Black politician targeted by German far-right

A black politician campaigning in eastern Germany has become the victim of a racist campaign by a far-right party. The National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) says it is trying to persuade Zeca Schall, a German citizen who came from Angola 21 years ago, to leave the country. Schall is a member of the Christian Democratic Union, the party led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and has been named as a CDU expert for the integration of minorities.

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Can the World’s Fisheries Survive Their Appetite?

Boris Worm, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Canada, made a startling prediction in the pages of Science in 2006: if overfishing continued at then-current rates, he said, the world would essentially run out of seafood by 2048. Worm’s bold analysis whipped up controversy in the usually pacific world of marine science — one colleague, Ray Hilborn of the University of Washington, called the Science study “mindbogglingly stupid.” But Worm held fast to his predictions: that the oceans had limits, and that marine species were declining so fast that they would eventually disappear.

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Castro calls for tight finances in Cuba

Sunday was a day of commemoration in Cuba — the 56th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution — but the message from President Raul Castro was not all celebratory. The island nation will face a second round of belt-tightening as a result of the global financial crunch, Castro said in a speech marking Revolution Day. He said that on Tuesday he would hold a meeting of the Council of Ministries “dedicated to the analysis of the second cost adjustment in this year’s plan, due to the effects of the global economic crisis, especially on the reduction of revenues from exports and the additional restrictions on accessing external financing.” The global economic downturn has hit Cuba hard.

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Britain downgrades terror threat level

Britain on Monday downgraded its international terror threat level from "severe" to "substantial." The notice was issued by The Joint Terrorism Analysis Center (JTAC), which operates independently of ministers. According to the British Home Office Web site, the change means that a terrorist threat remains a strong possibility and an attack might occur without further warning. JTAC assesses the threat from international terrorism by considering all relevant intelligence and information.

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