Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314681061?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
Gunmen kill nine foreign tourists and their guide in northern Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed a hotel in a remote part of northern Pakistan on Sunday and killed nine foreign tourists and a Pakistani guide, police and security officials said.
Five Ukrainians, three Chinese a Russian and their guide were killed in the attack in a remote resort area near the base camp for the snow-covered Nanga Parbat mountain, a popular destination for adventurous trekkers, officials said.
"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," Ali Sher, a senior police officer in Gilgit-Baltistan province, told Reuters.
Sher had earlier said 10 foreign tourists were killed, but officials revised the tally as fresh reports arrived from the area.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The gunmen fled after the attack, which took place at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, Sher said.
A senior government official said a large number of security personnel had been sent to the area.
"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," the official said.
Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China and Kashmir, had been considered one of the more secure areas of Pakistan but has witnessed a spate of attacks by militants targeting members of Pakistan's Shi'ite minority in recent years.
It was the first time foreign tourists had been attacked in the province, which is famous for its natural beauty.
Pakistan receives few foreign tourists, but a trickle of visitors are tempted by its spectacular mountain scenery in its northern areas, where the Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain ranges converge.
(Reporting By Jibran Ahmad; Writing by Matthew Green; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kill-10-foreign-tourists-northern-pakistan-police-041053224.html
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Idaho hometown of captive U.S. soldier rallies in his support
By Laura Zuckerman
HAILEY, Idaho (Reuters) - An estimated 2,000 supporters rallied on Saturday in the Idaho hometown of prisoner-of-war Bowe Bergdahl to call for the safe return of the U.S. Army sergeant believed to be held captive by Taliban militants in northwestern Pakistan.
The rally, the largest yet for the only known American prisoner of war tied to the Afghanistan war, marked the latest effort by residents of Hailey, a close-knit town of 7,000, to draw attention to Bergdahl's plight and push for his release.
Bergdahl, now 27, was serving with an Alaska-based infantry unit when he disappeared from his base in southern Afghanistan in June 2009 and was taken captive by the Taliban.
The gathering in Hailey capped a week of renewed hope for Bergdahl's release after reports that planned peace talks between the United States and the Taliban could yield a possible prisoner swap as a confidence-building measure.
U.S. officials were due to hold preliminary discussions with the Taliban on Thursday on ending the 12-year-old war but they were called off when Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected to the fanfare surrounding the militant's opening of an office in Qatar.
In Idaho, hundreds of motorcyclists from clubs tied to helping the causes of veterans and prisoners-of-war escorted Bergdahl's father, Bob, to a local park, where he and his wife Jani spoke in a rare public appearance.
Bob Bergdahl pleaded with the Taliban to provide news of his son and then addressed him directly. "Bowe, my son, if you can hear me ... You are part of the peace process. You are part of ending the Afghan war," the father said.
'HAVE FAITH'
Bob Bergdahl spoke in Pashto to the Taliban, using their language to encourage them and "those who believe" to bring good to the world. He urged his son: "Have faith. Do good work. Have the patience that can only come from God."
Jani Bergdahl told her son he was not forgotten. "I love you, my son, as I have from the moment I heard of you."
In a statement earlier this month, Bergdahl said he and his wife had received a letter from their son that gave them hope that he is well despite his circumstances.
The trees on Hailey's main street have been decorated with yellow ribbons for four years to show that the town - sandwiched between a trout stream and the Sawtooth Mountains - has not forgotten its native son.
Banners that read "Bring Bowe home" and "We stand with Bowe" hung in storefronts and supporters handed out stickers and wristbands honoring the soldier.
"When something happens to one person in our community, it happens to everyone in our community," said Debbie O'Neill, a family friend who organized the rally. "None of us will rest until Bowe's safely home."
Hailey Assistant Fire Chief Jon Wisby spent much of Saturday shepherding a procession of bikers whose riding leathers were stamped with American flag and POW-MIA insignia.
Asked how his community had responded to news of the proposed talks between the United States and the Taliban, Wisby said, "There's definitely more of a possibility of Bowe coming home now than there was in the past. And this may be our last opportunity to get him home."
(Writing by Laura Zuckerman and Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Steve Gorman and Christopher Wilson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/idaho-hometown-captive-u-soldier-rallies-support-003129664.html
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Senate immigration bill boosted by border deal
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senators are finalizing a deal that could add dramatic security improvements to the U.S.-Mexico border and smooth the way for bipartisan Senate passage of far-reaching immigration legislation backed by President Barack Obama.
The deal doubling Border Patrol agents and adding hundreds of miles of fencing along the Southwest border has already won support from four undecided Republican senators who are now likely to back the immigration bill when it comes to a final vote. On Friday, senators were in final negotiations on other elements of the deal, including provisions on Social Security and other benefits, that could bring still more GOP support on board.
The amendment was expected to be formally unveiled in the Senate Friday and come to a vote early next week, with the overall bill headed for a final vote several days later. The legislation opening the door to citizenship for millions appeared within reach of securing the broad bipartisan majority that its authors say is needed to ensure serious consideration by the GOP-controlled House.
However, the outcome there remains far from certain because many conservatives are opposed to offering citizenship to people who came to this country illegally.
"We really have tried to secure the border in a way that we hope can get bipartisan support and that Americans want," Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., an author of the amendment, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. "We're hopeful to have a good bipartisan majority."
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on Fox News Channel Friday that "if there's anyone who still will argue that the border is not secure after this, then border security is not their reason for opposing a path to citizenship for the people who are in this country illegally."
"Is it more than I would have recommended? Honestly, yes," McCain said. "But we've got to give people confidence."
Hoeven developed the amendment along with Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, in consultation with McCain, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other members of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who wrote the immigration bill. It prevents immigrants now here illegally from attaining permanent resident status until a series of steps have been taken to secure the border.
These include doubling the Border Patrol with 20,000 new agents, 18 new unmanned surveillance drones, 350 miles of new pedestrian fencing to add to 350 miles already in place and an array of fixed and mobile devices to maintain vigilance, including high-tech tools such as infrared ground sensors and airborne radar.
The new provisions would be put in place over a decade, in line with the 10-year path to a permanent resident green card that the bill sets out for immigrants here illegally. During that time, the immigrants could live and work legally in a provisional status.
Hoeven said the 10-year cost of the border security amendment included $25 billion for the additional Border Patrol agents, $3 billion for fencing and $3.2 billion for other measures.
It's "border security on steroids," said Corker, who along with Hoeven had been uncommitted on the immigration bill. Both are now prepared to support it, assuming their amendment is adopted. Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., also announced their support for the deal Thursday.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the border deal "would constitute a breakthrough" on immigration. "We're pleased that Republicans and Democrats continue to work together toward comprehensive immigration reform," he said.
The legislation had been expected to be formally unveiled in the Senate late Thursday, but that was delayed as senators and aides negotiated an array of issues, some that will be included in the amendment and some not, as they sought to iron out final obstacles to passage of the overall bill.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who's pursued amendments related to Social Security, welfare, health care and taxes, was expected to see some of his concerns answered with provisions blocking immigrants from claiming credit for Social Security taxes they paid while working without lawful status, ensuring immigrants can't get welfare until after holding permanent resident status for five years and barring health care tax credits from going to people here on student or tourist visas.
Hoeven said Friday that Republicans have encountered opposition from Democrats and the White House to getting Hatch's provisions in the bill and were still working on that. He said they also were pursuing language on steps sought by Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, to strengthen a system called E-Verify that employers use to check their workers' legal status, which will become mandatory under the bill. Changes to a new agriculture worker program in the bill, sought by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., among others, were not expected to make it into the amendment, Hoeven said.
The deal on border security came together quickly over the past several days after talks had bogged down over Republicans' insistence that green cards be made conditional on catching or turning back 90 percent of would-be border crossers. Schumer, other Democrats and Obama himself rejected this trigger, which they feared could delay the path to citizenship for years. Obama made his objections known in a phone call to Schumer from Air Force One during his trip to Europe for the Group of Eight summit earlier in the week, according to a Senate aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations.
The breakthrough came when the Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday finding that the bill would cut billions of dollars from the deficit. Schumer's top immigration aide, Leon Fresco, had the idea of devoting some of those billions to a dramatic border build-up.
Graham, who helped run interference between Corker and Hoeven and Democrats in the group, said that with the budget office finding in hand, he sat down with Schumer and Corker and said, "OK, let's go big."
The idea immediately appealed to the left and the right.
For Republicans, it provided concrete assurances that the bill would aim to achieve a secure border. For Democrats, it offered goals that, if dramatic, were achievable and measurable.
Still, not everyone was won over.
Shortly before Corker and Hoeven went to the Senate floor to announce their agreement Thursday afternoon, five leading Republican opponents of the bill held a news conference to denounce the deal as little more than an empty promise.
"In short, I think this amendment is designed to pass the bill but not to fix the bill," Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said.
About 10 Republicans have indicated they will vote for the bill, far more than enough to ensure it will have the 60 votes required to overcome any attempted filibuster by last-ditch opponents. Democrats control 54 seats, and party aides have said they do not expect any defections.
In addition to the border security components and eventual citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living here illegally, the immigration bill would create new work visa programs and expand existing ones to allow tens of thousands of workers into the country to work in high- and low-skilled jobs.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-immigration-bill-boosted-border-deal-073020424.html
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Guardian: Documents expose massive UK spying op
LONDON (AP) ? British spies are running an online eavesdropping operation so vast that internal documents say it even outstrips the United States' international Internet surveillance effort, the Guardian newspaper reported Friday.
The paper cited British intelligence memos leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden to claim that U.K. spies were tapping into the world's network of fiber optic cables to deliver the "biggest internet access" of any member of the Five Eyes ? the name given to the espionage alliance composed of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
That access could in theory expose a huge chunk of the world's everyday communications ? including the content of people's emails, calls, and more ? to scrutiny from British spies and their American allies. How much data the Brits are copying off the fiber optic network isn't clear, but it's likely to be enormous. The Guardian said the information flowing across more than 200 cables was being monitored by more than 500 analysts from the NSA and its U.K. counterpart, GCHQ.
"This is a massive amount of data!" the Guardian quoted a leaked slide as boasting. The paper said other leaked slides, including one labeled "Collect-it-all," gave hints as to the program's ambition.
"Why can't we collect all the signals all the time?" NSA chief Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander was quoted as saying in another slide. "Sounds like a good summer project for Menwith" ? a reference to GCHQ's Menwith Hill eavesdropping site in northern England.
The NSA declined to comment on Friday's report. GCHQ also declined to comment on the report, although in an emailed statement it repeated past assurances about the legality of its actions.
"Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary, and proportionate," the statement said.
The Guardian, whose revelations about America and Britain's globe-spanning surveillance programs have reignited an international debate over the ethics of espionage, said GCHQ was using probes to capture and copy data as it crisscrossed the Atlantic between Western Europe and North America.
It said that, by last year, GCHQ was in some way handling 600 million telecommunications every day ? although it did not go into any further detail and it was not clear whether that meant that GCHQ could systematically record or even track all the electronic movement at once.
Fiber optic cables ? thin strands of glass bundled together and strung out underground or across the oceans ? play a critical role in keeping the world connected. A 2010 estimate suggested that such cables are responsible for 95 percent of the world's international voice and data traffic, and the Guardian said Britain's geographic position on Europe's western fringe gave it natural access to many of the trans-Atlantic cables as they emerged from the sea.
The Guardian said GCHQ's probes did more than just monitor the data live; British eavesdroppers can store content for three days and metadata ? information about who was talking to whom, for how long, from where, and through what medium ? for 30 days.
The paper quoted Snowden, the leaker, as saying that the surveillance was "not just a US problem. The U.K. has a huge dog in this fight ... They (GCHQ) are worse than the U.S."
Snowden, whose whereabouts are unknown, faces the prospect of prosecution in the United States over his disclosures, and some there have called on him to be tried for treason. Snowden has expressed interest in seeking asylum in Iceland, where a local businessman said he was prepared to fly the leaker should he request it.
Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Snowden have so far been unsuccessful.
___
Kimberly Dozier in Washington contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guardian-documents-expose-massive-uk-spying-op-184321219.html
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Thursday, June 20, 2013
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch ($1,648) is an executive's ultrabook. It's slim, has a lovely carbon fiber construction, and is powerful enough to view and edit large spreadsheets. It's light enough to be carried around the corridors of your office building and from building to building. It has a rugged solid-state drive (SSD) for storage, so you won't have to worry about losing your data if you jostle the system while it's in use. Plus, it's a corporate manageable system, so your execs won't have to bring in their own ultrabooks and make a mess of your IT security setup. It's a corporate ultrabook that can service the most demanding executive.
Design and Features
The X1 Carbon Touch outwardly resembles its brother, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon ($1,499). It's just about as thin, measuring 0.74 by 13 by 9 inches (HWD) and weighing in at 3.25 pounds. This is imperceptibly heavier than the 2.93-pound non-touch model, and likewise just a bit lighter than the 3.91-pound Editors' Choice for business ultrabooks, the Dell Latitude 6430u ($1,328).
Like the previous model, the X1 Carbon Touch uses carbon fiber to replace magnesium and plastic in some of its construction to give strength to the chassis and to save weight. Though it comes with a 14-inch screen, its compact size means that it will fit in most travel bags and will be easy to carry from meeting to meeting, whether that meeting is across the hallway or across the country. The height of the system means that you may be able to get away with using the system on an airline tray table without having the top of the seat in front of you push the screen back too much. Then again, the system seems tailor made for executives travelling in business or first class.
That screen has a larger than usual 1,600-by-900 resolution, while most mid-tier ultrabooks come with a 1,366 by 768 resolution screen. This means that more columns and rows will show up on the spreadsheets you view, no matter if you view them at 75% or at 150%. The screen has a matte finish, so it can handle glare from the windows in your office. Be warned that it does so at the expense of come color fidelity, like on all matte screens. Videos and graphics looked fine on the system.
The X1 Carbon Touch has an excellent backlit keyboard, with scalloped keys that help you touch type once you're used to them. The keyboard has excellent key travel and feel, something that can be lacking in ultrathin ultrabooks. The X1 Carbon Touch has dual pointing devices: There's a glass touchpad below the keyboard, along with a TrackPoint pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard. Business systems like the X1 Carbon Touch and HP EliteBook 2170p ($1,099) come with pointing sticks to accommodate business users who have been using them for years. You can switch either pointing device off to prevent inadvertent cursor movement.
The X1 Carbon Touch has a limited port selection as a result of its compact chassis. It only has room for a pair of USB ports (one USB 2.0, one USB 3.0). The ports are the same black color, so make sure you plug into the correct side if you're connecting a hard drive (the faster USB 30 port is on the right). Also on the right are the system's mini-DisplayPort, headset jack, Kensington lock port, and SD card reader. The power port is on the left. The X1 Carbon Touch has a SIM card slot on the back for systems equipped with the optional WWAN modem. Though your IT techs should be able to get into the chassis to replace the system's battery, run of the mill users and execs won't be able to access the sealed battery. This may be an issue if you have a user that prefers to use spare batteries to extend his computing sessions while away from his desk. The system comes with a USB to Ethernet dongle, which your user will have to remember to take with him if he travels as well.
Though you can have your IT folk send Lenovo a list of programs to install or leave off of the system, this review model came with a few pre-installed apps. These include Lenovo Companion, Skitch Touch, Evernote Touch, Accuweather.com, Kindle, Norton Internet Secutiry, rara.com, Skype, Intel AppUp, and an ad for Microsoft Office. One notable pre-installed program is Lenovo's QuickLaunch. It sits on the desktop taskbar, and replicates many of the main launcher and search functions of the Start button in Windows 7. This can help your users transition to Windows 8, though it's not a complete Start button replacement (it won't let you boot into the desktop mode, for example. The X1 Carbon Touch comes with a fingerprint reader, TPM, and Windows 8 Pro, so it can support your company's security mandates. The system comes with a three-year standard warranty (one year on the battery).
Performance
About the only area where the X1 Carbon Touch fell short was its five and a half hour battery life. This is mid mark, very close to the 5:36 returned by the HP Elitebook Folio 9470m ($1,349). The grand winner on the battery rundown test is the Latitdue 6430U, which lasted hours longer at 7:40.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is an executive's dream laptop. It is made with the same carbon fiber that makes his golf club shafts so light and strong. It's nice to look at and is comfortable to use. It's got the power to do real work, from shredding through large spreadsheets to proofing webpages. However, it falls short of the I/O port count and battery life set by the more economical Dell Latitude 6430U, so that system holds on to the Editors' Choice. But if you have the extra bucks to shell out for the X1 Carbon Touch, you'll find it to be a good companion on your day-to-day business dealings, particularly if you're meeting with another company you're looking to acquire.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch with several other laptops side by side.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/oF6P5TlPrg8/0,2817,2420645,00.asp
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