Germany investigates commander of Nazi-led unit

BERLIN (AP) ? German prosecutors said Monday that they opened a formal preliminary investigation of a Minnesota man who was a commander of a Nazi-led unit during World War II, to determine whether there is enough evidence to bring charges and seek his extradition.

The Associated Press found that 94-year-old Michael Karkoc entered the U.S. in 1949 by lying to American authorities about his role in the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defense Legion, which is accused of torching villages and killing civilians in Poland. AP's evidence indicates that Karkoc was in the area of the massacres, although no records link him directly to atrocities.

Kurt Schrimm, the head of the special German prosecutors' office responsible for investigating Nazi-era crimes, said prosecutors "have opened a preliminary investigation procedure to examine the matter (and) seek documentation." It was unclear how long their examination might take.

Schrimm's office is responsible for determining whether there is enough evidence against alleged Nazi war criminals for state prosecutors to proceed with a full investigation and possible charges. The only charges that can be brought in such cases are murder and accessory to murder, as all other offenses fall under the statute of limitations under German law.

Germany has taken the position that people involved in Nazi crimes must be prosecuted, no matter how old or infirm, as it did in the case of retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk, who died last year at age 91 while appealing his conviction as a guard at the Sobibor death camp.

Poland's National Remembrance Institute, which investigates Nazi and Soviet crimes, has said prosecutors are reviewing files on Karkoc's unit for any evidence that would justify charges and an extradition request.

It says the files were gathered during separate investigations into the killings of civilians in the village of Chlaniow, in southeastern Poland, and into Nazi suppression of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against German occupation. The AP found documentation showing that Karkoc's unit was involved in both.

Karkoc's son, Andriy Karkos, has said that his father "was never a Nazi," and pointed to the portion of the AP story that said records don't show Karkoc had a direct hand in war crimes. He has said the family won't comment further until it has obtained its own documents and reviewed witnesses and sources.

A woman who answered the phone at Karkoc's Minneapolis home Monday refused to comment when a reporter from the Associated Press made contact.

__

Associated Press correspondent Doug Glass contributed to this report from Minneapolis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/germany-investigates-commander-nazi-led-unit-124902653.html

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Mystery of the gigantic storm on Saturn

June 24, 2013 ? We now understand the nature of the giant storms on Saturn. Through the analysis of images sent from the Cassini space probe belonging to the North American and European space agencies (NASA and ESA respectively), as well as the computer models of the storms and the examination of the clouds therein, the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country has managed to explain the behaviour of these storms for the very first time. The article explaining the discovery, the lead author being Enrique Garc?a Melendo, researcher at the Fundaci? Observatori Esteve Duran -- Institut de Ci?ncies de l'Espai, of Catalonia, was published in Nature Geosciences.

Approximately once every Saturnian year -- equivalent to 30 Earth years -- an enormous storm is produced on the ringed planet and which affects the aspect of its atmosphere on a global scale. These gigantic storms are known as Great White Spots, due to the appearance they have on the atmosphere of the planet. The first observation of one of these was made in 1876; the Great White Spot of 2010 was the sixth one to be observed. On this occasion the Cassini space vehicle was able to obtain very high resolution images of this great meteorological structure. The storm initiated as a small brilliant white cloud in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere of the planet, and grew rapidly and remained active for more than seven months. Over this time an amalgam of white clouds was generated which expanded to form a cloudy and turbulent ring with a surface area of thousands of millions of square kilometres. Two year age the Planetary Sciences Group presented a first study of the storm and which was published on the front cover of Nature on the 7th of July, 2011. Now, with this new research, the hidden secrets of the phenomenon have been revealed, studying in detail the "head" and the "focus" of the Great White Spot.

The team of astronomers analysed the images taken from the Cassini probe in order to measure the winds in the "head" of the storm, the focus where the activity originated. In this region the storm interacts with the circulating atmosphere, forming very intense sustained winds, typically of 500 kilometres an hour. "We did not expect to find such violent circulation in the region of the development of the storm, which is a symptom of the particularly violent interaction between the storm and the planet's atmosphere," commented Enrique Garc?a. They were also able to determine that these storm clouds are at 40 km above the planet's own clouds.

Information about the mechanisms causing meteorological phenomena

The research revealed the mechanism that produces this phenomenology. The team of scientists designed mathematical models capable of reproducing the storm on a computer, providing a physical explanation for the behaviour of this giant storm and for its lengthy duration. The calculations show that the focus of the storm is deeply embedded, some 300 km above the visible clouds. The storm transports enormous quantities of moist gas in water vapour to the highest levels of the planet, forming visible clouds and liberating enormous quantities of energy. This injection of energy interacts violently with the dominant wind of Saturn to produce wind storms of 500 km/h. The research also showed that, despite the enormous activity of the storm, this was not able to substantially modify the prevailing winds which blow permanently in the same direction as Earth's parallels, but they did interact violently with them. An important part of the computer's calculations were made thanks to the Centre de Serveis Cient?fics i Acad?mics de Catalunya (CESCA), and the computer services at the Institut de Ci?ncies de l'Espai (ICE), also based in the Catalan capital of Barcelona.

Apart from the curiosity of knowing the physical processes underlying the formation of these giant storms on Saturn, the study of these phenomena enable us to enhance our knowledge of the models employed in research into meteorology and the behaviour of Earth's atmosphere, in a very different environment and impossible to simulate in a laboratory. "The storms on Saturn are, in a way, a test bank of the physical mechanisms underlying the generation of similar meteorological phenomena on Earth," commented Agust?n S?nchez Lavega, Director of the Planetary Sciences Group at the UPV/EHU.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/0vE3bz4zmR0/130624075753.htm

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UK opposition says would not borrow to reverse cuts

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party would not borrow more money to reverse spending cuts by Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government should it win the next election due in 2015, its leader Ed Miliband said on Saturday.

Although polls show Labour has a lead of up to 10 points over Cameron's Conservatives, Miliband still needs to convince skeptical voters of his party's economic credibility and shrug off criticism it is wedded to spending money it does not have.

"If we win the election, we will come to power in tougher economic circumstances than we have seen in generations and that will have to shape the way that we govern," Miliband said in a speech to his party's National Policy Forum.

"Our starting point for 2015-16 will be that we cannot reverse any cut in day to day, current spending unless it is fully funded from cuts elsewhere or extra revenue - not from more borrowing."

Finance Minister George Osborne is due to announce details next week of 11.5 billion pounds ($17.70 billion) of cuts by government departments following a spending review in the latest effort to reduce a big public deficit.

Miliband is aware he need to restore Labour's image which was badly damaged by the 2008 crisis when it was in government, and his speech is the latest in a series of coordinated attempts to revive its economic reputation.

Labour was criticized for allowing Britain's budget deficit to peak at just over 11 percent of gross domestic product, and although the economy has struggled to recover under Cameron's tough austerity measures, Conservative attacks on Labour's record of borrowing and spending resonate with voters.

Miliband's speech echoed comments of finance spokesman Ed Balls said earlier this month that he would have "iron discipline" on spending.

"It's a hard reality. But people will only put their trust in us if we show we are credible," Miliband said.

Conservative Party Chairman Grant Shapps said Miliband was too weak to stick to his promise.

"Ed Miliband only offers more spending, more borrowing and more debt - the same old Labour approach that got us into this mess in the first place," he said. ($1 = 0.6498 British pounds)

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-opposition-says-not-borrow-reverse-cuts-131311221.html

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Fire threatens Colorado mountain town of 400

DEL NORTE, Colo. (AP) ? A massive wildfire threatened a tourist town in Colorado's southwestern mountains on Friday, forcing its roughly 400 residents to flee ahead of the fast-burning blaze fueled by hot, windy weather.

Wildland firefighters teamed up with local firefighters to try to protect South Fork, which is surrounded by the Rio Grande National Forest. State authorities said the 47-square-mile fire was a few miles southwest of town Friday night and had been advancing at a rate of about a mile an hour. Thick smoke was limiting visibility.

Fire spokeswoman Penny Bertram wouldn't speculate on the likelihood of the town burning. There's a high probability of the fire reaching the town if the fire continues to behave as it has, she said, though more than 30 fire engines were assigned to protect it.

"They're hedging their bets," Bertram said.

An air tanker was also able to drop slurry ahead of the fire to try to slow its growth and to give firefighters a chance to dig a fire break, Bertram said.

"Every type of structure protection is in place," Jim Jaminet, fire management officer for the national forest, told about two dozen evacuees who gathered at Del Norte High School on Friday night.

The town is a popular spot for hiking and camping. The fictional Griswold family camped in South Fork in 1983's "National Lampoon's Vacation." The famous scene where a dog urinates on a picnic basket was filmed at South Fork's Riverbend Resort, called "Kamp Komfort" in the movie.

South Fork's mayor, Kenneth Brooke, sent his children and grandchildren to a safe location and stayed behind, helping several dozen area fire responders prepare for hosing down structures.

Brooke said authorities are allowing him to stay in South Fork until the blaze crests a nearby mountain. Until then, the mayor was taking phone calls from nervous neighbors and telling them the town's grim forecast.

"I just tell them it doesn't look good," Brooke told The Associated Press by phone Friday. "I tell them the truth, that the fire is coming. I just tell them to keep themselves safe, evacuate as need be and don't come back.

"We're just watching the fire and doing what we can for people's properties, but mostly it's just waiting. Right now I'm saying, 'Stay out.'"

Late June to August is usually peak season for South Fork, when tourists or part-time residents multiply the town's population.

Harold Josefy, his wife and their 13-year-old granddaughter left the Fun Valley RV park after officers knocked on doors Friday. "They told us we had to get out now," he said.

But Terri Allahdadi and her motor coach were staying in South Fork for now. "It's like a ghost town," Allahdadi said by telephone Friday night. "We are not having trouble breathing. I know they need to evacuate people, but I don't feel threatened at all."

South Fork native Denny Fleming, 55, said he, his wife and his dad were the only residents he knew who stayed behind. His family runs South Fork's only gas station. They were keeping it open so firefighters would have fuel, coffee and ice, he said. The family's Rainbow Grocery was closed though.

"We're usually very, very busy right now," Fleming said.

Bertram said the hot, dry and windy weather along with large stands of beetle-killed trees are causing extreme fire behavior. While most fires actively burn four hours a day, this one is burning for 12 hours a day, helping it to mushroom in recent days.

Firefighters have largely let the lightning-sparked fire burn because it's too hot and erratic to fight on the ground. Water and slurry drops from air tankers also haven't been effective, with pilots reporting that their drops largely evaporated before hitting the ground.

"There's no stopping it," Bertram said.

The town was incorporated in 1992, making it Colorado's youngest municipality. The town lost 11 structures in the 2002 Million Fire, which charred more than 14 square miles.

South Fork residents are used to damaging wildfires, but this year's is shaping up to be the worst, Brooke said.

"Our tourists are what support the town. The fires are going to run everybody away. So that's going to hurt," he said.

It was among several fires burning in Colorado.

In south-central Colorado, nine structures and four outbuildings have been lost in a wildfire in Huerfano County that has evacuated homes of about two dozen residents and more than 170 Boy Scouts since it started Wednesday, fire officials said. Gov. John Hickenlooper on Friday authorized $3 million to help with costs.

Hickenlooper also authorized $50,000 for a fire in Rocky Mountain National Park and extended funding for final expenses from fires in 2011 and 2012.

On Thursday, firefighters fully contained what is now the state's most destructive wildfire. The Black Forest Fire destroyed more than 500 homes and killed two people near Colorado Springs.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fire-threatens-colorado-mountain-town-400-180457423.html

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