German anti-Semitism 'widespread'

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23 January 2012 Last updated at 12:16 GMT Germany is seen as midway in the spread of anti-Semitism in Europe Anti-Jewish feeling is "significantly" entrenched in German society, according to a report by experts appointed by the Bundestag (parliament).

They say the internet has played a key role in spreading Holocaust denial, far-right and extreme Islamist views, according to the DPA news agency.

They also speak of "a wider acceptance in mainstream society of day-to-day anti-Jewish tirades and actions".

The expert group, set up in 2009, is to report regularly on anti-Semitism.

The findings of their report, due to be presented on Monday, were that anti-Jewish sentiment was "based on widespread prejudice, deeply-rooted cliches and also on plain ignorance of Jews and Judaism".

Continue reading the main story Stephen Evans BBC News, Berlin

Clearly, Germany is a particular case when it comes to anti-Semitism because of its history. Some Jewish groups, though, praise the government for what they see as its unambiguous, loud condemnation.

This month a new Jewish newspaper started publication in Germany with the words: "Today, the world's fastest growing Jewish community is in Germany. We have Jewish artists living here, writers and business people".

But anti-Semitism remains. One Jewish group in Germany greeted the latest report by saying: "We need new ways of dealing with the past. It is necessary for politicians and the education system in Germany to deal with the National Socialist past."

They added that far-right slogans at football matches were a regular occurrence.

The report's authors put Germany midway in their assessment of other European countries in relation to the spread of anti-Semitism.

They see extremely high levels of anti-Jewish sentiment in parts of Poland, Hungary and Portugal.

Germany's Jewish population has experienced something of a revival since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Before 1989, the population was below 30,000 but an influx of Jews, mainly from the former Soviet Union, has raised the number to 200,000.

Speaking on Friday to mark the anniversary of the 1942 Wannsee conference, when the Nazis' murder of millions of Jews was mapped out, President Christian Wulff pledged that Germany would keep the memory of the Holocaust alive and would never abandon the Jewish people.

Source BBC

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German satellite falling to Earth

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23 October 2011 Last updated at 03:06 GMT By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News The Rosat spacecraft has some robust parts that will survive all the way to the surface A big German spacecraft is making an uncontrolled fall from the sky.

The Roentgen Satellite (Rosat) re-entered the Earth's atmosphere between 01:45 and 02:15 GMT.

Just as for Nasa's UARS satellite, which plunged into the atmosphere in September, no-one was able to say precisely when and this would happen.

What makes the redundant German craft's return interesting is that much more debris this time is likely to survive all the way to the Earth's surface.

Experts calculate that perhaps as much as 1.6 tonnes of wreckage - more than half the spacecraft's launch mass - could ride out the destructive forces of re-entry and hit the planet.

It is not clear whether any pieces have yet reached the Earth's surface.

In the case of UARS, the probable mass of surviving material was put at only half a tonne (out of a launch mass of more than six tonnes).

The difference is due to some more robust components on the German space agency (DLR) satellite.

Rosat was an X-ray telescope mission and had a mirror system made of a reinforced carbon composite material. This mirror complex and its support structure are expected to form the largest single fragment in what could be a shower of some 30 pieces of debris to make it through to the surface.

But again, as was the case with UARS, any Rosat wreckage is strongly tipped to hit the ocean, given that so much of the Earth's surface is covered by water.

Destructive design

UARS' final resting place was tracked to a remote region of the Pacific, north-east of the Samoan islands.

Rosat could come down anywhere between 53 degrees North and South latitude - a zone that encompasses the UK in the north and the tip of South America in the south.

Future spacecraft sent into orbit may have to meet stricter guidelines that limit the amount of debris likely to fall back on to the planet, but these rules are still some way from being introduced said Prof Richard Crowther, an expert on space debris and adviser to the UK Space Agency.

"Up until now we've designed satellites to survive the harsh environment of space, and we haven't given much thought to designing them for destructive re-entry," he told BBC News.

"But in future, we will have to consider whether we have got this balance right, and perhaps satellites should be designed in such a way that we can ensure more of what comes down is destroyed in the atmosphere and doesn't hit the surface.

"Unfortunately, there is a whole legacy of spacecraft - 50 years of satellites - and we are going to have to put up with this situation for quite some time, I'm afraid."

Science success

Rosat was launched in 1990 to survey the X-ray sky. It mapped more than 100,000 sources of this high-energy radiation. X-rays tend to come from the hottest and most violent parts of the cosmos, such as the regions around exploded stars and the "edges" of black holes.

The spacecraft worked for eight-and-a-half years before its star tracker failed and it could no-longer work out its position and point correctly. It was shut down in February 1999, and has been in descent ever since. Controllers do not have any contact with the craft; all they know is its altitude and path across the sky through radar tracking.

The fall to Earth has accelerated in recent months and weeks as the spacecraft has experienced increased drag as a result of its passage through residual air molecules still found more than 200km above the planet.

The deeper it reaches, the faster Rosat will be pulled in. But without a propulsion system, the precise timing and location of its impact cannot be influenced by controllers.

Tough materials

Rosat will start to tumble rapidly when it engages the thicker parts of the atmosphere, about 80km up.

Mechanical forces will first rip off its flimsiest structures, such as its solar arrays and antennas.

The heating the satellite then experiences as it plunges downwards will deform and melt low-temperature materials and vaporise them.

Only high-temperature metals such as stainless steel and titanium will put up much resistance.

Tracking stations will typically witness the uncontrolled return of at least one piece of space debris every day; and on average, one intact defunct spacecraft or old rocket body will come back into the atmosphere every week.

Something the size of Nasa's UARS satellite is seen to enter uncontrolled perhaps once a year.

Much larger objects such as space station cargo ships return from orbit several times a year, but they are equipped with thrusters capable of guiding their dive into a remote part of the Southern Ocean.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

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German court decision on Samsung WINS Apple tablets

1 of 2. File photo of an Apple iPad (L) next to Tablet devices Samsung Galaxy Guide in consumer electronics of Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) fair in ' Exhibition Centre ' Messe Berlin in Berlin, September 2, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Thomas Peter/FilesBy Nicola Leske

DÜSSELDORF, Germany | Fri 09/09/2011 11:29 EST

DÜSSELDORF, Germany (Reuters)-Apple Inc marked a symbolic victory in legal efforts to keep its leadership in the local market for computer Tablet PC when a German court upheld the ban blocking the local unit of Samsung sell their pills in the largest Galaxy 10.1 economy of Europe.

Samsung, which he said will appeal the decision, and Apple have been locked in a global battle of the smartphone and tablet patents since April.

Samsung Galaxy devices are seen as among the greatest challenging for Apple's portable products that have achieved great success.

Samsung said it was disappointed with the decision and that he believed the decision restricts design innovation and progress in the industry.

He said he would explore all legal options, including continuing to aggressively Apple so that Samsung said are a violation of their patents on wireless technology worldwide.

Craig Cartier, an analyst at consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, said that while Friday's decision would not affect greatly Samsung could set a precedent for other courts and have repercussions for patent battles around the world.

"There was an arms race in the world patent that led to a high value of patent portfolios, including the patent auction of Nortel's $ 4.5 billion," said Cartier.

"Companies can start questioning whether patent values are simply another bubble waiting to burst."

STILL FOR SALE

The injunction upheld by the Court on Friday bars Samsung Germany sell the tablet 10.1 Galaxy in Germany.

But retailers like consumer electronics chain Media Markt will still be able to sell existing stock device by selling or receiving new supplies of father of the South Korean Group Samsung international.

Media Markt said it was too early to say what the verdict would mean for your business.

Patent experts Florian Mueller said on his blog www.fosspatents.com that the prohibition of marketing in Europe for Germany Samsung has no practical consequences.

The German subsidiary is also prevented from selling the pills in Europe, excluding the Netherlands where Apple has requested a separate injunction.

Giving the ruling, judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann said in court in Duesseldorf that the overall impression of the tablet was very similar to Apple's iPad drawing.

Brueckner-Hofmann "(tablet) is distinguished by its simple, smooth areas," he said.

On the other hand, a Dutch Court ruled last month that not detected no violations of Samsung's pills.

Apple repeated his usual statement saying that: "this kind of blatant copy is wrong, and we must protect the intellectual property of Apple, when companies steal our ideas".

In a battle of global intellectual property, Apple claimed the Galaxy line of phones and tablets "faithfully" copied the iPhone and iPad and has sued the Korean company in the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea, as well as in Europe.

Samsung, whose tablets are based on Google's Android software, Inc-counter has sued Apple.

On Thursday, Apple also filed a lawsuit against Samsung in Japan, seeking a ban on sales of some of your gadgets there.

That same day, smartphone manufacturer HTC said it extended its lawsuit against Apple to include more patents the Taiwanese company Google acquired the legal battles have become increasingly common in the high tech industry.

(Additional reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Edited by David Holmes, David Cowell and David Hulmes)

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