Plane carrying 127 passengers crashes near Islamabad airport
Posted on April 20, 2012
Filed under Pakistan,Uncategorized
Plane carrying 127 passengers crashes near Islamabad airport
A Pakistani passenger jet with 127 people on board crashed on Friday as it was landing in bad weather at an airport near the capital, Islamabad, officials said. A government minister expressed little hope of finding survivors.
Court in shock as Norway gunman Anders Behring Breivik describes massacre
Posted on April 20, 2012
Filed under Norway
Court in shock as Norway gunman Anders Behring Breivik describes massacre
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik shocked a courtroom in Norway on Friday with grisly descriptions of his massacre on an island youth camp.Survivors of the July 22 rampage were hugging and sobbing, trying to comfort each other during Breivik’s testimony in Oslo’s district court. That testimony was broadcast to 17 other courtrooms where the relatives of other victims were gathered.He left out no detail from his rampage, explaining how he shot panicked youth at point-blank range. Sixty-nine people, mostly teenagers at an annual summer camp, were killed on Utoya island.”Some of them are completely paralyzed.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon wants 300-member supervision mission in Syria
Posted on April 20, 2012
Filed under Syria
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon wants 300-member supervision mission in Syria
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has described the situation in Syria as “highly precarious” and recommended the Security Council to authorise a 300-member strong supervision mission in the troubled country to help monitor the cessation of armed violence. Ban said despite the Syrian government’s agreement to cease all violence, there is still “deeply troubling evidence” that the situation on the ground has not changed. “The situation (in Syria) remains highly precarious…
UK abortion provider under threat from hackers
Posted on April 19, 2012
Filed under UK
UK abortion provider under threat from hackers
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s largest abortion provider said Thursday that thousands of attempts have been made to hack its website following a high-profile security breach when personal details of 10,000 women were stolen.Last week a judge jailed a computer hacker for breaking into the website of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and stealing the data.The service said that in the five weeks since the man’s arrest, it had recorded around 2,500 further attempts to hack its website, though none have succeeded.It said the attacks were low-level and patients’ details remain secure, noting that no medical records are kept on the site.The service said about a third of the IP addresses used in the attempts were in North America, but noted that did not mean the hackers themselves were based there.”The police have been extremely supportive of BPAS but there has been no need to engage their services in these low level incidents which have caused no disruption nor compromised us or the safety of women’s data,” said Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at the abortion provider.She said there was “no evidence to suggest that this was an anti-abortion attack.”Murphy said thee attempts did not appear to be denial of service attacks, in which hackers deluge a website with traffic to bring it down.In March, the service’s website was targeted by James Jeffery, who claimed to be a member of hacking collective Anonymous. He said he attacked the provider because he opposed the decisions of two women he knew to have abortions.Prosecutors said that the 27-year-old defaced the site with an anti-abortion statement and the Anonymous logo, and stole personal information about some 10,000 women who had contacted the service. He later boasted about the attack on Twitter, using the name of late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar as a pseudonym.Jeffery was tracked down through his Internet service provider address, and pleaded guilty to two charges under the Computer Misuse Act
Norway killer played mordern warfare to sharpen aim
Posted on April 19, 2012
Filed under Norway
Norway killer played mordern warfare to sharpen aim
OSLO, Norway (AP) — Anders Behring Breivik knew it would take practice to be able to slaughter dozens of people before being shot by police.In a chilling summary, the far-right fanatic claimed Thursday that he sharpened his aim by playing computer games for more than a year before Norway’s worst peacetime massacre.Breivik told an Oslo court he took steroids to build physical strength and meditated to “de-emotionalize” himself before the bombing and shooting rampage that left 77 people dead.His lack of remorse and matter-of-fact description of weapons and tactics — he even considered using a flame thrower — was deeply disturbing to families of the victims, most of whom were teenagers.”They perceive him as evil and dangerous and reopening wounds,” said Mette Yvonne Larsen, a lawyer representing the bereaved. Some of them are following the proceedings in court; others are watching it by live video link in more than a dozen courtrooms around Norway.”It’s one thing to read explanations, it’s not the same to hear a person present such a message,” Larsen said. “I am personally quite shocked.”Norway has been captivated by the trial since it began on Monday.
Iraq bombings kill at least 30
Posted on April 19, 2012
Filed under Iraq
Iraq bombings kill at least 30
A wave of bomb attacks in four different provinces across Iraq killed at least 30 people on Thursday, security officials said. Bombings in and around Baghdad killed 17 people, an interior ministry official said, while bomb attacks in the northern province of Kirkuk left nine people dead, high-ranking police officers said. Three more people were killed in bombings in Samarra in Salaheddin province, a commander of a local anti-Qaeda militia and a police lieutenant colonel said
Pak Army Chief calls for resolving Siachen impasse
Posted on April 19, 2012
Filed under Pakistan
Pak Army Chief calls for resolving Siachen impasse
Islamabad Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Wednesday said all issues between India and Pakistan should be resolved to ensure “peaceful co-existence” which would allow the two countries to focus on development and the welfare of the people. In his first public remarks on the peace process that was resumed by New Delhi and Islamabad last year, the powerful Army Chief said: “All issues should be resolved and peaceful co-existence is very necessary for both countries
Omar al-Bashir threatens overthrow of South Sudan govt
Posted on April 19, 2012
Filed under Sudan
Omar al-Bashir threatens overthrow of South Sudan govt
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened on Thursday to overthrow the “insect” government of South Sudan, amid global efforts to pull the rivals from the brink of all-out war after the South seized a key oilfield. “Our main target from today is to liberate South Sudan’s citizens from the SPLM (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement), and this is our responsibility before our brothers in South Sudan,” Bashir said, adding that the southern government cannot be called a “movement”
Pak industry body for joint eco zones with India
Posted on April 19, 2012
Filed under Pakistan
Pak industry body for joint eco zones with India
A Pakistani industry body PIBC on Thursday called for setting up of joint economic zones with India in the border areas to boost bilateral trade and investment.
NATO allies thrash out Afghan troop withdrawal
Posted on April 18, 2012
Filed under Afghanistan
NATO allies thrash out Afghan troop withdrawal
NATO allies closed ranks on Wednesday to ensure an orderly troop withdrawal from Afghanistan over the next two years as Australia became the latest nation to map out its pullout from the war. Foreign and defence ministers gathered in Brussels for rare joint talks to discuss their Afghan strategy and debate the future size and funding of Afghan security forces after foreign combat troops have left at the end of 2014. The talks, aimed at preparing a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21, follows a Taliban onslaught in Kabul at the weekend that underscored the insurgency’s resiliency even as officials insist that militants are on the backfoot.
Syria troops pound Homs as death toll mounts
Posted on April 18, 2012
Filed under Syria
Syria troops pound Homs as death toll mounts
Syrian regime forces shelled rebel neighbourhoods of the flashpoint central city of Homs on Wednesday as a tenuous truce struggled to take effect despite the arrival of UN military observers. Sniper fire killed six civilians in Homs yesterday, among at least 20 dead nationwide, monitors said, as the head of the UN advance team acknowledged the mission faced a “difficult” task shoring up the ceasefire that went into force at dawn last Thursday.
Give security to me, my life is in danger: LeT founder Hafiz Saeed
Posted on April 18, 2012
Filed under Featured,Pakistan
Give security to me, my life is in danger: LeT founder Hafiz Saeed
Lahore LeT founder Hafiz Saeed has moved the High Court here, asking it to stop Pakistani authorities from taking any “adverse action” against him under pressure from the US and provide security to him as his life was “not safe” and any “mishap” could happen. Acting on the petition of Saeed for whom the US has offered a 10 million-dollar bounty, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh today issued notices to the federal government, the Interior Ministry and the Punjab Home Ministry to file their replies by April 25. Saeed filed the petition along with his brother-in-law Hafiz Abdur Rehman Makki, for whom the US has announced a USD two million bounty under its Rewards for Justice programme.