American fucktards shoot hostage, kill agent
Posted by mrplow (0 Comments)	Sat Mar 5th '05 10:39:51 AM
Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena has arrived in Rome a day after being rescued from her Iraqi kidnappers - and wounded by US gunfire in Baghdad. President George W Bush has pledged to fully investigate the shooting, in which an Italian security agent died. Nicola Calipari had helped rescue journalist Giuliana Sgrena but the circumstances of her release remain unclear. Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has demanded to know why US troops at a checkpoint fired on the car carrying Ms Sgrena to safety. On Friday evening, the car carrying Giuliana Sgrena and three Italian security agents towards the airport came under fire as it approached, at speed, a checkpoint in western Baghdad. US military officials in Baghdad say they tried to stop the car - making hand signals, flashing lights and firing warning shots - before firing at the vehicle's engine. Mr Calipari was hit as he tried to shield her body from the gunfire. Ms Sgrena was injured in the shoulder during the shooting and was later treated by coalition forces. "It's incredible that a man who was busying himself with the difficult task of saving a life was killed by those who say they are in Iraq to safeguard the life of civilians," said Piero Fassino, leader of the Democratic Party. Communist Senator Gianfranco Pagliarulo urged people to turn up outside the US consulate in Milan to demonstrate against the attack. Earlier, a video was broadcast on the Arabic al-Jazeera satellite network showing an apparently healthy Ms Sgrena, 57, thanking her captors for the way they treated her during her month in captivity. A little-known militant group, Islamic Jihad Organisation, had said it kidnapped her and demanded that Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq. The same group said in September it had killed two Italian aid workers, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari - but they were later released by another organisation. TBH I don't reckon the US troops can be entirely to blame... if I was at a checkpoint where every day some crazed nutters tried to drive a pickup full of semtex into my face, I'd be pretty weary of anyone driving towards me and not responding to warnings too. Italian forces don't exactly have a track record of being all that much more competant than the yanks. Still, sux.
News Source: beebeecee	Genre: War

BPI pwnz filesharers
Posted by mrplow (0 Comments)	Sat Mar 5th '05 10:32:32 AM
The UK music industry has claimed victory in its first battle with illegal file-sharers after 23 people paid £50,000 to settle out of court. The UK internet users, ranging from a student to a local councillor, have admitted putting out up to 9,000 songs each for other fans to download. From the first wave, 17 men and six women aged between 22 and 58 have signed High Court undertakings admitting they illegally shared files and promising not to do it again, the BPI said. The average compensation payment was £2,200 each, with one person paying £4,500. Fifteen of the 23 used the Kazaa peer-to-peer network, four used Imesh, two used Grokster, one used WinMix and one was on BearShare. Three more alleged file-sharers are still in negotiations with the BPI and those cases may go to court. Mr Taylor said: "We have no desire to drag people through the courts. So we have attempted to reach fair settlements where we can. "We hope people will now begin to get the message that the best way to avoid the risk of legal action and paying substantial compensation is to stop illegal file-sharing, and to buy music online, safely and legally, instead." In October, the BPI announced it was pursuing 28 people. But they related to 28 IP addresses and it was later discovered that two people accounted for four IP addresses on their list.
News Source: bbc (of course)	Genre: Intrawab

Four RCMP officers killed after raid on Alta. marijuana grow operation
Posted by play_boy_2000 (1 Comment)	Fri Mar 4th '05 05:23:55 AM
Was watching the news this evening and the top story unsettled me. It's more Canadian news, but i just thought i'd share it anyways. RCMP spokesman Cpl. Wayne Oakes said the operation began Wednesday afternoon, when officers from the local Mayerthorpe detachment placed the farmyard just north of the community under surveillance. Two officers remained at the farm overnight. Thursday morning they were joined by backup. Although the occupant of the farm had not been there overnight, at some point he had returned. At about 10 a.m., four officers walked on to the property and entered a large metal quonset hut. They were wearing soft body armour and carrying handguns. "They were not going into a potential armed conflict," said Oakes. "They were guarding a scene." Suddenly, officers remaining on the road heard gunshots and took cover, at least one of them returning fire. After the shots died down, none of the police on the property responded to their radios. Emergency response teams from Calgary and Edmonton were called to the scene. The Edmonton Police Service's helicopter was called, as were three armoured vehicles from the Canadian Forces' Edmonton Garrison. Finally, at about 2:20 p.m., an RCMP team burst into the quonset to confirm their worst fears: four dead officers - "brave, young officers," said Sweeney - and a fifth dead man. A government source told The Canadian Press the suspect, who was armed with a high-powered rifle, killed himself after shooting the officers.
News Source: Yahoo! Canada	Genre: General News

NTL Upgrade 14th March
Posted by James (4 Comments)	Thu Mar 3rd '05 11:54:37 AM
Cable Forum have revealed that the speed increases debated about so much over the last few months are about to go ahead from the 14th March, 2005. Ntl now appear to have changed their tune from the earlier reports with regard to the admin charge. The following now appears to be true. Speed increase from 750Kbps to 2Mbps—Free Speed increase from 1.5Mbps to 3Mbps—Free Speed increase from 300Kbps to 1Mbps—Free, see Below Existing 300Kbps customers will be given the option to upgrade to the 1Mbps. But, on doing so the monthly data transfer cap will reduced from 30GB to 3GB! Some customers may therefore prefer staying on the 300Kbps service with a 30GB monthly usage allowance.
News Source: Cable Forum	Genre: Intrawab

Fossett 'goes for it' past Hawaii
Posted by donkey (5 Comments)	Thu Mar 3rd '05 11:34:37 AM
Adventurer Steve Fossett is continuing his attempt to fly solo, non-stop around the globe, despite fears he may run out of fuel. Mr Fossett has passed Hawaii and now has to travel 4,200km (2,610 miles) to the next possible landing strip. A problem with his GlobalFlyer craft has left him with 15% less fuel than he should have. But at 0330 GMT on Thursday, after reaching Hawaii, he spoke to mission controllers by satellite phone and told them: "Let's go for it". Normally I cba with these rich dudes publicly throwing money at having a fun time but I appreciate him abandoning reason and just going for it
News Source: BBC NEWS	Genre: Science

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