Airport officials in Cairo say police have detained an American-Egyptian man who arrived on a flight from New York with several weapons in his luggage. The officials say the man was taken into custody as he tried to pass through customs with a metal box containing two 9 mm handguns, 250 bullets, several swords, daggers and knives. They say customs officials had been alerted after the weapons were discovered when the box was examined upon arrival today on an Egypt Air flight from New York's JFK International Airport in Cairo. A police official confirmed the man was under investigation by prosecutors. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters.
Showing posts with label world news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world news. Show all posts
May 12, 2010
Ash affects flights
Volcanic ash from Iceland wound its way south to North Africa and curled eastward, forcing authorities for the first time to shut down airports in Morocco, as well as in Spain and, briefly, in Turkey. Ten airports in Morocco, among them Casablanca, Rabat-Sale, Tangiers, Fez, Agadir and Essaouira, almost all major tourist stops, were closed until at least 7 am (0600 GMT) on Wednesday. A Transport Ministry statement said it wants "to guarantee a maximum level of security for passengers" as the ash cloud passes over the kingdom on the Atlantic Coast. Airports in Morocco, on the African continent and some 3,780 kilometres (2,350 miles) from Iceland, were not affected last month when the April 14 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) volcano forced at least a five-day suspension of air traffic in Europe. This time, the ash pushed south, forcing even the small airport in the Moroccan town of Tan-Tan, just north of the Western Sahara territory, to close. The ash also was causing havoc Tuesday in nearby Spain, forcing airports to shut down in the Canary islands of Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera, affecting dozens of tourist flights. On the Spanish mainland, 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) from the Canary islands, airports at Seville and Jerez in the south and Badajoz in the east were closed. Spain also kept restrictions on planes flying between 20,000 feet and 35,000 feet (6,100 meters and 10,770 meters) above the ground, mainly affecting trans-Atlantic flights to and from other European countries.
Playboy readers 2 get 3-D on june edition
Playboy readers who can only imagine what it would look like if a centerfold jumped right off the page are getting new specs to help them see into Hef's world.The magazine's June edition hits newsstands Friday equipped with 3-D glasses. Now the toy that has kids dodging dragons, meatballs and tall blue aliens at the movies will help adults focus on what is, at first glance, a very blurry Playmate of the Year.
"What would people most like to see in 3-D?" asked Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. "Probably a naked lady."
Hefner makes no secret of hoping to capitalize on the popularity of 3-D movies such as "Avatar" and "How to Train Your Dragon," even as he makes no secret of not quite getting what all the fuss is about.
"I'm not a huge enthusiast of 3-D," he said in a telephone interview. "I leave real life to go to the movies and 2-D is fine with me."
If the thought of grown men sitting back in their recliners with a pair of 3-D glasses doesn't quite say "Playboy," it should be noted that a few months ago the magazine put Marge Simpson -- yes, the blue-haired animated mother of Bart -- on the cover and in a two-page centerfold.
"In today's print environment you have to create newsstand events," said the editorial director of the Chicago-based magazine, Jimmy Jellinek. "Marge Simpson was one of those."
Playboy certainly must do something to get more people, especially younger people, to buy a magazine that has seen circulation plummet from 3.15 million in 2006 to 1.5 million today.
Jellinek said he hopes the issue featuring centerfold Hope Dworaczyk in 3-D also reminds people that for all the infatuation with the Internet, there is nothing quite like having a magazine in your hands.
"People want things that last and have meaning," he said.
The thought hadn't occurred to Hefner. But, now that you mention it:
"This particular picture is one example of how books and magazines are different (than computer images)," he said. "You can hold it in your hands, save them, and as Dad used to, put them under the mattress."
Hefner notes there also are plenty of good old-fashioned 2-D pictures of Dworaczyk -- the 51st Playmate of the Year, for those counting at home.
3-D may be all the rage, but Hefner said he first thought of using it when he launched his magazine in the 1950s.
"I actually signed a photographer to shoot two nude women in 3-D in Chicago," he said. But he scrapped the idea when he discovered how expensive it would be to include the glasses.
This time around, HBO is helping out. HBO wanted a creative way to promote its show "True Blood," and having Playboy include 3-D glasses with the show's name on them seemed a good way to do it, said Playboy spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey.
So, do the glasses work? Well, it does kind of look like Dworaczyk is handing you the wine glass she's holding. And she says the photograph makes everything a little, well, bigger.
"It's kind of like it says on the rearview mirror," Dworaczyk joked. "Things may appear larger."
Over 100 dead in airport plane crash | 8-year-old sole survivor |
TRIPOLI: A Libyan plane arriving from South Africa disintegrated on landing at Tripoli airport on Wednesday, killing 103 people but leaving an eight-year-old boy as the sole miracle survivor, officials said.
An official in The Hague said 61 Dutch citizens were killed while Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan listed "Libyans, Africans and Europeans" among the dead.
Zidan told a media conference that an inquiry was under way to determine what caused the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 to break up massively as it was landing, but he ruled out terrorism.
Libyan television showed teams of emergency workers sifting through the wreckage of the plane, which was scattered in a wide arc across the landing area.
"There were 104 people on board -- 93 passengers and 11 crew members," Zidan said, adding that the remains of 96 victims had already been recovered.
There was only one survivor, an eight-year-old Dutch boy, he said.
"His life is not in danger," Zidan said, adding that "the sole survivor" was in good shape in a Tripoli hospital.
Witnesses spoke of the plane inexplicably breaking up as it came down to land in clear weather at around 6:00 am (0400 GMT).
"It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," one security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another official said the plane had burst into flames just before landing.
Bongani Sithole, an official of Afriqiyah Airways at Johannesburg airport, said the crash happened "one metre (yard) away from the runway."
Minister Zidan said no terrorism was involved.
"We have definitely ruled out the theory that the crash was the result of an act of terrorism," he said, adding that the two black boxes of the aircraft had been recovered.
The plane was new and had only been acquired by the airline in September.
Afriqiyah Airways listed 93 passengers and 11 crew members on board its flight 8U771 from Johannesburg, which was reportedly due to fly on from Tripoli to London's Gatwick airport.
EU parliament president Jerzy Buzek hailed news of the boy's survival.
"I have also been informed that one eight-year-old child has survived, which given this tragic event, is truly a miracle," he said in Brussels.
Last June, a 12-year-old girl was the sole survivor of a Yemeni plane crash off the Comoros.
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told a media conference in The Hague that "several dozen" Dutch nationals were among the dead, although he did not have more precise information.
But the Dutch tourism federation ANWB gave a firm figure of 61 killed.
"Sixty-one Dutch people were killed in the accident," ANWB spokesman Ad Vonk told AFP.
Authorities in Pretoria said they were trying to determine if any South Africans were among the dead.
"We have established consular emergency response and request South Africans who had relatives aboard that plane to call us so that we able to assist with repatriation of the remains and helping them get visas to Tripoli as soon as possible," foreign ministry spokesman Saul Molobi said.
On April 21, Afriqiyah announced that its flights were back to normal after disruptions due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that grounded flights in Europe last month.
Wednesday's crash was the deadliest air accident in Libya since December 22, 1992 when a Libyan Arab Airlines plane crashed near Tripoli airport killing 157 people.
Twenty-two people were killed in an oil company plane crash in January 2000.
In other major accidents, 79 people were killed when a Korean Air crashed in Tripoli in July 1989. And 59 people died in a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines crash near Benghazi in December 1977.
Afriqiyah said on its website it started operations with five leased planes and signed a contract with Airbus at an exhibition in Paris in 2007 for the purchase of 11 new planes.
It was founded in April 2001 and at first fully owned by the Libyan state. The company's capital was later divided into shares to be managed by the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio.
An official in The Hague said 61 Dutch citizens were killed while Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan listed "Libyans, Africans and Europeans" among the dead.
Zidan told a media conference that an inquiry was under way to determine what caused the Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 to break up massively as it was landing, but he ruled out terrorism.
Libyan television showed teams of emergency workers sifting through the wreckage of the plane, which was scattered in a wide arc across the landing area.
"There were 104 people on board -- 93 passengers and 11 crew members," Zidan said, adding that the remains of 96 victims had already been recovered.
There was only one survivor, an eight-year-old Dutch boy, he said.
"His life is not in danger," Zidan said, adding that "the sole survivor" was in good shape in a Tripoli hospital.
Witnesses spoke of the plane inexplicably breaking up as it came down to land in clear weather at around 6:00 am (0400 GMT).
"It exploded on landing and totally disintegrated," one security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another official said the plane had burst into flames just before landing.
Bongani Sithole, an official of Afriqiyah Airways at Johannesburg airport, said the crash happened "one metre (yard) away from the runway."
Minister Zidan said no terrorism was involved.
"We have definitely ruled out the theory that the crash was the result of an act of terrorism," he said, adding that the two black boxes of the aircraft had been recovered.
The plane was new and had only been acquired by the airline in September.
Afriqiyah Airways listed 93 passengers and 11 crew members on board its flight 8U771 from Johannesburg, which was reportedly due to fly on from Tripoli to London's Gatwick airport.
EU parliament president Jerzy Buzek hailed news of the boy's survival.
"I have also been informed that one eight-year-old child has survived, which given this tragic event, is truly a miracle," he said in Brussels.
Last June, a 12-year-old girl was the sole survivor of a Yemeni plane crash off the Comoros.
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told a media conference in The Hague that "several dozen" Dutch nationals were among the dead, although he did not have more precise information.
But the Dutch tourism federation ANWB gave a firm figure of 61 killed.
"Sixty-one Dutch people were killed in the accident," ANWB spokesman Ad Vonk told AFP.
Authorities in Pretoria said they were trying to determine if any South Africans were among the dead.
"We have established consular emergency response and request South Africans who had relatives aboard that plane to call us so that we able to assist with repatriation of the remains and helping them get visas to Tripoli as soon as possible," foreign ministry spokesman Saul Molobi said.
On April 21, Afriqiyah announced that its flights were back to normal after disruptions due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland that grounded flights in Europe last month.
Wednesday's crash was the deadliest air accident in Libya since December 22, 1992 when a Libyan Arab Airlines plane crashed near Tripoli airport killing 157 people.
Twenty-two people were killed in an oil company plane crash in January 2000.
In other major accidents, 79 people were killed when a Korean Air crashed in Tripoli in July 1989. And 59 people died in a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines crash near Benghazi in December 1977.
Afriqiyah said on its website it started operations with five leased planes and signed a contract with Airbus at an exhibition in Paris in 2007 for the purchase of 11 new planes.
It was founded in April 2001 and at first fully owned by the Libyan state. The company's capital was later divided into shares to be managed by the Libya-Africa Investment Portfolio.
Manmohan Singh congratulates David
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has congratulated Mr David Cameron, the newly elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom. In a letter to Mr Cameron, the Prime Minster extended his warm wishes and hoped the two countries will further strengthen the bonds of friendship. Following is the text of the Prime Minister's letter:Dear Mr Prime Minister,
Please accept my heartiest felicitations and congratulations on your assumption of the office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The elections in the United Kingdom and your stewardship of the Conservative Party reflect the best traditions of parliamentary democracy. I wish you the very best in your leadership of the United Kingdom in the years ahead.
I recall with great pleasure our meeting in New Delhi in September 2006. Over the years, our bilateral relations have diversified into a vibrant and multi-faceted strategic partnership encompassing almost all areas of human endeavour.
We are today well-placed to build upon this strong edifice not just for the welfare and benefit of our two peoples, but also to work together to address the pressing global challenges that we face today, and to harness the growing inter-dependence among nations for the good of humankind. I look forward to working with you to further advance and strengthen our bonds of friendship, to which India attaches the highest importance.
It gives me great pleasure to extend a most cordial invitation to you to visit India at your convenience.
Apr 28, 2010
Indian-origin doctor killed by ex-colleague
Branford police said 44-year-old Lishan Wang is charged with murder, attempted murder and firearms offenses in the fatal shooting of Vajinder Toor outside his home. Police say Wang, a Chinese citizen from Beijing who was last known to be living in Marietta, also fired at Toor's wife, but she was not struck.
Wang is being held on $2 million bond. A message was left with an attorney representing him in a civil lawsuit.
Toor worked at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Centre in New York before joining Yale. Police are investigating whether Toor and the gunman had a dispute on the job, using information provided by the victim's wife, said Lt. Geoffrey Morgan.
"We're following a hypothesis that the victim and the assailant had some sort of negative interaction at a previous employer," Morgan said, adding that police do not expect to make additional arrests.
Wang and Toor were involved in a confrontation a few years ago at Kingsbrook after Wang left his post at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was not reachable for a few hours, according to a hospital employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing murder investigation. The employee said Toor reprimanded him and that Wang threatened Toor in front of other employees.
Wang filed a federal discrimination lawsuit last year against the hospital. He talks about a heated exchange with his supervisor in the hospital's residency program, "Dr Vajinder," in May, 2008 after Vajinder accused him of ignoring pages and calls from hospital staff.
"An hour after this heated discussion, Dr Vajinder then accused Dr Wang of threatening his safety by using hostile body language, although he did not summon security to assist him," Wang's lawsuit states.
It is one of several allegations of anger and behavioral problems that Wang acknowledges he was cited for while in the program. In the lawsuit, he said he was unfairly labeled excitable, emotional and unable to control his anger.
Wang was suspended with pay on May 22, 2008, and notified by letter that the hospital had decided to propose firing him. He was told by the union that the hospital would only allow him to remain employed if he sought disability leave for mental impairment. He was fired in July.
On Monday, Toor was walking in the parking lot toward his car at Meadows condominiums, miles from the Ivy League campus, shortly before 8 a.m. when he was shot multiple times.
Wang was taken into custody on a traffic stop nearby after residents provided police with details about the suspect and his vehicle, police said.
Toor was a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale School of Medicine who was working with the infectious disease section of Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Yale Police Chief James Perrotti sent an e-mail to the university community - which was shaken in recent months by the killing of a graduate student in her lab building - saying Branford police told him the crime was not a random act and was unrelated to Yale.
Hersh Arora, a neighbor and family friend, said Toor's wife, Parneeta, had just waved goodbye to her husband and closed the door when she heard gunshots and ran outside. She saw her husband lying on the ground, saw a man with a gun and asked what he was doing.
The man started firing at her, so she hid behind a car, Arora said. A neighbor tried to perform CPR on Toor, Arora said.
The couple have a three-year old-son, and Parneeta is five months pregnant, Arora said.
"She can't even cry in front of the kid," Arora said. "She's trying to be brave."
Wang's lawsuit claims injuries resulting from discrimination based on race, national origin and disability, and accuses the hospital of retaliation against him for investigating, disclosing and opposing the discrimination.
Wang disputes evaluations by human resources staff at Kingsbrook that he had behavioral problems and anger issues, saying he received favorable evaluations.
"Additionally, during the time period when some of his supervisors and KJMC Human Resources began to falsely characterize Dr. Wang as mentally impaired and suffering from 'anger' issues, Dr. Wang scored well on the "interpersonal skills sections of his evaluations with no mention of emotional or anger-related problems," the lawsuit states.
Another doctor, Dr. Gealda Xavier, claimed Wang had yelled at her during a phone call. Wang responded by accusing the hospital of racism.
"Dr Xavier is not Chinese and Dr Wang had previously complained to his supervisors that she had treated him in a rude and abusive manner. Nothing was done to address Dr Wang's complaint. However, the committee sided with Dr Xavier, who is not Chinese, and inappropriately attributed the perceived problems with Dr Wang's behavior to unspecified 'family problems," the lawsuit states.
Direct access to Headley soon: Indian Embassy
A statement released by the Indian Embassy in the United States says:
"Gopal Subramaniam along with the Ambassador of India to the United States, Meera Shankar met with the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder and other Department of Justice representatives, followed by detailed discussions. The two partners agreed to take suitable steps to bring about direct access by Indian authorities to David Headley as soon as possible.
The partnership between India and the United States recognizes the high priority to be accorded to each country's national security. Both countries recognized the need for the investigations to reach a fruitful and successful outcome."
"Gopal Subramaniam along with the Ambassador of India to the United States, Meera Shankar met with the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder and other Department of Justice representatives, followed by detailed discussions. The two partners agreed to take suitable steps to bring about direct access by Indian authorities to David Headley as soon as possible.
The partnership between India and the United States recognizes the high priority to be accorded to each country's national security. Both countries recognized the need for the investigations to reach a fruitful and successful outcome."
Apr 27, 2010
Will 47,000 low necklines cause an earthquake
Bangalore girls say they would not mind wearing low necklines to support worldwide protests against the Tehran cleric who blames scantily clad women for causing earthquakes. "Many women who dress inappropriately cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes," Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi had said at the last Friday prayer in Tehran. In response to this comment, Jennifer McCreight, a postgraduate student from Purdue University, USA, organised Boobquake, an online campaign on popular social networking websites Facebook and Twitter. McCreight has urged women around the world to wear their 'most cleavage-showing shirt' on April 26, to scientifically test the Iranian cleric's claim. At present the campaign has received 47,766 positive responses. "With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake. If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble," wrote McCreight on Facebook. However, in India, there are dissenting voices that do not support this method of protest. "It is like instead of being careful while cooking, you end up burning the entire house. Islam urges women to cover themselves. Why do they need to wear inappropriate clothes to protest?" asks Mahmood Dariabadi, general secretary of All India Ulema Council. "The Iranian cleric could have meant that such immodesty leads to earthquakes in society." Many Indian social activists were however not sure if the campaign would meet with any success. "Such campaigns hardly help. However, such initiatives do help in underlining how today's women are ready to take on any challenges. They don't bow down to such absurd observations. They mock them instead," said Brinda Adige (30), who works for Global Consultants, a city based non-governmental organisation to support women and children rights. Brinda was one of the organisers of the Pink Chaddi campaign held in Bangalore to protest Mangalore pub attack by Hindu hardliner Parmod Mutalik's supporters and his objection to Valentine's Day celebrations. "I will definitely wear such a t-shirt tomorrow to show my support," Brinda added. Whereas, Sulakshana K (23), a fashion designer, said, "I don't know how effective it will be but why not do it anyway for the fun of it all?" |
Shoaib-Sania's reception marred by mismanagement
The reception party of the newly married couple Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza at the Pakistani cricketer's hometown Sialkot was marred by mismanagement with some 2,000 people turning up as against 1,000 invitees. In their efforts to stop the "uninvited guests" who arrived to attend the reception held at a hockey stadium on Sunday night, private security guards did not even allow some of Shoaib's relatives and friends to enter the venue. Thousands of Sialkotees gathered outside Shoaib's house on Sunday and danced to the beat of drums through the day and the hockey stadium was specially decorated for the festive occasion. Many residents of the city said yesterday was a special day for them as the people of Sialkot had been waiting for the arrival of the cricketer and his Indian bride. But there was chaos soon after Sania, clad in a green sari with gold brocade, and Shoaib, in a white sherwani, entered the venue at 9 pm. A local journalist said 1,000 guests were present at the stadium that can accommodate only some 700 people. "The entry of so many people created mismanagement and even Sania was unhappy about it," the reporter said. Some TV news channels beamed footage of what they described as an exchange of heated words between the couple over the issue. A clip showed an upset Shoaib and Sania being escorted by security guards as they tried to avoid a crowd of guests. The guests were served chicken korma and rice in keeping with the government's ban on serving more than one dish at wedding receptions. However, a petition was filed in the Lahore High Court alleging that more than one dish was served on that occasion. After the reception, Shoaib and Sania returned to Lahore's Pearl Continental Hotel at around 3 am this on Monday morning. The couple remained ensconced in their hotel room and was expected to tour Lahore later in the evening. Sania's sister Anum said her sibling had come to Pakistan in 1991 to play a junior tennis tournament in Islamabad. She also described Lahore as a beautiful city that resembled Delhi. The couple's "walima" or reception hosted by the groom's family will be held at the Pearl Continental Hotel tomorrow and some 1,000 people have been invited there. Senior government functionaries are also expected to attend the reception party. Pearl Continental official Aila Tariq told PTI that the hotel management will ensure that only one dish is served during the function in line with the government's directive. Chicken korma will be served with rice and naans during the function, hotel officials said. |
Police investigate iPhone blogger
Authorities seized computers, digital cameras, a cell phone and other items from a technology blog editor who posted pictures and details of a lostiPhone prototype. A computer-crime task force made up of multiple law enforcement agencies searched Gizmodo editor and blogger Jason Chen's house and car in Fremont, California, on Friday, according to a statement and search warrant documents provided by Gizmodo. The warrant, issued by a Superior Court judge in San Mateo County, said the computers and other devices may have been used to commit a felony. Steve Wagstaffe, spokesman for the San Mateo County District Attorney's office, confirmed the warrant's authenticity. Members of the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team took several computers, hard drives, digital cameras, cell phones and other gadgets, plus Chen's American Express bill and copies of his checks. Last week Gizmodo had one of the Web's hottest scoops when it posted photos of an Apple device that appeared to be a next-generation iPhone. It had been found in a bar in Redwood City, which is in San Mateo County, and sold for $5,000 by an unknown person to Gizmodo, a gadget blog owned by Gawker Media Inc. After Chen, 29, posted photos and details about the phone, Apple acknowledged the device belonged to the company, and Gizmodo returned it. Gawker Media said California law, which protects journalists from having to turn over anonymous sources or unpublished material to law enforcement during a search, should apply to Chen's property. "Are bloggers journalists? I guess we'll find out," Nick Denton, who runs Gawker Media, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Wagstaffe said the district attorney's office is examining that issue. Apple spokesman Steve Dowling declined to comment. |
Apr 14, 2010
World leaders pledge to secure nuclear material
Wednesday April 14, 2010, Washington
Taking cognisance of the threat of nuclear terrorism, 47 countries, including India, today vowed to prevent non-state actors from obtaining information or atomic technology and to effectively cooperate globally to advancesecurity in the field.After two days of deliberations in the backdrop of particular concerns with regard to the safety of nuclear
material in Pakistan, the Nuclear Security Summit issued a three-page 'Communique' and a seven-page 'Work Plan' detailing the national responsibilities and international obligations that each participating country would have to undertake.
The Communique noted that nuclear terrorism was one of the most challenging threats to international security and "strong nuclear security measures are the most effective means to prevent terrorists, criminals, or other unauthorised actors from acquiring nuclear materials.
Those gathered at the Summit "commit to strengthen nuclear security and reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism. Success will require responsible national actions and sustained and effective international cooperation," it said.
The Communique commits the participating countries, including Pakistan, to cooperate effectively to "prevent and respond to incidents of illicit nuclear trafficking" and agree to share, subject to respective national laws and procedures, information and expertise through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms in relevant areas such as nuclear detection, forensics, law enforcement and the development of new
technologies.
"Maintaining effective nuclear security will require continuous national efforts facilitated by international cooperation and undertaken on a voluntary basis by the (participating) states. We will promote the strengthening of global nuclear security through dialogue and cooperation with all states," it said.
Significantly, it said that the member countries recognize that highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium require special precautions and agree to promote measures to secure, account for, and consolidate these materials appropriately. It also commits countries to convert reactors from highly enriched to low enriched uranium fuel and minimization of use of highly enriched uranium, where technically and economically feasible.
The communique also commits the countries to endeavor to fully implement all existing nuclear security commitments and work toward acceding to those not yet joined, consistent with national laws, policies and procedures.
British Army dismantles car bomb
Wednesday April 14, 2010, Dublin
British Army experts dismantled a dud car bomb outside a police base in the Northern Ireland border town of Newtownhamilton, the second such threat in the past two days.
Unlike Monday's car bomb outside the British spy headquarters in Northern Ireland, the Newtownhamilton device failed to detonate yesterday. An Irish Republican Army splinter group called the Real IRA claimed responsibility for the first bomb but has yet to confirm it planted the second.
Police evacuated more than 50 nearby homes after receiving telephone warnings about the abandoned car in Newtownhamilton. British engineers using a remote-controlled robot spent more than 12 hours slowly prising open the car doors and disconnecting the bomb's power source, timer and wiring from the main explosives, which were liquid and flammable.
The rising dissident IRA threat appears timed to undermine the latest progress in Northern Ireland's Catholic-Protestant government. On Monday, the coalition gained responsibility from Britain for law-and-order matters, a step that had taken years of negotiations. The governments of Britain, Ireland and the United States say the move should encourage the Catholic minority to support the police and inform on the IRA dissidents operating in their communities.
The IRA killed nearly 1,800 people in a failed 1970-1997 campaign to get Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. Most IRA members disarmed and renounced violence in 2005, but splinter groups continue to mount attacks in hopes of upsetting political cooperation within Northern Ireland.
China earthquake: 300 killed, several injured
Wednesday April 14, 2010, Beijing
Chinese state television says the death toll from a strong earthquake in a western province has risen to about 300, with an additional 8,000 hurt.
China Central Television said the toll from Wednesday's earthquake had risen as rescue workers struggled to dig trapped people out in Qinghai province. The US Geological Survey said the quake measured a magnitude of 6.9.
Rescue efforts were hindered by telecommunications problems, with phone lines down.
The main quake sent residents fleeing as it toppled houses made of mud and wood, said Karsum Nyima, the Yushu county television station's deputy head of news, speaking by phone with broadcaster CCTV.
"In a flash, the houses went down. It was a terrible earthquake," he said. "In a small park, there is a Buddhist tower and the top of the tower fell off.
"Everybody is out on the streets, standing in front of their houses, trying to find their family members," he said, adding that school buildings had not collapsed but that students had been evacuated and were assembled in outdoor playgrounds.
The quake hit the county of Yushu, a Tibetan area in Qinghai's south, the official Xinhua News Agency cited the China Earthquake Networks Center as saying. The Chinese center measured the quake's magnitude at 7.1. A local government Web site put the county's population in 2005 at 89,300, a community of mostly herders and farmers.
The China Earthquake Administration announced the initial death toll in a brief statement on its Web site. Rescue efforts were hindered by telecommunications problems, with phone lines down, the notice said.
State television showed footage of paramilitary police using shovels to dig around a house with a collapsed wooden roof. A local military official, Shi Huajie, told state broadcaster CCTV rescuers were working with limited equipment.
"The difficulty we face is that we don't have any excavators. Many of the people have been buried and our soldiers are trying to pull them out with human labor," Shi said. "It is very difficult to save people with our bare hands."
Wu Yong, a local military chief, said medical workers were also urgently needed but that roads leading to the airport had been badly damaged by the quake, creating difficulties for people and supplies to be flown in.
The epicenter of the first quake was located 235 miles (380 kilometers) south-southeast of Golmud, a large city in Qinghai, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), the USGS said.
Ten minutes later, the area was hit by a magnitude 5.3 quake, which was followed after two minutes by a temblor measuring 5.2, according to the US agency. Both the subsequent earthquakes were measured at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). Another quake, measuring 5.8, was recorded at 9:25 a.m.
CCTV cited Sun Shihong, an analyst at the China Earthquake Networks Center, as saying the subsequent temblors were aftershocks and that Yushu county is located in an earthquake-prone area.
Calls to the local Communist Party office and the government of Yushu county and the Qinghai provincial seismological bureau rang unanswered.
In 2008, a magnitude-7.9 quake in Sichuan province left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.
Chinese state television says the death toll from a strong earthquake in a western province has risen to about 300, with an additional 8,000 hurt.
China Central Television said the toll from Wednesday's earthquake had risen as rescue workers struggled to dig trapped people out in Qinghai province. The US Geological Survey said the quake measured a magnitude of 6.9.
Rescue efforts were hindered by telecommunications problems, with phone lines down.
The main quake sent residents fleeing as it toppled houses made of mud and wood, said Karsum Nyima, the Yushu county television station's deputy head of news, speaking by phone with broadcaster CCTV.
"In a flash, the houses went down. It was a terrible earthquake," he said. "In a small park, there is a Buddhist tower and the top of the tower fell off.
"Everybody is out on the streets, standing in front of their houses, trying to find their family members," he said, adding that school buildings had not collapsed but that students had been evacuated and were assembled in outdoor playgrounds.
The quake hit the county of Yushu, a Tibetan area in Qinghai's south, the official Xinhua News Agency cited the China Earthquake Networks Center as saying. The Chinese center measured the quake's magnitude at 7.1. A local government Web site put the county's population in 2005 at 89,300, a community of mostly herders and farmers.
The China Earthquake Administration announced the initial death toll in a brief statement on its Web site. Rescue efforts were hindered by telecommunications problems, with phone lines down, the notice said.
State television showed footage of paramilitary police using shovels to dig around a house with a collapsed wooden roof. A local military official, Shi Huajie, told state broadcaster CCTV rescuers were working with limited equipment.
"The difficulty we face is that we don't have any excavators. Many of the people have been buried and our soldiers are trying to pull them out with human labor," Shi said. "It is very difficult to save people with our bare hands."
Wu Yong, a local military chief, said medical workers were also urgently needed but that roads leading to the airport had been badly damaged by the quake, creating difficulties for people and supplies to be flown in.
The epicenter of the first quake was located 235 miles (380 kilometers) south-southeast of Golmud, a large city in Qinghai, at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers), the USGS said.
Ten minutes later, the area was hit by a magnitude 5.3 quake, which was followed after two minutes by a temblor measuring 5.2, according to the US agency. Both the subsequent earthquakes were measured at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers). Another quake, measuring 5.8, was recorded at 9:25 a.m.
CCTV cited Sun Shihong, an analyst at the China Earthquake Networks Center, as saying the subsequent temblors were aftershocks and that Yushu county is located in an earthquake-prone area.
Calls to the local Communist Party office and the government of Yushu county and the Qinghai provincial seismological bureau rang unanswered.
In 2008, a magnitude-7.9 quake in Sichuan province left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.
PM calls for zero tolerance on nuclear trafficking
Tuesday April 13, 2010, Washington
Addressing the Nuclear Security Summit here, he pitched for "zero tolerance" against individuals and groups which engage in illegal trafficking of atomic explosives and announced India's decision to set up a 'Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership'.
Speaking at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Dr Singh said, "The danger of nuclear explosives falling in to the hands of non-state actors continues to haunt our world. India is deeply concerned about the danger it faces, as do other States, from this threat."
Commending US President Barack Obama for his initiative in convening the Summit, he said India would like the Summit to lead to concrete outcomes which help make our world a safer place.
He added, "The primary responsibility for ensuring nuclear security rests at the national level, but national responsibility must be accompanied by responsible behaviour by States. If not, it remains an empty slogan."
The heads of 47 countries are attending the summit convened by President Obama.
He regretted that the global non-proliferation regime has failed to prevent nuclear proliferation as clandestine proliferation networks have flourished and led to insecurity for all, including and especially for India.
The Indian PM said, "Clandestine proliferation networks have flourished and led to insecurity for all, including and especially for India. We must learn from past mistakes."
Singh emphasized that there must be zero-tolerance for those who engage in illegal trafficking of nuclear items.
He said that the dangers of nuclear terrorism make the early elimination of atomic weapons "a matter of even greater urgency".
Global non-proliferation, to be successful, should be universal, comprehensive and non-discriminatory and linked to the goal of complete nuclear disarmament. "We welcome the fact that the world is veering around to our view that the best guarantor of nuclear security is a world free from nuclear weapons," Singh said.
The PM said India will set up global centre on nuclear security, which will, among other things, train security forces on physically protecting nuclear systems; increase the physical security of nuclear facilities using new technology; and train personnel in radiation protection.
Obama told the PM that he "welcomes the announcement of a nuclear centre by India, it will be one more tool to establish best practices in our quest for nuclear safety."
The PM also welcomed the recent agreement between the United States and Russia to cut their nuclear arsenals as "a step in the right direction" and asked "all states with substantial nuclear arsenals to further accelerate this process by making deeper cuts that will lead to meaningful disarmament."
The Prime Minister said India was encouraged by the Nuclear Posture Review announced by President Obama.
Supporting the universalisation of the policy of 'No-first use', he said the salience of nuclear weapons in national defence and security doctrines must be reduced as a matter of priority.
Singh said India has been in the forefront of the call for global and complete nuclear disarmament, starting with Jawaharlal Nehru over five decades ago.
Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had put forward a concrete Action Plan in 1988 for the universal and non-discriminatory elimination of nuclear weapons leading to global nuclear disarmament in a time-bound framework, he said, adding "I once again reiterate India's call to the world community to work towards the realisation of this vision."
In 2006, India proposed the negotiation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention. India has also expressed readiness to participate in the negotiation of an internationally verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament.
Since 2002, India has piloted a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly on measures to deny terrorists access to Weapons of Mass Destruction. "We fully support the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 and the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy," Singh said.
The Indian Atomic Energy Act provides the legal framework for securing nuclear materials and facilities, and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board ensures independent oversight of nuclear safety and security. India is also a party to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendment.
"The nuclear industry's safety record over the last few years has been encouraging. It has helped to restore public faith in nuclear power," Singh said, adding "safety alone, however, is not enough."
He said India would continue to work with the IAEA and partners in the United Nations as well as other forums such as the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism to upgrade standards, share experiences and ensure effective implementation of international benchmarks on nuclear security.
"India has maintained an impeccable non-proliferation record, of which we are proud of," Singh said, adding that India, as a responsible nuclear power, has not been and will not be the source of proliferation of sensitivetechnologies.
He said India has a well-established and effective export control systemwhich has worked without fail for over six decades.
"We have strengthened this system by harmonisation of our guidelines and lists with those of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime," he said.
Singh said India's commitment not to transfer nuclear weapons or related materials and technologies to non-nuclear weapon states or non-state actors is enshrined in domestic law through the enactment of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act.
"We stand committed not to transfer reprocessing and enrichment technologies and equipment to countries that do not possess them," the Prime Minister said.
He said India has ambitious plans for using nuclear energy to meet its growing energy needs, with the target being to increase installed capacity more than seven-fold to 35,000 MWe by the year 2022, and to 60,000 MWe by 2032.
India's three-stage nuclear power programme, which began 60 years ago, is based on a closed nuclear fuel cycle, a direct benefit of this being to ensure control over nuclear material that is generated as spent fuel.
At the same time, India is continually upgrading technology to develop nuclear systems that are intrinsically safe, secure and proliferation resistant.
India has recently developed an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor based on Low Enriched Uranium and thorium with new safety and proliferation-resistant features.
As a founder member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, India has consistently supported the central role of the IAEA in facilitating national efforts to strengthen nuclear security and in fostering effective international cooperation.
India has so far conducted nine Regional Training Courses on Nuclear Security in cooperation with the IAEA. "We have entered into a Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA in 2008, and have decided to place all future civilian thermal power reactors and civilian breeder reactors under IAEA safeguards," Singh said. (With PTI inputs)
Feb 4, 2010
Christmas bomber my student
The US-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, is believed by US officials to be working with Al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen, which has claimed responsibility for planning the attempt to
bomb an American passenger jet. Al-Awlaki also is known to have had contacts with the US Army major accused in the November 5 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base.
Yemeni officials have said they believe al-Awlaki met in Yemen with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the Christmas bombing.
Al-Awlaki, who is believed to be hiding in the remote mountains of Yemen, spoke in an interview with a Yemeni journalist who reported it to the Al-Jazeera website.
It was not clear when the interview took place or whether it took place in person. The journalist, one of the few said to have direct contacts with al-Awlaki, previously interviewed the cleric after the Fort Hood shooting.
"Brother mujahed Umar Farouk - may God relieve him - is one of my students, yes," al-Awlaki said in the interview, which Al-Jazeera reported on its website Tuesday. "We had kept in contact, but I didn't issue a fatwa to Umar Farouk for this operation," al-Awlaki was quoted as saying.
Al-Awlaki said he supported the Christmas attack, but it would have been better if the target was a US military target or plane.
Zap or chill? Targeting fat without surgery
Now a pair of machines that promises to tackle love handles without surgery can be added to this parade of wonders. The Zeltiq device is affixed to the offending jiggle and then cools a patch of midsection during an hourlong session at the doctor's office. Zerona - a four-armed laser - zaps your belly, flanks and hips with red beams during six 40-minute treatments.
Doctors and patients alike are excited by the prospect of having new technologies that can attack fat without surgery. It is too early, however, for consumers to know how effectively either device works. That hasn't stopped men and women unhappy with back fat and muffin tops from paying thousands for treatment in recent months.
"It's so freaky, this can't work," Kate Killgore, 37, of Los Angeles, recalled thinking about the Zerona laser. But after 12 treatments in a month last summer, costing $3,400, she lost 11 inches from her waist, thighs and hips. She has maintained her new figure since then, she said.
Another Zerona patient, Annie Bonvouloir, 53, of Nederland, Colo., who heard about the procedure on the daytime television talk show "The Doctors," was less successful.
Hoping to reduce her thighs and midsection without the risks and inconvenience of liposuction, she paid $2,300 for six treatments from a chiropractor in the Denver area. Even though she continued to diet and work out, she had no change in her thighs, belly and hips. Her doctor offered her three more sessions at no cost. Still, no change.
Since most aesthetic medicine is elective, and not covered by insurance, marketingplays a major role in capturing the minds and wallets of consumers. The concern is that promoting innovations that the Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved will fuel patient expectations that clinical data may not substantiate.
Zeltiq Aesthetics, based in Pleasanton, Calif., is a cautious wallflower that aims to get the data behind its device approved by the FDA before it makes too rowdy an entrance to the party. Its slogan is "More Science. Less Fat."
Meanwhile, Erchonia Medical, based in McKinney, Texas, has aggressively marketed its Zerona laser as "the first non-invasive body contouring procedure to effectively remove excess fat" even though it has yet to receive FDA clearance to promote this use. (In general, the FDA must sanction a medical device for a specific use before a company can market that use. But doctors are free to use devices off label. )
Nonetheless, a brochure for Zerona states patients can collectively "lose up to 9 inches without the pain or down time of surgery." Nationwide, medical spas, chiropractors, cosmetic surgeons, plastic surgeons and dermatologists now offer Zerona for $1,700 to $3,800 for six sessions. Part of the reason the device has made inroads during these strapped times is that doctors don't buy it outright, but pay per use.
So how is Zerona supposed to work? The low-level laser causes "fat to seep out of a cell, almost like a balloon being struck by a needle," said Ryan Maloney, medical director for Erchonia Medical. The fat enters the lymphatic system, and is eventually used as energy, Maloney said.
Zeltiq uses controlled cooling to target and eliminate fat cells, a process called selective cryolipolysis. Skin isn't damaged, but subcutaneous fat, which is more sensitive to targeted cold, begins a two-month death march soon after exposure to Zeltiq.
Doctors on the advisory board for Zeltiq Aesthetics have put the word out about it on television news segments. But at this stage, the company itself has been careful not to promote its device directly to consumers since its FDA clearances for, say, pain reduction during dermatologic treatments don't encompass fat reduction. Gordie Nye, the chief executive, sent an e-mail message declining to be interviewed for this article.
The company has clinical data that has been submitted to the FDA for approval, according to a few doctors who were principal investigators. Data relayed at a meeting of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery showed a 22 percent reduction of the fat layer as measured by ultrasound.
Erchonia Medical has published the results of its clinical trial in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. Thirty-five patients in the treatment group lost an average of 3.5 inches total in hips, thighs and their midsection according to the company's clinical trial. The company has promoted Zerona as "a new body-sculpting procedure designed to remove fat and contour the body without invasive surgery." But the FDA has not sanctioned marketing this use. It has cleared the Zerona laser for pain reduction 24 hours after breast augmentation or as a way to decrease the pain associated with recovering from liposuction.
In general, Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said "it is considered off-label promotion if you are marketing to the public a use that has not been cleared." Steven Shanks, the president of Erchonia Medical, said, "Since we use the exact same power for liposuction and breast augmentation, we self-certified the device." He said that in January 2009, the company had applied for a 510K clearance - which is based on the notion that an older device is substantially equivalent to a new one - and had yet to receive it. (Such a delay is atypical, Riley said, adding, "most 510Ks are cleared within six months.")
Last month, Dr. Robert B. Seltzer, a dermatologist in Pasadena, Calif., ran an advertisement in The Los Angeles Times for an informational seminar that called Zerona "the holy grail." In a phone interview, however, he said, "I'm not 100 percent convinced." He said he planned to return his Zerona if he didn't continue seeing results in his patients. (So far 5 out of 6 have been pleased.)
After reviewing Erchonia Medical's clinical study, Dr. Brian M. Kinney, a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, said, "I can't prove that it works." His concerns are that the tape measure method of gauging circumferential changes "isn't consistently reliable." What's more, study participants and the placebo group were assessed only two weeks after their last treatment, not long enough to measure adequately whether results last.
Kinney doesn't have a Zerona or a Zeltiq cooling device, though in the case of the latter, he said, "it is well documented that freezing fat tissue aggressively enough can lead to fat necrosis," or, fat dying, over a few months.
Patient selection for any body contouring procedure is crucial, said Dr. Jeffrey M. Kenkel, vice chairman of plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Kenkel, who recently replicated results of Zerona's clinical trial in 12 of his patients, doesn't offer Zerona to obese patients, or to ones who have had surgery in the area they want treated. "It's critical to be evaluated by a doctor," he said.
Success is also dependent on diet and exercise, he said. If you're sedentary and not eating healthy food, he said, then once fat is leaked after Zerona treatments, "your body will just store it again."
How the body rids itself of fat, and how quickly, after any noninvasive body slimming procedure is unclear, said Dr. Lawrence S. Bass, a plastic surgeon in New York who started using a Zeltiq device last July. That includes, he said, forthcoming devices like UltraShape and LipoSonix, which employ ultrasound waves to single out fat. It's a "sticking point with the FDA with all these things," he said. Bass was not a clinical investigator for Zeltiq, but he said, "I'm convinced both on the science and clinical experience, it's able to eliminate fat noninvasively."
Nadine Tosk, a publicist for Zeltiq, explained that the rollout of the device was "very limited right now." Dr. Jeffrey Dover, a dermatologist in Chestnut Hill, Mass., who advises Zeltiq and participated in its clinical trial, said a few board-certified plastic surgeons and dermatologists were "handpicked" because "we know they do good work." Restraint is key, he said, because a doctor could apply Zeltiq to "the same spot" in the same day, which isn't how it's meant to be used. Hour-long treatments are best spaced out by two months, said Dover, who charges $700 per spot.
That said, a doctor with a Zeltiq device isn't hard for patients to find. More than five dozen "Zeltiq specialists" can be found by ZIP code at body-contouring.com, which is a patient guide not sponsored by manufacturers of body-slimming devices. Dr. Jason N. Pozner, a plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Fla., appears topless in a YouTube.com video that shows his left flank being suctioned and cooled as he reads his Kindle. (His partner, Dr. David J. Goldberg, was an investigator for Zeltiq.)
Bonvouloir hasn't given up on Zerona. Recently, she paid $2,100 for six treatments at Parker Day Spa in Parker, Colo. This time, each session is followed by a massage that supposedly speeds the release of fat. "I still have three more sessions," Bonvouloir wrote in an e-mail message. "Again, they are convinced I will lose some inches. I'd like to know when!!!"
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