UK uses anti-terrorist legislation to seize assets of Icelandic banks

The UK government has used a law introduced combat terrorism to freeze £4 billion (US$6.84 billion) of assets of the Icelandic bank, Landsbanki. There is no suggestion that Landsbanki was involved in financing terrorism.

When questioned in Parliament, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms confirmed that the freezing order had been issued under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, saying, “that’s where the power happened to be.” The act was introduced the in the climate of fear generated by the 9-11 attacks. At the time, there was concern that it was open to abuse.

The European Parliament has passed a resolution urging the European Commission and member states, "to safeguard media pluralism." The resolution also calls for, "an open discussion on all issues relating to the status of weblogs."

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted 307 to 262 on Sep. 25, in support of the resolution, based on a report produced this summer by the Parliamentary Committee on Culture and Education.

The world survives the start-up of the biggest ever scientific experiment

CERN

The LHC is the world’s most powerful particle smasher. Its 27-kilometre circumference ring comprises 1,600 superconducting magnets, most weighing over 27 tonnes. Approximately 96 tonnes of liquid helium keep the magnets at their operating temperature of minus 271.3 degrees centigrade. That is colder than outer space. When operational, the various experiments will produce roughly 10 petabytes of data a year. If recorded onto data CDs, the stack would be nearly 20 kilometres tall.

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The European Union and Canada have been discussing a trade deal that could be worth up to 26.5 billion Euros (US$38.2 billion) a year. Canadian and EU leaders will officially launch negotiations at their Montreal summit on Oct. 17, three days after Canadian federal election.

The Canadian Globe and Mail reports:

Trade Minister Michael Fortier and his staff have been engaged for the past two months with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the representatives of European governments in an effort to begin what a senior EU official involved in the talks described in an interview yesterday as "deep economic integration negotiations."