Yahoo targeted in China cyber attacks
The Yahoo e-mail accounts of foreign journalists based in China and Taiwan have been hacked, according to a Beijing-based press association.
Rival Google has been involved in a high-profile row with the Chinese government following similar cyber-attacks against Gmail accounts.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) has confirmed eight cases of Yahoo e-mail hacks in recent weeks.
Yahoo said it condemned such cyber-attacks.
But the FCCC accused Yahoo of failing to update users about the situation.
"Yahoo has not answered the FCCC's questions about the attacks, nor has it told individual mail users how the accounts were accessed," a spokesman told the news agency.
Yahoo said in a statement that it was "committed to protecting user security and privacy".
Clifford Coonan, a reporter for the Irish Times, told the AFP news agency that he had an error message when he logged into his Yahoo account this week.
"I don't know who's doing it, what happened. They (Yahoo) haven't given any information, but it seems to be happening to journalists and academics in China, so that's why it's a little suspicious," he said.
Great Firewall
China censorship has hit the headlines since the high profile cyber-attacks against the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists in January.
The hacks led the search giant to redirect its traffic to an uncensored site in Hong Kong earlier this month.
The Chinese government reacted with anger, saying it was "totally wrong" to blame the authorities for the attacks, the source code of which originated in China.
It does operate a tight control over internet content, including pornography and sensitive political material, in what is dubbed the Great Firewall of China.
Earlier in the week Google blamed the great firewall for blocking its search service, although it said it did not know if it was a technical glitch or a deliberate act.
The issue is now resolved, a Google spokesman said in a statement.
"Interestingly our search traffic in China is now back to normal - even though we have not made any changes at our end. We will continue to monitor what is going on", he said.
Poll tax riots - 20 years after violence shook London
Twenty years ago a protest against what had been dubbed the poll tax erupted in violence and led to rioting that could be heard in nearby Downing Street. Some of those who were there remember the day's events.
The rioting in central London on 31 March, 1990, was not the first demonstration against the so-called poll tax to end in violence. In the weeks beforehand a number of protests around the country had culminated in violent skirmishes.
But the riot that turned London's Trafalgar Square, a top tourism spot, into a battleground between police and protesters came to be seen by many as the fatal blow for the government's community charge.
A central policy of the Conservative Party's winning 1987 general election manifesto, the charge, which replaced the old rates system, was levied on individuals rather than properties. It was supposed to increase accountability. But its introduction met with fierce resistance among some sections of the public.
In the London poll tax riots, up to 3,000 of the 70,000 demonstrators turned on police, attacking them with bricks, bottles and scaffolding poles, and 340 were arrested. Of 113 people injured, 45 were police.
By the end of the year, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had been forced to step down. She was replaced by John Major who scrapped the charge in favour of the council tax that continues today.
INSP DICK TANNER, MOUNTED BRANCH
Insp Tanner was in charge of the 20-strong team of mounted officers whose charge across Trafalgar Square under a hail of missiles became one of the most replayed incidents of the riot.
The officer, now retired, recalls following a mass of demonstrators into the square:
"There was an angry noise. You could sense the tension. A building was on fire and officers on the ground were trying to sort out scuffles, linking arms and looking frightened.
"It was not a good situation."
The order came to clear the Northumberland Avenue side of the square to allow fire crews access to the burning building.
"We weren't cantering all-out, we were trying to push the crowd away," says the 54-year-old, now a web manager from Ashford, Kent.
However, one horse turned sideways and knocked over a demonstrator. TV footage showed her being picked up by fellow protesters and reports suggested she was shocked but not badly harmed.
"We tried to trace her afterwards but never managed," says Mr Tanner.
As the officers advanced, they were pelted with bricks. One injured Mr Tanner's hand, another tore a chunk from the flank of his horse, Keswick.
"I couldn't shake hands for about six months," he recalls, adding that other officers suffered psychologically afterwards.
For six hours after the crowds had dispersed from Trafalgar Square, mounted police "chased incidents" around central London.
"We were exhausted by the end. None of us had ever seen or experienced anything like it," he adds.
Hollywood actress June Havoc dies aged 97
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
7:06 AM
hassan
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June Havoc, the Hollywood actress whose childhood partly inspired the musical Gypsy, has died in Connecticut at the age of 97, it has been announced.
Havoc, younger sister of famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, died of natural causes on Sunday at her home in Stamford, her publicist said on Monday.
Born June Hovick in 1912, Havoc had leading roles in more than 20 films, among them Gentleman's Agreement.
Yet she mostly worked on the stage, appearing in numerous Broadway shows.
These included Pal Joey, in which she appeared with Gene Kelly and Van Johnson, and Cole Porter show Mexican Hayride.
Her last Broadway appearance came in the early 1980s when she took on the role of Miss Hannigan in Annie.
However, it is for Gypsy - filmed in 1962 with Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood - for which she is perhaps best known.
Havoc inspired the role of Baby June in the musical, the archetypal stage daughter pushed to stardom by her overbearing mother.
The play was based on a memoir of her older sibling Louise, who grew up to be the burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee.
"I loved my sister but I loathed her life," said Havoc in 1998, saying there was nothing wrong with her mother Rose's "drive and ambition".
Havoc also wrote four plays, one of which - 1963's Marathon '33 - won her a Tony nomination as best director.
Toyota recalls spark customer response pledge
Toyota has said it will listen more carefully to customers and respond faster to complaints after the recall of millions of cars over safety fears.
The beleaguered carmaker made the pledge following the first meeting of its global safety committee, which was set up following the recalls.
It also said it would enlist the help of outside experts across the world.
Toyota was forced to recall more than 8 million cars globally after faulty brakes and accelerator pedals.
"Listening carefully to the voice of the customer is crucial to regaining credibility from our customers," said Toyota president Akio Toyoda.
"We are setting up a system to respond more quickly to complaints."
Executives and workers from around the world met for the inaugural meeting of Toyota's safety committee at the carmaker's headquarters in Japan.
The carmaker said it would bring in independent experts to help evaluate what went wrong with its quality control measures.
The committee will publish its first report in June, it added.
Toyota also said it would be incorporating a brake override system on new cars to resolve braking issues reported by drivers.
RBS fined £28.6m for breaking competition law
Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £28.6m by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after breaking competition law.
The fine was reduced from £33.6m to reflect RBS's admission and agreement to co-operate over the breaches, the OFT said in a statement.
The OFT began its probe after a tip-off from Barclays Bank that RBS had passed it confidential information about the pricing of loans.
RBS broke the rules between October 2007 and February or March 2008.
The OFT found that individuals in RBS's Professional Practices Coverage Team gave counterparts at Barclays details of the pricing of loans to large professional services firms, such as solicitors, accountancy, and property companies.
Barclays used the information to set its own prices, but escaped a fine because it reported the matter to the OFT.
Under OFT rules, Barclays' tip-off to the OFT means it will get immunity from prosecution. The OFT said that provided Barclays continues to co-operate it "is not expected to pay a fine in this case".
Substantial penalty
Ali Nikpay, OFT senior director of cartels and criminal enforcement, said: "Any company that discloses confidential future pricing information to its competitors risks a substantial penalty.
"It is important that companies operating in the UK understand the seriousness of such conduct and ensure effective competition compliance throughout their organisation," he said.
OFT investigators found that RBS staff passed the information to Barclays during social and industry meetings, and through telephone conversations.
It is understood that the OFT will not launch criminal proceedings against any individuals.
The OFT bases the size of its fines on a company's turnover. The biggest fine so far handed out by the OFT was a £121.5m penalty to British Airways in 2007 for price fixing over fuel surcharges.
The UK taxpayer owns 84% of RBS after the government bailed out the bank at the end of 2008.
Wylfa in Anglesey 'could house next UK nuclear plant'
The UK's next nuclear power plant could be constructed on the island of Anglesey by 2020.
Now Horizon, a joint venture by energy firms RWE and E.on, says it will apply for planning consent in 2012 to build a reactor with up to 3,300MW capacity.
Wylfa, the existing island nuclear plant, will stop producing electricity in December.
Anglesey AM Ieuan Wyn Jones welcomed the proposals and said construction of the plant would be an "economic boost".
County council leader Clive McGregor said the move would have a "positive impact" on the community and deliver "high quality jobs".
He said: "We have suffered tremendous job losses over the last few years.
"This will bring a degree of hope for the people of Anglesey in terms of secure employment both during the construction phase and during the 60 years or so of the life of a new reactor at Wylfa."
He added the development on Anglesey was similar to "a little village winning the right to hold the Olympics", and said the council would need to look at road and communication links, and housing.
Electricity production
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is conducting a 15-week consultation about the proposals.
The current Wylfa power station has permission to continue electricity production until December 2010.
According to a report in the Times newspaper, Wylfa was chosen over another site in Oldbury-on-Severn, South Gloucestershire, which Horizon hopes to develop later.
The island's council estimates that the development could bring £8bn into the local economy.
New Horizon said a new nuclear station at Wylfa could deliver up to 800 high quality permanent jobs, rising to 1,000 during maintenance and up to 5,000 jobs during construction.
The Welsh Assembly Government remains opposed to new nuclear plants in Wales despite the approval of Wylfa as a potential site.
However, Ieuan Wyn Jones, deputy first minister and minister for economy and transport, said "all efforts" would be made to ensure that the economic benefits the project would bring to Anglesey were maximised.
He said: "It would be essential to ensure that local businesses benefit from contracts on the site and from supply chain opportunities, and this will need to be built into any consents.
"Given the job losses that we have had on the island during the last 18 months this economic boost would be very welcome."
Anglesey Aluminium ended smelting operations on the island last year, with the loss of almost 400 jobs.
The land at Wylfa, near Cemaes Bay, was acquired by Horizon from the Nuclear Decommission Authority in May 2008.
'Vital contribution'
Alan Smith, Horizon's Wylfa Project Manager, said the plant "would make a vital contribution to meeting the country's energy needs and tackling the challenge of climate change".
Dylan Morgan, from campaign group People Against Wylfa B, said nuclear power was a "failed 20th Century technology".
He told BBC Radio Wales that the proposed plant would create nuclear waste that was "twice as radioactive" as materials created by current nuclear energy sites.
He said: "The [UK] government has no idea what to with nuclear waste generated over the last 50 years, let alone waste from any new reactor."
He said the government had admitted that waste from a plant like Wylfa B would have to be kept in "so-called interim storage" on the site where it was produced.
A protest will be held on Wednesday to demonstrate the traffic problems the island already faces, and highlight the impact this would have if people had to be evacuated because of an accident at the proposed reactor.
EPPICard: The loaded and unsecure drawing near to access your payments
9:54 AM
hassan
Labels: aliant webmail , bt yahoo mail , co operative bank , facebook blog , yahoo mail , 0 comments
Just recently, EPPICard grabbed the headlines of various counsel sites across the globe. It’s also a trending topic in major inspect engines and companionable networks. What the hell is EPPICard again why are people searching due to it?
An EPPICard is similar to a Debit spot an ATM card and is used by many state and local agencies to limit unemployment benefits and other companionable aid payments. To keep sound simple, it’s a Prepaid debit separate with consumer safety connections mind. If you go to eppicard.com further tiptop the state you live in, it leave give you detailed information about EPPICard, because their information and terms vary state by state.
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Many EPPICard customers are complaining about the extremely below informal service that EPPICard provides. exclusive of the thousand complaints said that it was the “worst consumer single out agency”. You authority make plain the lamentation below:
Somalis in rare march against al-Shabab militants
Hundreds of Somalis have marched through the streets of Mogadishu, protesting against al-Shabab militants.
The protesters, mostly women and children and wearing traditional white clothes, chanted slogans denouncing the al-Qaeda-inspired group.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan says this is only the second public demonstration against al-Shabab, which controls much of southern Somalia.
The protesters shouted their support for the UN-backed government.
Mohyadin Hassan Afrah, who helped organise the protest in one of Mogadishu's few government-controlled districts, says people were upset at a move by al-Shabab to destroy the tombs of revered Sufi clerics.
Al-Shabab follows the strict Saudi Arabian-inspired Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, rather than the Sufi Islam of many Somalis.
"We call for a holy war against them," said Sheikh Somow, from the Sufi Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama group, which recently stuck a deal with the government.
Mr Afrah also said he was marching to protest at al-Shabab's use of foreign fighters.
Our reporter says fighters from Pakistan, Yemen and North Africa have travelled to Somalia to join al-Shabab.
Dozens of government troops watched the march and fired shots into the sky.
Some of the demonstrators carried posters with slogan such as "Down with al-Shabab" and carried "Support Peace and Government".
"We have been forced out of our houses because of the violence instigated by al-Shabab. We are here to support the government and make our voices against them heard," said one of the marchers, Hawo Abdulle Aden.
About half of Mogadishu's population have fled their homes.
The country has been torn by conflict since 1991.
Rescuers fight to save trapped Chinese miners
Rescuers are trying to reach more than 150 coal miners trapped after a pit flooded in China's northern Shanxi province, state media says.
Some 261 people were in the mine when water rushed in and 108 managed to escape, the Xinhua news agency reports.
China's mines are the most deadly in the world - thousands of workers are killed in them every year.
Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, compromising ventilation or fire-control equipment.
Initial reports from the Wangjialing mine said more than 150 people were trapped in the pit but officials later revised that number down, only to revise it back up to 153.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered local authorities to spare no effort to save the trapped, Xinhua said.
The mine covers 180 sq km (70 sq miles).
Most of those trapped in the shaft are migrant workers from Shanxi, Hebei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces, a rescuer said, quoted by Xinhua.
Earlier this month, rescue efforts for 31 miners trapped when a coal mine flooded in the Inner Mongolia region of China were halted after two weeks when no sign of life was found.
According to official figures, 2,631 coal miners died in 1,616 mine accidents in China in 2009, down 18% from the previous year.
Turkey's EU bid overshadows Angela Merkel visit
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to arrive in Turkey for an official visit overshadowed by disagreements over Ankara's plans to join the EU.
Mrs Merkel opposes full EU membership for Turkey, which began negotiations to become a member in 2005.
There are also disagreements over the education of Turkish children in Germany in the Turkish language.
Germany is Turkey's biggest trading partner, and nearly three million Turks live in Germany.
Turkey's sometimes fraught relationship with the European Union won't be helped by this visit.
After months of avoiding the subject, Chancellor Merkel has chosen this moment to revive her idea of offering Turkey what she calls a privileged partnership with the EU, rather than full membership.
Mrs Merkel has stressed that she does see integration as possible in up to 28 of the 35 so-called chapters of EU law with which Turkey has to comply before it can become a full member of the union.
But her proposal has been firmly rejected by the Turkish government as a breach of the terms agreed when membership negotiations began five years ago.
'Insulted'
"Such a thing as privileged partnership does not exist," said Egemen Bagis, Turkey's minister for European affairs.
"So we do not take that option seriously because there is no legal foundation of it. At times I feel insulted for being offered something which does not exist."
The chancellor does have plenty of other topics to discuss here, including Iran's nuclear programme.
Turkey has recently strengthened its relations with Iran and opposes the tougher sanctions threatened by Western governments.
But their differences over EU membership will cast a shadow over any common ground they do find during this visit.
Japanese pair in Pritzker architecture prize win
A duo of Japanese architects, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, have won the most coveted award in architecture, the Pritzker Prize, the has jury announced.
The 2010 winners were praised for using everyday building materials to create ethereal structures that shelter flowing, dreamlike spaces.
Their art museums, university buildings and designer-label fashion boutiques span Japan, the US and Europe.
The prize will be awarded formally in May in New York.
Sejima and Nishizawa, who are partners in the architectural firm Sanaa, said they did not see themselves as working within any sort of distinct Japanese architectural tradition.
But they acknowledged being influenced by the austere construction methods, lightweight materials and porous boundaries between inside and outside space that characterise traditional Japanese buildings.
"If you see Japanese temples made of wood, you can see how the architecture is made up," Nishizawa said.
"They have a clear construction and transparency and they are quite simple. I think this is one of the big things that we are influenced by."
Among the projects mentioned by the Pritzker jury were the Christian Dior Building in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district and the Toledo Museum of Art's Glass Pavilion.
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology's newly opened Rolex Learning Centre was also cited; it is a single-storey slab-like concrete and glass structure that undulates over a four-acre site, punctured in places to let light enter the massive open space that makes up its interior.
Farc rebels poised to free Colombian soldier
Relatives of a kidnapped Colombian soldier have arrived in the city of Villavicencio ahead of his planned release.
Colombia's main leftist rebel group, the Farc, said it would proceed with its plans to unilaterally free Private Josue Daniel Calvo, 22, on Sunday.
A negotiating team will fly by helicopter to a set of co-ordinates given by the rebels for the handover.
Pte Calvo was seized in April 2009 and is reported to be in poor health.
Opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba said plans were also on schedule for the release on Tuesday of Sgt Pablo Emilio Moncayo, who has been in captivity for 12 years.
The negotiating team, made up of representatives of the Catholic Church, the International Red Cross and Senator Cordoba, will leave Villavicencio's Vanguardia airport by helicopter for a location chosen by the rebels.
The commander of Colombia's armed forces, Gen Freddy Padilla, had earlier announced a 36-hour halt to military operations in the southern part of the country where Pte Calvo is being held.
Pte Calvo is expected to be taken to Villavicencio, in Meta province, where he will be reunited with his family before being flown to a military hospital.
According to the rebels, he is suffering from a leg wound which has made it hard for him to walk and forced the guerrillas to carry him.
Pte Calvo is the youngest member of the Colombian security forces to be held by the Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).
Negotiations for the release of Pte Calvo and Sgt Moncayo have gone on for almost a year.
'Horrible conditions'
Colombian peace commissioner Frank Pearl said he hoped Sgt Moncayo - who after 12 years in captivity is one of the longest held hostages - would be released on Monday night or early Tuesday.
Mr Pearl told the BBC News website that the conditions Sgt Moncayo has had to endure during his time with the Farc were "horrible".
"He has been kidnapped for 12 years. Think of what we've done for the last 12 years. He has lost a very important part of his life. He has been chained to a tree," he said.
Asked if the planned release of the two soldiers would lead to more such steps or negotiations with the rebels, he said the government did not want to tackle more than one issue at a time for fear of endangering the handover.
"After Tuesday, we'll have a new agenda," he said.
Sgt Moncayo's father, Gustavo, has walked almost the length of the country to raise awareness of his son's captivity, often carrying chains around his neck and wrists to highlight his plight.
Alan Jara, the former governor of Meta province, has also been a vocal supporter of the campaign to free the two soldiers.
He was himself kidnapped by the Farc and held for more than seven years before the group voluntarily released him last year.
'Critical moment'
He told the BBC News website that news of the planned release of the two men evoked strong feelings in him.
"It was only a year ago that I was in those same helicopters being taken from the jungle to Vanguardia airport in Villavicencio. It makes me relive the moment of my liberation second by second."
He said he believed that at this moment, just hours away from possible freedom, the two soldiers would be very stressed.
"It's a critical moment", he said.
He recalled how last-minute hitches prompted the Farc to tell him he would not be freed and would be taken back to the jungle hideout.
In the end, Mr Jara's release proceeded as planned, but not until he had endured another anxious 24-hour wait in the jungle for the arrival of the helicopters carrying the negotiating team.
"I was in this clearing, like a football field in the middle of the jungle, and when I saw the helicopters, it was a very strong moment. I wanted to cry, I wanted to smile, I didn't know what to do."
'Moment of shock'
Mr Jara was then shown a picture of his wife and his 15-year-old son, whom he had not seen since the boy was seven years old.
"It was a shock to me, he looked like another person, not my small child," Mr Jara remembered.
He said adjusting to life back home had been easy with the support of his family and friends.
Negotiations are still continuing for the handover of the remains of a police officer who died in captivity.
Major Julian Ernesto Guevara's body was originally to be returned as part of the release of the two soldiers, but Senator Cordoba said the timeline for that handover seemed to have slipped.
Israel's Netanyahu downplays tensions with US
Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has moved to ease tensions with the US, describing the two countries' relations as those of "allies and friends".
Mr Netanyahu also dismissed reports one of his confidants called US President Barack Obama a "disaster" for Israel.
The US has criticised the building of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, which prompted the Palestinians to pull out of US-brokered indirect peace talks.
The row has caused one of the worst crises in US-Israeli ties for decades.
In the wake of a controversial visit to the US, Mr Netanyahu said on Friday that his policy on East Jerusalem would not change, despite US pressure on Israel to announce a freeze on building Jewish homes there.
A best-selling Israeli newspaper then quoted an unidentified aide as saying: "You could say that Obama is the greatest disaster for Israel - a strategic disaster."
But the prime minister, speaking before he briefed the cabinet on his US trip, condemned these comments as "unacceptable".
"They do not come from anyone representing me. The relations between Israel and the United States are those of allies and friends, and are based on tradition spanning many years."
Re-occupy Gaza?
Tension has also been mounting in Gaza in recent days, with two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants reportedly killed in the worst clashes for more than a year.
At the cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu stressed that Israel would provide a "firm and decisive" response to any attack from the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel pulled out in 2009 after an offensive which left hundreds of people dead.
Israel insists that Jerusalem will remain its undivided capital.
Nearly half a million Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
They are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
The Middle East quartet - the US, EU, UN and Russia - has called for final status negotiations to reach a comprehensive peace deal within two years.
US man 'tried to revive dead opossum' in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania police have charged a man with public drunkenness after reports that he tried to resuscitate a long-dead opossum on a highway.
State police said several witnesses had seen Donald Wolfe, 55, tending to the roadkill about 65 miles (105 km) north-east of the city of Pittsburgh.
One reported seeing Mr Wolfe kneeling before the animal and gesturing as though he were conducting a seance.
Another reported seeing him give mouth to mouth resuscitation to the carcass.
State police Trooper Jamie Levier said the animal had been dead a while, the Associated Press news agency reports.
The opossum, colloquially known as a possum, is about the size of a domestic cat.
Such animals are known to feign death when threatened, giving rise to the phrase "playing possum".
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