In a spectacular snafu, the Transportation Security Administration stupidly posted an entire airport screening procedures manual on a government website. The 93-page document included details on special screening rules for diplomats, CIA and law enforcement officers; a list of items for which screening is not required (like wheelchairs, casts, orthopedic shoes); and the fun fact that during peak travel times, TSA screeners who check IDs only use black lights to authenticate 25% of documents. Some of these secrets were revealed because, apparently, somebody erroneously believed they were redacted. But The Wandering Aramean blog, which discovered the oopsy, explains why that didn’t work:

They apparently don’t understand how redaction works in the electronic document world. See, rather than actually removing the offending text from the document they just drew a black box on top of it. Turns out that PDF documents don’t really care about the black box like that and the actual content of the document is still in the file. Read the full story

The Netherlands were the surprise beneficiary of FIFA’s late decision to abandon the principles of the 2002, 2006 World Cup draw’s seeding formula.

In those cycles, FIFA assigned weights to the two preceding World Cup finishes along with the end-of-year FIFA World Rankings from the last three years.

Today, when announcing the eight seeded teams that will be draw into separate groups for World Cup 2010, FIFA disclosed that the only factor in this year’s seeding was the October 2009 FIFA World Ranking.  The top seven nations from that last will join host nation South Africa as seeds for Friday’s draw. Read the full story

Iran’s Ex-Deputy Minister Reportedly Jailed in Israel

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian former deputy defense minister who has been missing for nearly three years was abducted by Israeli agents and is now being held in Israel, several Iranian news Web sites reported Sunday.

Ali Reza Asgari, a retired general who served in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, disappeared while on a private trip to Turkey in December 2006. In March of this year, a former German Defense Ministry official said Asgari had defected and was providing considerable information to the West on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian officials and Asgari’s family have claimed that he was abducted.

One of Sunday’s Web reports, on a site called Alef, said German and British intelligence services assisted Israeli agents in abducting Asgari and taking him to Israel. The site is close to a conservative Iranian lawmaker.

“On the basis of a two-year investigation carried out by concerned bodies, Asgari was abducted by foreign intelligence services and is being held in a Zionist prison,” the site reported, apparently referring to an Iranian intelligence probe into the matter.

“Asgari was abducted with the cooperation of Mossad as well as German and British intelligence services and was finally taken to Israel,” the news report said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry refused to comment.

Hans Ruehle, a former chief of the planning staff of the German Defense Ministry, wrote in a Swiss newspaper in March that Asgari told the West that Iran was financing North Korean steps to transform Syria into a nuclear weapons power, leading to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a site in Syria on Sept. 6, 2007.

The U.S. claims the site was a nearly finished nuclear reactor, but Syria denies that and says the facility was an unused military installation.

Ruehle said Asgari, who was instrumental in establishing the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, “changed sides” and provided information to the West on Iran’s own nuclear program.

The U.S. and its European allies, as well as Israel, suspect Iran is intent on using a civilian nuclear program as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies that and says it only wants to generate power.

Iranian officials have said Asgari was not linked to Iran’s nuclear program, but Western media reports have said he has cooperated with U.S. intelligence and is considered a “high value” defector.

Asgari, who became involved in the olive business after retirement, arrived in Turkey on a private visit from Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 7, 2006, and disappeared on Dec. 9, according to Iranian officials.

Ziba Ahmadi, one of Asgari’s two wives, claimed at the time that her husband did not defect to Turkey and she believed “some evidence” showed he was abducted.

Reports: Iran ex-deputy minister jailed in Israel

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI (AP) – 6 hours ago

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian former deputy defense minister who has been missing for nearly three years was abducted by Israeli agents and is now being held in Israel, several Iranian news Web sites reported Sunday.

Ali Reza Asgari, a retired general who served in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, disappeared while on a private trip to Turkey in December 2006. In March of this year, a former German Defense Ministry official said Asgari had defected and was providing considerable information to the West on Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian officials and Asgari’s family have claimed that he was abducted.

One of Sunday’s Web reports, on a site called Alef, said German and British intelligence services assisted Israeli agents in abducting Asgari and taking him to Israel. The site, http://www.alef.ir, is close to a conservative Iranian lawmaker.

“On the basis of a two-year investigation carried out by concerned bodies, Asgari was abducted by foreign intelligence services and is being held in a Zionist prison,” the site reported, apparently referring to an Iranian intelligence probe into the matter.

“Asgari was abducted with the cooperation of Mossad as well as German and British intelligence services and was finally taken to Israel,” the news report said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry refused to comment.

Hans Ruehle, a former chief of the planning staff of the German Defense Ministry, wrote in a Swiss newspaper in March that Asgari told the West that Iran was financing North Korean steps to transform Syria into a nuclear weapons power, leading to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a site in Syria on Sept. 6, 2007.

The U.S. claims the site was a nearly finished nuclear reactor, but Syria denies that and says the facility was an unused military installation.

Ruehle said Asgari, who was instrumental in establishing the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, “changed sides” and provided information to the West on Iran’s own nuclear program.

The U.S. and its European allies, as well as Israel, suspect Iran is intent on using a civilian nuclear program as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies that and says it only wants to generate power.

Iranian officials have said Asgari was not linked to Iran’s nuclear program, but Western media reports have said he has cooperated with U.S. intelligence and is considered a “high value” defector.

Asgari, who became involved in the olive business after retirement, arrived in Turkey on a private visit from Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 7, 2006, and disappeared on Dec. 9, according to Iranian officials.

Ziba Ahmadi, one of Asgari’s two wives, claimed at the time that her husband did not defect to Turkey and she believed “some evidence” showed he was abducted.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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.

WASHINGTON: An angry, humiliated, and wounded A.Q.Khan has finally made public and official what has long been suspected: his nuclear proliferation activities that included exchanging and passing blue-prints and equipment to China, Iran, North Korea, and Libya was done at the behest of the Pakistani government and military, and he was forced to take the rap for it. ( Watch Video ) Read the full story

The State Department said it would meet one-to-one with Pyongyang negotiators in an effort to persuade the reclusive Stalinist state to return to multilateral talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons programme.

Washington has also accepted a vague Iranian offer of talks on broad national security issues, even though Tehran refused to discuss its illicit atomic operations.

Read the full story

LONDON [MENL] — An Italian company has been identified as having delivered weapons from North Korea to Iran. Italy’s Otim said it shipped 10 containers from North Korea headed for the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas via China. Executives said the company did not know the contents of the containers, transported by the ANL-Australia. “The containers left Dalian [in China] untouched with the same seals put on at the origin,” Otim chief executive Mario Carniglia said.

http://menewsline.com/

By HYUNG-JIN KIM (AP) 

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea pressed North Korea on Monday to explain a deadly surge in a river that flows across their border from the North that killed three South Koreans and left three others missing.

The level of the Imjin River suddenly doubled Sunday, sweeping away six people camping and fishing near the border dividing the two Koreas. South Korean officials suspect the estimated 40 million tons of water came from a new North Korean dam — one that some in the South had warned the North could use as a weapon. Read the full story

(CNN) — The two U.S. journalists released from North Korea last month after five months in captivity said “the psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal.”

In a column posted on the Los Angeles Times Web site Tuesday night, Laura Ling and Euna Lee also said they were seized by North Korean soldiers on Chinese soil. They raised suspicions about their guide and wondered if they had been “lured into a trap.”

“We didn’t spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret,” they said. Read the full story

Updates regarding North Korea weapons shipment seizure.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLU614080

Australia probes N.Korea weapons for Iran seizure Read the full story

US Willing to Hold Direct Talks With North Korea – ABC News

The Obama administration said Sunday it is willing to hold direct talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons if it first resumes international negotiations.

Despite reports of his declining health, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il seems fully in charge of the reclusive communist country, White House national security adviser James Jones said. Read the full story

U.S. journalists head home from North Korea

(CNN)  — Two U.S. journalists who had been detained by North Korea were traveling back to the United States with former President Clinton hours after being pardoned, a Clinton spokesman said.

“They are en route to Los Angeles [California] where Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families,” said spokesman Matt McKenna. Read the full story

The White House is denying reports that Mr. Clinton carried any type of verbal message from Obama to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il…

Clinton gives NKorea’s Kim message from Obama: state media

SEOUL (AFP) – Former US President Bill Clinton on Tuesday met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang and delivered a verbal message from current President Barack Obama, official media reported.

Clinton arrived in the communist state earlier Tuesday to seek the release of two jailed US journalists.

Kim hosted a dinner for Clinton at the state guest house and received the message from Obama, according to Radio Pyongyang and the Korean Central Broadcasting Station. Read the full story

SEOUL, South Korea – Former President Bill Clinton met Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on the first day of a surprise visit to Pyongyang, holding “exhaustive” talks that covered a wide range of topics, state-run media said.

Clinton “courteously” conveyed a verbal message from President Barack Obama, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a report from Pyongyang. Kim expressed his thanks, and engaged Clinton in a “wide-ranging exchange of views on matters of common concern,” the report said. Read the full story

SEOUL, Aug. 1 (UPI) — A South Korean fishing boat had “intruded deep into” North Korean territorial waters when it was seized, state media in the north said Saturday. The boat and its four-man crew remained in North Korean custody, two days after the seizure, Yonhap news agency reported.

The Korean Central News Agency gave the official version: “A patrol ship of the Navy of the Korean People’s Army captured one ship of South Korea on July 30 when it illegally intruded deep into the North Korea territorial waters in the East Sea of Korea.”

Source:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/