 |
|
|
‘Revenge’ for cutting off biz ties with WikiLeaks Taliban’s teenage suicide bomber kills 17 in Pak |
|
|
Fresh leaks heap more embarrassment on US Oz pledges consular help to Assange Lennon did not want
to be a dead hero
|
|
‘Revenge’ for cutting off biz ties with WikiLeaks
Zurich, December 8 The self-styled ‘hacktivist’ group dubbed Anon_Operation said in one tweet that “www.mastercard.com/ is down <http://www.mastercard.com/ is down>” and the site of the credit card giant could not be accessed from Geneva. On their homepage the group, which claims it is fighting for “freedom on the internet” and against censorship designated mastercard.com as their “current target” in what was taking the proportions of cyber war. It quoted John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the San Francisco-based internet freedoms group Electronic Frontier Foundation, as saying on microblogging service Twitter: “The first serious infowar is now engaged. The field of battle is WikiLeaks. You are the troops.” The Swiss post office banking service, PostFinance, confirmed today that its website was suffering denial of service attacks since it closed the bank account of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday. “Since the closure of the account, groups have launched ‘Operation Payback’ with the aim of blocking PostFinance by simulating hundreds of thousands of connections with the aim of overloading it,” said PostFinance spokesman Alex Josty. The spokesman said the hackers had not endangered its payment systems or account managements. “The situation improved Wednesday but the attacks are continuing,” the spokesman added. Attempts to connect to the Postfinance.ch website earlier today produced error messages but it later came back online with notices warning of disruption. “Target: postfinance.ch : Grab your weapon and its settings: FIRE NOW!” said one tweet on Anon Operation. PostFinance closed an account set up by Assange because he gave “false information” on his address, claiming he lived in the Swiss city of Geneva, in violation of banking and money laundering rules. The bank insists that any deposit belongs to Assange and the money can be transferred where he wishes. News website CNET cited a MasterCard spokesman as saying the whistleblowing website was being cut off due to rules barring use for “directly or indirectly engaging in or facilitating any action that is illegal.” Visa followed its credit card rival in suspending all payments to WikiLeaks, a spokesman for the debit card company said yesterday. US-based online payment service PayPal has also blocked financial transfers to WikiLeaks after governments around the world sought legal action against the site following its publication of sensitive US diplomatic cables. The whistleblowing site says it has also come under attack, including during the weekend when a hacker disabled the website according to Internet security firm Panda Labs. A statement purportedly issued by the hacker, or hackers, at Twitter claimed the assault was retaliation for WikiLeaks “attempting to endanger the lives of our troops, other assets and foreign relations,” according to Panda. Assange was denied bail in London yesterday after his arrest on a warrant from Swedish police on suspicion of rape offences.
— AFP
|
|
Taliban’s teenage suicide bomber kills 17 in Pak
Peshawar, December 8 The attacker, aged between 17 and 20 years, blew himself up close to a bus in the terminal located near the busy Tirah Bazar in Kohat, some 60 km from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa capital Peshawar. Police officials said 14 persons were killed instantly while three others died in the hospital. Thirty-two persons, including several women, were injured. The attack occurred on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Muharram. Authorities have put in place strict security arrangements across Pakistan as sectarian and militant violence has occurred during the month in past years. The proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan accepted responsibility for the attack. Deputy Inspector General of Police Masood Afridi said the bomber targeted a bus. “It was a suicide blast and we have found the head and legs of the bomber,” Kohat district police chief Dilawar Khan Bangash said. Other officials said several of the injured were in a serious condition. Witnesses said they had seen human flesh and bodies lying at the site of the blast. The bomber struck at about 1 pm, when the bus terminal was crowded with people travelling to the adjoining Kurram and Orakzai tribal regions. Most of the dead and injured belong to Orakzai Agency. The blast destroyed the bus targeted by the bomber and damaged several other vehicles. The bodies and injured were rushed to two nearby hospitals. Authorities declared an emergency at all hospitals in Kohat and staff and doctors were recalled for duty. This was the second attack in northwest Pakistan in three days. On Monday, 50 people were killed and over 100 others injured when two Taliban suicide bombers disguised as policemen struck a government compound in Mohmand tribal region. Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack too. PM Yousuf Raza Gilani too condemned the attack, saying it was carried out “by a group of fanatics who have no regard for any religion or creed”. Gilani reiterated his government’s resolve to fight “against these elements till their complete elimination”. He appealed to people to remain united as militants were on the run and “making their last ditch efforts”.
— PTI
|
|
Fresh leaks heap more embarrassment on US Australia blames US for
leaks Sydney: Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday said the United States, not WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, was to blame for the leak of secret cables, pointing to a “core problem” with its diplomatic security. Rudd said “the unauthorised release of these things by the US system” was the core problem, not WikiLeaks or Assange.
London, December 8 After Julian Assange spent his first night behind bars as a remand prisoner in London, his website revealed Washington had branded Australia’s ex-premier Kevin Rudd as a “mistake-prone control freak” and that the British government was relieved when its Scottish counterparts freed the Lockerbie bomber. Rudd, now Australia’s foreign minister, tried to laugh off the confidential assessment by the US embassy in Canberra that he made foreign policy blunders. Rudd frustrated colleagues by being a “control freak” who was “obsessed with managing the media cycle rather than engaging in collaborative decision making,” extracts of cables published by the Sydney Morning Herald said. While he was Prime Minister, he also “deeply offended” Australia’s closest ally in 2008 by aggressively pushing for a meeting with then president George W. Bush in Washington, only to cancel two days later, the papers showed. Rudd said the United States, not Assange, was to blame for the leak of cables, saying it had problem with its diplomatic security.
— AFP
|
|
Oz pledges consular help to Assange
Sydney, December 8 Rudd refused to repeat PM Julia Gillard’s claim that releasing confidential cables was a crime. “It’s a grossly irresponsible thing to do and an illegal thing to do,” she had said in remarks that Assange’s lawyers have said were defamatory. Assange himself has accused Gillard of “disgraceful pandering” to the US by floating the notion that her government could cancel his passport.
— DPA
|
|
|
Lennon did not want to be a dead hero London, December 8 The Beatles legend, who was gunned down by a crazy fan Mark Chapman outside his New York apartment building on December 8, 1980, at the age of 40, had spoken about his fear of becoming a dead idol in his last interview to Rolling Stone magazine, which was released today. In the interview, taken just three days before his death, Lennon spoke hopefully about his future and his frustration at the critics wanting "dead heroes" to worship, the Daily Mail reported. "These critics with the illusions they've created about artists - it's like idol worship. They only like people when they're on their way up...I cannot be on the way up again. What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interested in being a dead hero... So forget 'em, forget 'em," Lennon had said. Lennon also predicted that Bruce Springsteen, then hailed as rock's bright future, would endure the same critical barbs: "And God help Bruce Springsteen when they decide he's no longer God... They'll turn on him, and I hope he survives it." In his last interview, Lennon said he was trying to be a good father to his youngest son Sean, learning how to relate to a child (he admitted he wasn't good at play) and spoke of his strong bond with wife Yoko Ono. "I've selected to work with... only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono... That ain't bad picking." At 40, he was also reflective of what he had accomplished so far in life and exploring life's themes, and remained committed to his goal of peace and love on earth. Lennon, who once famously claimed 'Beatles are more famous than Jesus', said he was not aiming for divinity. "I'm not claiming divinity. I've never claimed purity of soul. I've never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding." — PTI
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Sydney, December 8
London,
December 8
