Protesting UK students give royal couple a jolt in their car

Protesting UK students give royal couple a jolt in their car

Protesting UK students give royal couple a jolt in their car

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:38 AM PST

LONDON, Dec 10: The Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, reacted with shock as their car was attacked by rampaging students during last night's tuition fees protest in London.

Israeli envoys warned of revenge attack from Iran

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:32 AM PST

TEL AVIV, Dec 10: Israel's envoys abroad have received a particularly alarming warning in recent days: "You may be targeted by Iran and Hezbollah as an act of revenge following the assassination of nuclear scientists in Tehran," said a message sent from Jerusalem.

A dying girl's plea to the health minister

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:40 AM PST

A smart girl scoring 11 A's in SPM, Yang Yanqi passed away last week after a two-year struggle with blood cancer

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Reviving ancient Chinese culture (II)

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:37 AM PST

Four young ladies Wang Xiao Qing, Yang Hsiu Li, Liu Xiu Ling and Xu Xin Xin first met one another at the Hua Xia Camp and began to fall in love with traditional Han costumes.

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FACTBOX - Five facts about the Tiananmen Square protests

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:30 AM PST

Here are five facts about the student-led movement and the subsequent crackdown.

Arabs, Jews in uproar over rabbis' ruling on rental

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:09 AM PST

RAMALLAH, Dec 10: The Israeli and Arab uproar against a ruling by some 300 Jewish rabbis prohibiting the rental of homes to non-Jews, usually Arabs living inside Israel, rose on Thursday.

India protests US airport treatment on its ambassador

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 12:09 AM PST

NEW DELHI, Dec 10: India on Friday said the 'pat-down' search of Ambassador Meera Shankar at a US airport was not good public diplomacy and that it was awaiting a report from its embassy in Washington over the incident before it can take up the matter with American authorities.

Philippines closer to resuming peace talks with Maoists

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:56 PM PST

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines moved closer on Friday to restarting talks with Maoist rebels after President Benigno Aquino ordered charges against 43 detained health workers to be dropped, removing one obstacle to peace negotiations.

China faces trial by West in Nobel "farce", media says

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:56 PM PST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese media accused the West on Friday of putting the country on trial and trying to impose foreign values, hours ahead of a ceremony in Norway awarding of the Nobel peace prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo.

Oprah sparks frenzy Down Under

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:16 PM PST

MELBOURNE, December 10, 2010 (AFP) - Thousands of screaming fans thronged to welcome American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey to Australia on Friday, sparking scenes of adulation usually reserved for royalty and rock stars.

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Malaysia, South Korea to explore free-trade pact

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:14 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR, December 10, 2010 (AFP) - Malaysia and South Korea agreed Friday to explore establishing a bilateral trade agreement, and aimed to double trade between the two countries in the next five years.

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US envoy discusses sanctions with Myanmar's Suu Kyi

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:13 PM PST

YANGON, December 10, 2010 (AFP) - A senior US diplomat discussed economic sanctions with Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi Friday during the first high-level visit by a Washington envoy since her release last month.

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Who are Anonymous? Hackers fighting for WikiLeaks

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 03:36 PM PST

By Andy Goldberg

FEATURE SAN FRANCISCO: They call themselves Anonymous. But though their identities are shrouded behind an impenetrable digital veil, the havoc they have wreaked in cyberspace is anything but secret.

The group, which is made up of an uncertain number of anti-censorship hackers, has so far managed to temporarily disable the website of Mastercard and Visa after both those credit card companies decided to stop taking donations for WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks' release of its third tranche of leaked secret US government documents – US diplomatic cables from the US State Department – has provoked a type of cyber warfare as critics of the leaks also try to shut down the WikiLeaks website by overwhelming it with targeted log-ons.

The retaliation by WikiLeaks supporters however seems merely like the opening salvo in a much fiercer war, with the group already announcing over a Twitter account that its next target would be the web-retail giant Amazon. Last week, Amazon declared it would stop hosting the controversial whistle-blowing website on its servers.

"Target: www.amazon.com locked on!!!" someone who claimed to be representing the group said over Twitter.

There's no way to tell for sure if the threat is even genuine since so little is known about the group. Anonymous appears to have close links with the mischief-making website 4chan.org and its previous targets were mainly restricted to launching denial of service attacks on Church of Scientology websites.

The same kinds of attacks were used to overwhelm the Mastercard and Visa website. They use computers hijacked by malicious viruses to bombard the website with millions of enquiries, effectively taking down the servers' ability to respond to genuine users.

The aim of this group, like that of WikiLeaks, is to take information from the government and make it available to the public, activists said in a blog posting at anons.blogspot.com.

Simple message

The post began with quotes from Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin, two of the most revered American leaders in history: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves," and "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."

The post read: "Hello World. We are Anonymous. What you do or do not know about us is irrelevant. We have decided to write to you, the media, and all citizens of the free world at large to inform you of the message, our intentions, potential targets, and our ongoing peaceful campaign for freedom.

"The message is simple: freedom of speech. Anonymous is peacefully campaigning for freedom of speech everywhere in all forms. Freedom of speech for: the Internet, for journalism and journalists, and citizens of the world at large. Regardless of what you think or have to say; Anonymous is campaigning for you."

"The Internet is the last bastion of freedom in this evolving technical world. The Internet is capable of connecting us all. When we are connected we are strong. When we are strong we have power.

When we have power we are able to do the impossible.

"This is why the government is moving on WikiLeaks. This is what they fear. They fear our power when we unite. Do not forget this. The goal is simple: Win the right to keep the Internet free of any control from any entity, corporation, or government."

Apart from waging a battle against companies that they believe to have bowed to government pressure against WikiLeaks, members of the Anonymous group also appear to have been involved in the establishment of hundreds of WikiLeaks mirror sites. These ensure that the whistle-blowing forum will remain available even if the official site is taken offline.

- dpa

Oprah sparks frenzy Down Under

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 03:23 PM PST

MELBOURNE: Thousands of screaming fans thronged to welcome American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey to Australia today, sparking scenes of adulation usually reserved for royalty and rock stars.

Winfrey yelled out her enthusiasm for Australia, saying she had been welcomed by open-hearted people as the crowd waved banners and flowers and blew kisses at the megastar who filled Melbourne's Federation Square to capacity.

The 56-year-old appeared on a stage with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, amid scenes reminiscent of the welcomes afforded to the Beatles and Abba in the 1960s and 1970s and Princess Diana in the 1980s.

"I don't know what it is with you guys, I was saying this to the prime minister, I don't know what it is, do y'all go to like friendly school? Everybody is so darn friendly," she said.

In a short speech to fans, some of whom had reportedly slept overnight in the square for a chance to see the American superstar, Winfrey said she was loving her first trip to Australia.

She described the country as "breathtaking", saying she had flown over the Great Barrier Reef, visited Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the country's desert heartland and had seen koalas mating – the last sight within an hour of landing on Wednesday.

"So I know, that is the definition of 'g'day mate'," she said.

8,000 screaming fans

In her only public appearance, Winfrey said she had decided to bring her show Down Under in its final season because of the support of Australian fans over the years.

"I love the fact that y'all have supported me and supported this show," she told the more than 8,000 screaming, applauding and banner-waving fans.

"When we looked around the world, our greatest fanbase was right here in Australia. So I said, let's go to the people who support you."

"Thank you Melbourne," she yelled.

Winfrey, who has brought 300 people from the United States as audience members for her only shows outside America, will film two episodes outside the Sydney Opera House, renamed the 'Oprah House' for the event, on Dec 14.

"This is one of the places I always wanted to visit," she said.

"I have to say, your country is simply breathtaking."

But speaking to her fans, she said that whether she was in Chicago or Melbourne people were ultimately the same.

"We are all in the deepest part of ourselves more alike than we are different," she said to screams of approval. "You have all proven that to me beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"I will be back."

Winfrey, who met with Aboriginal Australians while in the nation's desert heartland, said she was grateful for the hospitality she had been received.

"I'm grateful to you for your hospitality. I'm grateful to you for your big open heart," she said.

"Can't wait to see how you love, how you love and how you par-tay," she hollered, before hugging Gillard.

- AFP

Indonesia arrests top terror suspect

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 03:09 PM PST

JAKARTA: Indonesia police said today they had arrested top terror suspect Abu Tholut, seen as one of the most dangerous Islamist extremists in the mainly Muslim country.

 

Tholut, 49, is suspected of playing a lead role in the formation of a militant training camp that was found in Aceh province in February, as well as recruiting militants and raising illegal funds for terror activity.

Police spokesman Djihartono said the suspect also known as Mostofa, Pranata Yuda and Imron Baehaqi was arrested without a fight in Kudus, Central Java province, today morning.

"He was arrested at his home and he made no attempt to fight us," he said.

"We also found a firearm... with eight bullets in the magazine, and several bullets which were wrapped inside plastic."

Tholut received militia training in Afghanistan during the mujahedeen war against the Soviets in the late 1980s and became a leading figure in Southeast Asia's Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network when he returned home.

He reportedly sent Islamic militants to fight Christians in Sulawesi from 1998 to 2001 and served less than half of a seven-year prison sentence handed down in 2004 for the bombing of a shopping mall in Jakarta three years earlier.

The Central Java native also allegedly helped establish training camps for Islamic militants in the Southern Philippines, including the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

In recent years he reportedly split from JI and joined another radical group called Jamaah Ansharut-Tauhid, set up by extremist cleric Abu Bakar Bashir.

Bashir is in custody along with dozens of other militants linked to the Aceh cell, which was allegedly planning attacks against Westerners, the security forces and assassinations of political leaders.

Security analysts say that despite going through a deradicalisation programme in prison he remains a key coordinator for Islamist militants in Indonesia, who are bent on creating a caliphate across much of Southeast Asia.

- AFP

Diplomats spoke of "fatal" Cuban economy in cable

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:22 PM PST

HAVANA (Reuters) - Diplomats from several countries said Cuba's economic situation could become "fatal" within two to three years while a Chinese diplomat groused that discussing reforms with the Cuban government was "a real headache," according to a purported U.S. cable obtained by WikiLeaks and published on Thursday by the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

China's rivals welcome Nobel for dissident Liu

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 11:22 PM PST

TOKYO (Reuters) - China's rivals welcomed on Friday the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo despite China's condemnation of the prize as unacceptable Western interference.

WITNESS - Memories of Sakharov, another absent Nobel winner

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 10:44 PM PST

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - It was 1975 and that year's Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to Andrei Sakharov, the Russian physicist-turned-human-rights-champion.

UN talks on knife edge, Mexico urges agreement

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 10:44 PM PST

CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Talks on a 190-nation deal to slow global warming were on a "knife edge" early on Friday as Brazil and Japan expressed guarded hopes of ending a dispute between rich and poor about curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Mexican drug lord suspected killed in clashes

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 10:35 PM PST

MEXICO CITY, Dec 10 − Mexican security forces may have killed a leader of the powerful La Familia drug cartel yesterday, a leading police official said after shootouts between federal police agents and presumed drug hitmen across the western state of Michoacan. National security chief Alejandro Poire said yesterday that a leader of La Familia ...


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