Germany begins spying on Britain and America for the first time since 1945
Chancellor Angela Merkel has ordered her counter-espionage services to begin surveillance of British and American intelligence gathering in Germany for the first time since 1945 in response to a series of US spy scandals which have badly soured relations between Berlin and Washington. The decision is in direct reaction to the recent accusations against the CIA of spying in Germany. An employee of BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, has admitted working as an agent for the U.S. for two years, while a worker at the German Ministry of Defense has denied charges of doing the same. After these incidents came to light, the CIA station chief in Berlin was forced to leave Germany.
Russia banning Gmail and foreign-based cloud service at school
Russian media outlets reported this week that education officials had asked teachers in the central region of Kirov to avoid using Gmail or any foreign-based cloud service at school. They also told students not to use foreign search engines on school computers. The news came about a month after teachers in eastern Siberia were banned from using any Google products or services for security reasons. Copies of the order that were posted online appear to indicate that the Kremlin was behind them. Teachers in both regions were also told to let education officials know if foreign Internet companies had reached out to them.
Overzealous officer arrested parent
A Tennessee father was arrested recently by an overzealous officer for picking his children up at school by foot. The school’s policy is that children can only be picked up by parents driving cars or kids can board a school bus. Parents who wish to pick up their children on foot or by bike are apparently shit out of luck in Cumberland County, Tennessee. Jim Howe became concerned about the long line-up of cars that extended over a mile on a busy highway. So he decided to pick up his children by foot, and was told by the school to go back to his car and wait in line like everybody else.
Amazon Gets Into Intelligence Game
Amazon isn’t just for shopping anymore. The company is getting into the intelligence game, developing a cloud system for the CIA that will allow them and other intelligence agencies to share information.
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‘Dead Zone’ in the Gulf of Mexico is 13,000 sq km big
Scientists say a man-made “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is about 5,000 square miles (13,000 sq km) is the second largest in the world but still smaller than in previous years, is so named because it contains no oxygen, or too little, at the Gulf floor to support bottom-dwelling fish and shrimp. The primary cause of the annual phenomenon is excess nutrient runoff from farms along the Mississippi River, which empties into the Gulf, said Gene Turner, a researcher at Louisiana State University’s Coastal Ecology Institute. The number of dead zones worldwide currently totals more than 550 and has been increasing for decades.