News for today's 2018

Most pain apps lack physician input - Internal Medicine News

1:18 PM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "> An evaluation of 222 pain-related smartphone apps showed that many were developed without the input of a health professional, some had inaccurate information, and some of their features weren't as robust as they could be.</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">"Many of them were giving advice and offering coping strategies, but we don't know if they're effective," said Lorraine S. Wallace, Ph.D., who led the study. In addition, the apps could potentially be dangerous for users if the coping strategy – for instance, exercise – isn't right for them, she said.</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Experts have begun studying the safety and efficacy of health-related smartphone apps, many of which are aimed at patients for managing various diseases and conditions.</p><table class="contenttable" style="font-family: Times; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><tbody><tr><td><p class="bodytext"><a href="http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?eID=tx_cms_showpic&file=uploads%2FRTEmagicP_94488.graphic.us.png&md5=5de64bf1d18d64a4357d287850ca6804f3229040&parameters[0]=YTo0OntzOjU6IndpZHRoIjtzOjQ6IjgwMG0iO3M6NjoiaGVpZ2h0IjtzOjQ6IjYw&parameters[1]=MG0iO3M6NzoiYm9keVRhZyI7czo0MToiPGJvZHkgc3R5bGU9Im1hcmdpbjowOyBi&parameters[2]=YWNrZ3JvdW5kOiNmZmY7Ij4iO3M6NDoid3JhcCI7czozNzoiPGEgaHJlZj0iamF2&parameters[3]=YXNjcmlwdDpjbG9zZSgpOyI%2BIHwgPC9hPiI7fQ%3D%3D" target="thePicture"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkvQ9U56Ji1N22ualirhI-MpVlDGSwPGbJMq9vVC1BuUjmnoC9kAjLLwRReqFGVsR_pLHhRKIsrz36UT0euU9IN_Wxk_7a0hnr4eTLrK1JoHGYdZ7fD8n7VH1SnYeX2WqOpq-UzOcJZ0/s1600/RTEmagicC_94488.graphic.us.png-780350.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5873107847252161010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkvQ9U56Ji1N22ualirhI-MpVlDGSwPGbJMq9vVC1BuUjmnoC9kAjLLwRReqFGVsR_pLHhRKIsrz36UT0euU9IN_Wxk_7a0hnr4eTLrK1JoHGYdZ7fD8n7VH1SnYeX2WqOpq-UzOcJZ0/s320/RTEmagicC_94488.graphic.us.png-780350.png" /></a></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Dr. Wallace said that, ideally, app developers, physicians, and patients should collaborate to create the apps. "And there needs to be a list of good apps. I always get asked 'show us a good app,' so there are definitely some features that we should look at, and that should be driven by health care professionals to determine what a pain app should look like," she said. She advised physicians to be aware of the apps that are currently available to patients.</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Dr. Wallace said her study was modeled after a 2011 British study of 111 pain-related apps. The authors of that study also concluded, "Pain apps appear to be able to promise pain relief without any concern for the effectiveness of the product, or for possible adverse effects of product use. In a population often desperate for a solution to distressing and debilitating pain conditions, there is considerable risk of individuals being misled" (<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21844177" target="_blank" class="external-link-new-window">J. Telemed. Telecare. 2011;17:308-12</a>).</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Dr. Wallace of the department of family medicine and director of research at the Ohio State University in Columbus said that in her evaluation, she didn't find an ideal pain-related app. "There were certain ones that had better features such as pain diaries or other characteristics, but most of them were not that comprehensive."</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Dr. Wallace and her colleagues searched Apple, Android, and Blackberry app stores for the word "pain." They chose 222 apps, and evaluated certain information such as cost, purpose, and key features and documentation of medical professional involvement in design and/or content.</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">The apps were released between June 2009 and July 2012, with an average cost of $4.99 or less (only seven apps cost more than $9.99). Researchers didn't purchase any of the apps.</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Pain diaries, exercises, and coping strategies were the most common app features. Many apps focused on general pain (93), 57 addressed back and/or neck pain, and 21 dealt with migraine/headache pain. Researchers found one app for muscle pain and one for pain from each of the following conditions: fibromyalgia, menstruation, injury, patellar tendonitis, rheumatism, and sciatica.</p><p class="bodytext" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">But, "the key finding was that in 30% of the apps, there was no evidence of a health provider input," said Dr. Wallace, who presented her findings in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. In another 30%, the developer was unknown, and researchers couldn't determine whether a health provider was involved in developing the app. In only 27% of the apps was there a clear involvement of an MD or DO.</p></div><a href="http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?id=2049&type=98&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=142815&cHash=da03e20e36">http://www.internalmedicinenews.com/index.php?id=2049&type=98&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=142815&cHash=da03e20e36</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Most pain apps lack physician input - Internal Medicine News

An evaluation of 222 pain-related smartphone apps showed that many were developed without the input of a health professional, some had inac...

Barge on the water

8:28 AM Tukiyooo 0

Yesterday I walked back to the train station with my sister.  We walked along the canal and in through the city.  <br /><br />We had to walk slowly as Bones had to stop and greet people along the way.  He stopped to talk to Truffles the angry Pomeranian and then he met a nice older couple who were on holiday from San Francisco.  <br /><br />We passed by La Peniche which is a restaurant on a barge.  We ate here about 2 years ago.  The food was fine considering it was made aboard a boat but I think I would have preferred to sit on top deck with a glass of wine as we went along the canal. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh8JvEmqmcz3toXukUVXKZOTQ12723Zpew1tO45SrgLEpL-y-OV7P6jK2RYk7NVK9IWTEg0AnqZeU7Q5fu4ZuAQx9P5XiFbjgmYhixASk7PfBib9DlpxtRPTwBeYLgPmXRxu4ubg3mRgO/s640/blogger-image--501134831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh8JvEmqmcz3toXukUVXKZOTQ12723Zpew1tO45SrgLEpL-y-OV7P6jK2RYk7NVK9IWTEg0AnqZeU7Q5fu4ZuAQx9P5XiFbjgmYhixASk7PfBib9DlpxtRPTwBeYLgPmXRxu4ubg3mRgO/s640/blogger-image--501134831.jpg" /></a></div>

Barge on the water

Yesterday I walked back to the train station with my sister. We walked along the canal and in through the city. We had to walk slowly as B...

Chewey, gooey, yum

8:26 AM Tukiyooo 0

Chewey, gooey, yum

Best Brownie in Dublin.....well I think so!

'The Following' season finale: Rewriting the final chapter

7:33 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="The-Following.jpg " src="http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2013/04/29/The-Following.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Spoiler Alert: Do not read any further if you haven’t already watched the season finale of <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Following.</em></strong></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;"></span><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">I don’t know which was more of a surprise: that Ryan’s sidekick Agent Mike is actually alive at the end of the season or that Claire very possibly isn’t. The last scene of the night shouldn’t have truly been a surprise, what with the tension ratcheted so far up after the big confrontation between Joe and Ryan, but I had managed to forget all about Ryan’s sleeper agent neighbor/ex-girlfriend until she popped up in the kitchen. (I was, however, yelling at the TV for Ryan not to leave the knife on the table  to answer the door because that just seemed like a bad idea.)</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">For a show that specializes in violence, last night felt particularly horrific. Maybe it was because in his desire to save Agent Parker, Ryan just lost it. He dug his fingers into that cult member’s eye to get him to talk!! And then very deliberately put a bullet into the culty’s head once they realized Parker was dead. Even for Ryan, that was crossing a line. Meanwhile, we witnessed one of Joe’s rare murders, as he coldly, repeatedly stabbed a hostage just to prove a point to Claire.</div><div class="kicker-link" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold !important; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 5px 12px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">GET EW ON YOUR TABLET</span>: <a href="https://subscription.ew.com/storefront/subscribe-to-entertainment-weekly/link/1006697.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #1287dc; text-decoration: none;">Subscribe today and get instant access!</a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">For all of us who were wondering how they could plausibly set up a second season, this is how: we’ve yet to confirm that the remains found in the debris of that most excellent explosion are actually Joe’s (I’m not trusting that bit about the dental records and early DNA). There’s a distraught crazypants Emma running around in a red wig. And we need to find out what happens to Ryan and Claire after they’re attacked in the kitchen. Now that’s a cliffhanger.  And for a show that hooked me from the first episode and stayed overall strong throughout despite some bumps, it was a satisfying finale.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">How about you? Did you like the fake-out ending? Did you enjoy watching Joe unravel at the end? Was it a good payoff?</div></div>

'The Following 'The Following' season finale: Rewriting the final chapter

Spoiler Alert: Do not read any further if you haven’t already watched the season finale of The Following. I don’t know which was more of a ...

10 takeaways from Amanda Knox's interview with Diane Sawyer -- VIDEO

7:31 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="amanda-knox-interview.jpg" src="http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/i/2013/04/30/amanda-knox-interview.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">Amanda Knox’s life story reads like a Lifetime movie — which it later became. But now that the American exchange student accused of murdering her roommate in Italy is going back on trial for the third time, she sat down with Diane Sawyer to tell her side of the story.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">Knox’s name first hit headlines when she was accused of stabbing her roommate, Meredith Kercher, 47 times in their Italian home and subsequently sentenced to prison for 26 years after being found guilty. But after three years in prison, Knox was released on an appeal. Now, after completing a memoir titled <em style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Waiting to be Heard</em>, Knox is heading back to Italy after that country’s Supreme Court ruled for the case to go back to trial.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">Knox sat down with ABC’s Diane Sawyer for the special “A Murder. A Mystery. Amanda Knox Speaks.” Here are 10 takeaways from Knox’s testimony:</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Knox was just trying to find herself:</strong> Calling her interest in having casual sex “an adventure of self-hood,” Knox explains that “I thought that’s what all self-confident free-spirited women did, and at that point, I still felt like a clueless girl.”<span id="more-249848" style="border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><div class="kicker-link" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold !important; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 5px 12px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">GET MORE EW</span>: <a href="https://subscription.ew.com/storefront/subscribe-to-entertainment-weekly/link/1005735.html" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 94, 153); color: #1287dc; text-decoration: none;">Subscribe to the magazine for only 33¢ an issue!</a></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She was attracted to her Italian boyfriend because he reminded her of Harry Potter:</strong> Knox’s alibi on Nov. 1, the night of the murder, is that she was with her boyfriend, Harry Potter lookalike Raffaele Sollecito, at his house. “We had dinner. We watched a movie. We smoked. We had sex. We were together,” Knox said. “I smoked a joint with Sollecito, and what that did to my memories was it made them less concrete, but it didn’t black them out and it didn’t change them. We stayed in the whole night.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She did <em style="border: 0px; font-weight: bold; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</em> do cartwheels at the police station:</strong> After arriving home to find the front door ajar and hopping in the shower despite the blood on the bathmat, a lot of people question how Knox could’ve gone back to her boyfriend’s apartment without calling for help. And even more people question why she was doing gymnastics at the police station. Knox sets the record straight on the alleged cartwheels: “I did the splits, and that’s once.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Her confession was forced:</strong> “I didn’t confess. I was interrogated. They acted like my answers we wrong. They told me I was wrong, that I didn’t remember correctly, that I had to remember correctly. And if I didn’t, I would never see my family.” And after Knox named Patrick Lumumba the murderer, more red flags appeared. Now, she explains that her hand was forced once again: “I wasn’t providing a lot of the detail,” Knox said. “They were asking me if I had heard Meredith scream, and when I said I didn’t remember, they said, ‘How could you not remember that she screamed?’ And I said, ‘Okay, I guess I remember that she screamed.’ It was all like that.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She didn’t clean her DNA from Kercher’s room: </strong>Knox’s lack of DNA in Kercher’s room was no fault of her own. According to Knox, cleaning DNA is not one of her specialties. ”That’s impossible. It’s impossible to see DNA, much less identify whose DNA it is.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The prison lied to her about her having HIV:</strong> Knox admitted to contemplating suicide and recalled a particularly hard day in prison: “The doctor told me that I had tested positive for HIV,” Knox said. “I was stunned. I went back to my room with one of the prison officials telling me, ‘Well, you should’ve thought about it before you had sex with all those people.’” This information prompted Knox to make a list of all of her sexual partners, a list that the prison then confiscated. “They leaked it to the media often with mistranslations of what I had actually written in English.” The prison later informed her that they had made a mistake. Knox was not HIV positive.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She made friends in prison:</strong> Knox and her cellmate would sing <em style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Star Spangled Banner</em>every day. And in her spare time, she learned a song from the prison chaplain and became fluent in Italian.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Her friends and family stuck by her:</strong> With numerous visits from her family, Knox started to feel guilty about the sacrifices they were making: “I felt incredibly guilty for what they were having to sacrifice for me, and there was a certain point in my thinking in prison that if it didn’t work out and I never was free again, I was trying to figure out how I could ask them to move on with their life without me because I was tired of them having to sacrifice everything for me.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Her life is back on track:</strong> Knox is currently studying creative writing at the University of Washington and has reunited with a former pre-Italy boyfriend, one who sent her a tracing of his hand while she was in prison… so that she would always have a hand to hold.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">She’s still friends with her Italian boyfriend:</strong> Her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the same one who never turned on Knox, has since visited her in Seattle. “He was faced with the prospect of not having a sentence if he just blamed me and he didn’t because he couldn’t live with a decision like that,” Knox said. “I had known him for seven days.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;">Although she’s not as “chirpy” anymore, Knox is ready to be “reconsidered as a person.” And with that, she would love the opportunity to pay her respects at Kercher’s grave. But for now, with another trial looming ahead, “I have to be ready to fight and defend myself.”</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font: inherit; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 12px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><iframe height="221" id="kaltura_player_1367418637" src="http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_r0tm4gsy/uiconf_id/3775332/st_cache/32303?referer=http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/html5/html5lib/v1.6.12.27i/mwEmbedFrame.php/entry_id/0_co9r5162/wid/_483511/uiconf_id/6595722?referer=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2F2020%2Fvideo%2Famanda-knox-speaks-diane-sawyer-exclusive-19079012&autoPlay=false&addThis_playerSize=640x360&freeWheel_siteSectionId=nws_offsite&closedCaptionActive=true&closedCaptionsOverPlayer_fontsize=18&autoPlay=false&addThis.playerSize=392x221&freeWheel.siteSectionId=nws_offsite&closedCaptionActive=&" style="border: 0px solid #ffffff;" width="392">Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.</iframe> <div style="font-size: x-small; margin-top: 0; text-align: left;"><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/video">Watch More News Videos at ABC</a>  |   <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/">2012 Presidential Election</a>  |   <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/entertainment">Entertainment & Celebrity News</a></div></div>

Amanda Knox's 10 takeaways from Amanda Knox's interview with Diane Sawyer -- VIDEO

Amanda Knox’s life story reads like a Lifetime movie — which it later became. But now that the American exchange student accused of murderin...

May Day Rallies Held Around the World

7:29 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Riot police block protesters as they try to march towards U.S. Embassy in Manila to mark International Labor Day, May 1, 2013 in Manila, Philippines." height="360" src="http://gdb.voanews.com/2C66E8B4-5BBF-484D-AA7D-6535E9B95E23_w268_r1_cx0_cy6_cw0.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><div class="articleContent" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Arial Unicode MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="ctl00_ctl00_cpAB_cp1_cbcContentBreak" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="zoomMe" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 135px; padding: 0px;">Workers around the world are taking to the streets Wednesday to mark International Workers Day, also known as May Day, with marches and calls for higher pay and better working conditions.<br /><br />A May Day labor union strike in Greece has disrupted ferry service to the Greek islands and public transportation in Athens where demonstrators are protesting against prolonged economic austerity policies.<br /><br />Workers across Spain, where the unemployment rate has rocketed to 27 percent, are holding rallies to call for economic policy changes.<br /><br />In the Philippines, demonstrators are marching in Manila to demand the government protect their jobs. They also want the government to stop hiring contract workers who do not enjoy the same rights and securities of regular, full-time employees.<br /><br />Laborers in Cambodia are calling on lawmakers to increase the minimum wage for garment workers.<br /><br />Police in Istanbul, Turkey Wednesday clashed with people marching towards Taksim Square, the usual site of May Day celebrations.<br /><br /><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="htmlPhg htmlPhgRendered" style="background-color: black; background-image: url(http://www.voanews.com/img/loading.gif); background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; clear: both; height: 392px; margin: 0px 0px 0px -135px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 640px;"><ul class="htmlPhgList" style="height: 392px; list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><li class="htmlPhgListItem htmlPhgListItemHilighted" style="background-image: none; background-position: 0% 6px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; margin: 0px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><img alt="" class="htmlPhgImage htmlPhgImageRendered" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/BC37D2BF-7FEE-4B4B-BB59-A996CD94093D_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="http://gdb.voanews.com/BC37D2BF-7FEE-4B4B-BB59-A996CD94093D_mw505_mh360_s.jpg" style="display: block; margin: auto; padding-top: 16px;" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption" style="background-image: url(http://www.voanews.com/img/opacity-50p-000000.png); background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; bottom: 32px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 640px;"><div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner" style="color: white; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 15px;">A May Day protester jumps away from a water cannon during clashes between riot police and protesters trying to break through barricades, Istanbul, Turkey, May 1, 2013.</div></div></li></ul><div class="htmlPhgFilmstrip" style="background-color: #dde5eb; 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May Day May Day Rallies Held Around the World

Workers around the world are taking to the streets Wednesday to mark International Workers Day, also known as May Day, with marches and call...

Today's archidose #672

7:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

Here are some photos of two pavilions at the <a href="http://www.kmm.nl/">Kröller-Müller Museum</a> in Otterlo, Netherlands, photographed by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/">Klaas Vermaas</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kmm.nl/object/KM%20131.119/Aldo-van-Eyck-pavilion">Aldo van Eyck Pavilion</a> by Aldo van Eyck (1966), rebuilt in 2006:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8687393487/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 05 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 05 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/8687393487_61590ecce8_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8688512086/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 04 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 04 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7050/8688512086_a4d18500aa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8688512310/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 02 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 02 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="427" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/8688512310_5bdb2149bd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8687393189/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 07 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen b reconstr 07 1966 v eijck ae (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="800" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7045/8687393189_5e46aba5ea_c.jpg" width="534" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kmm.nl/object/KM%20127.527/Rietveld-Pavilion">Rietveld Pavilion</a> by Gerrit Rietveld (1965), rebuilt in 2010:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8684817839/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen reconstr 01 1954 rietveld gt (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen reconstr 01 1954 rietveld gt (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8536/8684817839_34b8b38ba4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8684816861/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen reconstr 08 1954 rietveld gt (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen reconstr 08 1954 rietveld gt (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8684816861_ae6fbf9931_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/klaasfotocollectie/8684817533/" title="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen reconstr 03 1954 rietveld gt (kmm otterlo 2013) by Klaas5, on Flickr"><img alt="otterlo sonsbeek paviljoen reconstr 03 1954 rietveld gt (kmm otterlo 2013)" height="427" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8684817533_f1797b0ffa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />To contribute your Flickr images for consideration, just:<br /><blockquote>:: Join and add photos to the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/archi-dose/">archidose pool</a>, and/or<br />:: Tag your photos <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/archidose/">archidose</a></span></blockquote>

Today's archidose #672

Here are some photos of two pavilions at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, photographed by Klaas Vermaas . Aldo van Eyck P...

ISRAEL, IRAN and the BALKANS Part 2

5:42 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHkA777IKHDybeTM-Xsl0VWXp6YWz5IuxOKlPHfJ2doSmy9EOOkLXCaz8fgJfaMjVvghEfCsL7-HWjVgg-TbpVIMVFx7dUyRj_iBLBTdqX9VH4rOd3jRh6pN4LwZP_HOdmJ3GutcpMdQ2/s1600/Slide5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHkA777IKHDybeTM-Xsl0VWXp6YWz5IuxOKlPHfJ2doSmy9EOOkLXCaz8fgJfaMjVvghEfCsL7-HWjVgg-TbpVIMVFx7dUyRj_iBLBTdqX9VH4rOd3jRh6pN4LwZP_HOdmJ3GutcpMdQ2/s400/Slide5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ISRAEL’S SECURITY CONCERNS IN THE BALKANS </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Adapted by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring from the original article written by Chris Deliso</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Executive Summary: </span></b></span></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Bulgaria: repeat attacks less likely </span></li><li> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Macedonia: early stages</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></li><li> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Albania: logistics possibilities</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></li></ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN SEARCHING FOR WEAK LINKS IN THE EUROPEAN CHAIN: THE BALKANS</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAELI agencies know that IRAN’S MOIS and the al Qods force have established sleeper cells of agents and helpers in various key countries in regions all over the world, from SOUTH AMERICA and CENTRAL AMERICA to SOUTHEAST ASIA and East and West AFRICA, and they try to locate weak links in the EUROPEAN chain… one such a weak link is the Balkans, they operated there during the wars of the 1990′s (mainly, in BOSNIA and KOSOVO) and they are trying to establish some sort of presence in Macedonia.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></u></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/iran.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/10/iran.html</a></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/israel-iran-syria.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/06/israel-iran-syria.html</a></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The same local conditions that make the BALKANS an attractive target for Hezbollah and IRAN are also obliging ISRAELI security services to increase their focus. The decision to expand the ISRAELI diplomatic presence [in the Balkans] is a byproduct of budgetary reasons, economic potential and yes, also the desire to challenge and stand up to IRAN and Hezbollah terrorism.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN’S operations are based on, and are a result of, the following considerations: its capabilities, targets (whether there are easy and soft to attack) and above all not to leave its fingerprint, where they believe they would get away with murder- even if their agents are caught red-handed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This does not mean necessarily that the Mossad will open ‘stations there. Embassies provide a good logistic cover for intelligence operations and deploy so called <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘jumpers’- liaison intelligence officers and officials who operate from HQ and ‘jump’ to countries were they are needed.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNIPG4DwF4K46RnnPgiYIBLgSrHJthx8Vnbk-vjnY_UQOLNr8VVMKAh3dhVBbN15SYcaMuu6YreFRMApTcFNjzIhIvWVkCcT0WaLiHKCegZMce7SEJF53CnZ_R7v1BITN5aNxBh5XwZxj/s1600/pc_indepth_analysis_110513_multiculturalism_chart1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNIPG4DwF4K46RnnPgiYIBLgSrHJthx8Vnbk-vjnY_UQOLNr8VVMKAh3dhVBbN15SYcaMuu6YreFRMApTcFNjzIhIvWVkCcT0WaLiHKCegZMce7SEJF53CnZ_R7v1BITN5aNxBh5XwZxj/s320/pc_indepth_analysis_110513_multiculturalism_chart1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While ISRAEL enjoys “excellent cooperation” with local BALKAN services, the latter in some cases lack technological capacities and are weak in analysis, and certainly in monitoring outside elements like IRAN- here enter the CIA and the Mossad to help them. The Burgas inquiry is a good example of such an international cooperation, combining local and international knowledge and understanding.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Intelligence cooperation between ISRAEL and the BALKAN countries, whether Christian- or Muslim-majority, has increased in the past three years. ISRAEL is working in cooperation with local security services, and much of the relevant intelligence obtained by ISRAEL in the MIDDLE EAST is then passed on to the BALKAN services… it is an ongoing cooperation for them, not only with ISRAEL, but with US, UK and not to mention GERMANY services, which have a strong and often underestimated presence and influence in the region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bearing in mind the developing trends of involvement in the BALKAN countries from both ISRAEL and its adversaries, the previously-seen or potential threats in each, we can make the following brief estimates for nine regional states. This list excludes TURKEY, which would require a longer study, and CROATIA and MONTENEGRO, regarding which interesting information exists but has still to be variefied.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BULGARIA: REPEAT ATTACKS LESS LIKELY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The BULGARIAN announcement blaming Hezbollah for the Burgas bombing followed a lengthy investigation involving the BULGARIAN intelligence and police, Mossad, Shin Bet, the CIA, MI6, Interpol and others. Reportedly, ISRAELI intelligence had noticed a <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/report-israel-finds-unusually-high-number-of-lebanon-burgas-phone-calls-made-before-attack-1.457023">significant increase in telephone traffic</a> between known groups in LEBANON and unknown parties in Burgas in the period before the attack- one of many clues indicating a Hezbollah connection.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some who have blamed the Burgas bombing on Hezbollah depict it as ultimately an IRANIAN-sanctioned operation. In the aftermath of the attack, an unnamed <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/world/europe/explosion-on-bulgaria-tour-bus-kills-at-least-five-israelis.html?pagewanted=all">US security official told the <i>New York Times</i></a> that it was “tit for tat” retaliation for suspected ISRAELI assassinations of IRANIAN nuclear scientists. However, other experts read it differently and restrict responsibility to the LEBANESE organization. “Since Hezbollah’s ‘operational leader,’ Imad Mughniyah, was assassinated in Damascus in 2008, the organization has attempted numerous times to avenge his death by launching terrorist attacks against ISRAELI targets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In July 2012 former BULGARIAN intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Kircho <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/world/europe/after-bombing-bulgarias-ties-with-israel-at-risk.html?_r=2&ref=israelthe">Kirov disclosed for the <i>New York Times</i></a> that his service had information in 2011 on planned attacks against ISRAELIS in BULGARIA, indicating that the Burgas attack was not an unexpected aberration. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In fact, ISRAEL provided key intelligence that foiled a suspected Hezbollah attack on ISRAELI ski tourists going from TURKEY to BULGARIA in January 2012. The fact that this had occurred irked some ISRAELI officials later, as they considered the January plot as a clear warning that should have led to the disruption of the Burgas plot.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the months after the Burgas bombing, <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4278636,00.html">it was reported that</a> ISRAEL and BULGARIAN police were cooperating to protect ISRAELIS and Jewish sites in BULGARIA ahead of the Jewish holidays. Kirov had in October 2010 spoken publicly regarding a threat from Asbat al-Ansar, a group reportedly based in a Palestinian refugee camp in south LEBANON. The group’s threat had been made in <a href="http://www.idividi.com.mk/vesti/balkan/634913/index.html">an interview for BULGARIAN media</a>, claiming that BULGARIA’S military involvement in AFGHANISTAN and IRAQ made it a ‘legitimate’ target. According to the 2010 report, Asbat al-Ansar was involved in recruiting mujahedin to fight Western troops in those countries.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The failed plot in January 2012 and the successful one in July of that year brought unprecedented international attention and foreign intelligence cooperation to BULGARIA, making it now a rather ‘hot’ place for terrorists. Further, BULGARIA’S foreign intelligence service has long been known for its offensive capabilities, which can only have been heightened during the past eight months of foreign cooperation. The only hiccup in this regard has been a pattern of oblique comments between BULGARIAN and ROMANIAN services, which can be read as a matter of pride. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In view of these facts it can be assessed that even though BULGARIA remains porous and difficult to secure in general, Hezbollah will be less likely to try and execute a repeat operation here than it will be elsewhere in the region.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ALBANIA: LOGISTICS POSSIBILITIES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As NATO members, ALBANIA and CROATIA are [in addition to BULGARIA] countries where the IRANIANS focus on. Multiple informed sources, including ISRAELI diplomats and local officials indicated that <a href="http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/MFA+Spokesman/2012/Liberman-Albanian-embassy-1-Aug-2012.htm">the opening of an ISRAELI embassy in ALBANIA</a> in August 2012 was partially motivated by future security concerns.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While Sunni terrorist groups and states, not IRAN, have historically been more active in ALBANIA, the ISRAELI-ALBANIAN diplomatic alliance could provoke new interest from Tehran. ALBANIA’S shrewd Prime Minister Sali Berisha has attempted to ingratiate himself among the ISRAELI leadership by echoing their position on IRAN in public statements. Berisha colorfully dubbed IRAN and its leader the “new Nazis” in November 2011, <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4155550,00.html">winning him plaudits in the ISRAELI media</a>. Perhaps not coincidentally, ALBANIAN leaders in 2011 were actively promoting foreign investment opportunities, such as energy that have attracted interest from foreign companies, including an ISRAELI one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As with BULGARIA and the politicization of Hezbollah among EU allies, tricky diplomatic issues exist for ALBANIA in its relations with ISRAEL and other allies. ALBANIA abstained from the 2012 Palestinian UN vote, reportedly infuriating TURKISH Prime Minister Erdoğan- a public embarrassment for the informal leader of the Muslim world, making him appear <a href="http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/albania-refused-to-bow-down-to-pms-pressure-on-palestine-vote-report-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=35915&NewsCatID=338">unable to exert sufficient leverage</a> over EUROPE’S only OIC member state. A number of complicated issues were involved here, including Palestine’s non-recognition of KOSOVO, and ALBANIA’S relations with the US.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51NoM6TFtHEXNk11PPJDGBtXYQp7wPnFhK7oFGMKjv3yjV4mBjODb-aNxxQS9vD0rJMfnVdbWwZ5PfbtBrKQr0odX76CB_-EZhq4hhIMlCB7C1O2JyjihseQ2MaS41INAIvwvGz92tYdp/s1600/pfile26385_activity7766.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51NoM6TFtHEXNk11PPJDGBtXYQp7wPnFhK7oFGMKjv3yjV4mBjODb-aNxxQS9vD0rJMfnVdbWwZ5PfbtBrKQr0odX76CB_-EZhq4hhIMlCB7C1O2JyjihseQ2MaS41INAIvwvGz92tYdp/s320/pfile26385_activity7766.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Berisha seems more investment-oriented in his general approach, after all, he had his country join the OIC years ago because of the Islamic states’ investment promises. Mr. Berisha is a charismatic speaker, but not necessarily pro-ISRAELI out of ideals alone.” Given the TURKISH-ISRAELI rapprochement, it will be interesting to see how ALBANIAN policymakers adapt in order to remain relevant to both allies. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For his part, Dr. Ely Karmon places ALBANIA after BOSNIA as a danger for IRANIAN infiltration and logistics in the region. While acknowledging that “here, political attitudes to IRAN are far less positive to IRANIANS than in BOSNIA,” he adds that “pro-IRANIAN elements can support financial activities” on behalf of the Islamic Republic.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ALBANIA remains opaque. The legacy of (Sunni) terrorist infiltration back in the 1990’s, subsequent construction works in Tirana linked to al Qaeda supporters, and today’s vocal Islamist groups indicate potentially fertile soil. Further, the local economy has been affected by the economic downturn in GREECE and ITALY, from where ALBANIAN diaspora workers have traditionally sent regular remittances. Distraction from local economic issues seems to be coming increasingly in the form of ultra-nationalism of an ethnic (not religious) inspiration, and ALBANIA remains a strong US partner. However, the operative conditions for using the country as a rear logistics or even a platform for an attack do exist and as such the situation will be worth watching in the future.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/greater-albania-united-states-project.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/greater-albania-united-states-project.html</a></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MACEDONIA: EARLY STAGES</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another investment-hungry BALKAN country, MACEDONIA, recently came onto the radar when it welcomed its first resident IRANIAN ambassador, Saeed Sadegh Mohammadi, on 8 February 2013. There is currently an interesting analytical disagreement between certain local and foreign experts regarding whether this poses a security threat.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ISRAELI experts believe that this new diplomatic presence “will be a platform for economic, cultural and even religious activities,” fitting the pattern of IRANIAN activity in developing countries.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MACEDONIAN officials downplay the threat. “The IRANIAN government knows their diplomats will be monitored 24 hours a day- there is nothing they can do,” said one senior security official, noting that it would be tactically difficult for a short-staffed diplomatic facility in a small country to stay off the radar. Rather, the upgrading of IRAN’S diplomatic ties is being considered as “merely symbolic” by MACEDONIAN intelligence, and as a response to ISRAEL’S own strengthened relations with MACEDONIA; this has included the long-awaited opening in March 2011 of the Holocaust Memorial Center one of only four in the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is a game for image. IRAN feels it needs to respond wherever ISRAEL makes its own presence, so after the [Holocaust Center] was opened, this was what IRAN decided to do, but does not imply to be a major security threat for now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, other observers feel the ‘game’ could escalate in dangerous ways. This upgrading to ambassador status was definitely initiated by the Iranian side. They came in and said, ‘we want to expand our trade and cultural relations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US tried to get [the MACEDONIANS] to stop or at least delay it by dragging out the process bureaucratically to keep IRAN from starting to send diplomatic pouches, which they have used in the past to transport explosives and equipment. Nevertheless, within a year IRAN would be able to set up full operations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the same time, other deep background information indicates that regardless of any potentially nefarious IRANIAN intentions, the US is confident in the capabilities of the MACEDONIAN counter-intelligence and police forces, which are per capita more robust than in most other regional states. It is also the case for the last few years that ISRAEL has supplied the MACEDONIAN side with high-tech electronics useful for intelligence gathering activities.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Whether or not any IRANIAN-linked security problems emerge in MACEDONIA, the game is set to continue, with ISRAEL probably making the next move: diplomatic sources have hinted that ISRAEL’S next full embassy in the region will be opened in Skopje, though the timetable is not clear. Currently, the ISRAELI Embassy in CROATIA has jurisdiction over ISRAELI interests in MACEDONIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nevertheless, as was the case with the Tirana embassy decision, what we are hearing from diplomatic sources is that security concerns (as well as flourishing trade and cultural ties) partly explain why an embassy will be built in Skopje. Indeed, recent minor vandalism of the Holocaust Memorial Center by ALBANIAN nationalist/Sunni Islamist protesters was an unsettling development. Since the Jewish structure was not the focus of the protesters’ anger or activities, there should have been no reason for attacking it. The incident served to remind that MACEDONIA continues to hosts a small but problematic Islamist underground. In view of these facts, it is also interesting to remember that when the provocative TURKISH blockbuster <i>Valley of the Wolves: Palestine</i> came to theaters in MACEDONIA, the ‘sponsors’ of local showings specified on posters were all Muslim and ALBANIAN companies, including a security company with ties to local Wahhabi groups.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At present, we can conclude that while IRAN may wish to establish a presence for possible trouble-making here, it is still at a very basic level and a proactive approach from local authorities will probably restrict this possibility. However, the very fact of fresh IRANIAN interest and the continued displays of anti-Semitism from some local Muslims will keep Israeli intelligence focused on the general situation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></u></b></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/the-balkans-organized-crime-and.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2013/01/the-balkans-organized-crime-and.html</a></span><br /><br />

ISRAEL, IRAN and the BALKANS Part 2

ISRAEL’S SECURITY CONCERNS IN THE BALKANS Adapted by Geopolitical Analysis and Monitoring from the original article written by Chris Delis...