MPs, analysts call for intelligence agency transparency

Political influence on Kosovo's Intelligence Agency might have a negative impact on the country's security, some analysts warn.

By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 27/03/13

According to the latest report from Kosovo's Intelligence Agency to the parliamentary commission, the agency has investigated more than 1,600 state officials since 2008. [AFP]

The recent resignation of Kosovo's Intelligence Agency deputy head Latif Merovci, followed by speculation in local media about the agency's professional activity, became the subject of discussions among experts.

Kosovo daily Zeri reported on Friday (March 22nd) that Merovci resigned because of irregularities within the agency, "mainly those related to the recruitment of staff in an

Investments in Balkan airport infrastructure yield significant benefits

Continuous efforts to establish affordable air routes will make Skopje a regional hub in the next several years, officials said.

By Misko Taleski for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 26/03/13

The International Airport Council awarded Skopje's Aleksandar the Great Airport first prize, based on passenger's evaluations of the airport's services. [TAV Makedonija]

Out of 275 European airports, Skopje's Alexander the Great Airport won the prize for the 2012 best in Europe, in the category of two million passenger services per year, awarded by the International Airport Council.

Officials are hopeful that the award will bring additional investments to the airport.

"The prize indicates the decision to invest in and turn Skopje airport into a regional hub, which would bring long-term

Winter chill boosted wild bird care sales

Wild bird care products grew by 6.8% in value and 5.5% volume between January 2012 and January 2013, according to the latest figures from GfK.

Wild bird care ranges were boosted by the recent cold weather

Within this market, wild bird food accounted for 80% of total sales, and 20% for bird feeders and accessories. GfK said the increase in sales could be attributed to the harsh winter the UK has just experienced. "In fact, 40% of annual wild bird care sales value was seen within four months along, from October 2012 to January 2013."

While bird feeders and accessories

Traveller 'shouted for help for hour'

Local women in Agra. Jessica Davies, 31, a traveller from London, said she  barricaded the door of her Agra hotel room with furniture to stop two men from entering.

A BRITISH woman who jumped from a hotel balcony in India fearing a sexual assault said on Sunday she shouted for help for more than an hour before she fled.

Jessica Davies, 31, from London, said she had barricaded the door of her hotel room in Agra with furniture to stop two men from entering.

"I held my key in the lock and I could feel them turning it from the other side,'' she told the BBC.

Ms Davies, a dental hygienist, injured both legs in the jump but said her ordeal could have been a lot worse.

The manager of the hotel and another member of staff

How to Kick-Start Innovation with Free Data

Image: U.S. Department of Labor

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Government-funded projects have yielded a wealth of information, but much of this data has historically remained locked up in difficult-to-use form. To get this data to people who might start businesses with them, the Obama administration created the position of chief technology officer.

Todd Park, the nation’s current CTO, has plenty of innovation experience. In 1997, at the age of 24, he co-founded his first start-up, called Athenahealth, which provides online data management for physicians. After momentarily retiring to focus on his family he set up two other start-ups before joining the White House team four years ago.

At a media briefing in February he talked about getting government data into the hands of entrepreneurs to spark innovation and economic growth.

[An edited transcript follows.]

You’re an entrepreneur who helped launch three successful health-tech start-ups. How did you end up working for the U.S. government?

In the summer of 2009 I got an e-mail from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asking about my becoming its chief technology officer. My first question was: Why are you talking to me? Because I don’t know anything about government. I didn’t serve at any level. But they said, it’s actually your background as someone who’s not in government, who’s been a health-tech entrepreneur.

In March 2012 you became the chief technology officer of the U.S. What do you as the nation’s CTO?

It’s a position the president established for the first time in his first term in office. I’m the second CTO, after Aneesh Chopra.

The gist of the job is that I run an incubator inside the government. It’s not birthing companies; it’s birthing projects that all have the common denominator of unleashing the power of tech to advance the president’s programs, whether that’s job creation, economic growth, improved outcomes

Argentina threatens with ‘flexible imports’ to ensure supply of consumer goods

Cristina Fernandez: no mention of the words inflation or dollar

Speaking on Thursday from Government House, the Argentine president avoided mentioning the dollar exchange rate which on Wednesday soared to a record 8.75 Pesos but underlined the significance of supporting the current agreement with the main supermarket chains to freeze prices for sixty days in an attempt to control the prices of basic consumption products.

The freeze also includes a ban on publicizing prices in the media by

Woman's death spotlights violence

Citizens want more action to protect domestic violence victims in Kosovo.

By Muhamet Brajshori for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 21/03/13

Diana Kastrati was killed in a domestic violence dispute. [RIP Diana Kastrati/Facebook.com]

Kosovo's judiciary is failing to protect the right of life, citizens experts said after a recent case of domestic violence resulted in murder.

On May 18th 2011, Pristina resident Diana Kastrati was reportedly killed by her husband after her request for emergency protection against domestic violence was refused by the Pristina Municipal Court.

Kastrati's parents recently filed a case with the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, which claimed the Municipal Court of Pristina's inaction to comply with its constitutional

Croatia-Slovenia bank agreement 'pleases both sides'

The agreement signed by Slovenia and Croatia to resolve the ongoing dispute over Ljubljanska Banka deposits has cleared the path for Zagreb's EU accession.

By Drazen Remikovic for Southeast European Times in Zagreb -- 20/03/13

Before the war, 430,000 Croats had deposits in Slovenia's state-owned Nova Ljubljanska Banka. [Drazen Remikovic/SETimes]

A recently resolved bank dispute between Croatia and Slovenia will improve relations between the two countries and eliminate Croatia's last obstacle to EU membership, officials said.

"We finally have a deal. That pleases both sides," Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said at a joint news conference with his Slovenian

Argentina should be self-sufficient in energy in five/six years says YPF

CEO Miguel Galuccio is hoping to develop the Vaca Muerta shale deposits

“We can think of recovering self-sufficiency in oil and gas in 5 to 6 years”, said Galuccio who pointed out that “much depends on planning, an investment plan and putting all our energy to substitute all we are purchasing now with local energy which will be far cheaper”.

YPF is planning to invest 5bn dollars in “exploration and production of gas and oil” said Galuccio. “We

Ewww! This is the creepiest bus ride ever

Cockroaches started crawling from the vents of a Greyhound bus minutes into its journey from Atlantic City to New York. Picture: ThinkStock

THIS could possibly be the bus ride to hell.

CNN reports that 15 minutes into a Greyhound bus journey from Atlantic City to New York on Friday cockroaches started to pour out of a vent.

Passenger Dawn Alexander told CNN affiliate WABC she was sitting in the back of the bus when she saw those toward the front starting to panic.

"Then after a while, the panic got towards the back because we all started looking around and saw roaches crawling everywhere," she said.

Google Reader to close in July

Google Reader is soon to disappear, with the company claiming usage of its popular cloud-based RSS aggregation service has dropped in recent years.

Advertising giant Google is continuing its multi-year spring clean, the friendly name under which it shutters projects it believes no longer reflect the needs of its customers, with the announcement that eight more services are to disappear - including the popular RSS feed aggregator Google Reader.

Launched eight years ago, the web-based Google Reader provided an easy way to manage multiple RSS feeds - specially-formatted files created to the Really Simple Syndication standard that offer headlines and content snippets from websites without the need to actually visit

Technology reforms raise region's health care standards

The implementation of new technologies in regional health care offers higher quality medical services, doctors and government officials say.

By Bedrana Kaletović for Southeast European Times in Sarajevo -- 16/03/13

"I believe that in the future [health care] will be much more effective," Senad Jahic of Tuzla told SETimes. [Bedrana Kaletovic/SETimes]

Many countries in the region have focused their efforts recently on computerising their health care systems. While Serbia and Croatia have been the most aggressive in implementing the technology, Bosnia and Herzegovina has just begun the transformation.

While the BiH Health Ministry is co-ordinating the computerisation project,

World’s largest telescope at a cost of a billion Euros will be built in Chilean Andes

The E-ELT will be located at Cerro Armazones, a 3.000-metre mountain that lies in the central part of Chile's Atacama Desert

The giant eye on the sky with its 39 metres diameter main mirror made of 798 segments will gather light from distant stars and galaxies: 15 times more than the largest telescopes today.

“Every area of astronomy, from planets around other stars to the first galaxies in the universe, will be revolutionised by this telescope,” said Professor Simon Morris of Durham University.

The giant observatory will become

Leaders call for action to halt ethnic violence in Vojvodina

Vojvodina and Serbia officials meet to establish a commitment to combating violence between Serbs, Hungarians.

By Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 14/03/13

Nationalist organisation Obraz was banned by Serbia's Constitutional Court. [Nada Bozic/SETimes]

Several incidents of ethnically motivated violence in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina during the past few months have leaders and citizens calling for action to reduce tensions.

Vojvodina Assembly President Istvan Pasztor met with Serbia Prime Minister Ivica Dacic to request that the police and other authorities prevent violence "which recalls the atmosphere of lynching in the 1990s."

"Extreme-right is on the

Whiteleys Garden Centre bought out of administration

A private investment firm has bought Huddersfield-based Whiteleys Garden Centre out of administration, saving all 45 jobs at the retailer.

Whiteleys Garden Centre will continue to trade as normal

The garden centre was put into the hands of administrator Begbies Traynor at the end of last year, due to 'overall financial pressures' despite the business generating an estimated annual turnover of £2m.

Administrators Julian Pitts, Bob Maxwell and Andrew Dick of Begbies Traynor continued to trade the 25 year old business as normal during its period of administration, and didn't make any staff redundant.

Now, a private investment vehicle

AMD Radeon HD 7790 details leak

AMD's Radeon HD 7790 is expected to launch next month as the first desktop board to feature the Graphics Core Next 2.0 architecture.

The first details of AMD's Bonnaire XT-based Radeon HD 7790 reference design have leaked ahead of a claimed unveiling next month, although there are still disagreements as to how many corners have been cut to keep the price down.

According to unnamed sources quoted by Tom's Hardware, the Radeon HD 7790 is to be based on the 28nm Bonnaire XT Graphics Core Next (GNC) 2.0 chip, making it a revision newer than

Regional Co-operation Council membership will be a boost for Kosovo

Kosovo Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi told SETimes that Kosovo's council membership is a victory for Kosovo for political reasons and practical benefits.

By Linda Karadaku and Drazen Remikovic for Southeast European Times in Pristina and Sarajevo -- 11/03/13

The Regional Co-operation Council board met in Sarajevo on February 28th. [RCC]

Kosovo's full membership in the Regional Co-operation Council will boost the country's relations with its neighbours, as well as increase development in the country, officials said.

The council, which was launched in February 2008 after the dissolution of the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, is a framework of

Torment: Tides of Numenera kickstarter funded in six hours

Stretch goals for reaching the $1.5m and $2m mark will include more writers being added to the team and additional music being composed.

The Kickstarter project for InXile Entertainment's spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment has managed to pull in $900,000 in just six hours.

Hitting its funding target in little more than a morning, the Kickstarter page for Torment: Tides of Numenera is currently sat at $1.8m generated by just over 29,000 backers with 29 days left on the clock.

'Our heads are still spinning at the incredible response we have had from today's support of our Kickstarter campaign. We had plans to roll out our stretch goals and to write our Kickstarter updates but never in our wildest dreams did we think we would fund this quickly!' said inXile founder Brian Fargo.

Since being so rapidly funded, the team has worked

Corruption charges bolster hopes in Kosovo

Recent corruption charges against a Prizren mayor and five other officials raise citizen hopes that the judicial system is doing its job.

By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 09/03/13

Kosovo citizens hope recent charges against officials in Prizren mark the beginning of an end to corruption. [Nikola Barbutov/SETimes]

Kosovo citizens hope that the corruption charges against Prizren Mayor Ramadan Muja and five other senior municipality officials signal positive changes in the country's judicial system.

"Citizens are fed up with abuses of authority. We expect justice to do its part, and if the charges against Muja are proven, we hope for

Homebase Food on 4 sponsorship will showcase kitchens

Homebase has signed a sponsorship deal with Food on 4 television programmes that will allow it to showcase a range of home enhancement products.

The 19-month deal covers a wide range of food programmes

The 19-month contract will give the retailer exposure for its exclusive range of Odina and Schreiber kitchens, dining furniture, cookware ranges and grow-your-own products.

The sponsorship bumpers will be seen on food programmes across Channel 4 and More 4, including Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares USA, Simon Hopkinson Cooks, Ottolenghi's Mediterranean Feast and The Fabulous Baker Boys as well as programmes such as Nigella Bites, Jamie's Kitchen

Microsoft hit with €561 million fine

Microsoft's Browser Choice Screen glitch in Windows 8 has cost the company dearly, with the EU handing down a €561 million fine.

Microsoft has been fined a whopping €561 million fine by the European Union after failing to adhere to anti-monopolistic agreements put in place regarding the company's Internet Explorer browser.

When Microsoft's next-generation Windows 8 operating system launched, it did so without the 'Browser Choice Screen' that allows users to pick an alternative web browser to the bundled Internet Explorer - something the European Union had demanded of the company. While Microsoft apologised for

Obama calls for a ‘constructive’ future relationship with Venezuela

“United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people” said President Obama

“At this challenging time of President Hugo Chavez's passing, the United States reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government,” Obama said.

“As Venezuela begins a new chapter in its history, the United States remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights,” he said in a

Kosovo commission wants access to classified information

Some commission members say access to classified information is needed to exercise effective oversight of the country's intelligence agency.

By Linda Karadaku for the Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 05/03/13

A parliamentary commission oversees the work of the country's intelligence service. [AFP]

A parliamentary commission is considering changes to the oversight of Kosovo's intelligence agency after one of its security guards was arrested in connection with a bank robbery.

"Despite the fact that this employee held a very low position in [the intelligence agency's] structure, it has affected great deal the credibility, image and the trust in

Mexico’s Peña Nieto trying to change the reputation of the powerful PRI

“There are no untouchable interests” pledged Peña Nieto

Speaking just days after the head of Mexico's powerful teachers' union was arrested on charges of embezzling around 200 million dollars, Peña Nieto vowed a new era of transparency at a congress attended by some 4,200 members of his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

“There are no untouchable interests” said Peña Nieto, who pledged to break with the party's past reputation for shady deals and patronage when he won the presidency

Medical Advice before Taking a Spaceflight

The following is excerpted from a feature that appeared last December in the medical journal BMJ:

As access to space travel for personal or employment reasons increases, clinicians may be faced with new medical challenges and questions in their daily practice. For example: How long after a hip replacement can my patient safely embark on a ballistic two–hour flight to Australia? Can my patient with stable angina and a pacemaker for complete heart block participate in a suborbital Virgin Galactic flight? What is the maximum allowable time that my patient with osteoporosis can spend on a planned vacation at a space hotel? Of course, all physicians will not be expected to be experts in

New Baileys DIY store born from ashes of old

An overnight transformation saw the Rockfield DIY store in Abergavenny close its doors for the last time one night in December 2012 - only to open as the brand new Baileys DIY the very next day.

When local BP garage-owner Ian Bailey heard that his neighbouring store, Rockfield DIY, was up for sale, he immediately made enquiries. Rockfield, at the time, owned both this store and a concession site in a shopping centre in Ross, which is also now a Baileys DIY. It had also previously owned a third store in Hereford, but this had closed following a compulsory purchase order earlier last

New Study Links BPA and Childhood Asthma

One out of every ten U.S. children has been diagnosed with asthma. Image: Flickr/JasonUnbound

Kids exposed to a commonplace chemical early in life are more likely to have asthma, according to a study published today.

The study, which tested 568 children and their mothers in New York City, is the first to link early childhood exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) with asthma. Studies with lab mice, however, have found a similar link.

A Columbia University research team reported that children with higher levels of BPA at ages 3, 5 and 7 had increased odds of developing the respiratory disease when they were between 5 and 12. The children studied had roughly the same concentrations of BPA as the average for U.S. kids.

“We