New York escapes worst as Irene passes

Tropical Storm Irene has weakened in its path up the northeastern US coast, after lashing New York with heavy rains and powerful winds - but sparing the city the worst of its wrath. The powerful storm system knocked out electricity lines and flooded parts of the city's deserted streets before being downgraded from a hurricane on Sunday. But it left behind a stunned east coast, killing at least 18 people, leaving millions without power and destroying buildings in North Carolina and Virginia. Air, rail and bus transport along the 1,200km stretch from Boston to North Carolina will on Monday offer only limited services in the aftermath of the storm. US President Barack Obama, who cut his holiday short to co-ordinate efforts to deal with the storm, said the "impact of Irene will be felt for some time". Obama gave special praise to the government officials and emergency services who were dealing with the storm, saying "your response to Irene shows how government should be responsive to people's need". Obama was briefed on the storm's track, its impact and response efforts during an evening conference call with senior officials including Joe Biden, the vice-president, Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary, and Steven Chu, the energy secretary. As waves continued to pound the Connecticut shore east of America's biggest city, Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, lifted an evacuation order for residents in low-lying areas of the city. New York's normally bustling streets had emptied out overnight and public transport had come to a halt after Bloomberg ordered the first mandatory evacuation ever in the city. But on Sunday he said "all in all we are in pretty good shape", adding that, while it would be a "tough commute" on Monday, there had been no long-term damage to the city's subway system. Napolitano, meanwhile, confirmed on Sunday that the "worst of the storm had passed" adding that the precautions taken had "dramatically decreased" the threat to lives along the eastern US. Continue reading...

Pentagon hit by huge cyber theft

Critics say Pentagon cyber strategy does not have enough bite to counter breaches in defence networks A top Pentagon official has admitted that a massive amount of data related to new defence technologies were stolen earlier this year. "It was 24,000 files, which is a lot, but I don't think it's the largest we've seen," William Lynn, the US deputy defence secretary, said on Thursday. Lynn revealed the theft as he unveiled a new Pentagon cybersecurity strategy that designates cyberspace as an "operational domain" like sea, air and land where US forces will practice, train and prepare to defend against attacks. He said the theft occurred in March and targeted files at a defence contractor developing weapons systems and defence equipment. However, he declined to specify the country behind the attack, what company was hit or what the files contained. The hacking was a dramatic illustration of the rising difficulties the Pentagon faces in protecting military and defence-related networks critical to US security. Critics say the new strategy doesn't have enough bite to counter those types of breaches, much less the ones that could potentially cripple a nation. Defence department employees operate more than 15,000 computer networks and 7 million computers at hundreds of installations around the world. The department's networks are probed millions of times a day and penetrations have compromised huge amounts of data. Lynn said a recent estimate pegged economic losses from theft of intellectual property and information from government and commercial computers at over $1tn. With millions of hackers on the prowl each day to breech defence networks, it has to be seen whether Washington has the political will to take more aggressive measures to protect its most sensitive secrets.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Sri Lanka Catholics seek Saudi clemency

	Secretary General of Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL), Bishop Norbert Andradi

Catholic leaders in Sri Lanka joined hands with other Sri Lankans and human rights groups calling Saudi authorities to pardon and free Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek, who is on death row in a Saudi jail.

Secretary General of Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL), Bishop Norbert Andradi told a media briefing on Thursday that it is the belief of all Sri Lankans.

Rizana Nafeek has been charged with the death of a four month old infant in her care in June 2007.

Compelling factors

Bishop Andradi said that the CBCSL is aware of the background under which Rizana Nafeek had been compelled to go to Saudi Arabia as a house amid.

"We understand that she was neither capable, nor had the knowledge of looking after an infant because Rizana herself is a young girl", he said.

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Deadly triple blasts hit Mumbai

At least 21 dead and scores wounded after Indian city is targeted in what the home minister said was a terrorist attack.

Three bombs have rocked crowded areas of Mumbai during the evening rush hour, killing at least 21 people in the biggest such attack on India's financial capital since the 2008 assaults blamed on a Pakistan-based group. At least 141 people were wounded in Wednesday’s blast, officials said. "The blast occurred at about 6.45 pm (13:15 GMT) within minutes of each other. Therefore, we infer that this was a coordinated attack by terrorists," Palaniappan Chidambaram, the federal home minister said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts and Indian officials refused to speculate on who might be behind them. At least one car and a motorbike were used in the attacks in which improvised explosive devices were believed to have been used, officials said.

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Russian Plane Crash Kills at Least 44 People

A passenger plane en route from Moscow crashed on a highway in northern Russia, killing 44 people and injuring eight, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said today.

The Tupolev 154 broke apart and burst into flames when it hit the road two kilometers (1.2 miles) short of the runway in Petrozavodsk at about midnight, the ministry said in a statement on its website. Petrozavodsk is about 700 kilometers north of Moscow.

The plane was making its final approach in “adverse weather conditions,” the Interfax news agency reported, citing Alexei Kuzmitsky, general director of the Petrozavodsk airport. Fog shrouded the airport at the time, the agency said, quoting another person it did not identify.

The eight survivors were taken to local hospitals, the report said. Both of the plane’s flight-data recorders were recovered. Interfax said the aircraft was flown by the Moscow- based RusAir airline.

The plane was carrying 43 passengers and nine crew, according to the ministry. It was the deadliest commercial airline disaster in Russia since September, 2008, when an Aeroflot-Nord Boeing 737 crashed near Perm, killing 88 people, according to the Aviation Safety Network website.

NATO kills 19 civilians in air strike

NATO acknowledged that a 'weapons failure' may have led to civilian casualties on Sunday in Tripoli [Reuters]

The Libyan government has said that 19 civilians were killed in a NATO air strike on the home of one of Muammar Gaddafi's top officials, a day after the Western military alliance admitted an air strike killed civilians in a separate attack.

Libyan officials took reporters to Surman, 70km west of Tripoli, to the site of what they said was a NATO air
strike on the home of Khouildi Hamidi.

The officials said the attack on the home of Hamidi, a member of Libya's 12-strong Revolutionary Command Council, led by Gaddafi, took place on Monday morning.

Rescue teams were looking for survivors while reporters visited the site.

Reporters were then taken to a hospital in nearby Sabrata where they were shown nine bodies, including those of two children, plus some body parts, which the officials said were all of people killed in the attack.

The state-run Jana news agency later reported on its website that eight children were among 19 people killed in the attack.

The dead included members of Hamidi's family, it said. The government said Hamidi himself was not hurt.

NATO said it had bombed a "legitimate military target, a command and control node" in the area, and it could not confirm whether civilians had been hurt.

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Syria says 23 dead as Israel opens fire on Golan

MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (AFP) – Israeli troops opened fire as protesters from Syria stormed a ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights, with Damascus saying 23 demonstrators were killed.

Hundreds of protesters rushed the ceasefire line, cutting through barbed wire as they tried to enter the Golan Heights in a repeat of demonstrations last month that saw thousands mass along Israel's north.

Similar protests were held in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

In Majdal Shams, on the occupied Golan, Israeli troops opened fire as demonstrators sought to push through the mined ceasefire line, which had been reinforced with several rows of barbed wire blocking access to a fence.

"Despite numerous warnings, both verbal and later warning shots in the air, dozens of Syrians continue to approach the border and IDF (Israel Defence Forces) forces were left with no choice but to open fire towards the feet of protesters in efforts to deter further actions," an army spokesman told AFP

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