Author Archives: Gunjan Priya

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Syrian crisis poses challenge to Middle-east peace

All the neighbors of Syria including Israel and Iran are of the opinion that the present regime in Syria must end now. The situation in Syria is much more complicated than it appears. All the countries and the happenings in the middle-east have close links with consequences and developments in Syria. All the situations arising out in Middle East due to Hamas, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, America., Iraq, Hezbollah are having some direct or indirect link with Syrian factor.

The role of Syrian people makes the situation even more complex. There is a fraction of people who thinks that the Present is providing the stability and security to the regime,. If the President is ousted, then the whole of Syria would be lost in uncertainty like Iraq and Afghanistan. People of Syria still remember the situation in Iraq where the country is lost in political uncertainty. The neighbors are worried about situation in Syria.

The Israel has her own dilemma.  Israel has concerns of getting off the bath party rule. Israel’s fear is that the Bath party rule may end up and more radical govt. Also Israel is closely examining the developments in Syria especially when the army will take over the epicenter of revolt Deraa.

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EU to support US sanctions on Syria

US Treasury will provide the names of the Syrian most powerful man and other officials against whom the financial and other sanctions will be imposed following death of 453 civilians in clashes between govt. backed army and anti-govt. protesters, special UN HRC session on Syria.

The statement issued by an EU executive confirms that EU members will discuss the possibility of slapping sanctions against Syria; other options will also be discussed in a meeting being held on Friday 29 Apr 2011.

Michael Mann, at European commission briefing also confirmed the scheduled meeting. In case EU members agreed for sanctions, there is a great possibility of imposing travel restrictions on key Syrian officials and freezing heir financial assets in foreign countries. The Syrian observatory for Human Rights confirmed having the names of 453 citizens killed in clashes.

In further developments against Syria, Germany supported the imposing of sanctions on Syria and demand that Damascus to punish those who are responsible for the human loss in clashes.

Steffen Seibert, German Government Spokes man stated at a news briefing. He further asserted that the sanctions would include travel restrictions on Syrian leader and officials, freezing of their financial assets in other countries and stopping all the economic aid being provided by the European countries.

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Phone operators probed over tracking policies

The United States House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the mobile operators to explain their phone-tracking policy. The respondents’ operators include Microsoft, Nokia, RIM, HP, Apple and Google.

The Committee asked to explain their policy on data collection, its storage and security. Also the operators have to explain how a person can get himself exempted from being tracked, and if there is such provision how vastly it is being advertised and being made public. The date of next hearing is May 9 when the companies have to reply in details. How the data I collected, who has access to data and whether the data collected so is being shared with any third party.

The information available from the hardware of the mobile is generally taken and recorded and the presence of a magistrate may not require. In addition, today we can store information on server also. This additional feature allows the more number of users and more people can access data without any borders restrictions.

There is a good feature in GSM SIM which provide information about the recent call location and the tower to which the mobile was connected at the last time. This information can be availed without having any issue with operators and all.

The GSM SIM already provides access to recent call location, and sometimes the last tower to which the phone was connected, without mucking about with network operators or additional paperwork, but allowing anyone with access to the phone to know everywhere it has been seems a step too far.

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Sony Corp admits hacking play station network

Sony Corporation, One of the largest producers of video-game players, has investigated its PlayStation Network hack and after 4 days of interruption, they admitted that external intruders are responsible for causing this inflection.

Sony said that they are still investigating to know whether consumer information retrieved after intruders attacked its PlayStation Network and Qriocity web services. Meanwhile they had closed the network willingly “in order to perform a complete investigation and to get full details of what occurred and what triggered the problem”.

The inflection, which occurred on April 21, is denying about 75 million users globally from using the network to play games and watch movies. According to Sony Corp. operations of Qriocity, that provides movies and music for web-connected devices of Sony, also affected due to halt in its services.

Patrick Seybold, Sony’s senior director of social media, said, “An external intrusion on our system has affected Qriocity services and our PlayStation Network. We are doing everything possible to settle this condition faster, and we once more thank you for your endurance.”

He has also published an online post expressing regret for the inflection, and confessing the rupture of safety.

Satoshi Fukuoka, a representative for Sony Japan, said, “Consumers will be able to play on site but they won’t be able to play against others”.

He further said, “Sony is reinforcing its network’s security to confirm the efficient and safe operation of its services and has no guess when it will resume the services”.

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Syrian security forces kill 20 anti-government protesters

Entire Syria is in chaos and bloody turmoil. Hundreds of demonstrators have been injured and many of them were killed during clashes with security forces on Friday. The pro-government forces shot bullets and used tear gas to scatter people.

The mass protests against the autocratic ruler–  President Bashar al-Assad has turned into fierce struggle now in all parts of Syria and the government is adopting every mean to crush and suppress the rebellions.

Though Syrian government announced many concessions to the rebellions including lifting state of emergency, the protests continued demanding more political freedom. The demonstrators are insistent on their demand for ouster of the Ba’ath party government. Damascus and many other cities witnessed escalating violence and security forces opened guns to control the protesters.

According to some reliable sources, around 25 protesters lost their lives in Friday clashes with the pro-government forces out of which six were from Izraa and rest from Damascus and other cities.This can be considered as the bloodiest day of Syrian crisis from the day demonstrations against President Assad began.

In last few weeks of unrest in Syria, more than 220 people have died so far. Despite this, the protests are intensifying day-by-day and spreading fast in all parts of Syria. The Syrian protests are considered an impact of the recent upsurge in different countries in the Middle East and other nations against autocratic rulers.

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Congress probes Apple over iPhone tracking

US Congress is likely to obstacle Apple over technological transparency issues. According to legal experts, Apple is also likely to file a lawsuit regarding the same seeking justice.

Sen. Al Franken from a new privacy panel questioned Apple and asked to explain the reasons for tracking iPhone users’ locations.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will also investigate the matter and a senator from Washington State has declared to interrogate Apple on his own. Apple CEO Steve Jobs received a letter from Franken following a report by few British researchers, which revealed that iPhones and 3G iPads were tracking users’ location details by using iOS 4 logged.

The mechanism can detect up to 100 locations daily. The device collects data and stores in in an unencrypted SQLite file, which the company can easily retrieve from its back up synchronization on iTunes. The device owner can also save it, on computer that is supported with Windows PC or Mac.

The US privacy and security experts have raised concern in this regard citing the unencrypted data, which can easily be accessed by anyone who uses a Smartphone or tablet PC. If someone loses his mobile, it can pose danger to his privacy as the person who steals the phone can use it for wrong purpose.

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Rebellions welcome coalition forces’ armed aircraft in Libya

US President’s decision to deploy armed aircraft has been welcomed by the Libyan citizens. They were overwhelmed with US initiative to stop killing of civilians and hoped that NATO-led coalition forces would soon overtake the pro-government security forces.

Barack Obama justified the use of  armed Predator drone aircraft by the coalition forces against Gaddafi supporting Libyan forces to speed up their mission to save rebellions in Libya, stated Robert Gates, the US Defense Secretary.

US delegates visited Libya after sending two predatoaicraft to minimize thi mission citing the bad weather. McCain, top opposition leader and member of Senate Armed Service Committee stated that he had talked with the  the Libyan rebellions’ government– Transitional National Council, in Benghazi. McCain admired the rebellions’ fight against the autocratic ruler Gaddafi and called them as heroes.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Baghdad Adm. Mike Mullen,  aso gave similar views on the condition of Libyan crisis. He stated that the continuous air strike by the US military and coalition forces have compelled the pro-government forces to step back and their strength has reduced.

Mullen told the US military deployed in Baghdad that the US forces would soon defeat Gaddafi’s supporters and he would be thrown out of power very soon. However, Mullen was not sure when exactly this target would be be achieved.

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US President to root out gas price manipulation

Obama is experiencing a a heavy summer this year. Obama stated that he would try to ensure that nobody took advantage from the dwindling prices and lure the American consumers due to this factor.

Obamaadmitted the gas-price issue was serious and stressed on developing alternative energy sources as a solution for energy crisis. The president stated that the gouging prices were also being monitored by the Justice Department. Obama’s main thrust in the entire speech was over ways to reduce the American debt ceiling, which currently surpasses $14 trillion.

The President talked about the pro and cons of U.S, energy programs. He also discussed in detail about all the energy sources, their advantages and disadvantages. Admiring the use of nuclear power as a clean energy source he pointed out the Japanese nuclear disaster and stated that the incident undermined the use of nuclear energy. Obama also answered questions regarding his healthcare plan and predicted that the law will pass all the hassles  despite all odds like the controversial Social Security Bill which passed in 1930 amidst strong resistance by the opposition members.

Regarding tax cuts, the US President stated that he had reduced the existing taxes on education and many other welfare factors and pointed out that that present taxes are much lower than their earlier level, however for the maintenance of a good society and better essential services, the Americans needed to pay more.

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NATO warns civilians to stay away from military areas in Libya

The international community’s mission led by NATO has issued a warning to the Libyan rebellions to stay away from the military areas so that their air strikes target the Gaddafi-supporter security forces only. The international forces are continuously attacking the Libyan military areas by air strikes, however want to protect civilians from them.

The United Kingdom and France blamed NATO for not caring enough to protect civilians during air strikes, following which NATO-led international security forces have issued this warning to the Libyans to stay away from the military action areas.

An anonymous official revealed that the NATO had declared on April 20 regarding their determination to pressurize Gaddafi-supporting Libyan forces to protect the civilians. They would continue to attack the Libyan military until they stop suppressing the rebellions, stated Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO’s Libyan operations.

NATO’s next strategy will be to increase airstrikes against the pro-government security forces and target Tripoli and surrounding areas.

However, the main concern of the international community will always be to avoid civilian casualties due to air strikes so that Gaddafi does not take advantage of a ‘propaganda victory.’

The NATO-led international security forces are not seeking any additional help from the US military, revealed the official. The US airplanes are attacking Libyan military’s air defense sites but NATO has not asked for any ground assistance. In fact, there is a probability of US pulling back its military from the entire Libyan mission.

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UK premier criticizes UN resolution on Libya

UK prime minister disagrees with the UN resolution on Libya calling it a restriction against the global community’s mission to protect civilians in the country.

David Cameron stated that it would constrain the NATO-led coalition power in protecting civilians against the atrocities by the Pro-Gaddafi security forces in Libya. However, he justified the restrictions at the same time.

According to the Libyan rebellions, more than 6 people have been killed on Sunday during a clash between security forces and rebellions in Misrata. The opposition members are continuously protesting against the autocratic leader Colonel Gaddafi and asking him to resign. The pro-government security forces fiercely suppressed the rebels and regained control over their stronghold recently, despite international efforts to protect the civilians.

The British premier further stated that despite the fact that the coalition forces were there to protect civilians’ lives, he could not say it was wrong to implement new UN Resolution on Libya, however it was certainly restricting them.

Cameron also stated that the resolution would block the mission that was began to take over control from pro-Gaddafi Libyan forces who were making the life of people miserable in Misrata and coastal areas of Libya.

Camerron emphasized on putting continuous pressure over Libyan ruler to agree for a peaceful settlement, which could also include giving some relief to Gaddafi.

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