Canadian military families receive fake death calls

Canadian military police are investigating fake calls to families of soldiers in Afghanistan claiming their relative has died in combat, authorities have said.

At least three families at a military base in Quebec have been targeted, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

One woman was reportedly told her husband had been killed by a bomb.

Police say those responsible could face jail time if caught.

Canadian Forces always deliver news of a soldier's death in person, National Defence spokeswoman Chantale Le Bouthillier told AFP news agency.

BBC News

Dark energy and flat Universe exposed by simple method

Researchers have developed a simple technique that adds evidence to the theory that the Universe is flat.

Moreover, the method - developed by revisiting a 30-year-old idea - confirms that "dark energy" makes up nearly three-quarters of the Universe.

The research, published in Nature, uses existing data and relies on fewer assumptions than current approaches.

Author Christian Marinoni says the idea turns estimating the Universe's shape into "primary school" geometry.

While the idea of the Earth being flat preoccupied explorers centuries ago, the question of whether the Universe itself is flat remains a debatable topic.

The degree to which the Universe is curved has an effect on what astronomers see when they look into the cosmos.

A telescope on or near Earth may see an image of a celestial object differently from how the object actually looks, because the very fabric of space and time bends the light coming from it.

Christian Marinoni and Adeline Buzzi of the University of Provence have made use of this phenomenon in their technique.

BBC News

UBS targeted in $2bn lawsuit over Madoff Ponzi scheme

Swiss bank UBS is being sued for over $2bn (£1.3bn) amid claims it concealed the Ponzi scheme of fraudster Bernard Madoff that lost clients billions.

Irving Picard - who is acting as trustee for Madoff's victims - lodged the lawsuit against UBS and various associates at a US bankruptcy court.

The bank, which has made no comment on the charges, earned fees for promoting and administering Madoff's funds.

Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for the scheme exposed in 2008.

The fraudster claimed high and stable returns for his investment fund over many years, attracting large investments from wealthy individuals.

In reality, the fund was worth only a fraction of what he claimed, and Madoff relied on "feeder funds" - such as those managed by UBS - in order to attract new investor money that could then be used to pay out the bogus return to existing investors.

BBC News

Cambodia holds day of mourning for stampede victims

Cambodia is holding a day of mourning for more than 450 people killed in a festival stampede.

Prime Minister Hun Sen is due to join officials and grieving relatives for a religious ceremony at the footbridge where the tragedy happened.

A preliminary investigation has found that the swaying of the bridge near the capital, Phnom Penh, triggered a panic.

Witnesses said some people were crushed on the bridge, while others fell into the river and drowned.

Crowds of revellers had been crossing the bridge to reach an island where an annual water festival was being held on Monday.

A committee set up to investigate the disaster found that many of the people on the suspension bridge were from the countryside and were unaware that such structures often swayed, local media reported.

Between 7,000 and 8,000 are thought to have been on the bridge at the time.

BBC News

Liu claims hurdles gold as China beats Asian Games medals record

(CNN) -- China's star hurdler Liu Xiang bounced back from his Olympic Games disappointment to claim his third successive Asian Games gold medal, but Wednesday's action was marred by a second positive drug test by a Uzbekistani athlete.

Liu limped out before his first 110-meters hurdles heat in Beijing two years ago, but has since recovered from an Achilles injury and returned to form on home soil with victory in Guangzhou.

The 27-year-old headed off teammate Shi Dongpeng in a record time of 13.09 seconds in front of 80,000 people as he bettered the marks he set in winning in Qatar four years ago and South Korea in 2002.

"My coach always has confidence in me. I am confident of myself too. I am quite sure of my form," the former world record holder told the Xinhua news agency.

"The Asian Games is important to me, and after that I will focus on the preparation for the 2011 world championships as well as the 2012 London Olympics".

CNN

Suarez banned for biting opponent; Real duo face UEFA probe

(CNN) -- Uruguay's controversial World Cup star Luis Suarez has been given a seven-match suspension after being found guilty of biting an opposition player in a Dutch league match.

The striker will miss six Eredivisie games as well as a Dutch Cup tie, ruling him out until his club Ajax's next league match at home to De Graafschap on February 4.

The Amsterdam side's captain was punished by the Royal Netherlands Football Association following an incident in Sunday's 0-0 draw with PSV Eindhoven.

The 23-year-old -- who was infamously sent off during the World Cup quarterfinal against Ghana in July after saving a goal-bound attempt with his hands -- was investigated after biting PSV player Otman Bakkal.

"Ajax and Luis Suarez have accepted the KNVB's settlement proposal of a seven-match suspension," said a statement on the club's website on Wednesday.

Ajax had already fined Suarez and banned him for the club's next two domestic matches.

"The fine will go towards a charitable cause," Ajax said.

Suarez, who played in Ajax's 4-0 defeat by Real Madrid on Tuesday night, will be available for the final Champions League Group G match at AC Milan on December 8.

He was named the 2010 Dutch footballer of the year after scoring 49 goals in all competitions last season, and has now netted more than 100 times for Ajax since joining the club in 2007.

Meanwhile, European football's ruling body UEFA will look at the red cards incurred by Real's Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso late in the Amsterdam match, the UK Press Association reported on Wednesday.

CNN

Spreading cholera has claimed at least 1,415 lives in Haiti

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Pivotal elections will proceed as planned in Haiti despite the cholera outbreak that has now sickened more than 60,000 people and threatens to keep spreading.

The death toll now stands at 1,415, the Ministry of Public Health and Population reported Wednesday, citing data collected as of November 20. More than 25,000 people have been hospitalized.

Some of the 19 presidential candidates have urged a postponement of Sunday's vote. But Ken Merten, the United States ambassador to Haiti, said the election process was on track.

He said 250,000 new voters were registered and more than 11,000 voting stations have been identified in the fifth presidential election since the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship and the first key moment at the polls since the devastating earthquake in January.

"We have a cholera problem here, which is something that the Haitians and we are all grappling with, which is a major public health challenge here," Merten said at a news conference Tuesday. "And we have the elections which should take place, need to take place, and we are here to support that effort".

Meanwhile, the Pan American Health Organization said it was planning to treat 400,000 cholera cases within the next year, up from a previous estimate of 270,000 over several years, as a result of the outbreak in Haiti.

CNN

Investigation finds panic led to Cambodia stampede that killed 456

(CNN) -- The swaying of a suspension bridge led to fears it would collapse and resulted in a stampede that killed 456 people at a Cambodian festival, according to government investigators.

Their initial findings were aired on state-run Bayon television Wednesday.

Police fired water cannons to get people to continue moving across the footbridge, which leads to an island in the center of a river.

"That just caused complete and utter panic," journalist Steve Finch of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper told CNN.

Cambodia has declared Thursday a national day of mourning for those who died Monday in the crush at the annual Water Festival in the capital city of Phnom Penh, the news agency AKP reported. An additional 800 people were injured.

CNN

Somalis convicted of piracy in first such U.S. jury verdict since 1820

(CNN) -- Five Somali men face life in prison after a federal jury in Virginia convicted them of piracy Wednesday, the first such verdict in a U.S. court in nearly two centuries.

Mohammed Modin Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali, Abdi Wali Dire, Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher and Abdi Mohammed Umar were captured after an April 1 attack on the guided-missile frigate USS Nicholas in the Indian Ocean. All five face mandatory life sentences after being convicted of piracy and several related charges, said Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Norfolk, Virginia.

Though two other men captured in pirate attacks have pleaded guilty to related crimes in recent months, Wednesday's verdicts marked the first jury convictions on piracy charges since 1820, Carr said. The verdict came on the second day of deliberations in Norfolk, the frigate's home port.

Sentencing is set for March 14, Carr said.

According to the indictment, the Somalis had mistaken the 450-foot American warship for a merchant vessel in the middle of the night. The Nicholas responded by sinking the skiff that carried out the attack and capturing the pirate mother ship that launched it.

The Nicholas was passing between the Somali coast and the Seychelles when it was attacked. Pirate attacks have become a frequent hazard for sailors off Somalia, which has had no effective central government since 1991.

Despite a crackdown by an international naval flotilla in the region, pirates managed to seize 35 ships between January and September, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which monitors attacks.

CNN

12 dead since Sunday in Brazil slum violence

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (CNN) -- Twelve people have died and 13 have been arrested since Sunday in violence by drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, military police said Wednesday.

The gangs have shot up a police station and torched at least five buses and 11 cars in the attacks, officials said.

It was not immediately clear if all the dead were gang members, or if civilians and police also suffered fatalities.

The violence stems from the transfer of some prisoners from local institutions to federal lockups in other states, the government-run Agencia Brasil news outlet reported, citing Rio de Janeiro Public Security Secretary Jose Mariano Beltrame. Some of those prisoners ordered the violence, Beltrame said.

The attacks also came as a result of police trying to remove some drug gang members from Rio's slums, called favelas.

Beltrame said two rival gangs joined forces to launch the attacks.

The security chief also said he mobilized all police in the city to try to restore order and to step up police presence in 17 of Rio's slums.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addressed the seriousness of the situation Tuesday.

CNN

Zico says 'beautiful' Russia should host 2018 World Cup

Brazilian football legend and coach Zico believes Russia deserves to host the 2018 World Cup.

"Russia has recently achieved a lot in football and clubs from this country twice won the UEFA Cup [in 2005 and 2008]. I believe it deserves to get the right to host this tournament since it is a beautiful country. I am sure they will organize an outstanding World Cup," Zico said, as quoted by the Globo Esporte sports website.

The 57-year-old coach and former World Cup star, often referred to as the "White Pele," managed Russia's CSKA Moscow in 2009.

England, Portugal and Spain (jointly), Belgium and the Netherlands (jointly) are the other candidates bidding for the right to host the Cup.

In mid-August, FIFA inspectors visited Russia to see for themselves the country. They attended the bidding committee's presentations and toured four cities to inspect stadiums.

FIFA will choose the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on December 2.

RIA Novosti

Russians split over mascot for 2014 Winter Olympics

A nationwide competition to choose the best mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics is heating up in Russian - polls for the best mascot have given different and even contradictory results.

The popular vote to find the mascot kicked off on September 1. Every Russian could submit his or her vision of the mascot to the official website.

The Russian Public Opinion Research Center on November 13-14 asked 1,600 Russians to choose the best idea from the website. The most respondents, 17 percent, voted for cub bear Misha, reminiscent of Mishka the Bear, the mascot of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Next were a couple of little tigers and a hare - 14 percent voted for each of them.

The outsider of the competition, according to the official poll, is a fluffy blue frog named Zoich - a total of 36 percent said they would never vote for such mascot.

However, the open public rating on the website where the ideas are submitted shows that the fluffy frog enjoys the biggest popularity. Zoich has a little crown on his head and Olympic Circles instead of pupils in his eyes.

"The Olympic Circles in his eyes help promotion of the Olympic ideals, the tsarist crown on his head reminds us about monarchy and spirituality," the author of the drawing, a blogger with the nickname Yegor Zhgun (the Russian for "mocker", "teaser") describes his piece.

The mascot "should encompass a range of features characteristic of Russia, and at the same time be intelligible to people of every age, profession and nationality," organizers of the competition said earlier.

A special commission will choose the best ideas, which then will be improved and developed by professional painters. Organizers have already received over 3,000 pictures from different regions of Russia. An online poll, to be held on February 7, 2011, will determine the Olympic mascot.

RIA Novosti

UBS targeted in $2bn lawsuit over Madoff Ponzi scheme

Swiss bank UBS is being sued for over $2bn (£1.3bn) amid claims it concealed the Ponzi scheme of fraudster Bernard Madoff that lost clients billions.

Irving Picard - who is acting as trustee for Madoff's victims - lodged the lawsuit against UBS and various associates at a US bankruptcy court.

The bank, which has made no comment on the charges, earned fees for promoting and administering  Madoff's funds.

Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for the scheme exposed in 2008.

The fraudster claimed high and stable returns for his investment fund over many years, attracting large investments from wealthy individuals.

In reality, the fund was worth only a fraction of what he claimed, and Madoff relied on "feeder funds" - such as those managed by UBS - in order to attract new investor money that could then be used to pay out the bogus return to existing investors.

BBC News

Police lines surround student tuition fee protesters

Police are dispersing student protesters in central London, after a wave of protests against higher tuition fees and university cuts.

Two police officers were injured as police contained demonstrators on Whitehall.

There have been occupations in at least 10 universities, including at Oxford University's Bodleian Library.

School pupils walked out of lessons to join university and college students on local protest marches across the UK.

As darkness fell, fires were started and windows broken in Whitehall by demonstrators who were being contained by police.

Hundreds of protesters are gradually being released by police.

Earlier a police van was attacked and barricades thrown as protesters tried to break through police lines.

There have been reports of 15 arrests and 11 members of the public are believed to have been injured.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "People have a right to engage in lawful and peaceful protest, but there is no place for violence or intimidation".

Occupations

Protesters in London had intended to demonstrate outside the Liberal Democrat headquarters - with students accusing the party's leaders of planning to break their signed pledge that they would vote against higher tuition fees.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2, Mr Clegg said: "I hate in politics, as in life, to make promises that you then find you can't keep... We made a promise we can't deliver - we didn't win the election outright and there are compromises in coalition".

BBC News

WikiLeaks release to damage foreign relations, US says

WikiLeaks' plan to release millions more classified American documents will damage the US and its relations, the state department has warned.

A spokesman said: "These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests".

He added: "They are going to create tension in relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world."

The whistleblower website says it will publish nearly three million documents.

The spokesman, PJ Crowley, said the state department had known for some time that WikiLeaks had obtained some of its classified documents. He said congress had been warned of the impending leak.

He added that US diplomatic missions around the world had begun notifying other governments that the documents may be released within days.

"We wish this would not happen, but we are obviously prepared for the possibility that it will," he said.

Military information

A Pentagon spokesman, Col David Lapan, said the defence department had also notified congressional committees of the expected WikiLeaks release.

He said that although the files were believed to be state department documents, they could contain information about military tactics or reveal the identities of sources.

WikiLeaks said on Monday that it planned to release seven times as many documents as it released in October, when it posted some 400,000 documents about the Iraq war on its site.

In a message on its Twitter feed, it said: "Next release is 7x the size of the Iraq War Logs. intense pressure over it for months. Keep us strong".

It would be WikiLeaks' third mass release of classified documents after it published 77,000 secret US files on the Afghan conflict in July.

WikiLeaks argues the release of the documents has shed light on the wars, including allegations of torture and reports that suggest 15,000 additional civilian deaths in Iraq.

BBC News

EUA dizem que ataque da Coreia do Norte está ligado à sucessão de poder

Os Estados Unidos atribuem o ataque da Coreia do Norte a uma ilha sul-coreana à sucessão do ditador Kim Jong-il, afirmou nesta quarta-feira o chefe do Estado-Maior Conjunto americano, o almirante Michael Mullen.

O bombardeio norte-coreano deixou dois militares e dois civis mortos e 18 pessoas feridas. Os dois países trocam acusações sobre quem começou o confronto.

Analistas já haviam dito nesta terça-feira que o aumento no número de incidentes militares envolvendo as duas Coreias e a recente revelação de uma moderna planta nuclear são a forma de Kim Jong-il assegurar uma transição tranquila de poder para o filho e herdeiro político, Kim Jong-un, de 27 ou 28 anos.

Em setembro, Kim Jong-un foi promovido a general e nomeado o número 2 da comissão militar do Partido dos Trabalhadores norte-coreano. Desde então, deixou o anonimato para ser alvo intenso da propaganda estatal, que o chama de "camarada brilhante".

O desafio para Kim Jong-il, segundo analistas, é que seu filho ganhe o respeito dos militares, a principal força política do regime comunista norte-coreano. Horas depois do confronto de ontem, a agência estatal KCNA afirmou que pai e filho inspecionavam uma fábrica de molho de soja e uma escola de medicina em Pyongyang. O texto não trazia nenhuma menção à troca de disparos.

"Acreditamos que isso está vinculado à sucessão em favor deste jovem", afirmou  Mullen.

Mullen afirmou ainda que está discutindo com seus parceiros regionais como resolver a crise, mas que a China deveria assumir a liderança. "É muito importante que a China lidere. O único país que tem influência em Pyongyang é a China e por isso sua liderança é tão crítica", disse Mullen a um canal de TV.

O porta-voz do Departamento de Estado americano, P. J. Crowley engrossou o coro e afirmou que os EUA esperam que a China use sua influência para convencer a Coreia do Norte a desistir do que classificam como comportamento provocativo.

"China é essencial para mover a Coreia do Norte em uma direção fundamentalmente diferente", disse Crowley.

CALMA

A China pediu mais cedo que as Coreias do Norte e do Sul mostrem "calma e contenção" e se comprometam o mais rapidamente possível com conversações para evitar uma escalada nas tensões.

O comunicado do porta-voz do Ministério de Relações Exteriores da China, Hong Lei, foi a primeira resposta detalhada das autoridades chinesas ao incidente de terça-feira, quando a Coreia do Norte disparou contra uma ilha sul-coreana.

Ao contrário dos governos de outros países da região, a China não condenou apenas a Coreia do Norte.

"A China leva esse incidente muito a sério, expressa dor e lamenta a perda de vida. Nós nos sentimos ansiosos quanto aos desdobramentos", disse Hong, no comentário divulgado pela Chancelaria em sua página na internet.

"A China faz um chamado forte para que tanto a Coreia do Norte como a do Sul ajam com calma e contenção, e o mais rapidamente possível se comprometam com o diálogo e os contatos", disse Hong.

Ele também afirmou que a China "se opõe a quaisquer ações prejudiciais à paz e a estabilidade da península coreana".

Folha Online