Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

US attacks Iran, Saudi in bid to begin World War 3, says new FB virus

Posted:

A new virus scam is circulating on Facebook that tricks people into downloading malware by asking them to open a fake CNN report about World War III.
The story, using CNN logos, offer video footage of a breaking news story, but says users need to upgrade their Flash video software to watch.

The fake news page says that US attacks Iran and Saudi Arabia, and begins of World War III.

When users 'upgrade', their PC gets infected with a trojan.

Videos are often used as 'bait', because computer users are used to upgrading video software such as Flash, so installing software does not set off alarm bells.

Security experts Sophos reported at least 60,000 people have already fallen victim, The Daily Mail reports.

"Naked Security has seen a worrying number of Facebook users posting the same status messages today, claiming that the United States has attacked Iran and Saudi Arabia in a move heralding the beginning of World War 3," said Graham Cluley of Sophos' Naked Security blog.

"Within the first three hours of this malware campaign, some 60,000 Facebook users had been duped into visiting the malicious link," Cluley added.

Cluley pointed out that it''s possible that malicious code on users' computers is sending the message to Facebook without users knowing.

"To be on the safe side, you should scan your computer with up-to-date anti-virus software and ensure you have the latest security patches in place," he added.


Last known WWI veteran dies at 110

Posted:

Florence Green, the world's last known veteran of World War I, has died at the age of 110, the care home where she lived said today.

Briar House Care Home in King's Lynn, England, said Green died Saturday, two weeks before her 111th birthday.

Born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on February 19, 1901, she joined the Women's Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17.

She went to work as a waitress in the officers' mess at RAF Marham in eastern England, and was serving there when the war ended in November 1918.

Green remembered her wartime service with affection.

"I met dozens of pilots and would go on dates," she said in an interview in 2008. "I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes but I was scared of flying. I would work every hour God sent. But I had dozens of friends on the base and we had a great deal of fun in our spare time. In many ways, I had the time of my life."

She was officially recognised as a veteran when a researcher found her service record in the National Archives.

The RAF marked her 110th birthday in February 2011 with a cake. Asked what it was like to be 110, Green said "It's not much different to being 109."

The war's last known combatant, Royal Navy veteran Claude Choules, died in Australia in May.

After his death, Green became the war's last known surviving service member from the war, according to the Order of the First World War, a US-based group that tracks veterans.

Gurdwara vandalised in US with anti-Muslim graffiti

Posted:

An under construction Gurdwara in the American State of Michigan has been vandalised and defaced with anti-Muslim graffiti, the police and community leaders have said.

The vandalism of the Gurdwara, coming up in Sterling Heights city of Michigan, happened on February 5, members of its management committee said.

The graffiti included vulgar language, racial epithets, the use of what appears to be a cross, a large drawing of a gun, and references to the 9/11 attacks, the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund said, urging the local and federal authorities to initiate a hate crime investigation into it.

The vandalism has been condemned by the Michigan chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the American Jewish Committee.

"We condemn the vandalism of the Sikh house of worship in Sterling Heights and call on local and federal law enforcement to use their full resources to apprehend the perpetrators of this hate crime," said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Muslim council.

"The attack on any house of worship in our community is despicable, and we are pained to see the Sikh community targeted," said Kari Alterman of the Jewish committee.

Costa Concordia captain faces 2,500 years in prison

Posted:

The captain of the capsized Costa Concordia could be sentenced to a cumulative total of more than 2,500 years in prison if convicted of causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship and multiple counts of manslaughter, it emerged on Monday.

The length of sentence was calculated, which totted up the jail terms that Captain Francesco Schettino could face if convicted on all the charges that are expected to be brought against him.

He could face an eight year jail sentence for every one of the 300 passengers and crew he allegedly left on the crippled vessel when it grounded on the shores of Giglio island.

He reportedly escaped in a lifeboat and watched the rest of the evacuation from shore.

He would face an additional 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter and another 10 years if found guilty of causing the shipwreck.

A total of 32 people are now feared to have died in the accident.

Prosecutors argued that there is a risk he could try to flee the country or interfere with evidence before his trial starts.

But defence lawyers requested that he be released from house arrest and be given bail. They said there was no chance of Schettino reoffending. "There is no possibility of him committing the crime again because at the moment there is no possibility of him being given command of a ship," said Salvatore Parascandola, one of his lawyers.

"We hope that the court will free him." After a four-hour hearing, the court said it would make its decision on Thursday (Jan 9).


Prince Charles leads tribute to Charles Dickens

Posted:

The Prince of Wales paid tribute to Charles Dickens as "one of the greatest writers of the English language" on the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth yesterday.


Honouring the great: Prince Charles and his wife Camilla meet actress
Gillian Anderson at the Charles Dickens Museum. pic/afp

He was joined by the Duchess of Cornwall, the Archbishop of Canterbury and luminaries from the worlds of literature and theatre for a service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey, where wreaths were laid at Dickens' grave in Poets' Corner.

Charles said: "Despite the many years that have passed, Charles Dickens remains one of the greatest writers of
the English language, who used his creative genius to campaign passionately for social justice."


'Pope exorcised 2 men in Vatican'

Posted:

A new book describes how the Pontiff unwittingly drove the devil out of two men in St Peter's Square in 2009

The church's self-proclaimed expert on exorcisms says Pope Benedict performed one in Rome's St Peter's Square in 2009.

In The Last Exorcist -- My Fight against Satan, Father Gabriele Amorth claims that Benedict cured two men of their afflictions.


Healing hands: According to Father Amorth, Pope Benedict raised his
hands out to bless the so-called possessed men and suddenly they
received a furious bolt throwing them backwards and were healed.
File pic/ Getty Images

A spokesman for the Vatican rejects Amorth's account, saying Benedict was not aware of the men's afflictions and did not perform an exorcism.

According to Amorth's tome, his two female assistants escorted the two men, identified only as Marco and Giovanni, into St Peter's Square as the Pope was driven between crowds. The two men were given seats in an area normally reserved for the disabled.

The men began to act strangely as the Pope approached, according to the book.

"They banged their heads on the ground. The Swiss Guards watched them but did nothing," Amorth wrote.
"They were trembling, slobbering, working themselves into a frenzy."

And even when one of the assistants asked the man called Giovanni to contain himself, the man said, "I am not Giovanni" in a voice that was not his own, Father Amorth writes in the book.

Then the Pope supposedly went to work.

"The Pope watched from a distance," wrote Amorth, who claims to have performed thousands of exorcisms. "He raised an arm and blessed the four of them. For the possessed it was like a furious jolt -- a blow to their whole bodies -- to the extent that they were thrown three metres backwards. They stopped howling but they cried uncontrollably."

Father Amorth, the 86-year-old exorcist for the diocese of Rome, has squared off with the Vatican before. He has said the Harry Potter books encourage children to believe in black magic, and reportedly believes yoga is "evil."

He once said his favourite film is, you guessed it, The Exorcist.


Kylie calls cops after Twitter threats

Posted:

Pop princess Kylie Minogue has called in police after being threatened by a "weirdo" stalker on Twitter.

The 43-year-old Australian singer posted a jibe at the creep on the micro-blogging site, alerting more than a million followers to the harassment she was suffering.

The star reported the "deluded weirdo" to cops after receiving sick messages.



Kylie, who refers to fans on the site as "lovers", went public with news of her stalker yesterday by posting: "I love 1,033,861 of you LOVERS, but 1 is not a lover, just a deluded weirdo making threats #andthatdoesnotmakeyouspecial So...police alerted."

Hundreds of fans then retweeted her post and she was deluged with messages of support.

One wrote, "I hope whoever's threatening @kylieminogue knows there's more than 1,000,000 of us ready to jump to her defence."

It is not the first time she has had problems with obsessive fans.

In 2010 an Australian newspaper published pictures of a man thought to be of concern to Minogue's security team.

The unidentified male was reported to be a near-constant presence at her parents' home in Melbourne, carrying flowers and often an engagement ring.

In March of the same year, it was revealed that Minogue was one of a number of celebrities who were victim of lewd letters sent by former postman Mark Taylor.
Taylor was banned from contacting any celebrities after harassing stars including Jennifer Aniston and Kylie's sister Dannii Minogue.
And in 2003 a fan sent over 700 letters to the singer that were of an increasingly threatening nature.
Kylie is currently celebrating 25 years in the music industry, and after notifying fans of the stalker she resumed happily tweeting with fans about the 'K25' anniversary, posting funny pictures of herself in the eighties and nineties.
" Agencies

Man held for killing two while 'sleep-driving'

Posted:

A man in China's Shanghai city has been arrested for dozing off while driving and killing two people after ramming his trailor into two other vehicles, said prosecutors Tuesday.

The vehicles had been parked on the emergency lane of the city's highway. The accident occurred last November when Chen Hairong, 31, lost control of his semi-trailer. It crashed into a truck parked for a road check, pushing it to bump into a police car in its front, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Chen's wife and a police officer were killed and two others were injured in the three-vehicles' collision, said prosecutors.

The man said he did not see the vehicles because he was too tired and drowsy. "I was talking to my wife to keep myself awake. I should not have done that," said Chen.

One killed in Assam train accident

Posted:

One person was killed and several feared injured when a passenger train hit a road construction vehicle at an unmanned crossing near Guwahati Friday morning, a railway official said.

The passenger train was coming from New Bongaigaon station in lower Assam to Guwahati when it hit a JCB vehicle at Mirza, 15 km from this city, at around 9.45 a.m., said S. Hajong, a railway public relations officer.

"At an unmanned level crossing near Mirza, it hit a JCB which was trying to cross over," Hajong said adding at least five coaches behind the engine were reported to have derailed after the accident.

"The driver of the JCB was killed on the spot. We cannot confirm the exact number of casualties now. Our team has rushed to the spot and I am waiting for a detailed report," he said.
Posted by Harshad at 7:32 AM

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