■NORTH KOREA
Hacking unit uncovered
Pyongyang is maintaining a unit of about 100 computer hackers working on attacks against the South Korean and the US military, media reports in Seoul said yesterday. Attacks by this “technology reconnaissance team” were aimed at interrupting other countries’ military computer networks and obtaining confidential information, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said, citing intelligence sources. “This unit tries to hold control of South Korean and US military information systems by hacking into their computer networks and taking out classified data,” an unnamed official was quoted as saying. “When necessary, they may spread computer viruses to disrupt the networks.”
■PHILIPPINES
Informants fund launched
President Gloria Arroyo announced yesterday the establishment of a fund of 25 million pesos (US$250,000) to pay informants in an attempt to end the country’s wave of political killings. The fund would go to those who “provide information that foils political assassination attempts or leads to their solution, especially the identification of their masterminds,” she said. “We want to erase the legacy of political violence that has haunted our nation for generations,” Arroyo said.
■AUSTRALIA
Refugee boat intercepted
The Navy yesterday intercepted a refugee boat with about 50 asylum seekers on board as it began filling with water off the northwest coast, officials said. The vessel was about 685km northwest of the coastal city of Broome when it was stopped after being initially spotted by air, Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said in a statement. “The boat, which was taking on water, was intercepted in international waters and the group have voluntarily transferred from their boat to the HMAS Maryborough,” he said in a statement.
■AUSTRALIA
Homeopath parents charged
Parents charged with manslaughter in the death of their baby could have saved her life if they hospitalized her sooner rather than allegedly using homeopathic remedies for a severe skin disorder, a prosecutor said yesterday. Thomas Sam, 42, and Manju Sam, 36, of Sydney pleaded not guilty in New South Wales state Supreme Court on Monday to charges of manslaughter in the death of their nine-month-old daughter Gloria, who died of septicemia and malnutrition in May 2002. The Indian-born, university-educated parents face a maximum penalty of 25 years each in prison if convicted.
■IRAN
Reporter to appeal
The judiciary announced yesterday that it would hear an appeal for a US-Iranian reporter jailed on spying charges in a case that has caused deep consternation in the US. “There is going to be an appeal trial next week for Roxana Saberi,” judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters, without giving an exact date. The Iranian week begins on Saturdays. He said the bar association, the intelligence ministry and the prosecutor’s representative had been informed to participate in the appeal hearing, which will be held behind closed doors. Saberi, 32, was sentenced last month by a revolutionary court to an eight-year jail term on charges of spying for the country’s arch-foe, the US.
■MALTA
Immigrants helped to Italy
Malto will provide would-be illegal immigrants at sea with the necessary assistance to continue on their journey to Italy from now on, the government said. The decision signifies a marked shift in policy toward immigrants as the diplomatic row between Italy and Malta deepens, after Italian authorities turned back boatloads of migrants to Malta last Friday. In a strongly worded statement after a Cabinet meeting on Monday night, the government said the assistance it would give immigrants at sea would vary according to the nature of the case. The government would continue taking those immigrants who were forced to abandon their boat to the nearest port, or it would assist them to continue on their way safely.
RSS