Everglades National Park, October 2009
Welcome to the Overnight News Digest ! We have a rotating crew of regulars and guest hosts. Founded by Magnifico and currently strong-armed by Neon Vincent!
It is noted that we each have our own style, and I would like to add that my style changes from diary to diary. Tonight I read through the sources in a mixed-up order from normal. And I left out England's Guardian and Der Spiegel, which I will now add.
THE WAR ZONE
Terrorists fail to reach comrade in Lahore hospital
Terrorists targeted Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital on Monday midnight to "free or kill" their fellow, who was injured in Friday’s attack on Ahmadis’ worship place in Model Town, leaving at least five persons dead and six injured.
Some 10 Ahmadis and terrorist Moaz alias Amir Moavia were under treatment in the hospital when the terror attack took place at around 11.45pm.
Acting Lahore police chief SSP Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmed told Dawn that four terrorists wearing police uniform stormed the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU) on the first floor and opened indiscriminate fire on the policemen deployed outside the entrance to guard the injured terrorist.
Saudi cash 'for terrorism'
Millions of dollars of Saudi Arabian money have flowed into Afghanistan over the past four years, the country's intelligence officials say, and the sponsorship of terrorism is its most likely use.
According to members of Afghanistan's financial intelligence unit FinTraca, the funds, totalling more than pound stg. 920 million ($1.5 billion), enter from Pakistan where they are converted into rupees or dollars, the favoured currency for terrorist operations.
"We can trace it back as far as an entry point in Waziristan," said Mohammed Mustafa Massoudi, FinTraca's director-general in Kabul. "Why would anyone want to put such money into Waziristan? Only one reason - terrorism."
The revelations illuminate the difficulties in dividing the Taliban from al-Qa'ida influence and the involvement of Saudi donors in sponsoring the insurgency. The continued flow of Arab funds to the Taliban poses a strategic obstacle to the counter-insurgency campaign.
AROUND THE WORLD
Mthethwa: There's no World Cup terror threat
The Soccer World Cup faces no terror threat at the moment, according to South African Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who dismissed speculation less than two weeks before the tournament opens about plots by groups ranging from al-Qaeda to home-grown white militants.
Mthethwa said on Monday that if a threat were to emerge, his forces would be ready. He said preparations since 2004, when South Africa won the bid to be the first African country to host football's premier event, have included working closely with security and intelligence agents from the United States, Britain and the 29 other countries sending teams to South Africa.
The month-long tournament begins June 11.
Experts mull foreign impact of minaret ban
Six months on, tensions over the ban on new minarets seem to have eased, but the issue has not gone away and the country’s image abroad has been tainted, say experts.
Swiss voters' decision to ban the construction of minarets on November 29, 2009 sparked worldwide criticism from Muslim groups, governments, the United Nations and the Council of Europe – and praise from the European right wing.
After the initial wave of international condemnation, the Swiss vote has continued to come in for official criticism – albeit sporadic.
In March the US State Department annual report on human rights cited it as an example of anti-Muslim discrimination in Europe.
Breakthrough in stem cell culturing: Swedish study
Human embryonic stem cells have been cultured under chemically controlled conditions without the use of animal substances, which is essential for future clinical uses, according to a statement from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday.
"Now, for the first time, we can produce large quantities of human embryonic stem cells in an environment that is completely chemically defined," said professor Karl Tryggvason, who led the study.
"This opens up new opportunities for developing different types of cell which can then be tested for the treatment of disease," Tryggvason said.
Bonus Link from NPR's Science Friday: Stem Cell Research Update
Deadly silence at the DMZ
In the duel between North and South Korea, the question now is who will pull the trigger first? The answer may be neither, but don't count on it. The dueling now focuses on two quite different flashpoints.
The first is the West or Yellow Sea, where North Korea has vowed to open fire against any South Korean vessel intruding in its waters.
One issue there is how to define which waters are North Korean. The North refuses to recognize the Northern Limit Line, set by the United Nations Command after the Korean War (1950-1953) and challenged by North Korea in bloody gun battles in June 1999 and June 2002. A North Korean boat was sunk in the former incident, killing at least 40 sailors on board. Six sailors died on a South Korean patrol boat in the second battle.
It's almost June again, the height of the crabbing season in the fish-rich seas and the month when the North is most likely to threaten South Korea's defense of the line, including islands wrested from North Korean troops in the Korean War.
26/11: 4-member Indian team in US to quiz Headley
A team of Indian investigators arrived in the US on Tuesday to interrogate for the first time David Coleman Headley, accused of helping Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists carry out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The team comprises officers of the National Investigation Agency and a law officer. This will be for the first time that 49-year-old Pakistani-American Headley will be facing direct questions from Indian investigators since his arrest in October last year.
Besides the Indian team, those expected to be present during the questioning would be Headley's lawyer and an officer of the FBI.
'Chinese hide 3m babies a year to bypass one-child norm'
As many as three million Chinese babies are hidden by their parents every year in order to get around the country's one-child policy, a researcher has discovered.
"In 1990, the national census recorded 23 million births. But by the 2000 census, there were 26 million ten-year-old children, an increase of three million. Normally, you would expect there to be fewer ten-year-olds than newborns, because of infant mortality," Liang Zhongtang, a demographer and former member of the expert committee of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, said.
His findings suggest that the one-child policy may not have the grim consequences that have been widely predicted. According to China's own figures, the traditional desire among Chinese families to have a boy, coupled with the one-child regime, should produce a surfeit of 30 million men by 2020, with many parents allegedly using ultrasound to guarantee the sex of their child.
Brazil has become a "haven" for the use of world banned agro-toxics
Brazil in recent years has become the main destination for agro-toxic products banned in Europe, United States and most of South America’s countries with strong farm sectors. Brazilian farmers make unrestricted use of ten to twelve chemicals which are specifically banned in the European Union, United States and most of South America claims O Estado de Sao Paulo.
The daily claims that in spite of current legislation the "government is dragging its feet" and does not reassess the products to restrict their use or take them out of the market.
Some of the agro-toxic substances mentioned is "endossulfam", closely associated with endocrinology problems in humans.
CSIRO to reap 'lazy billion' from world's biggest tech companies
Australia's peak science body stands to reap more than $1 billion from its lucrative Wi-Fi patent after already netting about $250 million from the world's biggest technology companies, an intellectual property lawyer says.
The CSIRO has spent years battling 14 technology giants including Dell, HP, Microsoft, Intel, Nintendo and Toshiba for royalties and made a major breakthrough in April last year when the companies opted to avoid a jury hearing and settle for an estimated $250 million.
Now, the organisation is bringing the fight to the top three US mobile carriers in a new suit targeting Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile. It argues they have been selling devices that infringe its patents.
Disclosure: diarist's spouse is occasionally paid salary and travel by CSIRO. One month here, two months there level.
Tropical Storm Agatha blows a hole in Guatemala City
Tropical Storm Agatha swept across Central America yesterday, bringing torrential rain that killed more than 100 people and opened a 60m-deep sinkhole in Guatemala City which reportedly swallowed up a three-storey building.
The first named storm of the 2010 Pacific season dumped more than a metre of rain in parts of Guatemala, also hitting El Salvador and Honduras. At least 113 people were reported killed, with around 50 missing in Guatemala alone as rescue workers searched through the rubble.
The 30m-diameter sinkhole opened up in a northern district of Guatemala City, with residents blaming the rains and substandard drainage systems. Local reports said one man was killed when the building was swallowed. In 2007, three people died when a similar sinkhole appeared in the same area.
ECB Buying Up Greek Bonds: German Central Bankers Suspect French Intrigue
The European Central Bank has been buying up Greek bonds by the bucketload, even though Athens is already getting money from an EU rescue fund. German central bankers suspect a French plot behind the massive buy-up -- after all, it gives French banks the perfect opportunity to get rid of their Greek assets.
The senior members of the German central bank, the Bundesbank, regarded Axel Weber with a look of anticipation. What would Weber, the Bundesbank president, say about the serious crisis that had them all so worried, they wondered? And what did he intend to do about it?
Weber said nothing and, as some who attended the meeting report, even his facial expression was inscrutable. The Bundesbank president remained stone-faced as he acknowledged the latest figures, which indicated that by the end of last week the European Central Bank (ECB) had already spent close to €40 billion ($50 billion) on buying up government bonds from Spain, Portugal, Ireland and, in particular, Greece.
I'm shocked, I say, or something. There is a very nice pie chart at this link showing the national shares in the European Central Bank.
AROUND THE COUNTRY
Utah has had a slow news weekend and I am not overly inspired to share anything.
OTHER
Political Cartoons
Zapiro for the Mail & Guardian, South Africa Follow Up to his recent "holiday"
Sports Headlines
Celtics-Lakers: Here we go again 13th championship meeting between the two teams.