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Taliban storm Pak checkpost; 35 killed
Washington Post joins list of hacked US media
4 road mishaps claim 49 lives in China
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Hollande visits Mali as troops eye last bastion
John Kerry sworn in as Secretary of State
Sikhs in US seek gun-control measures Harvard cracks whip on students ensnared in cheating scandal
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Taliban storm Pak checkpost; 35 killed Islamabad, February 2 Security forces foiled the raid on the isolated check post, located at the Serai Norang area in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, after an intense gun battle that continued for over three hours. The militants, who were armed with rocket-propelled grenades, launched the assault shortly before 4 am. "As many as 12 terrorists were killed. The bodies of four terrorists, of whom two were wearing suicide jackets, are in the custody of the security forces," said a security official. Four personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and nine soldiers died in the fighting, security officials said. Eight injured security personnel were taken to military hospitals in Bannu and Peshawar. Ten members of a family were killed when a suicide bomber entered a house near the check post and blew himself up, officials told the media. Three women and three children were among the dead. Officials had initially said that 12 civilians were killed but they revised the toll after the gun battle ended. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan claimed responsibility for the attack. He claimed that four suicide bombers were involved in the assault, which he said was carried out in retaliation against the death of two Taliban commanders in recent US drone strikes. In phone calls to reporters in the northwest, Ihsan accused the Pakistan Army of helping in the drone strikes. Media reports said Taliban fighters used heavy weapons to target the check post. About 40 militants carried out the attack. Sounds of explosions and firing were heard in the area for several hours, local residents said. The attack came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shia mosque at Hangu town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, killing 29 persons and injuring over 50 others. — PTI
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Washington Post joins list of hacked US media Washington, February 2 The Post said in a front page story that the attack was detected in 2011. It said Post company officials would not comment on the circumstances, duration of the intrusion or apparent origin. The paper quoted Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti as saying that the paper worked with a security company to detect, investigate and resolve the situation "promptly" at the end of 2011. "We have a number of security measures in place to guard against cyber attacks on an ongoing basis," Coratti was quoted as saying. The revelation came after Twitter said yesterday that it was hammered by a sophisticated cyber attack similar to those that recently hit the news outlets. Twitter said the passwords of about 2,50,000 users were stolen. This week, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both accused Chinese hackers of targeting their computers in an apparent effort to spy on journalists covering China. — AFP Twitter hit by cyber attack San Francisco: Twitter said it was hammered by a "sophisticated" cyber attack similar to those that recently hit major Western news outlets, and that the passwords of about 2,50,000 users were stolen.
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4 road mishaps claim 49 lives in China Beijing, February 2 The latest accident occurred today morning in southwest China's Guizhou Province, when an overloaded coach turned over and crashed along a 100-meter slope, killing 14 persons and injuring 21 others. The coach, designed for 19 passengers, was carrying 34 when the accident occurred in Congjiang County, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Last night, another bus in the northwestern province of Gansu fell into a ravine and caught fire near the county seat of Ningxian, Qingyang City. Six bodies were found shortly after the accident, and two other persons died in the hospital after rescue efforts failed. Rescuers recovered six more bodies from the scene of the accident today morning, bringing the death toll to 14. In another accident, a coach carrying 29 persons flipped over into a 100-meter-deep slope in the southwestern province of Sichuan yesterday, killing 11 onboard and injuring 18 others. — PTI 4 detained after highway collapse Beijing: Chinese authorities have detained four persons, state media said on Saturday, a day after at least 11 persons died when a truck loaded with fireworks for Lunar New Year celebration exploded, collapsing an elevated portion of highway in central China. —AP
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Hollande visits Mali as troops eye last bastion Timbuktu (Mali), February 2 The French leader's whirlwind tour came as troops worked to secure Kidal, the last bastion of radicals who seized control last year after a coup, raising fears that an area larger than France could become a safe haven for Al-Qaida-linked fighters. Welcoming Hollande, thousands of people gathered in the central square of the fabled city of Timbuktu, dancing to the beat of drums -- a forbidden activity during the extremists' 10-month occupation. Hollande told the crowd that France's mission was not finished yet and African countries would soon have to take over. "We've already done a lot of work. It's not over yet, it's going to take several weeks, but our goal is to pass the baton. We have no intention to stay. Our African friends will be able to do the job we've been doing until now.," he said. Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore, who joined hands with Hollande and raised them in a victory salute, thanked his counterpart for the "efficiency" of the French troops, which he said had allowed the north to be freed from "barbarity and obscurantism". Hollande and Traore, who met in the central garrison town of Sevare before travelling to Timbuktu, visited the city's 700-year-old mud mosque of Djingareyber and the Ahmed Baba library for ancient manuscripts, both targeted by destructive Islamist militants. — AFP
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John Kerry sworn in as Secretary of State
Washington, February 2 Kerry (69) was sworn in at a private ceremony, taking an oath administered by US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. "I was very honoured to be sworn in and very anxious to get to work," Kerry told the media, with his wife Teresa Heinz Kerry by his side. Besides his wife, he was joined by daughter Vanessa, brother Cameron, and his Senate staff. Kerry is a strong advocate of peace talks between India and Pakistan as he firmly believes that there are few relationships that will be vital in the 21st century for Washington's ties with New Delhi. Kerry has an illustrious career spanning over three decades of public life. For the last four years, he was chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A close confidant of Obama, Kerry in the last four years several times came to the rescue of the Obama Administration whenever US relationship with Pakistan reached low ebb. He has a personal relationship with top Pakistani leadership. Kerry's top priority during his tenure is going to be the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan -- in which Pakistan has a crucial role to play. He is also expected to make his first trip to India in the first six months of him occupying the post of top American diplomat. While it is too early to zero in on the precise dates, Kerry would be leading a high-powered US delegation to India sometime in the middle of this year for next round of India-US Strategic Dialogue. — PTI
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Sikhs in US seek gun-control measures
Washington, February 2 Appealing to all the Sikh gurdwaras to observe Sunday as 'ardas diwas', a prayer day, the Washington based Sikh Council on Religion and Education (SCORE) asked Sikhs to also call members of US Congress to tell them that gun violence prevention laws work. The suggested steps include: requiring universal background checks for all gun purchases; banning semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; making gun trafficking a federal crime; and improving access to mental health services. SCORE Chairman Rajwant Singh also asked gurdwaras to stress to Sikh community members the importance of speaking out and to ask congregants to contact their representatives to support gun control measures. Amardeep Kaleka, son of slain Oak Creek Gurdwara president, Raghuvinder Singh, also joined in appealing to Sikhs across the US to work for gun control measures—IANS
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Harvard cracks whip on students ensnared in cheating scandal New York, February 2 Dean of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael Smith said more than half of the 125 cases heard by Harvard College's Administrative Board resulted in "required to withdraw" verdicts. About half of the remaining cases resulted in disciplinary probation, while the rest resulted in no disciplinary action, Smith said. In one of the largest cheating scandals that rocked the prestigious Cambridge-based university last August, half of the 279 students enrolled in an 'Introduction to Congress' course were suspected of "academic dishonesty" ranging from "inappropriate collaboration to outright plagiarism" on a take-home final exam. The university had launched an investigation into the cheating scandal last August after professor Matthew Platt reported suspicious similarities on a handful of take-home exams in his course, the Harvard Crimson reported. "The large number of administrative board cases this past fall highlighted the fact that we, as a faculty, must redouble our efforts to communicate clearly and unambiguously to our undergraduates about academic integrity," Smith said. After the cheating scandal came to light, the university had said that the magnitude of the case is "unprecedented in anyone’s living memory. " Smith said the forced withdrawals were retroactive to the start of the school year. Forced withdrawals usually last two to four semesters, after which a student may return, according to the administrative board's website. In the wake of the cheating scandal, Harvard had faced criticism for its handling of the case. — PTI Big scam In one of the largest cheating scandals that rocked the prestigious Cambridge-based university last August, half of the 279 students enrolled in an 'Introduction to Congress' course were suspected of "academic dishonesty" ranging from "inappropriate collaboration to outright plagiarism" on a take-home final exam
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Timbuktu (Mali), February 2
