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الثلاثاء، 27 مارس 2012

Lincoln Tribune

BMW recalls 1.3 million vehicles worldwide
‘Osama bin Laden funded 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia’
Rogue Afghan soldier kills two British troops in southern Afghanistan
Pedophiles use ordinary web stores to sell child pornography
Dempsey Discusses Combatting Transnational Organized Crime

BMW recalls 1.3 million vehicles worldwide

Posted: 26 Mar 2012 10:24 PM PDT

MUNICH, Germany (BNO NEWS) -- German automaker BMW AG on Monday issued a recall for approximately 1.3 million vehicles worldwide due to a problem with the battery cable cover.

The vehicle company said it would be recalling all BMW 5 and 6 Series models of the previous generation, built between 2003 and 2010, and still on the market for repair at authorized dealers.

The recall was issued "in order to carry out a quality measure," the company said, explaining that "in some remote cases, the battery cable cover inside the boot of these vehicles may be incorrectly mounted."

Despite no accidents or injuries being reported as a result of the issue, BMW said the problem could result in malfunctioning in the vehicles' electrical system, the vehicle failing to start and, in some cases, to charring or fire.

In Monday's statement, the company advised that vehicle owners will be notified in writing for a 30-minute repair service at a workshop. The automaker said the repair will be free of charge to customers.

‘Osama bin Laden funded 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia’

Posted: 26 Mar 2012 10:22 PM PDT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (BNO NEWS) -- Former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan last year, funded the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia, according to Monday's court statements by a convicted terrorist.

At the West Jakarta District Court during Umar Patek's trial, who was one of the most wanted terrorists in Indonesia for the first Bali bombing in 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australian nationals and other foreign citizens, convicted terrorist Mohammad Ihsan said the money behind the bombings had come from bin Laden.

According to Ihsan's statements, bin Laden paid $30,000 to fund the attack, which was used to buy a Mitsubishi L300 minibus that was used to deliver the bombs, two motorcycles, bomb-making materials and for living expenses.

Ihsan, who was released in 2009 after serving his prison term for his role in the terrorist attacks, is now a witness in Patek's trial. He added that there were more funds to support the bomb attacks, although he did not know where the money had come from.

Former al-Qaeda-linked terrorist Jemaah Islamiyah Umar Patek, 44, also known as Abdul Goni and Abu Syiekh, is the main suspect behind the October 2, 2002, bombings, which were carried out in Paddy's Pub and Sari Club in one of Bali's most popular tourist district in Legian, Kuta.

He is also believed to have been a member of a group which carried out military and fighting exercises in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s.

On January 25, 2011, Patek, whose role in the attack was first signaled out by other fellow terrorists who had been previously arrested, was detained in Abbottabad, Pakistan, almost 10 years after the attack and only a few weeks before U.S. security forces killed former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the same area.

Pakistani authorities extradited Patek back to Indonesia in August 2011. He had been placed under the United States' Rewards for Justice program with a $1 million reward for his capture and is facing a number of charges, which could lead to a sentence of life imprisonment. Among those charges are premeditated murder, bomb-making, and possession of firearms.

In 2008, three other convicted terrorists in the bombing case were executed by a firing squad. They were Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron.

After the Bali bombing, Patek was believed to have fled to the Philippines but was later arrested in Pakistan. Despite his eventual capture, Patek's arrest in Pakistan has raised questions about Indonesia's security and how the top terrorist fugitive could have fled the country in the first place.

Rogue Afghan soldier kills two British troops in southern Afghanistan

Posted: 26 Mar 2012 08:36 AM PDT

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (BNO NEWS) -- An Afghan soldier opened fire at the entrance to a coalition base in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing two British service members before he was shot dead by other coalition soldiers, officials said.

Major Ian Lawrence, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said two British service members were killed when an Afghan National Army soldier opened fire at the Main Operating Base in Lashkar Gah, located in Helmand province. The soldiers were serving as part of Task Force Helmand.

"Sadly, I must report that a Royal Marine and a soldier from the Adjutant General's Corps were shot and killed by an Afghan National Army soldier at the main entrance to Lashkar Gah Main Operating Base," said Lawrence. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the Afghan soldier who opened fire was killed when coalition forces returned fire.

Lawrence said the families of the service members have been informed and have asked for a 24-hour period of grace before other details are released. "The thoughts and condolences of everyone serving in the Task Force are with their families and friends," he said.

The motive behind the attack was not immediately known.

On Wednesday, 24-year-old British soldier Captain Rupert William Michael Bowers was killed when he was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the Mirmandab region of Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. He was working alongside an Afghan security forces' patrol.

Monday's deaths raise the number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 90, according to official figures. Six British soldiers were killed earlier this month when a roadside bomb struck an armored vehicle in Helmand province, making it the war's worst single loss of British life in one incident due to enemy action.

There are currently more than 130,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan, including some 90,000 U.S. troops and more than 9,500 British soldiers. U.S. President Barack Obama previously ordered a drawdown of 23,000 U.S. troops later this year, and foreign combat troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Pedophiles use ordinary web stores to sell child pornography

Posted: 26 Mar 2012 08:17 AM PDT

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- Pedophiles are operating hundreds of websites which appear to be ordinary web shops but are actually being used to distribute and even sell images and videos of young children being sexually abused, according to a report released in the United Kingdom on Monday.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) - the UK charity whose experts work to track and trace child pornography on the Internet - said in its annual report that pedophiles are finding new ways to distribute the illegal content. A new trend has emerged in which criminals 'disguise' illegal websites to appear as if they host only legal content.

"We received reports to our Hotline by online users who have stumbled across these sites," said IWF Chief Executive Susie Hargreaves. She said the websites show only legal content when they are accessed directly, but a predetermined digital path leads users to a section which features images and videos of children being sexually abused.

According to IWF, criminals are exploiting a legitimate web development technique commonly used on shopping websites which remember visitors when they return. As a result, the websites operated by criminals will show only legal content when accessed directly but show child pornography when they are accessed via a particular gateway (referrer).

When IWF first started receiving reports from people who had accidentally stumbled across the illegal content, analysts were puzzled to find only websites which appeared to be hosting only legal content. "The reports we receive by the public can be quite detailed and these reporters were sure of what they had seen," Hargreaves said. "Our analysts investigated further and discovered a legitimate web development technique was being used to disguise the website from all those who had not followed a particular digital path to access it."

IWF has been investigating these websites since 2009 and has since identified 998 unique sources of commercial child pornography websites, each with a distinctive name and brand. "Each of the websites is a gateway to hundreds or even thousands of individual images or videos of children being sexually abused," IWF said in its annual report.

In addition to making the child pornography websites more difficult to find, criminals can also use these websites to acquire legitimate business services, such as banking services, if the website appears to host only legal content when directly assessed. This allows the criminals to 'trick' other companies into providing their services for what is actually a criminal enterprise.

This method allows child pornography websites to be supported by layers of payment mechanisms, content stores, membership systems and advertising. "Payment systems may involve pre-pay cards, credit cards, 'virtual money' or e-payment systems and the customers may be required to carry out transaction across secure webpages, text messages, or email," IWF said in its report.

But despite such illegal websites being an emerging trend, IWF said its analysts have become adept at spotting them and have developed a technique to circumvent the digital footpath to gain access to them. "We are now working with other Hotlines to enable them to access these sites to expedite their removal," the organization said, noting that it came across 579 of such sites in 2011 alone, although none of them were based in the United Kingdom.

According to IWF's annual report, nearly all child pornography is hosted on servers in North America and Europe, including Russia. Image hosting websites are most likely to be abused with 45 percent of child pornography found there, followed by banner sites (12 percent), social networking websites (12 percent), generic websites (10 percent), and file hosts (6 percent).

Dempsey Discusses Combatting Transnational Organized Crime

Posted: 25 Mar 2012 10:00 PM PDT

Transnational organized crime is not specifically mentioned in the new defense strategy, but leaders understand the threat, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said at U.S. Southern Command.

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الثلاثاء، 27 مارس 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

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