Hacked  By  r4dBlack

CONGO: Two boats capsized over the weekend in separate incidents on Congo's rivers, leaving at least 270 people feared dead, and both vessels were operating with few safety measures, officials said. Early on Saturday, a boat on a river in northwest Equateur province hit a rock and capsized, provincial spokeswoman Ebale Engumba said. She said more than 70 people were believed dead among 100 estimated passengers.
Full Story| GUARDIAN.CO.UK |

TEHRAN: Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, has also been sentenced to 99 lashes for a photo published of her without a headscarf, according to her son. In an interview published on the website of the French magazine La Regle du Jeu and the blog Dentelles et Tchador, Mohammadi-Ashtiani's son Sajjad said they learned of the new punishment from released inmates.
Full Story| SMH.COM.AU |

TEHRAN: Pro-government crowds swarmed outside the battered home of a key Iranian opposition leader after militiamen attacked with firebombs and beat a bodyguard unconscious in a brazen message of intimidation and pinpoint pressure on dissent. The assault on Mahdi Karroubi's five-story residence late Thursday — just hours before major state-backed rallies — displayed the growing tactics of trying to isolate and harass top opposition figure.
Full Story| THE WASHINGTON TIMES |

VIENNA: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has asked Israel to consider signing up to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, according to a report made public Friday, in a boost to Arab-led pressure on the Jewish state to join the treaty. Israel refuses to confirm it possesses a nuclear arsenal but is widely considered to be the Middle East’s only nuclear power.
Full Story| DAWN.COM |

ATHENS: Greece austerity measures cannot prevent default and will lead to a breakdown of political order if continued for long, a leading German economist has warned. 'This tragedy does not have a solution,' said Hans-Werner Sinn, head of the prestigious IFO Institute in Munich. 'The policy of forced 'internal devaluation', deflation, and depression could risk driving Greece to the edge of a civil war.
Full Story| THEAGE.COM.AU |

WASHINGTON: Anti-war activists in Dublin hurled shoes and eggs at former Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday when he visited the Irish capital to launch his controversial memoirs, 'A Journey', in which he defends the Iraq invasion saying he has no regrets. Despite heavy security, one woman managed to get close enough to him and attempted a "citizen’s arrest" for "war crimes" but she was quickly whisked away by his security team.
Full Story| THE HINDU |

WASHINGTON: Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a series of direct talks on Thursday, seeking to forge the framework for a U.S.-backed peace deal within a year and end a conflict that has boiled for six decades. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted the first session of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expressed confidence that this effort could succeed where so many others have failed. President Barack Obama, aiming to resolve one of the world's most intractable disputes, has set a goal of striking a deal within 12 months to create an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully, side-by-side with the Jewish state. "This will not be easy," Netanyahu said. "
Full Story| THE NEW YORK TIMES |

LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has described radical Islam as the greatest threat facing the world today. He made the remark in a BBC interview marking the publication of his memoirs. Mr Blair said radical Islamists believed that whatever was done in the name of their cause was justified - including the use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Mr Blair denied that his own policies had fueled radicalism.
Full Story| BBC |

HAVANA: Cuban leader Fidel Castro appeared in his full military uniform for the first time since stepping down as President four years ago. The 84-year-old revolutionary leader wore the olive-green cap and uniform — minus the star and laurels he held as Commander-in-Chief — at a speech early on Friday to students at the University of Havana. Mr. Castro has mostly spoken in closed sessions to small groups.
Full Story| THE HINDU |

WASHINGTON: NASA is developing an unprecedented mission to study the Sun closer than ever before. The project, named Solar Probe Plus, is scheduled to launch no later than 2018. The small car-sized spacecraft will plunge directly into the Sun’s atmosphere approximately four million miles from our star’s surface. It will explore a region no other spacecraft ever has encountered.
Full Story| THE HINDU |