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Alert 5 should be on everyone's morning reading list!

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Les visages des équipages sont à peine visibles dans les cockpits haut perchés. Dans le bruit assourdissant des moteurs, cinq immenses Pélicans bicolores suivent les ordres des techniciens au sol. Des hommes en combinaison orange descendent maintenant des appareils. Pompiers du ciel en appui de leurs homologues au sol, voilà d’authentiques combattants du feu : les pilotes de Canadair CL 415 de la Sécurité Civile.

via Navy Times. “I think this is going to revolutionize where we are with expeditionary strike groups,” Swift said. “The three-ship PAC SAG that [destroyers] Decatur, Momsen and Spruance are part of...

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Le président d'honneur exclu du FN raconte avec moult détails qu'il était nu au soleil, à Cannes, le lendemain de la catastrophe nucléaire de Tchernobyl. Il aurait immédiatement senti que quelque chose clochait, assure-t-il dans son journal de bord.

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Belgium is updating its precautions for dealing with nuclear accidents.

Health Minister Maggie De Block has reviewed current rules on the distribution of iodine pills from 20km from the epicenter of an accident to 100km. That is in effect the Belgian population as a whole, the Minister explained.

But, there is no reason to worry. In joining Germany and the Netherlands in extraordinary measures to deal with a nuclear accident, Belgium is simply updating its readiness plans.

According to Minister De Bock, this is a reaction to the lessons learned in March 2011 in Fukushima rather than a reaction to concerns raised by Germany and the Netherlands regarding the safety of Belgian nuclear reactors.

Belgium is reflecting on the lessons learned by a nuclear accident triggered by a quake and a subsequent tsunami, which leads policy makers to the conclusion that Iodine tablets must be distributed in a bigger radius from the highly implausible accident, the energy regulator assures the public.

Residents of the region around Fukushima were indeed handed iodine pills after the accident, which provides some protection against radioactive iodine and, therefore, thyroid cancer. Other radioactive elements of course will remain active.

On April 20th, the German government asked Belgium to shut down two nuclear reactors citing security concerns. The German Environment Minister, Jochen Flasbarth, said that this was indeed an unprecedented request, but it reflects serious concerns. German authorities are not satisfied the two reactors are safe. Belgian authorities are completely satisfied that the two reactors are safe.

Concerns by Germans and Dutch focus on Tihange-2 and Doel-3 atomic plants. They were put back in operation in November 2015, after being closed for 20 months pending a safety probe. Belgium’s regulator AFCN stands by the view that the two reactors are safe, but they would work with German counterparts to address concerns Bloomberg reports. It is unclear whether such fears have been addressed.

What is clear is that the Netherlands reviewed its policy on iodine tablets in March, so that pregnant women and minors are given the pills within 100km of the Borssele and Doel reactors.

The German city of Aachen, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, keeps in store 300,000 iodine tablets to ward off thyroid cancer. The city is pursuing litigation action against the reactors.

And Belgium is now taking its own precautionary measures.

Belgium has planned to gradually phase out its nuclear sector by 2025. Until that time, Electrabel, plans to make the most out of its assets. Nuclear power provides 50% of Belgium’s domestically produced electricity.  The two reactors in question are operated by Engie, Elactrabel’s Belgian subsidiary. The two reactors currently produce 14% of Belgium’s electricity.

(BBC, Bloomberg, DW)

The post Belgium prepares for a nuclear accident, but there’s nothing to worry about appeared first on New Europe.

Représenter la France durant une compétition sportive internationale: voilà ce qui attend le sergent Jonathan, actuellement en poste au cabinet du général Francis Pollet, commandant l’École de l’air sur la base aérienne 701 de Salon-de-Provence.

Azem Syla, an MP from the ruling party in Kosovo, handed himself into the police at the Vermice crossing border on Friday to face corruption charges. 

Businesspeople in Bosnia's Serb-dominated entity say it is not surprising that investors remain wary of the entity when even power supplies are so difficult and pricey to get. 

DRAFT REPORT on EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Anna Elżbieta Fotyga

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

DRAFT REPORT on EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Anna Elżbieta Fotyga

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Két látogatást is tesz Ferenc pápa idén a konfliktusoktól sújtott kaukázusi régióba: június 24-26. között Örményországot, szeptember 30. és október 2. között pedig Grúziát és Azerbajdzsánt keresi fel – közölte a Vatikán.

Utoljára II. János Pál látogatott Örményországba 2001-ben, az örményeknek a kereszténységhez való csatlakozása 1700. évfordulóján. A katolikus egyházfő akkor az oszmán birodalom végnapjaiban az örmények ellen elkövetett népirtásra emlékező jereváni emlékműnél is imádkozott.

Ferenc pápa tavaly április 12-én, a Szent Péter-bazilikában az örmények 1915-ös legyilkolásának 100. évfordulója alkalmából bemutatott örmény rítusú misén népirtásnak nevezte az egy évszázaddal korábban történteket. Ezt követően Törökország visszahívta szentszéki nagykövetét, akit idén februárban küldött vissza Rómába.

Ferenc pápa és II.Karekin örmény kathoiikosz

A tervezett látogatás részben a régióban székelő ortodox egyházfők meghívására vezethető vissza. Ferenc pápa a katolikus egyház és a keleti ortodoxok közti kapcsolatok javítására törekszik. Mindhárom kaukázusi országban nagyon kevés római katolikus él. Az azeriek 95 százaléka muzulmán, a grúzok több mint 80 százaléka ortodox keresztény, az örmények több mint 90 százaléka pedig az örmény apostoli egyház követője.

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In an interview published by the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter on Friday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warns that Russia will be scaling up “military-technical” measures against Sweden if Stockholm moves closer to NATO.

“It is every country’s right to decide the arrangements for their safety, but one must understand that if the military infrastructure closer to Russia’s borders , then we will of course take the necessary military-technical measures. Nothing personal in it, it is just pure business,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov was clear that if Sweden moved from neutrality to NATO relations would change, not because Sweden would be seen as an aggressor but because its military infrastructure would be integrated with NATO’s supreme command.

The nature of measures to be taken were not specified.

Responding to criticism of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Lavrov argued that that was a direct response to an “armed coup d’etat in Kiev.”

He went on to accuse Foreign minister Margot Wallström to have opened a window to ”Russofobia,” not least by joining economic sanctions against Russia. Defiantly, he said that Russia did not need the rest of the world.

“I just want to say that now we can only rely on ourselves , we have all that is needed . Thankfully left God and our ancestors us a country can be self-sufficient,” Lavrov said.

This is not the first time Moscow has issued stark warning against Stockholm’s closer relations with NATO. In September, Russia’s ambassador to Sweden, Viktor Tatarintsev, was invited to explain a Russian Foreign Ministry warning that if Sweden were to join NATO there would be “consequences” and “countermeasures.”

At the time, the Swedish Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom, stated that “we don’t think anyone should be threatening us.” The ruling Social Democratic Party in Sweden has traditionally favored a distance from the Alliance or non-membership. But, Swedish support for NATO membership has been surging. The Swedish opposition too has been rethinking its defense policy, including the Centre Party that moved from its traditional position of neutrality in favor of joining the alliance in August 2015.

Funding of the armed services has increased as have violations of Swedish airspace by Russian jet fighters. At the heart of the argument is Article V and commitment to collective mobilization, that is, a deterrent that Stockholm is considering increasingly useful.

The post Lavrov warns Sweden to stay clear of NATO appeared first on New Europe.

Élve a párttól kapott felhatalmazásával, Vona Gábor, a Jobbik elnöke igyekszik kiszorítani a Jobbik vezetéséből a szélsőséges alelnököket, köztük például Vona Gábort. Új embereket próbál Bővebben ...

Les tarifs d'itinérance ("roaming" en anglais) sont des coûts supplémentaires appliqués par les opérateurs lors d'une utilisation de son téléphone mobile à l'étranger (appels, SMS, utilisation d'internet). Ces coûts, plafonnés au sein de l'Union européenne, diminuent à nouveau le 30 avril 2016.

Président de l'UNITA

La base aérienne 709 « Commandant Ménard » de Cognac a accueilli, du 25 au 29 avril 2016, une délégation de l’inspection de l’armée de l’air (IAA), conduite par le général Patrick Pacorel, inspecteur de l’armée de l’air.

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/B634A93F-99B6-474A-AE4E-CCB255B9A36F_thumb_169_1461925948_1461925950_129_97shar_c1.jpg

A wide variety of backgrounds, such as diplomats, developers, designers, NGOs, meet on 29 and 30 April, in Brussels, to  build applications that give citizens more insight and usable information about European decision-making. A Diplohack is a hackathon focused on creating synergies between the skill sets of people from these areas.

Download this video here.

La commune de Kouandé est une nouvelle fois éplorée. Après le chef de l’arrondissement centre, le conseil communal vient de perdre un autre membre. Il s’agit du maire Idrissou Daba.

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El continente africano siempre ha tenido un enorme potencial, pero muchos de sus Estados se han visto postrados por conflictos, corrupción y subdesarrollo. Ahora, sin embargo, su estrella está al alza, lo que se refleja en una mayor confianza global en las economías africanas

The return to Kosovo of Sejdi Thaci, a man listed as a "missing person" from the 1990s war - after 17 years and in unclear circumstances - has caused consternation in his home country.