Group items tagged

"The present national identity card system is outdated, and does not create interconnectivity and has many security issues. Therefore, the Government is planning to introduce an electronic smart card system to replace it from this year, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. "This new smart card system will create connectivity," the Defence Secretary said at the Tech Colloquium Conference on the theme 'The Role of IT in Nation Building' in Colombo on Monday. He said with the introduction of the new smart card system it could be used as an identity card as well as a multi-purpose card for other purposes. This will enable to prevent any security problems like duplication. This will be an advantage for security concerns to do their investigation and surveillance activities without any hazard, he said. Rajapaksa said developed countries use more advanced surveillance systems than Sri Lanka by using new technology and without using physical presence such as Police and Army personnel. Therefore, this can create some inconvenience to the public to a larger extent, he said. The Defence Secretary said developed countries used advanced security and surveillance systems than Sri Lanka without heavy police and military presence. Therefore electronic surveillance systems are linked to control rooms and these control rooms could dispatch security and military personnel to the relevant position. He said they are now in the process of introducing ICT and new technology for surveillance systems like in developed countries. ICT could also bring an economic revival after defeating three decades of ethnic crisis and achieving true victory, he said. "However, Sri Lanka is still not being developed to that level as we are heavily depending on physical systems, which inconvenience the public. The use of high and advanced technology and IT have brought a lot of achievements during the recent past and it almost did a revolutionary change in the war theater to suppress t

"A group of prominent Muslim clerics in Yemen warned today that they will call for jihad - holy war - if the US sends troops to fight al-Qaida in Yemen. The group of 15 clergymen includes the highly influential Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani, whom the US has branded a spiritual mentor of Osama bin Laden but who is also courted by the Yemeni government. The clerics' warning goes straight to the Yemeni government's dilemma in co-operating with Washington against an al-Qaida offshoot. In doing so, Yemen's weak regime must avoid upsetting al-Zindani and other radical Islamic figures whose support it needs to stay in power. "If any foreign country insists on aggression and the invasion of the country or interference, in a military or security way, Muslim sons are duty bound to carry out jihad and fight the aggressors," the clerics said in a statement. Barack Obama has said he does not plan to send US combat troops to Yemen, though Washington is increasing counterterrorism aid and training to Yemeni forces to fight al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Concern about the growing capabilities of Yemen's al-Qaida offshoot increased after the failed attempt to bomb a US airliner shortly before it landed in Detroit on Christmas Day. US investigators say the Nigerian suspect in the failed attack told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida in Yemen. The group of clerics also said they believed an international conference on Yemen to be held on 27 January in London was intended to clear the way for the country's occupation by foreign nations. The conference is to be attended by the US and European countries."

"Britain and the US have agreed to intensify efforts to tackle the "evolving threat" from Islamist groups in Yemen, Downing Street has announced. Officials said the UK and the US were funding a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen. The news follows an alleged airline bomb attack over Detroit. Barack Obama has sent his top Middle East general to meet Yemen's president. The US president has alleged that the Christmas Day bomb suspect was trained by a Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot. Gen David Petraeus - who is responsible for US Middle East and Central Asian operations - reportedly said the US was keen to support Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda. On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda, based in Yemen, over the alleged attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner over Detroit. "

"By Kang Juan China made stern representations to the US Thursday after the Obama administration approved a sale of upgraded Patriot air-defense missile equipment to Taiwan. The decision was denounced by Chinese military scholars as a representation of US-style pragmatism and its long-term containment policy toward China. The US defense department announced the contract late on Wednesday, allowing Lockheed Martin Corp to sell an unspecified number of Patriots, said the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy in the absence of formal ties, Reuters reported Thursday. Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief of Defense News, told Reuters that the sale rounds out a $6.5 billion arms package approved in late 2008, which included 330 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles worth up to $3.1 billion. "This is the last piece that Taiwan has been waiting on," Minnick said. Late last month, Raytheon, the world's largest missile maker, won contracts totaling $1.1 billion to produce the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System for Taiwan, including ground-system hardware and spare parts. According to a Wednesday press release by the US Department of Defense on its website, the contract with Lockheed, awarded December 30, included "basic missile tooling upgrades, command and launch control tooling, spares and ground support equipment." The completion date of the work is estimated to be October 31, 2012. In a regular press conference in Beijing Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said China has urged the US to cancel any planned arms sales to Taiwan to avoid damaging its ties with Beijing. The PAC-3 missile is the world's "most advanced, capable and powerful theater air defense missile," which defeats tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and fixed and rotary winged aircraft, and significantly increases the Patriot system's firepower, Lockheed said on its website."

"Obama had his National Security meeting and press conference today. His statement contained 1,346 words. He used the word "I" 22 times and the word "my" 5 times. Guess what word's he didn't use. This is my favorite passage. Via whitehouse.gov: So we have to do better - and we will do better. And we have to do it quickly. American lives are on the line. So I made it clear today to my team: I want our initial reviews completed this week. I want specific recommendations for corrective actions to fix what went wrong. I want those reforms implemented immediately, so that this doesn't happen again and so we can prevent future attacks. And I know that every member of my team that I met with today understands the urgency of getting this right. And I appreciate that each of them took responsibility for the shortfalls within their own agencies. (emphasis added) For what it's worth, he used the word "terrorist" five times. While Obama was holding his press conference, China was telling us they are not really interested in our sanctioning Iran idea. Via Fox News: The U.S. and its allies want tougher U.N. sanctions, while Iran's major trading partners, China and Russia, oppose the move. The Obama administration and European allies set a deadline of the end of 2009 for Iran to accept a U.N. proposal that Iran exchange most of its enriched uranium, which the West fears could be used for automic weapons, for low-enriched nuclear fuel for energy purposes. Over the last couple of years, the Security Council has passed three resolutions against Iran for refusing to suspend nuclear enrichment and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but instead of compliance, the Islamic Republic has increased nuclear activity."

"The secret transfer of the mobile surface-to-surface Syrian-made Fateh-110 (range 250km) missile to Hizballah sparked the prediction Friday, Feb. 5 from an unnamed US official that cross-border arms smuggling from Syria into Lebanon outside state control was "very dangerous" and "paved the way to war similar to Israel-Hizballah conflict of 2006. debkafile's military sources report that Israel warned Syria through at least two diplomatic channels against Hizballah using this lethal weapon, which is capable of reaching almost every Israel city. Our sources disclose: Syria pulled the wool of Israel's eyes for the transfer by openly training Hizballah in the use of SA-2 and SA-6 surface-to-surface missiles. Israel had warned it would deem their passage into Lebanon Syrian casus belli by Syria. The Fateh-110 is still more lethal, accurate and dangerous than the SA-2 and SA-3. it confronts Israel now with a Hizballah armed with a solid-fuel propellant, road-mobile, single-stage, short-range ballistic system weighing three tons with a half-ton warhead and a range of 250 kilometers. It is not deployed in surface batteries but fired from mobile launchers, which the solid propellant renders capable of firing at speed with little advance preparation, before returning to the fortified underground silos Hizballah has sunk in mountain areas across Lebanon. These features make the Fateh-110 a very tough target for Israeli bombers to strike. According to our intelligence sources, Israel posted warnings against Hizballah using the weapon through US Middle East envoy George Mitchell who called on president Bashar Assad in Damascus on January 20 and ,even more emphatically, through Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos who arrived in Syria on Feb. 3 after talks in Jerusalem. The message he carried was that if Hizballah ventured to fire the Fateh-110, Israel was determined to hit back at strategic and military targets inside Syria."

"Call it the mystery of the missing thermometers. Two months after "climategate" cast doubt on some of the science behind global warming, new questions are being raised about the reliability of a key temperature database, used by the United Nations and climate change scientists as proof of recent planetary warming. Two American researchers allege that U.S. government scientists have skewed global temperature trends by ignoring readings from thousands of local weather stations around the world, particularly those in colder altitudes and more northerly latitudes, such as Canada. In the 1970s, nearly 600 Canadian weather stations fed surface temperature readings into a global database assembled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Today, NOAA only collects data from 35 stations across Canada. Worse, only one station -- at Eureka on Ellesmere Island -- is now used by NOAA as a temperature gauge for all Canadian territory above the Arctic Circle. The Canadian government, meanwhile, operates 1,400 surface weather stations across the country, and more than 100 above the Arctic Circle, according to Environment Canada. Yet as American researchers Joseph D'Aleo, a meteorologist, and E. Michael Smith, a computer programmer, point out in a study published on the website of the Science and Public Policy Institute, NOAA uses "just one thermometer [for measuring] everything north of latitude 65 degrees." Both the authors, and the institute, are well-known in climate-change circles for their skepticism about the threat of global warming. Mr. D'Aleo and Mr. Smith say NOAA and another U.S. agency, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) have not only reduced the total number of Canadian weather stations in the database, but have "cherry picked" the ones that remain by choosing sites in relatively warmer places, including more southerly locations, or sites closer to airports, cities or the sea -- which has a warming ef

"he people who brought you "The Great Swine Flu Scare Of 2009" now want to bring you "The Great Global Health Tax Of 2010". The World Health Organization is actually considering a plan to ask governments all over the globe to impose a global consumer tax on such things as Internet activity and everyday financial transactions like paying bills online. Seriously. Apparently the goal of such a plan would be to raise "tens of billions of dollars" which would then be used to "transfer" pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing capabilities to the developing world. Transfer them from where? Places like the United States? So let's get this straight. According to the WHO global tax plan, they want to do the following three things.... #1) Take away research, development and manufacturing jobs from us and give them to the developing world at a time when we can least afford it. #2) Give much more money and power to the idiots who brought us the global swine flu scare of 2009. #3) Make us pay for all of it. The World Health Organization's "Expert Working Group" is also thinking of asking wealthy nations such as the United States to set aside fixed portions of their gross domestic product to finance the shift in worldwide research and development. What in the world? No, we do not want a global tax. No, we do not want to redistribute our wealth. We've got a big enough debt problem right now without the WHO trying to dip their greedy little fingers into our pockets. Thanks to Obama and the U.S. Congress we are already flat broke as a nation."

"The US army is training a crack unit to seal off and snatch back Pakistani nuclear weapons in the event that militants, possibly from inside the country's security apparatus, get their hands on a nuclear device or materials that could make one. The specialised unit would be charged with recovering the nuclear materials and securing them. The move follows growing anti-Americanism in Pakistan's military, a series of attacks on sensitive installations over the past two years, several of which housed nuclear facilities, and rising tension that has seen a series of official complaints by US authorities to Islamabad in the past fortnight. "What you have in Pakistan is nuclear weapons mixed with the highest density of extremists in the world, so we have a right to be concerned," said Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a former CIA officer who used to run the US energy department's intelligence unit. "There have been attacks on army bases which stored nuclear weapons and there have been breaches and infiltrations by terrorists into military facilities." "

"Four missiles fired by a US drone aircraft in the northern Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan have killed three militants, officials say. They say that a militant camp was also destroyed by the missiles. Separately Pakistani intelligence officials say US drone missiles recently killed a militant on the FBI's most-wanted terrorists list. The man, named as Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, is believed to have died on 9 January in North Waziristan. The FBI's Web site says that Mr Rahim has a $5m bounty on his head and is wanted for his alleged role in the 1986 hijacking of Pan American World Airways flight during a stop in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. Taliban sanctuaries More than 700 people have been killed in about 77 US drone strikes since August 2008. A surge in such strikes has been ordered by US President Barack Obama, with seven drones hitting the tribal north-west this month alone. "

"Three steps to take to protect your account data from getting into the wrong hands Whether by choice or necessity, American consumers are increasingly relying on debit rather than credit cards. Debit card spending has risen steadily, growing from 47.7 percent of purchases made with plastic in 2003 to 58.9 percent in 2008 and it is expected to surpass 67 percent by 2013, according to the Nilson Report, a newsletter that tracks the consumer payment industry. When you use a debit card, the money is immediately taken from your checking account. While using debit guarantees that you pay as you go, these cards have downsides, including a growing appeal to thieves. "As economic conditions have worsened, there's been a noticeable increase in all types of card fraud," says Avivah Litan, an analyst specializing in fraud detection and prevention at Gartner Research in Stamford, Conn. "But ATM and debit-card fraud is the top area of concern we're hearing about from banks all over the world." More from ConsumerReports.org: * Pros and Cons of Debit Cards * Credit Card Perks * Post-Recession Investing Unlike credit-card thieves, who usually charge merchandise and then resell it to come up with money, people who create counterfeit ATM or debit cards by stealing your PIN and other account data can simply pull cold cash from your bank account. Using a technique known as skimming, they set up equipment that captures magnetic stripe and keypad information when you input your PIN at ATM machines, gas pumps, restaurants, or retailers. Here's how you can protect yourself: Don't Type in Your Pin at the Pump Be especially vigilant at gas stations, Litan says. "Gas pumps are notorious for skimming because they're produced by only a couple of different manufacturers, and if someone gets the key to one from a disgruntled employee, they can insert a skimming device inside the pump where it can't be seen," she says. She recommends using a credit card rather than a debit card whe

"BRAZEN Muslim fanatics show off an array of deadly weapons as they threatened a face-off with US forces if they strike al-Qaeda terror cells in Yemen. Brandishing rocket-launchers and machine guns, the rebels marched through Somalian capital Mogadishu threatening to cross the Gulf of Aden to wage war on America. The fighters "graduated" from a war training school and are said to be inspired by al- Qaeda. Commanders of the al Shabaab mob vowed to reinforce al-Qaeda in Yemen if the US strikes - and urged other Muslims to follow suit. Britain and the US closed embassies in Yemen capital Sana'a for a second day amid fears of an attack. The situation in Yemen has escalated since student Umar Abdulmutallab, 23, tried to blow up a jet over Detroit. Two al-Qaeda militants died in clashes with government forces in Yemen yesterday. World leaders are desperate to prevent the Middle East country becoming a new al-Qaeda terror centre. "

"BEIJING: The smart card system has been introduced in a Chinese city for the first time on Monday. The event coincided with a court verdict meting out the first-ever conviction in the country for theft and misuse of personal information. Wuxi, one of the most modern small cities of China, has unveiled the first batch of smart cards that contain barcodes containing crucial information about card holders . The smart cards, which are being rolled out for the first time in China, will enable their users to perform a wide range of tasks. The barcodes on the cards contain finger prints and personal information like date of birth, blood group, social security number and bank card numbers. It will carry the name and photograph of the card holder. The local administration of Wuxi is making arrangements for the use of smart cards in bank ATMs, buildings equipped with electronic guard system and even for allowing parents to pick up their children from high-guarded kindergarten schools. It will later add more information to the smart cards and widen the scope of its use. In another development, a court in China's Guangzhou city sentenced a man to one and a half year in prison for violating the security of personal information that include unlisted phone number and call histories of important people. Prosecutors told the court that Lin Guiyu bought personal information of senior officials and used it to swindle several people. He used the information to impersonate as the vice mayor of Zhuhai in Guangdong province while asking for money in return for official favors. Lin led a gang that committed five such crimes and cheated people of $121,554 after impersonating different officials including the Communist Party secretaries of Foshan and En'ping , official sources said. "

"Still in intensive care, they were shot for refusing order to convert to Islam. TOBA TEK SINGH, Pakistan, January 14 (CDN) - Two Pakistani Christians who were shot at a wedding on Dec. 26 for refusing to convert to Islam are still receiving treatment at a hospital intensive care unit, but doctors are hopeful that they will recover. In low, barely audible voices, Imran Masih, 21, and Khushi Masih, 24, told Compass that two Muslims armed with AK-47s in Punjab Province's Chak (village) 297-JB, in Toba Tek Singh district, shot them in their chests after they refused orders to recite the Islamic creed signifying conversion. Soon after they arrived at the wedding, a group of Muslim youths armed with AK-47 assault rifles surrounded them and began shooting into the air, as is customary at village weddings. They were not alarmed, they said, assuming the young Muslim men were simply celebrating joyfully. "One of the green-turban-wearing Muslims peremptorily told us to recite the Islamic holy Kalima [profession of faith] or face direct bullets and the lethal consequences," said Khushi Masih. Both Christians said that they joyfully refused, and instead they began reciting Psalm 91. "Our decision infuriated them," Imran Masih said, "and instead of shooting into the air, they shot us, leaving us only after being convinced that we were dead. Praise the name of Lord Jesus Christ, who raised us from the dead!" "

"In an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai published on Sunday, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that "if Syria supplies Hezbollah with surface-to-air missiles (SA-2), war will break out and Tel Aviv will directly strike Damascus." In addition, the official said Syria trained Hezbollah members in Damascus on how to use the SA-2 missiles. Israel has previously warned the country not to supply Hezbollah with the missiles, according to the US source. "Any possible military attack by Hezbollah against Israel will be met by a 'harmful war' on Lebanon. Israel made a mistake in 2006 by not striking Syria during the war with Lebanon, and any new attack from Hezbollah against it will not spare Damascus from a strike," he added. Israel's top priority, the official said, is preventing Syria from supplying Hezbollah with the SA-2 missiles. "During the 2006 war in Lebanon, Damascus told Tel Aviv it wanted peace and was not going to side with Hezbollah," the official alleged. Following the war, however, the United Nations and international intelligence community have been monitoring attempts to smuggle weapons from Syria to Hezbollah, he added. The official also compared South Lebanon after the 2006 war to the situation in the Golan Heights in Syria, which he said has enjoyed a calm climate after a cease-fire agreement was signed between Israel and late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in 1974. He said Hezbollah's desire to liberate the Shebaa farms, which is occupied by Israel, does not justify military attacks against the entity. "Launching war with Tel Aviv is not an excuse for Hezbollah." The official said he does not think a war will break out anytime soon, "unless Syria crosses the line." End item/ 129"

"By joining Fox News in a deal announced Monday, the former Republican vice presidential nominee gains instant access to an audience that gives Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly the highest ratings in cable news -- and a clear boost if she attempts another run for national office. "This gives her a platform she can use to stay relevant, to stay in the public eye and to flush out some of her policy positions," said Republican strategist Todd Harris, who once worked for Palin's 2008 running mate, John McCain. "To the degree it gives her a direct line to the kinds of people who vote in Republican primaries, it does give her an advantage." Out-of-work politicians are increasingly using television and radio to stay on the political radar and keep their options open, which is one reason that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, an also-ran in the 2008 White House race and possible 2012 contender, is now hosting a weekend show, also on Fox. The former Alaska governor will appear as a pundit on various Fox shows, beginning Tuesday on "The O'Reilly Factor," and host an occasional series that was already in the works, "Real American Stories," which will examine inspirational tales involving ordinary citizens who have suffered setbacks. Palin has used similar language in speeches, and apologized during the presidential campaign for referring to small towns as "the real America" and the "pro-America areas of this great nation." Palin said in a statement that she is "thrilled" to be joining Fox, adding, "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news." "

"Mitchell: Mideast stagnation endangers US aid On eve of visit to region, American special envoy threatens Israel with sanctions if it fails to advance peace talks, two-state solution. Secretary of State Clinton says working to restart negotiations 'without preconditions' Yitzhak Benhorin WASHINGTON - On the eve of his visit to the Middle East, US special envoy George Mitchell threatened that his country would freeze its aid to Israel if the Jewish state failed to advance peace talks with the Palestinians and a two-state solution. Mitchell clarified in an interview to the PBS network that the United States would use incentives or sanctions against both sides. "

"BERLIN - Millions of German bank cards have been affected by a "millennium bug"-like problem because they contain software that can't process the number 2010, industry groups said Tuesday. The DSGV group, which represents public-sector banks, said some 20 million debit cards issued by those banks were affected, along with around 3.5 million credit cards - nearly half of the total number of cards issued by those banks. The group said cash machines were adjusted hours after the problem emerged to ensure that customers could withdraw money, but there may still be problems using some debit-card terminals. Those should be fixed by Monday, it said. Problems remain with credit cards and customers should use debit cards instead for now, added the group. The BVR group of cooperative banks said about 4 million debit cards issued by its members - about 15 percent of the total - also were afflicted by the faulty software, although there were no problems withdrawing cash. Its credit cards were unaffected. Another 2.5 million cards issued by German private banks were affected. The problem stemmed from a chip on the cards which, due to a programming fault, wouldn't correctly process the number 2010. Computer experts widely believed that hardware and software systems would fail as the clocks rolled over to the year 2000. The problem, they said, would be caused when computers and other devices, which used only two digits to represent the year, mistook the year 2000 for the year 1900. In the end, however, the so-called "millennium bug" caused few problems."

"KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Three Christian churches were attacked with firebombs Friday as tensions rose in a dispute over whether Christians could use the word "Allah" in this largely Muslim nation. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Mark Baker/Associated Press Muslims gathered outside a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Friday to protest a recent court ruling allowing Christians to use the word Allah. Later in the day, small crowds rallied outside two major mosques in the capital, in a growing protest over a court ruling that overturned a government ban on the use of "Allah" by Roman Catholics as a translation for God. The government has appealed that ruling, insisting that the ban should remain in force, and made no move to bar the unsanctioned rallies, as it commonly does."

"The Word of God is filled with encouraging Bible verses, which is one reason why it would be well for us to spend time reading the Bible daily. By meditating on key Bible verses we can find comfort and hope to get us through trying times. With that said, you will find several encouraging Bible verses below that you can reflect on for encouragement, and even use as a means to encourage others who might be troubled at heart. Encouraging Bible Verses Bible Verses to Remember "God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling." (Psalms 46:1-3 NKJV)"