Reports suggest Reichstag parliament building is terrorist target | Germany

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6251385,00.html

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Security has increased at the Reichstag

Following the terror alert issued in Germany, which is to remain in place until the end of the year, the news magazine Der Spiegel is reporting that Germany's parliament building, or Reichstag, is a potential target.

According to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, Islamic extremists are planning an attack on the German parliament building, the Reichstag.
The reports suggest that al Qaeda and associated Islamist groups are planning to take hostages and fire at people in the building, which is both the seat of parliament and a popular tourist destination in Berlin.
The information reportedly comes from a jihadist who contacted the German authorities. Der Spiegel said the informant has repeatedly telephoned the German police from a foreign location in recent days, and is part of a terrorist cell of six people.
Two members of the cell are said to have been in Berlin for six to eight weeks and the attacks are reportedly planned for February or March 2011.
The magazine did not name its source.
Boosted security presence
Der Spiegel claims it is on the basis of this source's information that the Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned earlier in the week that Islamists had planned attacks in Germany.
Security was increased at airports and train stations across Germany on Wednesday, when de Maiziere said there were "concrete" indications that militants were planning attacks.
He added there was "reason for concern, but not for hysteria."
Chancellor appeals for caution

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday told citizens not to be intimidated by the latest reported terrorist threats.

  

"We want to live freely and without fear in Germany - no terrorist threat will prevent us from doing so," Merkel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

  

"The security forces are doing everything possible to protect us," the chancellor added.

Speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lisbon, Merkel warned about possible terrorist attacks in Germany.

"There is a real danger of terrorism," said Merkel.

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Germans lose fear of climate change after long, hard winter

I wonder? Who didn't see this one coming?

clipped from www.thelocal.de Germans are losing their fear of climate change, according to a survey, with just 42 percent worried about global warming. It seems the long and chilly winter has taken its toll on climate change sensibilities despite the fact that weather has nothing to do with climate. The latest figure is a clear drop from the 62 percent of Germans who said they were scared of such changes just in autumn 2006. The new survey, carried out by polling company Infratest for Der Spiegel magazine, showed a quarter of those questioned thought Germany would profit from climate change rather than be badly affected by it. Many people have little faith in the information and prognosis of climate researchers with a third questioned in the survey not giving them much credence. This is thought to be largely due to mistakes and exaggerations recently discovered in a report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, the IPCC. Climate research has been put, “in a difficult situation,

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Der Spiegel: Iran able to produce nuclear bomb this year - Haaretz - Israel News

Image by azrainman via Flickr

• Der Spiegel: Iran able to produce nuclear bomb this year - Haaretz - Israel News

  "Iran is serious about developing a nuclear bomb and has the ability to produce a primitive, truck-sized version of the bomb this year, the German magaziner Der Spiegel reported on Monday. An intelligence dossier obtained by Der Spiegel shows that there is a secret military branch of Iran's nuclear research program that answers to Tehran's ministry of defense, according to the report. Officials who have read this document - which is currently under review by the U.S., Germany and Israel - claim that it shows that their nuclear program aimed at producing a bomb is well advanced. Advertisement The officials said to Der Spiegel that the truck-sized bomb which they are capable of producing will have to be compressed to a size that would fit into a nuclear warhead for the strategic threat potential they desire. Der Spiegel also wrote that Israel and the West were alarmed by the dossier's revelations, as Iran could reach the compressed level of a nuclear bomb between 2012 and 2014. Tehran has consistently denied that it is enriching uranium for weapons, claiming it is exclusively dedicated to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Iran has often warned it would retaliate for any attack on its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a drive to develop bombs. Tehran denies the charge. U.S. and Israel have not ruled out attack of Iran's nuclear site"

  tags: haaretz, Nuclear, Nuke, bombs, Iran, Israel, Prophecy, Muslim, Islam, warfare, weapons

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