METRO Wednesday, October 28, 2009 D Bishop fined for Holocaust snub A GERMAN court has fined traditionalist bishop Richard Williamson 12,000 for incitement because he publicly denied the Holocaust. British-born Williamson has two weeks to contest the ruling. Denying the Holocaust is classified as a hate crime in Germany. The court decision coincided with the start of talks between the Vatican and leaders of the traditionalist Catholic Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), of which Williamson is a member. The Pope caused outrage among Jews in January when he lifted the bans on four SSPX bishops at the same time Williamson said he believed no more than 300,000 Jews died in the Holocaust and there were no gas chambers. Caoimhe Blaney Shorte, at the opening of the Artzone exhibition, Faces, the biggest-ever exhibition of childrens art in Ireland, featuring paintings, prints, sculptures, fabrics and graphics from more than 450 children. It runs until November 6 in the Rua Red Gallery at the County Arts Centre in Tallaght Picture: Fennells faces, faces everywhere facebook all set to double its Irish staff SOCIAL networking giant Facebook yesterday announced plans to double its Irish operations at the official opening of its European headquarters in Dublin. The company has been stationed in the city since last October and its workforce has grown to more than 70 employees. That figure is now set to double by the end of next year, with management plan- ning to scale up business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa from its Hanover Quay base. Facebook will also be introducing new finance, human resources, legal and product marketing departments to its of- fices in the capital. Tnaiste Mary Coughlan welcomed the expansion and said it was down to the countrys pool of skills and talent. We have the best in the world here in Dublin and in Ireland, and adding to that portfolio... is hugely, hugely important, she said. It is a fabulous endorsement that Ireland can satisfy the needs of such highly innovative and technologically advanced companies as they make criti- cal investments. But the Tnaiste admitted she was not in possession of her own Facebook page, instead joking: You should ask my daughter. Colm Long, Facebooks director of on- line operations said the company had been impressed by the Governments make it all happen, can-do attitude when setting up in Ireland. The ease of doing business here in Ire- land was a very big factor for us. We knew we had a very business-friendly place to work, he added. We have over 1million users in Ireland and weve grown to over 300million us- ers worldwide I think its surpassed everybodys expectations in terms of growth, he said. Recruitment for the new positions has already begun, with application forms available on the Facebook website. By JEANANNE CRAIG Ease of business: Colm Long If you have a story for MiniCosm please e-mail us at news@metroireland.ie SCIENCE & DISCOVERY IN BRIEFMINICOSM play on: Still struggling to get to grips with learning to play that guitar you got for a Christmas present a couple of years ago? Persevere, it could be doing your brain a power of good. There is growing evidence the areas of the brain used to process music are larger or more active in musicians. Even starting to learn an instrument can boost brain power. Now Faculty of 1000, an online scientific community, propose using music to improve language skills, memory, or mood. If music has such a strong influence on brain plasticity, said Lutz Jncke, this asks the question of whether this effect can be used to enhance cognitive performance. When ants attack: Friendly ants can turn against each other by exploiting the chemical cues they use to distinguish colony mates from rivals. The discovery about the social behaviour of the Argentine Linepithema ant humile provides hope for a new tactic in controlling the spread of the invasive species, according to research at the University of California. Scientists narrowed down and synthesized seven chemical molecules which trigger aggressive behaviour among the ants. They said the findings may be relevant to other insects which rely upon chemical signals to identify each other. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html