Friday 21 August 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV


Justice Wajihuddin responds to PTI's 10 questions

Posted:

LAHORE: (Web Desk) – Honorable Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed has on Friday responded to the 10 questions posted by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on its website. PTI had posted 10 questions to Justice Wajihuddin on its official website. Justice Wajih also demanded that his answers be posted for the same length of time on PTI’s official website.In an email message to PTI’s Central Information Secretary Naeemul Haque, Justice Wajih completely rejected the claim that he was trying to damage the party. Instead, he said, those who have led the party away from its founding principles have been damaging the party. He held Saidullah Niazi and Qasim Khan Suri responsible for the posting of 10 questions from Justice Wajihuddin on the website and said that their fate will not be any different than those who have already been ousted from the party, once the tribunal comes out of its hibernation.Rejecting the allegation that Justice Wajihuddin attempted to alter the PTI constitution, Wajihuddin said that the allegation was totally unfounded.In response to the question of overruling the Chairman PTI Imran Khan, Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed said that when the tribunal was formed, “all office stood ceased including that of the chairman” Snubbing the allegation that he tried to ‘destroy the democractiv culture’ of the party, Wajihuddin said that the party was not democratic as yet and had a long way to go before claiming that it was a democratic party. He said that PTI is welcoming the rejected politicians with open arms and is thus being defeated in all the by-elections.Justice (r) Wajihuddin rejected the claims that the tribunal members used unwarranted means to propagate their verdicts. He said that the tribunal members never spoke to any TV channel and he himself met Imran Khan only when the tribunal decided to get its decisions implemented, politically. He said that the allegation was baseless.The respected former judge also rubbished the claim that he assumed too many powers. He concluded by saying that the questionnaire did not only appear on the website but also on the official page of Chairman PTI, implying that it had the backing of the chairman and was equivalent to a charge sheet. “If so, the charges have been answered”, he added.Justice Wajih concludes by quoting Confucius: “Three things cannot be long hidden; the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

As Trump surges, Republican rivals struggle to parry

Posted:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - As Donald Trump steamrolls into Alabama for potentially the biggest US campaign rally of the year Friday, Republican rivals are flummoxed over how to contain the political brute now turning the presidential race on its head.The billionaire real estate mogul has snatched up the lions share of the attention, interest and support of Republican voters, using a combative tone to lash out at other candidates with a coarseness rarely seen at the top tier of American campaigns.With less than five months before Iowa and New Hampshire cast the early votes in the party nominating process, Trump leads in polls across the board, leaving the remaining 16 Republican candidates in his dust. His anti-establishment clarion call has quickly become the loudest voice in US politics.He has jetted into the heartland to attend the Iowa State Fair, and stalked former Florida governor Jeb Bush in New Hampshire this week, where he hit Bushs Iraq and immigration positions and ridiculed his floundering poll numbers.Polls show Trump leading in both states, and in three crucial swing-states including Bushs home turf, Florida.Now he is taking the Trump typhoon into the deep South, where outsized demand for tickets led organizers to upgrade Fridays venue from a theater, to a larger arena, and ultimately to a 43,000-seat football stadium in Mobile, Alabama.Trump predicted as many as 40,000 people would show up, which would be a record for the 2016 campaign so far.We are going to have a wild time in Alabama tonight blared Trump on Twitter.His extraordinary early success has Republican candidates, donors and party leaders mystified.No one has figured out how to handle Trump, Republican former New Jersey governor Thomas Kean told The Washington Post.Everyone underestimated him terribly from Day One. But as someone who knows him and knew his father -- the whole family -- I can assure you, that was a mistake.- Changing tack -Perhaps recognizing a need to counter the Trump machine, Bush has upped his rhetoric, snapping on Wednesday that Trump has been a Democrat longer than being a Republican, and citing the magnates earlier support for abortion rights and a single-payer health care system.On Thursday, after Bush took a page out of Trumps playbook and used the controversial term anchor babies to describe children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants, he refused to back down.I dont regret it, Bush told reporters in New Hampshire.Other candidates have gone after Trump head on, with little to show for it.Senator Rand Paul berated him in an August 6 debate but it did minimal damage, and the Kentucky insurgent has slipped in the polls. He has also released an ad attacking The Donald, but that, too, has not moved the needle.Its like a science fiction film, where you shoot at him and he gets bigger, Newt Gingrich, the former US House speaker who ran for president in 2012 and like Trump was an early frontrunner, told Fox News this week.Youre dealing with somebody who is totally different from anybody in modern politics.Former New York governor George Pataki has offered some of the harshest condemnation, blasting Trumps antics as demagoguery. But Patakis is a voice from the back of the pack and it does not appear to be registering.Donors investing millions of dollars in support of other candidates in the race are said to be mulling possible autumn ad runs attacking Trump.But they, and some candidates like Senator Ted Cruz and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are treading carefully, hesitant to antagonize a political barbarian at the gates.

Cricket: Marsh strikes as England crash in Ashes finale

Posted:

LONDON (AFP) - Mitchell Marsh took his best figures in Test cricket as Australias push for a consolation win in the Ashes finale saw England suffer a severe collapse at The Oval on Friday.At stumps on the second day of the fifth Test, England had slumped to 107 for eight in reply to Australias first innings 481 -- a deficit of 374 runs.All-rounder Marsh, recalled in place of older brother Shaun, a specialist batsman, took three wickets for 18 runs in seven overs -- surpassing his two for 23 in Australias 405-run win in the second Test at Lords.Meanwhile fast-medium bowler Peter Siddle, playing his first Test since facing India at Adelaide in December after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out through injury, had two for 18 in 10.England, with Moeen Ali and Mark Wood both eight not out, still needed a further 175 runs to avoid the follow-on, with just two wickets standing.Fortunately for England they were already 3-1 up in the five-match series and this top order implosion was not as bad as Australias 60 all out in the first innings of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge -- where Stuart Broads return of eight for 15 laid the platform for an innings and 78 run-win that saw England regain the Ashes.But there was no denying Australias dominance with both bat and ball so far in this match after captain-in-waiting Steven Smith had scored 143 earlier on Friday.- Lyon strikes -================Englands reply suffered an early setback when skipper Alastair Cook was bowled for 22 on the stroke of tea by a fine delivery from off-spinner Nathan Lyon.Bowling from round the wicket, Lyon got the ball to pitch on middle-and-leg before it turned past left-hander Cooks outside edge to clip off stump.Adam Lyth desperately needed a big innings to cement his place after a run of low scores.But on 19 he donated his wicket when, off Siddles second-ball loosener, the left-hander pulled to Mitchell Starc, running round from mid-on.Root, Lyths fellow Yorkshireman, who had scored two hundreds this series, once again walked out with England in trouble.He responded by upper-cutting his first ball, from Siddle, over the slips for four.But Siddle -- whose selection had been slammed as a panic measure by Australia great Shane Warne -- struck again when a superb ball clipped the top of off stump to bowl Ian Bell for 10.Englands 60 for three became 64 for four when Root, unable to perform his usual rescue act, was caught behind off the lively Marsh for six.Jonny Bairstow (13) was caught in the deep after carelessly failing to get over the top of an attempted pull off Mitchell Johnson, while Jos Buttler (one) was bowled through the gate by Lyon.Englands position demanded resolute defiance but all-rounder Ben Stokes (15) made a present of his wicket when a miscued hoick off Marsh provided wicket-keeper Peter Nevill with a simple catch.Broad was then well caught at first slip by Adam Voges for a duck in the same over.England were now 92 for eight, with Marsh having taken three wickets for four runs in 15 balls.And but for a replay checked no-all he would have dismissed Wood as well.Earlier, the 26-year-old Smith, set to succeed Michael Clarke as captain when the Australia skipper retires after this match, struck his second century this Ashes after a career-best 215 at Lords.Thursdays innings saw Smith become the first Australian since Matthew Elliott in 1997 to score more than 500 runs in an Ashes series in England.Smith received good support in stands of 146 and 91 with Voges (76) and Starc (58) for the fourth and eighth wickets respectively.His six-and-a-half-hour innings, which included 17 fours and two sixes, eventually ended when he dragged an intended drive off fast bowler Steven Finn onto his stumps.

Cycling: Vuelta organisers act over dangerous first stage

Posted:

MADRID (AFP) - Tour of Spain organisers announced Friday that Saturdays first stage will not count towards the overall standings after criticism that the team time trial circuit was too dangerous.The Vuelta a Espana gets underway with a 7.4 kilometre race-against-the-clock between Puerto Banus and Marbella on the Costa del Sol.But riders have raised safety concerns as the coastal route includes cycling over a narrow wooden bridge and a potentially hazardous dirt track.The technical jury, after listening to the concerns of teams and riders and carrying out a reconnaisance of the circuit and getting the backing of the UCI (cyclings governing body) has decided that registered times will count towards team but not individual standings, organisers announced.As a result results of the Vuelta curtain-raiser will only go towards the stage win and the teams general classification.Briton Chris Froome faces a star-studded field for the 70th edition of the event led by Colombian Nairo Quintana as he aims to become just the third rider to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana in the same year.I think the organisers and the UCI took the right decision to neutralise the first stage from the general classification, said Froome.Its a shame for the race but security is paramount.

Case closed, says study: C02 melted Ice Age glaciers

Posted:

PARIS (AFP) - Greenhouse gases were the driving force behind global glacier retreat at the end of the last Ice Age, echoing current climate change, according to a study published Friday.More than 11,000 years later, the researchers say, global warming is on track to wipe out 80-90 percent of remaining glaciers within a few hundred years unless carbon dioxide emissions are held in check.Such an outcome would push sea level rise and rob hundreds of millions of people in Asia and South America of a critical source of water.Using new techniques to resolve an old debate, researchers showed that it was a 55 percent increase of CO2 in the atmosphere -- from 180 to 280 parts per million (ppm) -- over some 7,000 years that melted the worlds glaciers to a level that remained stable until the start of our industrial era.Higher levels of green house gasses, such as CO2, trap more of the Suns heat on Earth causing global temperatures to rise.Up to now, scientists disagreed on the cause of Ice Age glacier decline, with some attributing it mainly to solar radiation and regional influences such as ice sheets and ocean currents.A team of scientists led by Jeremy Shakun of Boston College re-examined the ages of more than 1,100 previously studied glacial boulders by measuring a particular isotope -- Beryllium-10 -- produced by exposure to cosmic rays.They compared their findings, the most accurate so far, to the timing of the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, data gleaned from ice bubbles trapped in ice cores.The results were unequivocal.The only factor that explains glaciers melting all around the world in unison during the end of the Ice Age is the rise in greenhouse gases, said Shakun.Scientists are still not sure what triggered the gradual release of CO2 into the atmosphere starting 19,000 years ago, or exactly where it came from.Its fair to say that the reason CO2 went up and down over the Ice Ages is one of the biggest palaeoclimate mysteries out there, Shakun said by email.The most likely scenario, according to co-author Peter Clark of Oregon State University is that huge quantities of carbon bubbled up from the sea.- Putting an end to the Ice Age -The carbon was likely released because of changes in the ocean and its circulation that were triggered by changes in the Earths orbit around the Sun, he wrote in an email exchange.The impact of greenhouse gas emissions on glaciers today, both scientists say, is similar to the Ice Age endgame, except that -- after 10,000 years of relative stability -- the process is happening fifty times faster.Just in the past 150 years, CO2 levels have surged from 280 to about 400 ppm, far higher than was required to put an end to the last Ice Age, said Shakun.And even under the most optimistic scenarios for slashing carbon pollution, he added, those levels will increase by at least another 20 percent, though how long it will take is unclear.The consequences of glacier loss are multiple.The UNs climate science panel says melting glaciers will account for a quarter of total sea level rise, which is pegged at 26 to 98 centimetres (10 to 39 inches) by 2100.This is enough to swamp many small island nations and several highly-populated river deltas in Asia and Africa.But the greatest threat is to the nearly one billion people who depend directly on glaciers -- historically a renewable resource -- for water to drink and irrigate crops.When you pull back and look at the paleo-record of carbon dioxide and realize that a 180 to 280 ppm rise was enough to help drive a major global meltdown, it give you pause for thought on where 400, 500 or 600 ppm leads, said Shakun.

N. Korea says 'prepared to risk war' as troops on alert

Posted:

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea warned early Saturday that it was prepared to risk all-out war as leader Kim Jong-Un put his frontline troops on combat readiness to back up an ultimatum for South Korea to halt propaganda broadcasts across the border.The warning came as military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula soared following a rare exchange of artillery fire on Thursday that put the South Korean army on maximum alert.Our military and people are prepared to risk an all-out war not just to simply respond or retaliate, but to defend the system our people chose, North Koreas foreign ministry said in a statement on the official KCNA news agency, according to the Souths Yonhap news agency.The situation has reached the verge of war and can no longer be reversed.Technically, the two Koreas have been at war for the past 65 years, as the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a ceasefire that was never ratified by a formal peace treaty.Kim has given similarly bellicose orders in the past, most recently in 2013 when he declared a state of war with the South, although no clashes resulted.Over the decades, South Koreans have become accustomed to the Norths provocative and belligerent behaviour, and there was no sense of public panic in Seoul despite the dire threats.Kim chaired an emergency meeting late Thursday of the Norths powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) which endorsed the ultimatum for the South to switch off its propaganda unit loudspeakers by Saturday afternoon or face military action.South Koreas defence ministry insisted the loudspeakers would keep operating.KCNA said Kim ordered frontline, combined units of the Korean Peoples Army (KPA) to enter a wartime state from Friday 5:00 pm (0830 GMT).The troops should be fully battle ready to launch surprise operations while the entire frontline should be placed in a semi-war state, KCNA quoted him as saying.- Reckless acts -In response, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff urged the KPA to refrain from any reckless acts.South Korean television broadcast images of President Park Geun-Hye wearing army fatigues as she addressed a meeting of top military commanders outside Seoul.Any provocations by North Korea will not be tolerated, Park told the gathering.The United States urged Pyongyang to avoid any further escalation, with the Pentagon stressing it remained firmly committed to defending ally South Korea.UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged both sides to refrain from taking any further measures that might increase tensions and China urged relevant parties to remain calm and restrained.Direct exchanges of fire across the inter-Korean land border are extremely rare -- mainly, analysts say, because both sides recognise the risk of a sudden and potentially disastrous escalation.But Yoo Ho-Yeol, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul, said although previous episodes of tense brinkmanship had not escalated into conflict, this could not be ruled out.Weve been here before several times, but that doesnt mean it isnt still dangerous, said Yoo said.Theres a real possibility of this confrontation leading to some sort of armed clash.The last direct attack on the South was in November 2010 when North Korea shelled the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong, killing two civilians and two soldiers.Seoul said Thursdays artillery exchange was triggered by North Korea firing several shells in the rough direction of one of its border propaganda units.The South responded by firing dozens of 155mm howitzer rounds.Nearly all the shells from both sides landed in their respective halves of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a four-kilometre-wide (2.5-mile-wide) buffer zone that straddles the actual frontier line.- Rising tensions -Tensions were already on high-simmer before the shelling, following mine blasts that maimed two members of a South Korean border patrol this month and the launch Monday of a major South Korea-US military exercise that infuriated Pyongyang.Seoul said the mines were placed by North Korea and responded by resuming the high-decibel propaganda broadcasts after more than a decade.Meanwhile, the Unification Ministry in Seoul, which oversees cross-border affairs, announced it was restricting access to the North-Souths joint industrial zone at Kaesong.Only South Koreans with direct business interests in Kaesong -- which lies 10 kilometres inside North Korea -- would be allowed to travel there, a ministry spokesman said.The Kaesong industrial estate hosts about 120 South Korean firms employing some 53,000 North Korean workers and is a vital source of hard currency for the cash-strapped North.Restricting access will likely be seen as a thinly veiled threat by Seoul to shut the complex down completely if the situation at the border escalates further.

10 killed in religious clashes in Central African Republic: police

Posted:

BANGUI (AFP) - Ten people were killed and five others injured Friday in religious clashes in the Central African Republic, police said.A local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the clashes in the central region of Bambari broke out following the death of a young Muslim who was beaten by armed individuals identified as (Christian) anti-balaka militants.He added that the murder has sparked reprisals from young Muslims and former Seleka (Muslim rebels) in several non-Muslim neighbourhoods of the town, and said the attacks had taken place a few dozen kilometres from the town of Bambari.We have a provisional toll of ten dead and five injured, the official said.Witnesses reached by telephone said that residents began shooting in a bid to regain control of the area, where several thousand people remain.The situation on the ground remains very tense, with young Christians and Muslims putting up barricades in some places to protect themselves from gunfire, a witness said.The Central African Republic descended into bloodshed after a 2013 coup against longtime leader Francois Bozize that unleashed a wave of violence in the former French colony, pitting Christian anti-balaka militias against Muslim Seleka rebels.Driven from power in January 2014 following an international military intervention, the former Seleka rebel coalition had based its top commanders in Bambari, an area that has regularly been shaken by sectarian violence ever since.Unlike the capital Bangui, which was restored to relative calm several months ago, many areas in the provinces remain lawless, stalked by armed groups and bandits.

Three injured in shooting on Amsterdam-Paris train

Posted:

PARIS (AFP) - A gunman opened fire on a train travelling from Amsterdam to Paris, injuring three people before being overpowered by passengers, French state rail company SNCF and rescue services said.Two of the victims were seriously injured and at least one suffered gunshot wounds, an SNCF spokesman said, adding that the assailant was armed with guns and knives.The motives behind the attack were not immediately known.The incident happened near Arras in northern France shortly after 1600 GMT and the gunman was arrested when the train stopped at the towns station, an SNCF spokesman told AFP.French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was heading to Arras in the wake of the incident, his ministry said.France remains on edge after Islamic extremists attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January.In June, a man beheaded his boss and tried to blow up a gas plant in southern France in what prosecutors say was an attack inspired by the Islamic State group.

Connected sports shirt promises 'smart,' at a price

Posted:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A connected workout shirt from designer Ralph Lauren is hitting the market this month, promising to deliver smart fashion, at a hefty price.The new PoloTech smartshirt, which goes on sale August 27 at $295, includes real-time biometric technology which pairs with a smartphone application.Using silver fibers woven into the fabric, the form-fitting crew-neck shirt can read the wearers heart rate, breathing depth, intensity of movement, energy output, stress levels, steps taken and calories burned.The new shirt is the latest entry in the growing market of wearable technology that allow users to monitor health and fitness with sensors next to the skin.The Ralph Lauren PoloTech shirt will change the way you look at fashion and apparel. It will give you knowledge you can use to lead a better life, said David Lauren, executive vice president at Ralph Lauren Corporation, in a statement Thursday.This is a bridge between technology, fitness and style that approaches wellness and well-being in comprehensive and complementary ways. It will touch many parts of your life.PoloTech wearers will also need an iPhone or iPad: the shirt, made of 70 percent polyester, 21 percent nylon and nine percent spandex, will communicate to an application available on Apples iOS mobile operating system.It transmits the data via a detachable, Bluetooth-enabled black box.

Ban Ki-moon to mark jihadist attack on UN in Nigeria

Posted:

ABUJA (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon begins a visit to Nigeria at the weekend to commemorate a deadly attack on the global body by Boko Haram militants and meet the countrys new leader.The secretary-general arrives in Abuja on Sunday for talks with President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to power on May 29, Nigerian and UN officials said Friday.Ban will lay a wreath to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the car bombing at United Nations House, the headquarters for around 400 UN employees, that left 21 dead on August 26, 2011.The visit will be Bans second since taking office in 2007. He last visited Nigeria in May 2011 to discuss the crises in southern Sudan and Libya with then leader Goodluck Jonathan.Ban is expected to discuss development, climate change, human rights and countering violent extremism while he is in Nigeria, said his spokeswoman Eri Kaneko.The UN chief is also due to dine with captains of industry and the west African nations state governors during the two-day trip, a statement from the Nigerian foreign ministry said.Ban will visit members of Bring Back Our Girls, the campaign said on its website, although the announcement was not immediately confirmed by the government or UN.The group will mark 500 days next week since the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from the northeastern village of Chibok by Boko Haram.The secretary-general will stop over in France on his return trip to discuss preparations for a major climate change conference to be held in Paris in December.

Barbed wire and stun grenades welcome refugees to Macedonia

Posted:

EDOMENI (AFP) - For the 3,000 refugees and migrants stuck on Greeces border with Macedonia, being beaten back violently by police on Friday was just the latest indignity in a gruelling journey to new lives in Europe.The crowds, most of them Syrians, were stranded near the Greek village of Edomeni after Macedonia declared a state of emergency on Thursday and sealed the border, hoping to stem the flow of people trying to cross the small Balkan country on their way to northern Europe.As hundreds tried to cross newly-laid rolls of barbed wire along the frontier on Friday, Macedonian officers beat them back with truncheons and lobbed stun grenades, setting off blinding flashes and huge bangs.Panicked refugees ran for cover as smoke spewed from the grenades. Women screamed, cradling their children in their arms.In the chaos, some of the refugees fell to the ground; one young man had a face covered in blood. Greek police said eight people were injured.- We are hunted in Syria -Jacob, a Syrian Christian who fled persecution at home, was one of many whose frustrations spilled over as he was forced to wait at the border.We are hunted in Syria because we are Christian. They wanted to kill us. Why wont they let us through here? he asked.A makeshift camp has sprung up at Edomeni, with whole families squeezing into small tents at night, lighting fires to keep warm. Others have been sleeping on the nearby railway track or inside train carriages.Many have sought accommodation in the village, but all the hotels are full.I will pay any price to get to a hotel, said a 42-year-old man, holding his six-year-old son by the hand.Given the size of the crowd, nearby facilities are desperately inadequate -- there are only five portable toilets, and a few volunteers providing assistance.We are very angry because the police had told us they would let us through today. We are not animals, Jad, a 25-year-old Syrian, told AFP. Like so many others, he arrived in Greece via the tourist island of Lesbos, and has been stuck at Edomeni for three days.Rights group Amnesty International said many of those on the border needed medical attention, with some showing signs of war wounds.Supplies in the little village are running low, though a small grocery store is cashing in by staying open 24 hours a day, offering tins of food.What can they do? They seek a better life. Every day I see women with small children crying, said a local villager.The German consul to Greeces second city Thessaloniki, Ingo von Voss, arrived a few hours after the violence broke out, saying he wanted to hear about the situation and report back to his government.This is neither a Greek nor a European problem. It is a global problem, he said.Refugees here say they only want to pass through Macedonia -- most are hoping to eventually reach Germany or Sweden.

Samsung eyes first entry into US stock markets

Posted:

SEOUL (AFP) - South Koreas dominant Samsung conglomerate will make its first entry into US stock markets next year with the listing of a biotechnology affiliate, a company official said Friday.The listing of Samsung Bioepis on the Nasdaq Stock Market is aimed at securing funds for investment in the field of biosimilars -- a new breed of drugs that mimic the effects of far more costly biologic drugs made from living cells.With an underwriter already designated, preparations are under way for the public stock listing of Bioepis in the first half of next year, the Samsung official told AFP.Bioepis will be the first Samsung affiliate to list in the United States.Samsung Electronics, the worlds largest mobile phone maker which accounts for the lions share of the groups sales and profits, controls 46 percent of Samsung BioLogics, which in turn holds 90 percent of Bioepis.The Samsung group is already remarkably diverse, with interests ranging from electronics to construction and shipbuilding, and sees biotechnology as a revenue growth engine for the future.

US oil falls below $40 first time in six years

Posted:

NEW YORK (AFP) - An oil market selloff Friday pushed US benchmark West Texas Intermediate below $40 a barrel briefly, a level last seen in March 2009.WTI for October delivery, in the futures contracts first day of trade, quickly rebounded, hitting $40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange around 1715 GMT, a decline of $1.32.In London, Brent North Sea crude for October delivery was trading at $45.16 a barrel, down $1.46 from Thursdays settlement and its lowest level since March 2009.Oil headed for its eighth straight weekly decline, as sliding stock markets worldwide added to worries that lackluster global economic growth will hurt energy demand in an oversupplied market.

Experts say Chinese hackers targeting India

Posted:

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Cyber spies most probably based in China have been snooping on Indian government bodies and universities since 2012 for sensitive material on its rival neighbour, Internet security company FireEye said Friday.FireEye said the hackers seemed particularly interested in Indias border dispute with neighbouring giant China as well as information on Tibetan activists.Its targets appear to be of particular interest to the Chinese government, such as Tibetan activists, a company spokesman told AFP.Its also well resourced and works around the clock. We found indicators in their malware that the group behind it may speak Chinese.The hackers sent phishing emails with attachments containing a script called watermain which when opened allowed them to infect and access computers.FireEye said this particular problem with Indias cyber security systems has been patched.Experts have questioned Indias cyber defences in recent years for reasons including the fact that many government officials still use Hotmail and Gmail in their official communications.There was no immediate reaction from China, but Beijing has always denied allegations of cyber espionage.India and China, which fought a brief but bloody war in 1962, have long been embroiled in a bitter dispute over their border, with both sides regularly accusing soldiers of crossing over into the others territory.Another major irritant in their ties has been the presence of Tibets exiled leader the Dalai Lama who has made India his home since fleeing a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.India has also been wary of Chinas expansionist ambitions in the region including in Sri Lanka and Nepal which New Delhi considers to be in its sphere of influence.Collecting intelligence on India remains a key strategic goal for China-based APT (advanced persistent threat) groups, Bryce Boland, FireEyes chief technology officer for the Asia Pacific, said.The company warned April that a cyber espionage group called APT30 had been hacking governments and businesses in Southeast Asia and India for the last 10 years.

Golf: Putt the question Player proposes to girlfriend on course

Posted:

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Danish golfer Andreas Harto was heading for a missed cut at the Made in Denmark tournament Friday, but he was still celebrating after proposing to his girlfriend on the 16th green.The 27-year-old made a birdie, then gestured to his stunned girlfriend who was watching from the sidelines and got down on one knee before plucking a jewellery box from his pocket.The couple embraced on the green much to the delight of the packed gallery.Harto, however, was not able to tempt Lady Luck to also smile on him as he finished two rounds on five over par and missed the cut.

No comments:

Post a Comment