Bomb Kills Tehran Professor

Target is seen as a longtime regime insider who veered toward supporting the opposition Read the full story

The initial reports of a disturbance on a flight landing in Detroit were all over Twitter news feeds on Christmas: Read the full story

Roy Edward Disney dies at 79; nephew of Walt helped revive animation

Read the full story

Police Accused of Violating Human Rights at COP

Copenhagen Police Accused of Violating Human Rights at UN Summit

Danish police have indiscriminately arrested hundreds of climate justice activists during a climate change protest made up of 100,000 people that took place today in Copenhagen. Questions have been raised about the fact that the arrests occurred in a different time and place to where some trouble had momentarily flared earlier in the day. Journalists have been restricted from reporting at the site of the arrests since 1800hrs.

It’s estimated that 100 people are still being held on the road in extremely cold weather, cuffed and forced into seated positions in lines (1). They have expressed severe physical discomfort and have no access to water, medical attention or toilet facilities since 1530hrs. Many activists are reported to have urinated themselves while detained on the ground.

An estimated 200 have been removed from the site and taken away in coaches. Several people are reported to have fainted around 1945hrs.

Helga Matthiassen, who was detained for an hour before being released due to an injury she had recently sustained, said, “Of course we’re angry – people all over the world are angry about being lied to by governments who are making a corporate deal at the climate talks, and now when we try to protest against this on the streets we are randomly held by police.

“Not only have we been denied the right to protest, but our basic human rights have also been ignored in this ludicrous, staged police exercise. It seems Danish Police have a new motto: why just criminalise protesters, when you can dehumanise them too?” (2)

ENDS

Contact: 0045 5066 9028 (International)
0045 4129 4994 (Danish)
media@climate-justice-action.org

_______________________________________

NOTES TO EDITORS
(1) http://twitpic.com/t7dts
(2) See Helga interviewed on TV2 News, 2015 broadcast http://news.tv2.dk/?channel

Twitpic:

(Source: http://twitpic.com/t7dts )

Copenhagen climate summit: 1,000 anarchists arrested

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6799264/Copenhagen-climate-summit-1000-anarchists-arrested.html

Nearly 1,000 people were arrested in Copenhagen yesterday as anarchists and left-wing activists fought running street battles with police in the Danish capital as negotiations continued at the climate summit.

Cobble stones were thrown through the windows of the former stock exchange building and foreign office buildings in the city, but police made a large number of pre-emptive arrests under a controversial anti-hooligan law.

Suspected troublemakers were herded into a closed-off street, made to sit down and then tied up with plastic cuffs. They were then bused to a detention centre set up for the climate conference.

Police said four cars were set on fire during the evening. One policeman was hurt by a stone and a Swedish man injured by a firework.

“You don’t have to use that kind of violence to be heard,” said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister presiding at the United Nations talks. She condemned rioters after welcoming the main march at a candlelit vigil outside the conference centre.

One activist group accused the police of abuse complaining people had been forced sit on the road for hours in near-freezing temperatures.

The day’s main demonstration – a march involving 40,000 people – remained good natured but there remain fears that a hard-core of more violent demonstrators may still be waiting until later in the week, when President Barack Obama and other world leaders will arrive, to protest.

Inside the Bella Centre, delegates at the COP15 climate summit gathered around flat-screen TVs, showing both the police crackdown and the peaceful rally of environmental compaigners.

Despite the protesters’ urgings, there are growing fears that the summit could degenerate into an undignified global squabbling match with poor nations accusing their rich counterparts of forging a “backroom deal” at a secret dinner.

The split that the meeting has exposed between wealthy and impoverished nations was laid bare with news that ministers from a select clique of 40 countries were dining together away from the summit venue.

The meal, held behind closed doors at an undisclosed location, was viewed as a last-ditch attempt to cobble together a politically acceptable deal after a week of discussions marred by in-fighting, and “greener than thou” posturing over who is most to blame for global warming. Ministers are desperate to have a document ready when heads of state arrive for the final stages of the two-week conference on Thursday.

Leading them will be Gordon Brown, who has fashioned himself as a global champion in the battle against climate change, and who is arriving ahead of other top statesmen in a bid to stamp his authority on the meeting.

But so far officials from 194 countries have failed to make any substantive agreements on even the most basic goals.

Arguments are still raging over targets and deadlines for limiting global temperature rise, as well as the extent to which rich nations should fund green projects for poor ones, and whether emerging economic superpowers like China should balance green considerations against much-needed development.

Washington and Beijing have also traded insults over whether China should fund its own green measures or receive handouts financed largely by the West.

With signs of an irreconcilable split growing between the large and powerful and the small and poor, last night’s dinner, attended by countries including Britain, the US, China and India – was viewed as an attempt by mostly bigger, better-off nations to strike a deal in private.

“A lot of the deals are done in back rooms but there has to be transparency at the same time,” said Keith Allott, of the World Wildlife Fund, which claims smaller nations are being left out of the process.

Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, attempted to paint a brighter picture of the conference, insisting he was optimistic of a deal by the time heads of state arrived.

“This remains difficult in process terms because we have 100 and something leaders arriving on Thursday and we have to get to an agreement by the time they leave,” he said.

“The world is doing what it has never done before, which is trying to peak emissions and see them fall. It is not a done deal, it remains in the balance.”

Mr Brown plans to travel to Copenhagen on Tuesday evening, a day earlier than planned, in an attempt to help “seal the deal”. Downing Street sources said the Prime Minister was expected to hold one-to-one meetings with key figures including Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary-General.

He will attend a formal dinner on Thursday and an all-day session on Friday before returning to Britain that night. A source said: “He remains concerned that the commitment for a deal is still short of what is required.”

A productive meeting at Copenhagen is widely seen as being crucial to the credibility of the global campaign on climate change. But the first week saw slow progress. Rich and poor repeatedly clashed over the need to reduce greenhouse gases, with Africa and the small island states threatening to walk out unless the developed nations committed to deeper cuts.

Many of the exchanges were bad-tempered, souring an event that aspires to be a vehicle for better global co-operation. He Yafei, China’s vice minister of foreign affairs, said he was “shocked” at US climate change negotiator Todd Stern’s assertion that Beijing did not need any American money. “It’s not just about the US and China, it’s the whole international community,” he said, insisting that climate change was historically the fault of the West. “The US is a developed country and China is part of the developing countries. To tackle global climate change we need to work together.”

Ian Fry, the representative of the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu, has also claimed that even the more vulnerable countries’ intended target to restrict global warming to a rise of 1.5C will leave his island underwater because of rising sea levels.

However, the G8 and major developing economies believe it is realistically impossible to restrict temperature rises to less than 2C. They have also accused developing nations of demanding more “go green” cash than they actually need.

After seven days’ negotiating there is so far only a draft agreement on the table. The framework for a possible “Copenhagen Protocol” talks about cuts for developed nations of between 25 and 45 per cent by 2020, and calls on rich nations to pay their poorer cousins to reduce their emissions. But blanks remain in what negotiators term the “square brackets” – where officials must eventually insert precise figures and dates.

There is also the question of making the agreement enforceable in law. Britain has already suggested that a further summit will be necessary in six months’ time to address the issue.

Help support the troops during the holidays. AnySoldier.com helps send letters/packages to soldiers currently serving our country.

From AnySoldier.com:

We have volunteer Soldier “contacts” on the “Where to Send” page. Click through the names and select the one(s) you wish to support. They list what the folks they represent want and need. We even have a search capability so you can easily identify what the troops need most.

All the Soldiers involved in this effort are military volunteers stationed in areas that are in harm’s way. You send your support (letters and/or packages) addressed to them and when they see the “Attn: Any Soldier^®” line in their address they put your letters and packages into the hands of Soldiers who don’t get much or any mail first. Everything is shared.

We have “What to Send“, “How to Send” and “FAQ” pages to help you properly send letters and packages, please read these. Be sure to also read our “New & Stuff” and “Success Stories” pages. This effort is 110% voluntary. You send your support, and maybe some stuff, directly to whatever unit or units you want.

We have a video you may watch free online, “Tango Mike!” which is a great overview of how the site works. The video is available for purchase HERE.

Spread the holiday joy to the men and women who put their lives on the line for the freedoms we experience daily in the United States. If all you can send is a letter thanking them, the time and thought will mean the world to them. God bless our troops, and happy holidays!

Jackson’s doctor returns to work at Houston clinic
By JUAN A. LOZANO (AP) – 24 minutes ago
HOUSTON — Michael Jackson’s doctor has returned to work at his Houston medical clinic for the first time since the pop star’s death.
Dr. Conrad Murray arrived at the clinic Monday morning and was greeted by a couple patients and the pastor of his church.
Murray didn’t speak with reporters before entering the Armstrong Medical Clinic, but a spokeswoman for his attorney says Murray is looking forward to getting back to work.
Murray, a cardiologist, was hired to be Jackson’s personal physician during a world tour. He was with Jackson when the 50-year-old singer died June 25.
The doctor has been the focus of a Los Angeles police homicide investigation since telling investigators he administered a powerful operating room anesthetic to Jackson to help him sleep.
Murray has not been charged with a crime.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
HOUSTON (AP) — Michael Jackson’s doctor was expected to return to work at his Houston medical clinic on Monday for the first time since before the pop star’s death.
Dr. Conrad Murray planned to resume office hours at his Armstrong Medical Clinic, attorney Edward Chernoff told The Associated Press.
Murray, a cardiologist licensed in Nevada, Texas and California, was hired to be Jackson’s personal physician during a world tour. He was with Jackson when the 50-year-old pop singer died June 25.
The doctor has been the focus of a Los Angeles police homicide investigation since telling investigators he administered propofol, a powerful operating room anesthetic, to Jackson to help the pop star sleep.
Murray, who lives in Las Vegas, has not been charged with a crime.
Chernoff said Murray has not bee able to earn a living since Jackson’s death.
“His legal fees are enormous and his debts have mounted to the point where it is unclear whether he will be able to keep his house or support his family,” Chernoff said. “His intentions are to attend to these patients who have continued to support him, despite the attention and despite the threats.”
Authorities searched Murray’s Houston clinic and a rented storage unit on July 22, and conducted searches later at Murray’s home and office in Las Vegas, at properties in Los Angeles, and at a Las Vegas pharmacy where police say Murray bought five 100-milliliter bottles of propofol.
Chernoff said Murray has been followed and threatened since Jackson died, and felt he had to close his Las Vegas office because patients were being harassed as they came and went. Chernoff said Murray will eventually reopen that office.
Associated Press Writer Ken Ritter contributed to this report from Las Vegas.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Suicides among soldiers this year have topped last year’s record-breaking numbers, but Army officials maintain a recent trend downward could mean the service is making headway on its programs designed to reduce the problem, Army officials said Tuesday.

Since January, 140 active-duty soldiers have killed themselves while another 71 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers killed themselves in the same time period, totaling 211 as of Tuesday, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, U.S. Army vice chief of staff, told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. But he said the monthly numbers are starting to slow down as the year nears its end. Read the full story

OZARK, Ark. — Ozark police said they were called to a home where a mother asked for help with her unruly child, but the 10-year-old’s father said he’s outraged at the force police used against his daughter.

“I would like to say Ozark police Tased this little girl right here. Ten years old and [they] shot electricity through her body, and I want to know how the heck in God’s green earth can they get away with this,” said the girl’s father, Anthony Medlock.

Medlock said his daughter was at her mother’s house when Ozark police Officer Dustin Bradshaw shocked her in the back with a Taser and arrested her.

“If you can’t pick the kid up and take her to your car, handcuff her, then I don’t think you need to be an officer,” Medlock said.Medlock said his daughter does show signs of having emotional issues, but she “doesn’t deserve to be treated like a dog. She’s not a tiger.

“According to a police report, the officer was called to the home by the mother and witnessed the child kicking and screaming.

Read More:

http://www.4029tv.com/

The fire broke out shortly before 7:30pm at a two-story building on Brooks near Commons. The structure housed a grocery store and washateria on the first floor and neighbors tell us there were apartments on the second floor. Officials with HFD say burglar bars made any type of rescue difficult.

At this point, we don’t know what started the fire or how the three people, whose identifications are unknown, died. We have a crew on the scene and will have the very latest on Eyewitness News tonight at 10pm and here on abc13.com.

http://abclocal.go.com/

The American Medical Assn. changes its policy to promote clinical research and development of cannabis-based medicines and alternative delivery methods.

The American Medical Assn. on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that puts the prestigious group behind calls for more research.

The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, the AMA has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD.

In changing its policy, the group said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative ways to deliver the drug.

“Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis,” said Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, noting that the limited number of studies was “insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product.” Read the full story

Read the leaked document here

More resources:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2009/11/secret_internet_copyri…

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/11/leaked-acta-internet-provisions-thr…

http://www.eff.org/issues/acta

From Boing Boing:

The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama’s administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It’s bad. It says:

* That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn’t infringing will exceed any hope of profitability. Read the full story

Follow Us On Twitter

A 14-year-old Virginia boy is weak and struggling to walk after coming down with a reported case of Guillain-Barre syndrome within hours after receiving the H1N1 vaccine for swine flu.

Jordan McFarland, a high school athlete from Alexandria, Va., left Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children Tuesday night in a wheelchair nearly a week after developing severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs following a swine flu shot. He will likely need the assistance of a walker for four to six weeks, plus extensive physical therapy.

“The doctor said I’ll recover fully, but it’s going to take some time,” the teenager said. Read the full story

Brazilian officials are disputing the claim by “60 Minutes” and others that a blackout in 2007 was caused by computer hackers. Wired magazine’s blog Threat Level, citing government and investigative sources, reports that the outage “was actually the result of a utility company’s negligent maintenance of high voltage insulators on two transmission lines.” Insulators hang from power lines and are prone to collect debris, which can cause power surges. In this case, officials say soot from nearby fires collected on the insulators.

Threat Level, which has long been skeptical of some of the more extraordinary claims by U.S. officials about cyber threats to critical infrastructure, spoke to the utility company involved in the blackout and got a denial of any hacker involvement. The company “has no knowledge of hackers acting in [the] power transmission system,” TL reported.

News of the “60 Minutes” piece hit the wires on Saturday, and over the weekend, Brazilian government officials started batting down the story. A senior homeland security official in Brazil told newspaper Folha de S. Paulo that he had investigated the allegations of a hacker causing the blackout and found no traces. Read the full story

Facebook Denies Hijack Read the full story

Two Koreas in naval clash, no casualties -Yonhap

SEOUL, Nov 10 (Reuters) – The two Koreas have had a naval skirmish in Yellow Sea waters off their west coast but there were no casualties, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The incident comes just ahead of a visit to Asia by U.S. President Barack Obama, with Pyongyang seeking direct talks with his administration and increasing regional tension by saying in recent days it had produced more arms-grade plutonium.

“A North Korean patrol ship crossed the Northern Limit Line and did not cease when we fired warning shots,” Yonhap cited a South Korean defence source as saying.

Military officials could not immediately confirm the reports.

The two Koreas have fought two deadly naval battles in the past decade in the Yellow Sea waters near the contested sea border called the Northern Limit Line.

The South Korean won KRW= retreated on the news, but there was no immediate impact on stocks or bonds. (Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee, Rhee So-eui, Christine Kim and Seo Eunkyung; Writing Jon Herskovitz; Editing by John Chalmers)

Report: Two Koreas’ navies in skirmish

(CNN) — North and South Korean naval forces have exchanged fire, South Korea’s semi-official Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

The two Koreas clashed off their west coast, where previous skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 turned deadly, Yonhap reported, citing an unnamed South Korean defense official.

“No South Korean casualties were immediately reported,” the official said.

He said a North Korean patrol ship crossed into South Korean waters, prompting the South’s navy to fire warning shots, according to Yonhap.

“The North Koreans then fired back,” the official said.

The two Koreas dispute the exact location of the sea border between their countries.

A clash in 2002 followed a series of incursions by navy ships from North Korea into South Korean waters. At least four South Korean sailors died in that incident and nine others were wounded.

In June 1999, several border violations by North Korean ships sparked the first naval clash between the two Koreas since the 1950-53 Korean War.

North, South Korean navies exchange fire

A North Korean naval ship was badly damaged in an exchange of fire with a South Korean vessel off the country’s west coast, Yonhap News reported, citing a government official in Seoul it didn’t identify.

The clash occurred at 11:28 a.m. local time today after the North Korean ship crossed the sea border and ignored a warning shot, the news agency reported. The South Korean navy fired first and the North’s ship shot back, it said.

There were no South Korean casualties and the North’s ship has since returned, the Korean-language report said.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff couldn’t confirm the report when called by Bloomberg News.

North Korea doesn’t recognize the maritime border off the Korean peninsula’s west coast, which led to naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002. The two nations remain divided after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease fire, and have never signed a peace treaty.

Two Koreas in naval clash off west coast: official

(AFP)

SEOUL — The navies of North and South Korea clashed Tuesday off the west coast of the peninsula, military officials said, reportedly leaving a North Korean patrol boat badly damaged.

A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the clash to AFP but said details were not immediately available.

A government source quoted by Yonhap news agency said a North Korean patrol boat crossed the disputed border in the Yellow Sea, prompting South Korea’s navy to fire warning shots.

When the boat continued sailing southwards, the South’s navy opened fire at it, the source was quoted as saying. The North Korean boat fired back.

“There were no casualties on our side while the North Korean boat, half-destroyed, sailed back to the North,” the source was quoted as saying.

The clash broke out at 11:28 am (0228 GMT) near Daechong island. It came eight days before US President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive in South Korea as part of an Asian tour.

The border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL) was the scene of deadly naval battles in 1999 and 2002 and has always been a potential flashpoint.

The North’s navy last month accused South Korea of sending warships across the line to stir tensions, and said the “reckless military provocations” could trigger armed clashes.

The NLL was drawn up unilaterally by United Nations forces at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The North has never recognised it and wants it drawn further to the south.

After months of hostility marked by missile test-launches and a nuclear test, the communist North has since August put out peace feelers both to South Korea and the United States.

It freed five South Korean detainees, eased curbs on the operations of a joint industrial estate, sent envoys for talks with President Lee Myung-Bak and allowed a family reunion programme to resume.

The North has also invited US special envoy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang for talks on ending the standoff about its nuclear weapons programme. Washington was expected to decide soon to go ahead with the trip.

S Korea, DPRK clash in naval coast off west coast: Yonhap

SEOUL: South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) clashed in naval coast off west coast of the peninsula in the morning of Tuesday, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said, quoting its government source.

According to the Yonhap, a DPRK patrol ship crossed South Korea’ s Northern Limit Line (NLL), leading the South Korean Navy to fire warning shots.

As the DPRK vessel, ignoring the warnings, continued to sail into the southern territory, the South Korean Navy fired additional shots, Yonhap said.The DPRK side is reported to have responded with countering shots, Yonhap added.

“We’re still trying to find out if there were any casualties,” the source was quoted as saying.

No South Korean casualties have immediately been reported, the official added.

All telecoms companies and internet service providers will be required by law to keep a record of every customer’s personal communications, showing who they are contacting, when, where and which websites they are visiting.

Despite widespread opposition over Britain’s growing surveillance society, 653 public bodies will be given access to the confidential information, including police, local councils, the Financial Services Authority, the Ambulance Service, fire authorities and even prison governors.

They will not require the permission of a judge or a magistrate to access the information, but simply the authorisation of a senior police officer or the equivalent of a deputy head of department at a local authority. Read the full story

by  Chloe Albanesius

News Corp. will likely pull all of its newspaper content from Google News once its switches from an ad-supported to a subscription-based model, according to Chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch on Friday sat down with Sky News, of which News Corp. is a partial owner, to discuss the impact of the Internet on news, among other things.

The Australian media tycoon has been critical of the Google News aggregation model, as well as similar offerings from Microsoft and Ask.com, which he says is tantamount to stealing. When asked why he has not pulled News Corp.-owned material from Google News, Murdoch said that it will likely happen down the road.

“I think we will,” Murdoch said. “But that’s going to be when we start charging. We do it already with the Wall Street Journal.”

Google has argued that its news aggregator simply points users to content online and actually helps drive traffic to news sites. Murdoch was not impressed by Internet traffic and said he was more interested in finding loyal readers.

“What’s the point of having someone … who likes a headline they see in Google, come to us?” he asked. “The fact is, there’s not enough advertising in the world to go around to make all the Web sites profitable. We’d rather have fewer people coming to our Web site but paying.”

At this point, users can see the first paragraph of most articles in the Wall Street Journal, but to read the rest of the story online, they must sign up for a subscription. Murdoch was not sure that that is the approach he’ll take with all his publications.

“There’s a doctrine called fair use, which we believe could be challenged in the courts and barred altogether, but you know, it’s OK,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of advertising revenue, so we’ll take that slowly.”

In addition to the Journal, News Corp. owns Dow Jones, the New York Post, six newspapers in the U.K., including The Sunday Times and The Sun, and 25 publications in Australia. The company also owns Fox News and social networking site MySpace.

Murdoch brushed off the suggestion that people will not be able to afford subscriptions.

“Everyone can afford a newspaper; they’re the cheapest things in the world,” he said. “Think what you get out of it. It’s fabulous. And it’ll be even cheaper when you get it electronically.”

He was also not concerned about competing with publications that stick with the free, ad-supported model. “We’re better and if you look at most of [the competitors'] stuff, it’s stolen from the newspapers now and we’ll be suing them for copyright,” Murdoch said. “They’ll have to spend a lot more money on a lot more reporters to cover the world when they can’t steal from newspapers.”

http://www.pcmag.com/