable giants HBO in English as well as on HBO Latino in Spanish. Back home, a comprehensive victory for Calzaghe and a win for Hatton later in the year will leave commentators and fans arguing the toss over which man will be leaving the greater legacy. And with Amir Khan developing in the wings and due to defend his Commonwealth lightweight title on Dec 8 in Bolton, the recent criticism that British boxing is out for the count is nonsense. On Friday, Londoner David Haye fights at cruiserweight against Jean-Mark Mormeck in Paris, which could see another rising Briton bring home two world belts. Combine that with the unprecedented England team success at the Amateur International Boxing Association World Championships in Chicago this week and the nation can boast a new generation of fighters waiting in the wings.
Grounds for optimism
Telegraph.co.uk – Mar 11, 2007
“I’ve already been able to help a few schools set up little patches of garden,” he says. “And I’ve been working with one Lambeth school that has managed to scrounge a tiny, thin strip of land from some developers. They are now cultivating their own vegetables, and cooking them for lunch. “Home-grown potatoes in the middle of town! It just shows what can be done. ” GREEN SHOOTS What JAGS girls learn from their garden:Insect identificationResident invertebrates include dragonflies, damselflies, mosquitoes and waterboatmen. Orders of plantsFlowerbeds are divided along strict botanical lines. Vegetable supportCabbage stalks are whittled into walking sticks.
Cisco increases its network coverage
Telegraph.co.uk – Mar 11, 2007
Perhaps he was still in apology mode. And yet, even here, the road for multinationals is as potholed as the physical ones outside. Wages are rising more quickly here than anyone can remember, and competition from India’s fast-growing home-grown IT services firms is every bit as attractive as the chance to work for a Fortune 500 tech company or, in Britain’s case, a BT. A rapidly-appreciating rupee is another cause for concern. So cows ‘n’ all, Cisco’s subsequent announcement this week that it would invest billions of dollars in procurement in China alongside other initiatives such as a green technology centre was a great way for him to hedge the company’s Asian bets. ‘Chindia’, as the economists have come to call it, might be a neat way of drawing together these two giant, fascinating national tankers, but the resemblances, surely, are only skin-deep. GOD denies triad linksAnd you thought ‘fcuk’ was a controversial high street slogan.