Submariners World News SitRep

Brussels plans for a long-term European budget without Britain

Prior to the EU summit an “alternative” budget is being discussed in Brussels, because of the increasing isolationism of the UK. Britain is pressing for a real freeze in the EU’s budget for 2012-2014. According to reports EU officials have started to work on how to manage in legal and technical terms without the UK. An alternative budget would be done on an annual basis which requires a qualified majority of votes.

Russian President approves Kalashnikov merger

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the go ahead to the merger between the country’s leading rifle maker Izhmekh and Izhmash, the producer of the famous AK-47. The two could be merged into the state Rostekhnologii corporation under the brand name Kalashnikov. The merger will help the companies fill holes in their order books, according to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. The deal is also aimed at saving the facilities in Izhevsk, one of Russia’s biggest industrial cities in Urals, where the companies are located.

At least 3 killed, several injured by car crashing into bus stop in Moscow

­At least three people have died at the scene and several have been injured after a car crashed into a bus stop in northern Moscow. According to media reports, the Honda CRV hit people waiting for a bus and then rammed into power pole. The driver – a woman aged 25 - was trapped in the car. The rescue team came to the place of accident together with the helicopter to take the injured to hospital.  It is still unclear what caused the driver to crash into the bus stop. The site is near the scene of a similar accident, when a car driven by intoxicated person crashed into another bus stop,

US soldier accused of killing 5 comrades in Iraq could get death penalty

­A US soldier accused of going on a shooting spree at Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport in an assault in 2009 will face an arraignment at a military base in Washington State on Monday. Sergeant John Russell faces five charges of premeditated murder, one charge of aggravated assault and one charge of attempted murder in connection with the May 2009 shootings. Six months ago, he was ordered to stand trial in a military court empowered to assign the death penalty if convicted.

World Bank warns of 4.0 degree temperature rise by 2100

A World Bank-commissioned report says the world is headed for a 4.0 degree Celsius rise in world temperatures by the end of the century – compared to pre-industrial levels – unless it took on a renewed commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "Lack of ambitious action on climate change threatens to put prosperity out of reach of millions and roll back decades of development," said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at its unveiling. The report says that even if all current climate change reduction promises are fulfilled there is a 20 percent chance that the four degree rise would still occur.

Soyuz TMA-05M crew lands safely in Kazakhstan

A three-man crew has returned unscathed from the International Space Station (ISS) after their craft landed in the steppe of Kazakhstan. The landing location was shifted by 35 kilometers after the parachute release on the craft was mistimed. ISS expedition 32 and 33 members Suni Williams from the US, Aki Hoshide from Japan, and Yuri Malenchenko from Russia lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in July aboard the same TMA-05M craft. Only three crew members remain on the ISS until they are joined by the new mission in late December.

Scores charged with inciting revolution in Jordan

Jordan’s prosecutors have charged 89 people with an attempt to incite a downfall of the regime, several agencies reported Sunday, citing local officials. The charges, which carry sentences of up to 15 years, follow a week of bloody protests caused by rapidly hiked fuel prices, in which crowds demanded the removal of King Abdullah. The US-alllied ruling royal family says the financial measures are necessary to secure international loans.

Breivik wrote support letter to German racist killings suspect – Geman magazine

Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik has written a sympathetic letter to Beate Zschaepe, a German far-right activist who has recently been charged with the murder of nine immigrants between 2000 and 2007, Der Spiegel reports. "We are both martyrs for the conservative revolution and you should be extremely proud of your sacrifice and efforts,” reads the letter, penned from prison, where Breivik is serving a term of at least 21 years. He also urged Zschaepe, whom he addressed as “Dear Sister”, to use the trial to promote her views, just as he did during his own hearings earlier this year. Anders Breivik gunned down 77 activists at a left-wing political convention in July 2011.