Early bird: The former intelligence chief is set to become the Dutch prime minister. South Korea attacked the southern balloons with excrements
In the Netherlands, parties including election winner Geert Wilders agreed on a new government with a surprising name at its head. In South Korea, anti-chemical units were called in to destroy air balloons with excrement sent into the country by North Korea. Scientists have launched a new satellite, its goal is to determine how clouds affect warming and cooling of the Earth's surface. The world's largest automotive group Volkswagen plans to produce an electric car, which will bring price competition to Chinese manufacturers on the European market
Former secret service chief's government will be supported by Wilders
The former head of the Dutch intelligence service and anti-terrorist office became a surprise nominee for the next Dutch prime minister on Tuesday after being supported by the leaders of a four-party coalition led by the far-right Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders.
Dick Schoof, a sixty-seven-year-old former head of the General Intelligence and Security Service and currently the highest-ranking civil servant at the Ministry of Security and Justice, met with the leaders of four parties even before they announced at a late afternoon press conference that he is their choice for prime minister. His name as a potential prime minister did not circulate, and he himself admitted that his nomination was a surprise, reported AP agency.
South Korea labels waste and excrement balloons as a dangerous act
South Korea on Wednesday accused North Korea of sending a large number of balloons over the heavily fortified border between the two countries, releasing objects including waste and feces, and labelled this act as dangerous.
A military unit for handling explosives and a team for responding to chemical and biological weapons were deployed to control and collect the objects. A warning was issued for residents to stay away and to report any suspicious findings to the authorities, wrote Reuters agency.
New satellite to reveal secrets of how global warming will progress
A sophisticated joint European-Japanese satellite was launched to measure the influence of clouds on climate. It is known that some clouds at low altitudes cool the planet, while others at very high altitudes act as a blanket and conversely promote the warming of the planet.
The Earthcare mission will use lasers and radar to examine the atmosphere in order to accurately determine where the balance lies. It is an issue that introduces fundamental uncertainties into computer models used to predict how the climate will respond to the increasing amount of greenhouse gases, the BBC website reported.
European car manufacturers unite to compete with Chinese competition with a cheap electric car
Volkswagen will be developing cheap electric cars in an effort to better compete with strong Chinese rivals, said the largest European car manufacturer on Tuesday, after talks with Renault collapsed earlier this month, but this opens up a new opportunity for cooperation on this project.
The goal is to produce electric cars for the European market at a price around 20,000 euros (approximately 500,000 CZK), representatives of the Volkswagen group stated. The world premiere is planned for the year 2027. The ID.1 project comes at a time when Chinese competitors, some of whom have a 30% price advantage over Western manufacturers, are penetrating Europe to gain market share and attack established car manufacturers on their home ground, Reuters agency reported.
Sources: reuters.com, apnews.com, bbc.com
