Iran says satellite rocket ‘a huge breakthrough’

Iran says satellite rocket ‘a huge breakthrough’: "

TEHRAN, Feb 4 – Iran said on Wednesday it had launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket capable of carrying a satellite, a move Washington described as a “provocative act”.

Western powers fear Iran is trying to build nuclear bombs and that the long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used to launch warheads. Iran says its nuclear programme is solely to generate electricity.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the launch was a huge breakthrough which would help break “the global domineering system” – a reference to Iran’s Western foes.

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Profiteering worries World Cup organisers

Profiteering worries World Cup organisers: "

LONDON, Feb 4 — Rocketing prices in South Africa are causing major concern among World Cup organisers, who fear profiteering could deter more soccer fans than alarmist reporting about violent crime.

South African and Fifa officials have angrily condemned what they see as emotional and inaccurate reporting, especially in England and Germany, about the dangers to soccer supporters from some of the world’s most violent criminals.

They say an enormous police operation will keep fans safe.

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China to Scan Text Messages in Pornography Crackdown

China to Scan Text Messages in Pornography Crackdown: "

Chinese mobile providers will monitor text messages in the country for “illegal or unhealthy content” and suspend service when a customer inadvertently sends up a red flag, according to a report in The New York Times.

Companies like China Mobile will turn the potentially offending messages over to the authorities to be reviewed. If the customer is cleared of any wrongdoing, his or her service will be restored, but it doesn’t look like the mobile providers or authorities are going out of their way to clearly define what constitutes an offense.

Police will provide words to scan to catch potential criminals in the name of fighting pornography. We reported a couple of weeks ago that more than 5,000 arrests were made on pornography charges in 2009 to prevent the scourge from “overwhelming the country’s Internet and threatening the emotional health of children.”

We’re not sure which words are on the list, but the Times quotes Beijing University telecommunications professor Kan Kaili who claims that “they are doing wide-ranging checks, checking anything and everything, even if it is between a husband and wife.”

Married couples? That could be a problem for the pornography flags, people. This seems to be par for the course if we’re getting the full story here in the West, though — Google has threatened to leave the country if China doesn’t make an effort to improve freedom of speech.

[img credit: Zawezome]

Tags: china, china mobile, SMS, text messaging

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Mrs Robinson seeks psychiatric help

Mrs Robinson seeks psychiatric help: "

BELFAST - The disgraced politician wife of Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson is undergoing intensive psychiatric treatment as her husband's future hangs in the balance, he said.

Iris Robinson is being treated after revelations she had an affair with a lover 40 years her junior and secured 50,000 pounds (RM280,000) from two wealthy developers to help him set up a restaurant.

Husband under pressure

She is quitting her seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and Britain's House of Commons, and pressure is mounting on her husband to resign over allegations about how much he knew about his wife's financial dealings.

Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), moved to quash speculation about 60-year-old Iris' whereabouts, saying: 'Iris is receiving acute psychiatric treatment from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.'

His wife has been suffering from acute depression.

One of Robinson's predecessors as leader of the troubled British-run province said Sunday his position was becoming untenable.

Prediction come true

David Trimble, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his efforts to bring stability to Northern Ireland after three decades of violence, predicted in a BBC interview that Robinson would quit in the 'next few days'.

Trimble, an Ulster Unionist who was Northern Ireland's inaugural first minister from 1999, said: 'If (Peter Robinson) is going to fight to clear his name, then the place to do that is from the backbenches.

'To have a situation where a party leader sees his wife expelled from the party and acquiesces in it, doesn't even persuade the party to give her a decent way out, shows there has been a complete loss of authority.'

Ignorance is not bliss

Robinson denies any knowledge of his wife's financial dealings. If he had been aware of them, he should have reported them to parliamentary authorities.

The row comes as tensions run high between the pro-British Protestant DUP and its Catholic partners in the power-sharing government in Belfast, Sinn Fein, who want a united Ireland.

The two former arch-enemies have shared power since 2007 but have failed to reach agreement on when policing powers in Northern Ireland should be transferred from London to Belfast, the final part of the devolution process. - AFP

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The Hole House ~ Swiss Village of Vals

The Hole House ~ Swiss Village of Vals: "

Christian Müller Architects ~ Click Here to see the blueprints and project description.


Originally spotted in January 2010 issue of Wallpaper Magazine
Photo source TenWorld'sBest.com

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