Thursday, June 30, 2011

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Porn blogger in China gets jail term

Posted:

A man in China who blogged about his sexual experiences with prostitutes has been sentenced to a year in prison, a media report said Thursday

Lin Chenglong, 23, a resident of Guangdong province's capital Guangzhou city began publishing his brothel experiences in 2009. He also posted obscene pictures along with his blogs, Shanghai Daily quoted Guangzhou Daily as reporting.

By the time he was arrested in November 2010, he had published 171 pornographic pictures and 48 articles. The blog had been viewed over 60,000 times.

Now, escape traffic jams with world's first flying motorcycle

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An Australian man has invented the world's first flying motorcycle in his garage, and he claims it can reach an altitude of 10,000ft and speeds of over 100mph.

Christopher Malloy, 32, put his entire life-savings into the project, and it took him two and a half years to complete his futuristic creation, which has been dubbed the Hoverbike.

Malloy, a former helicopter pilot, built the incredible machine in his Sydney garage using a custom-built carbon-fibre airframe and a BMW engine.

The futuristic prototype has the potential to travel up to 92 miles or for about 45 minutes on one tank of fuel and is expected to cost more than 45,000 pounds.

So far the bike, which weighs 270 kilograms, has only been tested while tethered to the ground to prevent it flying too high. But plans to test it's capabilities without any restrictions are set to go-ahead soon.

He said the basic principle was similar to that of a Chinook helicopter and a normal motorbike.

He has also raised concern over ships anchored off the coast.


Sri Lankan cops investigate attack on teen girls for watching pornography

Posted:

Sri Lankan police are reportedly investigating an assault on two girls for allegedly watching pornography in eastern Sri Lanka last week

A group of men had allegedly beaten up the 17-year-olds after they came out of an internet cafe in the Muslim dominated town of Kattankudi, near Batticaloa, the BBC reports.

The case raised concern about the rise of radical Islam in that area.

The father of one of the girls said they were accused of watching pornography, which the girls vehemently denied.

My child has physically recovered from injuries. But she is mentally shattered," he said.

He also alleged that they were forcefully taken to a local house and beaten up, before taking them to a local Islamic office.

"After that, an announcement was made from a mosque using loudspeakers that two girls who were caught doing wrongful things are now in the office complex," the father said, adding that a large crowd gathered there and some started to denounce the girls following the announcement.

He claimed that the police finally intervened and took the girls to hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, local mosque authorities denied making any announcement, saying the girls were kept in the office and "interrogated", but were not ill-treated.

UK government leads world in web snooping, reveals Google

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Authorities in Britain are more likely to request details about internet users than in any other country, Google has revealed

The online search engine's transparency report showed that in just six months, British intelligence agencies, police and other government bodies asked the company to hand over data 1,162 times, the Daily Mail reports.

When population sizes are taken into account, the figure puts Britain second in a table of 26 developed countries.

Singapore, which has been condemned by human rights groups for its authoritarian regime, topped the table while Australia came third with 345 requests and France came fourth with 1,021 requests.

The US was placed fifth in the table with 4,601 requests for information in the second half of last year, the paper said.

According to the paper, Britain asked Google to remove content 38 times, including one request by the Office of Fair Trading that more than 93,000 adverts linked to fraud were taken offline.

That compares to 118 content removal requests from Germany and 263 requests in Brazil, which topped the table.

Google has said that their report would shine some light on the appropriate scope and authority of government requests to obtain user data around the globe.

Texas driver too drunk to realise he hit a man!

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A Texas man was so drunk while driving his car that he did not realise that he had hit a man even after the victim fell into the passenger side of his car

According to Fox News, James John Onak, 49, who was identified by the Houston Police Department, was stopped by police not far from the scene of the Houston accident, the Herald Sun reported.

He told investigators he thought his black Mazda 626 struck something but did not know what - despite the fact his windshield was shattered and the victim's body was inside his car.

Onak will be charged with failure to stop and render aid and driving while intoxicated.

The victim was wearing a work uniform from a Subway restaurant and investigators said he had likely finished his work shift and was driving home when he experienced trouble with his Ford Explorer.

They say he was struck by the Mazda as he walked toward a nearby petrol station.

The body was found with one severed knee and investigators later found the rest of the leg on the Gulf Freeway, between Houston and Galveston, where the accident took place.

Indian-origin 'manslaughter' surgeon brutally attacked in Oz prison

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An Indian-origin neurosurgeon in Australia who pleaded guilty to manslaughter was brutally assaulted by four inmates in Sydney's jail, a court has heard

Suresh Nair is being sentenced over an incident in 2009 in which he failed to help a female escort he had hired as she lay dying from a cocaine overdose, which he helped to administer.

Nair told the court that four inmates in Silverwater jail had attacked him while in custody after news of the incident broke, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Nair said he suffered multiple facial fractures including a broken jaw and broken teeth. He said he had also lost partial sight in one eye and was now without feeling in his left cheekbone because of a severed nerve sustained in the attack.

He said he had experienced ''a kind of mental breakdown'' after the assault.

''It was raining outside and I thought it was going to flood in Silverwater jail. I've never experienced anything like that before,'' Nair said.

Nair had been briefly put into protective custody after the incident

Nair, giving evidence at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court as part of his sentencing, also repeatedly expressed remorse for the woman who had lost her life ''as a consequence of his behaviour''.

Dr Charlie Teo, AM, a pioneering brain surgeon at Prince of Wales Hospital, earlier said in court that his former colleague Nair had a good character and was "very remorseful" about what he had done.

Hackers shut down Al-Qaeda's net communication

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Computer hackers have reportedly disrupted Al-Qaeda''s ability to communicate via the Internet, an anti terror expert has said

"Al-Qaeda''s online communications have been temporarily crippled, and it does not have a single trusted distribution channel available on the Internet," Fox News quoted Evan Kohlmann, of Flashpoint Global Partners, which monitors the group''s communications, as saying.

It was "well coordinated and involved the use of an unusual cocktail of relatively sophisticated techniques," Kohlmann said.

"My guess is that it will take them at least several days more to repair the damage and get their network up and functioning again," Kohlmann added.

The identity of the hackers was not known.

According to the report, last year, Al-Qaeda suffered a similar hack attack when British spies hacked into the group''s website and replaced instructions on how to build bombs with cupcake recipes.


Gaddafi trains grannies to be soldiers in war

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The Libyan government has unveiled its latest weapon to defend Colonel Moammar Gaddafi's regime from rebel fighters women.

As the NATO bombing campaign in the country entered its 100th day on Monday, loyalists to Gaddafi paraded their new female fighters in front of the world's media.

The 500 women loyal to the embattled leader had just completed a programme to teach them how to fire weapons, at a base near Tripoli.

Many of the women appeared to be elderly, whilst some were barely teenagers " but all were united in their love for the Libyan leader.

It is not clear where the women will be deployed, if at all.

Moussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman said, "Libyan women are now joining the armed forces against NATO. We are training them. Their main role is defending homes.

We have no plan to send them to the front line. They are not trained for that, and our army is very effective."

He pledged to make every mother 'a bomb, a killing machine'. He insisted the regime was strong and there was no possibility of surrender.

100
Number of days Nato has been bombing Libya

Russian Prez's jeep lurches into crowds

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Scenes of a jeep being driven by President Dmitry Medvedev nearly ploughing into a crowd went viral in Russia yesterday, sparking political debates among giggling Internet users.

The video of last week's incident which concluded with the 45-year-old walking out of the car sporting dark sunglasses came just two months after another web clip showed him somewhat unsuccessfully trying to dance at a party.



"Who is this guy to hold the reins of a country if he cannot even drive a car," said one typical YouTube message from a user.

"It seems that the president simply forgot to put the car into 'park'," the Kazan-Times newspaper that first reported the incident sniped.

The black vehicle had come to a stop when it suddenly lurched in the direction of hundreds of onlookers as the president tried to get out.

A member of his security team managed to help Medvedev stop the vehicle after opening the driver's door through an open window.

"Careful!" someone could be heard shouting as women screamed and hundreds of people backpedalled in the face of the president's quickly advancing car.

Medvedev could later be seen getting out of the vehicle and stiffly waving to the crowd before being led away by security.

Russia has denied reports about its President Dmitry Medvedev planning to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in Vladivostok on Friday.


Harry dating Love Aaj Kal actress?

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Prince Harry is reportedly dating the Florence Brudenell-Bruce, the girl Saif Ali Khan dated while on a break with Deepika Padukone in the film Love Aaj Kal.

The model is in fact also the ex-girlfriend of Formula One driver Jenson Button.


Florence Brudenell-Bruce, former girlfriend of Jenson Button has been spending a lot of time with Prince Harry at her mansion

Harry (26) is said to be having secret trysts with the 25-year-old lingerie and swimwear model, who he has known for years.

But a Royal source said they became "an item" after the Prince made it clear his sometimes turbulent romance with long-term love Chelsy Davy had run its course.

Florence's ancestor, the Seventh Earl of Cardigan James Thomas Brudenell, was one of Britain's most famous war heroes. He led the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854 during the Crimean War at the age of 57.

She is the daughter of Old Etonian wine merchant Andrew and his French wife Sophie.

Both Harry and Florence, known as Flee to pals, have spent intimate time together at her home in trendy Notting Hill, West London.

"It's very early days but Harry and Florence are an item. She is a lot of fun, blonde and very good-looking. Harry really likes her," a well-connected Royal source said.

Outrage over Diana's photo

Posted:

A US magazine has been branded 'tacky' and 'cheap' by world media after it put a picture of 'Princess Diana at 50 'on its front cover

A magazine cover that brings Princess Diana back to life to stroll with the daughter-in-law she never met has been branded "creepy", "disrespectful" and "ghostly" by press around the world

The mocked-up image of the princess walking with Kate Middleton graces the cover of Newsweek, to accompany an article by Tina Brown about what Diana would have been like if she were alive today.


The Newsweek doctored snap with Kate Middleton goes along with the article, which states that if Diana was alive she would be a fan of The King's Speech

The article 'Diana at 50 - If she were here now' says the Princess would be Facebook pals with Camilla Parker-Bowles, have ten million Twitter followers, and have an 'it's complicated' relationship status.

It adds that if Diana had not died in a 1997 car crash she would have moved to New York, remained "great-looking", and been friends with her ex-husband Prince Charles and his new wife.

Newsweek's editor in-chief Tina Brown wrote the piece ahead of Prince William and Kate's first official visit to North America this week.

But the doctored picture showing her still chic and slim, but with more wrinkles has caused fury across the US.
One writer on the New York Magazine website said, "This is beyond tacky."

And a reader commented on Newsweek's site, "Ugh this is SO tasteless...let the poor woman RIP...if I were any of her family members i'd be so offended and upset by this." (sic).

Journalist Matt Donnelly described the cover as "rather jarring" and asked "is the cover all sorts of right, or all sorts of wrong?".

The article imagines Diana as a social networking fan and claims on her Facebook page she would have 'liked' the film The King's Speech and TV series The Real Housewives of New York.

It claims she would be hanging out with David and Victoria Beckham.

21 dead in Kabul hotel battle

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At least 21 people, including nine Taliban suicide bombers and two policemen, were killed in Kabul when armed guerrillas stormed a luxury hotel frequented by foreign nationals, the interior ministry said yesterday.

Among the killed civilians in the Intercontinental Hotel attack was a Spanish citizen.


Afghan soldiers walk towards the Intercontinental hotel at the end of the military operation against Taliban militants that stormed the hotel in Kabul

The statement said the attack begun around 11 pm on Tuesday and the operation against the attackers concluded at 3 am yesterday.

"The enemies of peace and stability committed another shameful crime by sending nine suicide bombers and attacking the Intercontinental Hotel in capital Kabul, which left nine Afghan civilians an a Spanish citizen dead," an official statement said.

"As a result of timely reaction of the Afghan National Police, the Afghan National Army and coalition forces backed by the NATO-led international troops, all nine suicide bombers were killed."

At least 18 people, including five policemen, were wounded in the attack. Zabihullah Mujahid, who claimed to be a Taliban spokesperson claimed responsibility for the attack.

He said some Taliban fighters equipped with suicide vests stormed the hotel and inflicted casualties on foreign and Afghan guests there.

The attack came a week after an announcement by US President Barack Obama that some 10,000 American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year and an additional 23,000 by the end of September 2012.

9
Number of armed millitants who stormed the hotel

Pope tweets for first time

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Pope Benedict, who at 84 still handwrites his speeches rather than use a computer, used an iPad to publish his first post on Twitter.

The pontiff tapped in English on the tablet device: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI."


Pope Benedict XVI uses a tablet in his private office at the Vatican to launch the new website. Pope Benedict XVI wrote a message on Twitter praising Jesus

Within three hours, the Pope had more than 15,000 followers.

It is decorated with the Vatican colours white and yellow and brings together information from the Vatican's radio, television and print outlets as well as news from the Fides missionary news agency about the developing world.

Bruno Bartoloni, a Vatican expert said the Church's embrace of social media was also a way to bypass traditional and more critical media to deliver information directly.

It is not the first time that the Pope has reached out to cyberspace.

He is a user of YouTube, MySpace and Facebook in an effort by the Roman Catholic Church to lure disenchanted youth into the church's fold.
Posted by Harshad at 7:45 AM

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